Europa Nostra Awards: Georgian textile project wins major EU cultural prize
Tweet 
Share
A Georgian research project for exploring and preserving history of textile in South Caucasus has been declared as one of the winners of this year’s European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage.
Recipients of Europe’s major cultural prize, also known as Europa Nostra Awards, were announced this week, with Textile from Georgia among projects selected for ultimate honours.
Carried out by Art Palace museum venue in collaboration with the George Chubinashvili National Research Centre for Georgian Art History and Heritage Preservation and other state agencies, the research found its place among 29 winning submissions at the awards.
Textile from Georgia involved scientists, artists and restoration experts who studied over 100 frescoes in churches across Georgia to document costumes and textures worn by historical figures portrayed in them.
While the frescoes were digitised in follow-up work, costumes were a subject of graphical work that saw artists recreate their digital and drawing models.
The textiles from the historical depictions were then reproduced on materials including silk, satin and wool and catalogued based on their timeline, between 8th-20th century.
Textures were sampled from frescoes found in monasteries across Georgia. Photo: Raphael Arzumanov/Europa Nostra.
The work has resulted in what Art Palace calls the "first digital database for textile in the Caucasus” that shows emergence and development of textile in the region as well as parallels to comparable history in Asia and Europe.
Beside the research aspect of Textile from Georgia, the project also saw conservation and restoration work on selected costumes dating back to the 18th-19th centuries, which resulted in the costumes being saved for preservation.
The Georgian project and 28 other winners of this year’s Europa Nostra Awards were selected from 17 countries. They were picked from 160 initial submissions from 31 state and non-governmental organisations and individuals.
A texture reproduced on textile material under the project. Photo: Raphael Arzumanov/Europa Nostra.
In addition to wins in various nominations including conservation and research, the 29 entries are now also subject of an online public voting to reveal Public Choice Award among them.
The winning projects will be awarded in a "high-profile” ceremony in Berlin on June 22, at what will become the first European Cultural Heritage Summit.
Tbilisi's Art Palace museum itself received the Special Mention for the Europa Nostra Restoration and Conservation Award in 2016.
Georgia’s highland settlement of Mutso, a recipient of this year’s European Heritage Award for Conservation, could also take the Public Choice Award from the Europa Nostra organisation, with the prize being decided through an online vote.
The significance of crafts heritage and ways of preserving and transferring skills to the next generation will be some of the subjects bringing together professionals of the World Crafts Council Europe in Tbilisi next week, as the continental body celebrates its 40th anniversary.
Georgia is celebrating the Day of National Costume with open-air carnival events all across the country.
Two historical monuments in Georgia, the Chiatura cable car system and David Gareji monastery complex, have been announced among endangered sites throughout Europe by Europe’s major cultural heritage organisation.
Georgian art and culture will be in focus of European institutions and citizens in the 2022 edition of Europalia Arts Festival, a major biennial event hosted in Brussels.
The long-standing tradition of silk production and crafts in Georgia has been officially recognised as part of the country’s intangible cultural heritage.
An 18th century Irish castle, now serving as a major governmental complex, is hosting a display of photographs of historical Georgian costumes to mark the centennial of the First Democratic Republic of Georgia.
Works by award-winning artist Maka Shanidze will introduce Tbilisi locals and visitors to the art of quilting with a week-long display at the city’s Art Palace museum venue starting this Saturday.
Tbilisi’s Art Palace venue achieved a new milestone this week after its exhibition of artwork on Google Arts and Culture online platform became the largest digital repository from the South Caucasus.
Tbilisi's Art Palace museum has claimed a Special Mention of a top European cultural heritage organisation recognising its status as one of the unique historical monuments on the continent.
A short documentary about Georgia's highland village of Mutso, winner of this year's European Heritage Award for Conservation, was released on social media as a Georgian delegation collected the prize at a formal ceremony in Paris on Monday.
The State Silk Museum of Georgia, one of the oldest museums in the country, will undergo a major three-year renovation of its infrastructure and an update of its programmes in a multi-institutional project starting this year.
Local textile enterprise Ajara Textile is building its fourth factory in Georgia which will create 3,000 jobs in four months, announces the Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Gakharia who attended the event that marked the launch of the construction of the new factory.
“We are proud that many famous athletes across the world wear a uniform sewn with the inscription 'Made in Georgia’”, Georgian Economy Minister Natia Turnava said at the launch of the construction of a new textile factory in Rustavi today.
The Georgian state project for conservation of the Vardzia Cave Complex, a 12th-13th centuries monument in Georgia's south, has been unveiled as one of the winning entries of this year's Europa Nostra/European Heritage Award, the European Union prize for cultural heritage.