Tbilisi's Art Palace among European Museum of the Year Award nominees

Georgia's Art Palace venue is one of 61 museums nominated for the 2020 European Museum of the Year Award, with the Tbilisi-based cultural institution shortlisted by the European Museum Forum.

The museum, set up in a palace built as a love present in the late 19th century, was picked for the nominee list that involves new or recently renovated venues, with the EMYA prize promoted as "the most prestigious museum award in Europe" by its organisers.

The 2020 prize has nominees ranging from the Hexenmuseum venue in Switzerland to V&A Dundee - "Scotland's first design museum" - and the Pentala Archipelago Museum in Finland.

[The EMF/EMYA] is an important occasion for promoting innovative approaches in the museum sector throughout the whole continent - European Museum Forum

Established in 1977 under the auspices of the Council of Europe, the Europe-wide prize's awarding ceremony will be hosted at the National Museum Wales in Cardiff in May, where the EMF Annual Conference will convene.

The museum houses exhibits ranging from paintings and engravings to costumes from cinema and stage productions. Photo via Art Palace.

Art Palace qualified for the EMYA nomination through its major 2014 renovation, which saw the venue's individual, themed halls revitalised along with wall paintings restored with historical accuracy.

Located at 6, Ia Kargareteli Street, the museum building is a stand-out spot in Tbilisi due to its remarkable architecture and styling.

It was commissioned by German Prince Konstantin von Oldenburg as a present to Georgian woman Agraphina Japaridze, his romantic partner who left her husband and the western Georgian city of Kutaisi to move to capital Tbilisi in the 1880s.

Its design coming from architect Paul Stern, author of other recognised buildings of the 19th century Tbilisi, the building has been called a "perfect example of Gothic and Islamic architecture" in the official museum history.

A view of the Music Hall, one of the themed rooms of the museum. Photo via Art Palace.

Decades after its construction, art historian David Arsenishvili moved the Museum of Theatre into the venue in 1927, which gave it the status of the first museum of this kind in the South Caucasus and a collection of over 300,000 exhibits on Georgian theatre, cinema, circus, folklore, opera, and ballet.

Items from 16th century Persian miniatures and French engravings to works by 20th century Georgian painters, costumes from the local cinema and stage productions and textile exhibits are part of Art Palace showcase.

Also known as the Georgian State Museum of Theatre, Music, Cinema and Choreography, in 2016 it became the first Georgian museum to be featured by Google Cultural Institute, a large online platform of worldwide venues presenting their collections in digital form.

Art Palace exhibition of artwork on the online platform later became the largest digital repository from the South Caucasus region. The story of the museum itself can also be found on the repository.