Renovated Academy of Arts set to welcome students for new academic year

Tbilisi State Academy of Arts, the eminent state institution for art education in the country, is set to open for students after a multi-year, major renovation work with the start of the academic year in the country next month.

The five-year renovation of the building - a cultural heritage monument with a rich history - has restored the original look of its exterior and interior, known for its "mirror halls" with exquisitely decorated walls and ceilings.

Exhibition halls, the Grand Library, fonds and vaults of the Academy as well as its yard have benefited from the effort worth 12 million GEL ($3.9 mln/€3.3 mln) since 2015. Smaller-scale work on the building between 2004-2006 also saw about a million GEL expended on renovation.

The halls of the cultural monument have received particular attention to restore them to the original form. Photo via Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia.

The principal element of the renovated art institution is the mirror halls, originally created by Iranian professionals in the mid-19th century.

In major disrepair throughout the last decades, the Academy became subject of the reonovation effort focused not only on its educational infrastructure but also its museum, part of the academy complex since 1928 and housing over 6,000 artwork in painting, drawing and sculpture, many of them created by students of the school.

Hosting permanent and temporary exhibitions and providing space for artist residence, the museum also is involved in international bodies like the International Council of Museums and the Network of European Museum Organisations.

A view of one of the halls of the Academy, an institution with two centuries of history. Photo via Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia.

The academy building itself was constructed in the Georgian capital in the 1850s, with the maiden art school opened within its walls in 1874.

The venue adopted the title of an academy in 1922, under the newly established Soviet authority, with faculties for painting, sculpture, drawing and architecture opened for students.

First modest expansions took place within the decade, with a ceramic workshop (later transformed into a faculty) opening in 1925 and a faculty of lithography unveiled in 1930.

The academic year is set to start in Georgia on September 15.