October 27, 2023–February 18, 2024
In the framework of europalia georgia, the Art & History Museum, Brussels, hosts Georgia: A Story of Encounters, a heritage exhibition focusing on the culture, history and art of Georgia since the Neolithic period. At the crossroads of East and West, traversed by trade routes linked to the Silk Roads, and always the object of ambition of the great powers surrounding it, Georgia has been a place of encounters and exchanges from which it has drawn cultural nourishment, but also developed its own unique culture. The result is a heritage of unparalleled richness.
Wine has been produced in Georgia for at least 8000 years. It accompanies a ritualised art of dining with refined cuisine, an integral part of the country’s heritage. As the oldest cultural asset in Georgia, wine is the starting point for the exhibition. Metalwork—gold and bronze—also play a central role. From the Bronze Age onwards, Georgian metalworkers produced pieces of unprecedented delicacy and sumptuousness. The myth of the Golden Fleece has its roots in Georgia: the region was known to the Greeks for its wealth in gold.
After the Greeks—who established trading posts in the region—numerous other powers would meet and confront each other on this small, coveted territory of the Caucasus: Romans, Persians, Arabs, Byzantines, Mongols and Ottomans contributed to a unique intermingling of cultures, but also sowed destruction in their wake. A Christian country since the 4th century, Georgia struggled to assert itself in the midst of the great powers around it. It succeeded brilliantly between the 11th and 13th centuries—the golden age of Georgian unification—which shone economically and culturally throughout the Middle East under the reign of its emblematic sovereign, Queen Tamar.
Curators: Prof. Bernard Coulie, Prof. Nino Simonishvili and Marie-ève Tesch, in collaboration with europalia.
Press contacts
Sarah-Claire Vermeulen, sarah-claire@serenai.eu
Laurence Morel de Westgaver, laurence@nakami.be
Arts festival: October 4, 2023–January 14, 2024
This autumn, europalia dedicates an arts festival to Georgia! The starting point for this edition is the country’s fascinating culture and the art scene of its bustling capital, Tbilisi, alongside that of lesser-known cities and regions. Starting October 4, visitors can enjoy a rich programme of exhibitions, performances, concerts, film, dance and theatre productions and literature across Belgium. Alongside existing work, the festival programme will feature numerous new, interdisciplinary creations, in collaboration with dozens of artists and partners.
About europalia
Every two years, europalia compiles a diverse artistic programme focusing on a country or a theme. For four months, in Belgium and its neighbouring countries, europalia, in collaboration with a wide network of cultural partners, presents a biennial with a myriad of artistic and socio-cultural projects that bring together visual arts, performing arts, film, music, literature and debate to stimulate an exchange of ideas. Newly commissioned projects and artistic residencies hold a central place in the programme, which engenders a unique interaction between heritage and art.
