The Georgian National Museum network has unveiled a new museum in the historical southern town of Bolnisi. The new location, announced after several years of work was presented by the GNM in an update of their social media platforms. The website describes the Bolnisi Museum as a “model of the 21st-century regional museum.”
The town of Bolnisi was first established as Katharinenfeld in 1818, by German Settlers from Swabia. The museum is a major addition to the town, and has seen a reinvigoration of tributes to its original inhabitants.
A multimedia library by the Goethe Institute has been unveiled at the new venue, with German language textbooks, a library and visual and audio collections. The museum project was a collaborative effort involving Georgian professionals and their colleagues from a number of German institutions, and the University of Toronto.
The Bolnisi Museum is now seen by the GNM to be a cultural hub for locals, “[The museum] creates new perspectives for locals, international scientific projects of the region, and public education.”
A permanent exhibition area houses natural and historical collections concerning the region, with a specific hall, created for the history of 19th-century German settlers in the province. Partnering German institutions include the German Archaeological Institute, the German Mining Museum, the Frankfurt Archaeological Museum and the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation.
Also contributing to the work were the Berlin State Museums, the Senkenberg Research Institute and Museum, the University of Tübingen, the Tübingen City Museum and the Union for Preservation of German Cultural Heritage in the South Caucasus.
The museum was unveiled on International Museum Day, 18th May, although the date also coincided with the 15th anniversary of the GNM networks founding, which comprises of over a dozen museums and house museums across the country.
