The Golden Fleece – Georgian art - Muzeum Narodowe w Krakowie

The National Museum in Kraków is now inviting visitors to what is not only the first exhibition of its kind in Poland, but also in Europe – a comprehensive, panoramic and extensive exhibition of Georgian art, ranging from the earliest traces of human activity through stunning ancient examples of Colchis gold and early medieval stone stelae, medieval illuminated manuscripts shimmering with a riot of colours, modern costumes and military artefacts, through landscapes illustrating the changing faces of Tbilisi and the paintings of Pirosmani, to 20th-century avant-garde art, including the contribution to its development made by Polish artists who made their homes in this beautiful and extraordinary country.

The exhibition of Georgian art, planned in collaboration with Georgia’s leading museums for 2024, is fundamentally intended to be a comprehensive survey, spanning the period from antiquity to the present day, whilst focusing on selected aspects of Georgia’s great cultural heritage. We are taking on the challenge of presenting to you a panorama of art that is diverse, fascinating and rich, whilst also addressing a range of issues that shed light on the distinctiveness of the Georgian language and its alphabet, the incredibly rich literature and music associated with it, as well as the flourishing of its magnificent medieval culture. Given the venue of the exhibition, and to highlight the long-standing ties between Georgia and Poland, it is essential to showcase the achievements of Poles who worked and created for Georgia, whether as exiles or of their own free will. We are keen to showcase the great moments in Georgia’s history using artefacts that can be described as curiosities.

We plan to stage the exhibition in the most prestigious and, at the same time, the largest Temporary Exhibition Hall in the Main Building of the National Museum of Poland. Our strategic partner is the National Museum in Tbilisi, whilst the list of exhibits also includes collections from other partner institutions, such as the State Museum in Kutaisi, the Dadiani Palace Museum in Zugdidi, the Archaeological Museum in Batumi, and a number of museums and institutions in Tbilisi: the Palace of Arts, the National Centre for Manuscripts in Tbilisi, and the Tbilisi City Museum. The exhibition will be divided into ten sections presenting Georgia as the cradle of global winemaking and, at the same time, the process of the formation of a social community and a state. Fascinating archaeological finds will be on display, including the oldest agricultural tools, evidence of the birth of metallurgy and ancient pottery. In the section devoted to the Treasures of Colchis, we will document the significance of the first, intensive contacts between Greece and Georgia – immortalised in the myth of the Argonauts’ expedition to Colchis – as well as the richness of sophisticated, ancient goldsmithing. The adoption of Christianity will be illustrated by magnificent stone stelae created many centuries before the new religion appeared in Poland. We will showcase artefacts of Georgian literature featuring various versions of the alphabet, as well as different forms of musical culture. The heart of the Georgian state is its capital; therefore, the exhibition will explore the city’s iconography, its history and transformations, highlighting key landmarks such as Sioni Cathedral and the Old Bazaar, as captured in the works of avant-garde and Orientalist artists and in photography. The exhibition offers a unique opportunity to explore the work of Polish artists who have forged close ties with Georgia, such as Henryk Filipowicz and Henryk Hryniewski. A separate section will be dedicated to the work of Georgia’s most famous artist, Niko Pirosmani, who combined motifs drawn from everyday life and Georgian tradition with a distinctive stylisation that gave his works a unique, personal stamp. The exhibition will conclude with a presentation of selected works by avant-garde artists with whom Polish artists, including Zygmunt Waliszewski, were also associated.

Curator and author of the exhibition concept: Prof. Mirosław Piotr Kruk, PhD

Co-ordination: Katarzyna Pawłowska

Exhibition design: Magdalena Bujak

Production of the exhibition offering a panorama of Georgian art, ‘The Golden Fleece – Art of Georgia’

Co-funded by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage

Amount of co-funding: 3,400,000 PLN

Total value of the project: 4,522,270.24 PLN

Date of signing the agreement for the targeted grant: 12 March 2024

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)