Silk Museum in Tbilisi, Georgia
History
Silk Station
The desire of the Russian Empire to make a typical colony of Georgia and thus turn it into a market for the industrial produce of the metropolis and a supplier of raw materials was matched with the development of such fields in Georgia that were inexistent in Russia. The Agricultural Society, the Sericulture Station, the Phylloxera Committee, the Cottage Industry Committee and the Local Agricultural Organization were founded with the purpose to develop sericulture, horticulture, tea-growing and other fields of agriculture. Sericulture has deep roots in Georgia. Ancient Caucasian species of silkworm became extinct in the 1860s, when Pébrine, a silkworm disease spread in Europe at the time, reached Georgia. There was a need for urgent intervention to improve the deplorable state of sericulture.
Nikolay Shavrov (1858 - 1915)
In 1887, the Caucasian Sericulture Station was founded in Tbilisi. Nikolay Shavrov, member of the Moscow Agricultural Imperial Society, led the centre. The chief purpose of the Sericulture Station was to supply communities with healthy seeds and spread enhanced facilities for silk cultivation. The young scientist, Nikolay Shavrov, was in 1881 dispatched to the Transcaucasia to study and develop sericulture and to contribute to the arrangements made for an art and industrial exhibition of all Russia. In 1884, Shavrov was sent abroad to enrich his knowledge of sericulture. Upon returning in 1886, he submitted a plan for founding the Caucasian Sericulture Station in Tbilisi to the minister. The knowledge and experience obtained in Europe, as well as valuable collections he brought with him, contributed to the foundation of the Silk Museum and a library.
Silk Museum
The Sericulture Station, which in 1930 united the museum, the library and the Transcaucasian Research Institute of Sericulture and Silk Production, was in 1935 renamed into Tbilisi and later, in 1954, into the Georgian Sericulture Scientific-Research Institute. Until 1969 the institute was led by V. Mikhina. The early 1970s saw the onset of a difficult period in the history of the museum: in 1975 the institute moved from the museum building and the latter was transferred to Dinamo Stadium in 1981. The efforts initiated by Mrs. Irine Chotorlishvili for saving the museum met with success between 1986 and 1988 when the Sericulture Department was assigned to take care of the museum. In 1996 the building was listed as a historical monument. From 1998 to 2005 the museum and the library were transferred to the Sericulture Coordination Centre, Silk House, subordinated to the Ministry of Agriculture. In 2006, for the first time throughout its long history, the museum became an independent entity.
Museum Building
Of the large-scale buildings erected in Tbilisi in the latter half of the 19th century, the complex of the Caucasian Silk Station was certainly one of the most important. The Caucasian Silk Station was founded in 1887 under the leadership of the renowned naturalist, Nikolay Shavrov. It was with his direct engagement that the complex was built during 1890-1892 at the end of Mikhail Street, what is now Davit Aghmashenebeli Avenue, within the Mushtaid Gardens. Once uniting a cocoon house, silk spinning and reeling mills, a silkworm nursery and other structures, the complex has fallen into a critical state of disrepair. The main building, which clearly dominates the complex, survives in an authentic shape. It is one of the finest works of Tbilisi architecture of the late 19th century and is listed as a monument of national significance.
Alexander Szymkiewicz
he main building of the Caucasian Silk Station, as well as the entire complex, was designed by the architect of Polish origin, Alexander Szymkiewicz, who then worked in Tbilisi. Szymkiewicz is responsible for numerous public and residential buildings erected in Tbilisi in the second half of the 19th century. Being of high architectural interest, his buildings display a fascinating mix of styles. Highlights include a Court Chamber and a District Court, a Music School (what is now the Sarajishvili State Conservatoire), the Artists’ Society (what is now the Rustaveli Theatre, together with the architect K. Tatishchev), and Andreoletti’s house. Standing on a tall stone base, the building is distinguished by plain red brick façades, a large portico attached to the middle projection and a mansard roof covering the central part.
Architectural Decoration Stylistically, the building represents a fusion of traditions, with its façade and elevations displaying features typical of the so-called Russian style, Classicism, and Gothic and Islamic arts. Of particular note is the interior adornment which, apart from architectural decoration, includes designed elements, such as a frieze, a cornice, a pilaster and a capital, all of which display silk related features including a mulberry leave, a silkworm, a silkworm cocoon and a pupa. Remarkable is the furniture made to the designs of Alexander Szymkiewicz, which survives in an authentic shape in the exhibition hall and in the library of the museum. The building is of high artistic and architectural value and has a distinguished urban importance.
Maia Mania, architectural historian Tbilisi, 2007
Current Problems Building
The building in which the museum is housed is listed as a cultural heritage monument. It is now in a very poor state of preservation and is in need of urgent intervention. Regrettably, during the latest major repair (1989), structural peculiarities of the building were largely ignored: the walls were covered with air-tight material thus impeding the drying up of moisture on the lower stories. No measures were taken either to preserve the historical building during the reconstruction of the coterminous stadium. A new structure was built, while the damaged underground piping and storm water redirected from the stadium area towards the museum keep washing out the foundation. The building is in a deplorable state. The already grave condition of the building further deteriorated after the 2002 earthquake when the supporting structures developed cracks. The museum is looking for sponsors to support needed repairs.
Preservation Conditions and Storages
facilities that would control temperature and humidity. The collections and books are kept in inadequate conditions. Apart from being old (over 120 years), most of the collections are made of easily damaged material. The museum and the library still lack rooms for storages, temporary exhibitions, training sessions, workshops, lessons, lectures and meetings. It is also impossible to create proper working conditions for the personnel. Furthermore, part of the museum building is illegally occupied by two organizations, namely JSC Sakabreshumi and the Educational and Research Institute of Sericulture, due to which the museum is devoid of its right to make use of the much needed space.
Cataloguing and Expert Examination
For the last several decades, there has been a lack of standard cataloguing of exhibits in the museum. Beginning from 2008, the museum personnel undertook to fill the gap. The process is rather time- and labour-consuming. The library faces the same problem as the existing catalogue fails to provide adequate information on the books. An electronic catalogue of international standards is now being created. Professional study of the museum collections is one of the most important tasks, which will acquire particular relevance after the completion of cataloguing. Qualified study of exhibits and the assessment of their museum value will require the involvement of foreign experts who are familiar with the collections of similar museums and are therefore capable of comparing the collections of our museum with similar exhibits kept elsewhere.
Address
State Silk Museum 6, Tsabadze st., 0112, Tbilisi, Georgia Phone: (+995 32) 340 967; (+995 32) 340 963 E-mail: silkmuseum@live.com
Working hours
Open for visitors: Tuesday-Sunday 12.00 p.m. – 05.00 p.m Closed: Monday Admission: Free