As protests in Georgia intensify again, a new private museum puts focus on the country’s artists

In the wake of recent protests in Georgia, a new private museum has emerged to highlight the country's contemporary artists. The Kvareli Foundation for Contemporary Art, set to open on November 2nd, is located around two hours from Tbilisi, nestled amidst fields, forts, and mountains. The foundation's creative director, Nino Sulkhanishvili, aims to showcase artists who often face exclusion from institutional settings due to their political stances.

The institution, built on 115 acres of land purchased by its founder, Jemal Inaishvili, comprises exhibition spaces, a shop, a rooftop auditorium, sculptures, a hotel, and a winery. Inaishvili's personal collection, amassed over four decades, provides the foundation's program's anchor – he started collecting in the 1980s and focused on contemporary Georgian art since the 1990s.

The inaugural exhibition, "Georgian Contemporary Art: Origins and Continuities," will display works from Inaishvili's collection alongside loans, tracing the development of Georgian art since the 1960s. The foundation's location outside Tbilisi aims to shift the focus from the capital, which already boasts a thriving commercial gallery scene.