The “Golden Fund” of Abkhaz artists was destroyed in a blaze in Sokhumi last weekend, and more than 4000 pieces of art were lost. Flames were seen erupting from Abkhazia’s National Art Gallery at around 3:30am on Sunday, January 21. Eleven fire crews arrived at the scene and had the fire put out by 7am.
The “Minister of Culture” of the occupied Abkhazia region, Dinara Smyrni, said the fire that broke out in the central exhibition hall of the Sokhumi National Gallery had led to “an irreparable loss for our national culture.”
Suram Sakania, director of the art gallery, said 4,000 pieces of art had been burned or severely damaged by fire and then by water in the firefighting process, including approximately 300 works by Alexander Chachba-Shervashidze. Only 200 works were saved from the entire Gallery collection.
The “president” of the self-proclaimed republic, Aslan Bzhania, visited the gallery after the fact and instructed the prosecutor’s office to conduct a thorough investigation to determine the cause of the fire. Sakania claims firefighters had told him the fire started on the roof of the building. “Apparently, there was a short circuit in the electrical wiring,” he said.
Although local scholars said the de facto local authorities had been notified of the risk status of the Gallery following a fire there in 2014, and had been asked to look into improving storage and safety conditions, “minister” Smyrni claimed there had been no such communication.
The President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, quickly called on the international community to protect the cultural heritage of Georgia in the occupied territories.
“The fire that destroyed the Sokhumi National Gallery in occupied Abkhazia is a tragedy for all of us. I am sorry for what is a direct result of the neglect of cultural identity by both the de facto leadership and the Russian occupiers. I call on the international community to restore attention to the protection of our cultural heritage in the occupied territories,” she wrote in a post published on X.
On Tuesday, the Georgian National Museum expressed its sorrow over the incident that occurred on January 21 and stated its readiness to engage in the restoration efforts for exhibits damaged by the fire.
“The museum is ready to assist the art gallery specialists in restoring the damaged exhibits. For this purpose, the National Museum is ready to establish a special group composed of restorers from the Shalva Amiranashvili State Art Museum,” the National Museum announced.
Getting there first, Olga Lyubimova, the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, said that the fire was a “real tragedy” and a “humanitarian disaster” for Abkhazia, and announced that Russia will be sending its own specialists to help with the restoration work.
By Team GT
