The Presidential Center dedicated to Georgia’s first President, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, has opened in Zugdidi, the administrative center of the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region.
The new multifunctional building features a reading room, media library, workspaces, lecture and conference halls, as well as exhibition and museum areas, storage facilities, and restoration laboratories.
An exhibition titled ‘Contemporary Georgian Art’ is ongoing as part of the opening, presenting a collection of 20th-century Georgian paintings. Works by Elene Akhvlediani, Givi Toidze, Lado Gudiashvili, and Edmond Kalandadze are on display.
A public lecture was delivered by Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, Director General of the National Library of Georgia, on Gamsakhurdia’s role in building the Georgian state and his political legacy.
Zviad Gamsakhurdia, politician, National Movement leader, Soviet dissident, writer, and human rights activist, became Georgia’s first democratically elected President in May 1991.
The event was supported by the Ministry of Culture of Georgia and Zugdidi City Hall.
The Presidential Center is part of the Union of Palaces and Museums of Georgia, established this year on the initiative of the Ministry of Culture, and is built by the Municipal Development Fund.
By Lana Kokaia
Header image: Zviad Gamsakhurdia Presidential Center in Zugdidi
Source: Ministry of Culture of Georgia
