Stephanie G. Mathis A fire that raged through the National Art Gallery has almost destroyed all the paintings in the region of Abkhazia. This is the region that broke away from Georgia back in the 1990s. The fire destroyed more than 4,000 works of art.
Suram Sakanya told BBC News Rayhan Demytrie that the collection was gathered since 1963 and it was destroyed in seconds. “This is a terrible tragedy for Abkhazia.”
A statement by Abkhazian officials states that the fire started around 3:38 am on 21 January. The fire quickly spread throughout the main exhibition hall at the gallery in Sukhumi, the capital. Elena Zavodskaya of Ekho Kavkaza reports that officials believe the fire started in a nearby branch bank because of an electrical fault. In the morning, eleven fire crews from Sukhumi as well as nearby towns were able to extinguish the flames.
BBC News reports that many artworks were stacked “without adequate protection” in crowded areas before the fire. Local artists were already campaigning for them to be moved to a safe location.
“We knew this would happen. “We talked about it both with the previous and current leadership, but there was no response,” says artist Sergei Tsvizhba to Ekho Kavkaza via Google Translate. “We are left without a history or a past.”
The works destroyed in the fire include 300 paintings by Aleksandr Shervashidze-Chachba, known as “Abkhazia’s first professional artist,” according to the Art Newspaper‘s Sophia Kishkovsky. He is known for his landscapes and genre paintings. He also worked with artists like Pablo Picasso.
Abkhazia has shared borders with Russia and Georgia for many years, and its status is still contested. Although it declared its independence from Georgia 30 years ago, only a few countries recognise it as such. Russia is one of those countries that maintains a presence in Abkhazia. The majority of countries classify Abkhazia as Russian-occupied territory.
After the fire, officials from Russia as well as Georgia issued statements regarding the cultural losses.
Salome Zourabichvili (Georgia’s President) said on X — formerly Twitter– that “the fire which destroyed Sokhumi National Gallery is a tragedy we all.” “I regret what is the direct result of the neglect of culture by both the de facto leaders and the Russian occupiers.”
Zourabichvili continues: “I urge the international community, to refocus its attention on protecting our cultural heritage within the occupied territories.”
Russian officials announced that they would send specialists to restore the paintings.
