Newly Opened Foundation in Kvareli Celebrates Georgian Contemporary Art
The Kvareli Foundation for Contemporary Art has opened to the public in Georgia today, amid ongoing country-wide protests
Rendering of the Kvareli Foundation for Contemporary Art, Georgia. Photo: Midamo and the Kvareli Foundation of Contemporary Art.
A new space dedicated to Georgian contemporary art has opened to the public in the province of Kakheti. The museum is the initiative of Georgian businessman, former member of Georgian parliament and collector Jemal Inaishvili, who has spent four decades building an art collection.
The €25 million development occupies a 47-hectare site and brings together exhibition galleries, sculpture installations, an auditorium and rooftop space for screenings and performances, alongside a hotel and winery.
As the Georgian arts sector has been slowly gaining momentum over the last decade, specifically in Tbilisi, this new opening marks a desire to expand the scene beyond the capital’s institutions and commercial galleries.
The country has faced waves of protests since 2024 following the passage of the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, which placed restrictions on public organisations funded from abroad and fuelled worries regarding free expression. More recently, legal action by the governing Georgian Dream party to outlaw five opposition political parties has further raised doubts about institutional independence.
The foundation’s inaugural exhibition, ‘Georgian Contemporary Art: Origins and Continuities’, charts the evolution of the country’s art since the 1960s, highlighting artists and movements that have shaped its contemporary cultural landscape.
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