National Gallery fire in Abkhazia: 'Soot under the nails is all that remains of my people's cultural heritage'

Fire in a gallery in Abkhazia

Abkhazians view the fire that engulfed the National Art Gallery on the night of January 21, reducing it to ashes, as a GREAT cultural tragedy.

The cause of the fire is attributed to a short circuit in electrical wiring. The blaze obliterated over 4,000 artworks by renowned Abkhazian artists, including Alexander Chachba-Shervashidze, Varvara Bubnova, Boris Petrov, Marina Eshba, Vitaly Lakrba, Valery Gamgia, and others.

In Abkhazia, the National Art Gallery was completely consumed by fire

The fire wiped out the entire collection, around 4,000 artworks, including 300 by Alexander Shervashidze-Chachba

“As I write this post now, there is soot under my fingernails. This is what is left of the cultural heritage of my people. This is what we will never get back, and our descendants will never touch this history,” civil activist Lia Agrba said on social media.

She, along with dozens of other Sukhum residents, took immediate action, removing rubble in an attempt to salvage something as firefighters battled the flames.

Only 200 canvases survived, now requiring extensive restoration.

Government agencies have shown minimal initiative so far, with no special meetings addressing the incident.

Meanwhile, activists from the “Ҳara ҳara ҳalaq” (“Our City”) initiative group have convened a working meeting to strategize on restoring the salvaged pieces. Their primary objective is the establishment of a modern storage facility and, eventually, a new gallery.

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Renowned Abkhazian director Ibrahim Chkadua has spearheaded an initiative to contribute artwork from private collections to the prospective National Gallery:

“I am prepared to share a portion of my collection featuring paintings and graphics centered on Abkhazian themes, provided there are assurances of their safety and the possibility of exhibition.

I believe that many of my friends and acquaintances, not only in Abkhazia, will rally behind the establishment of a new collection for the future art gallery of the Republic of Abkhazia. While this won’t compensate for irreparable losses, we must, at least somehow, address what has transpired.”

Scientist and former Abkhazian foreign minister Vyacheslav Chirikba, dedicated to studying the legacy of Abkhazian artist Alexander Chachba-Shervashidze, intends to contribute to the forthcoming National Gallery by transferring the archive he has meticulously gathered about the artist’s life and work:

“I amassed all this through auctions, in antique stores across Russia, France, Spain, and England. Initially, I planned to donate everything to the house-museum of Alexander Shervashidze once established.

However, it’s now evident that this house-museum may never come to fruition. All of Shervashidze’s works, around 300 priceless pieces, housed in the Sukhum gallery, were lost in the flames on that fateful Sunday, January 21, 2024.”

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In light of the devastating fire, the family of Dmitry Gulia, a pioneer of Abkhazian literature, has urged the state commission overseeing the planned celebrations for the poet’s 150th anniversary at the end of January to cancel all scheduled events.

Instead, they propose redirecting the allocated budget to replace the deteriorating electrical wiring in the Memorial House-Museum of Dmitri Gulia, which currently faces a perilous state. This precaution aims to prevent the museum from meeting the same fate as the National Gallery.

“The house-museum safeguards invaluable materials and manuscripts not only of Dmitry Gulia but also of numerous Abkhazian writers. Despite the museum’s recurrent pleas to officials about this issue, these appeals have gone unanswered,” Dmitry Gulia’s relatives state.

Additionally, Abaza TV’s editorial team has decided to cancel all entertainment programs in solidarity over the tragic events.

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