In Abkhazia, the National Art Gallery was engulfed in flames overnight on January 21. The fire obliterated the entire collection, according to the minister of culture, Dinara Smyr. The collection included approximately 4,000 artworks, with 300 attributed to Alexander Shervashidze-Chachba, recognized as the first professional Abkhazian artist (1867-1968).
A fire, the causes of which are currently under investigation, broke out at four in the morning on Sunday. The blaze originated from the second floor of the building, housing the storage area.
Eight firefighting teams were involved in extinguishing the fire, but saving the art gallery proved unsuccessful.
Works of not only Alexander Chachba-Shervashidze but also renowned Abkhaz artists like Varvara Bubnova, Boris Petrov, Vladimir Kontarev, Marina Ashba, Vitaly Lakrba, Valery Gamgia, Vitaly Djenia, Amiran Adleyba, Olga Brendel, and many others were lost.
The National Art Gallery was housed in a two-story historic building. Local artists had regularly appealed to the government since the 1990s to construct a new building for the gallery and painting storage.
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