The Silk Museum of Tbilisi, Georgia
The State Silk Museum in Tbilisi, Georgia is the coolest thing I’ve seen in a while, so I want to put up some photos I took there. The exhibition on display is the original one designed when the museum opened in 1887. It was such a delight to see the museum just after presenting my Parsons thesis project at the Tbilisi International Festival “Life Beyond Tourism.” As much research as I had done on Wunderkammers (Cabinets of Curiosities) for that project, I had never seen a modern one of this magnitude in such spectacular condition up close. There were even Jacquard loom punched cards on display! The origins of modern computing displayed in a spectacular example of the origins of modern museums and libraries! I had to stop to catch my breath more than once.
The Silk Museum is now home to The Georgian Textile Group, founded by Nino Kipshidze in 1993. This group of (mostly?) women holds exhibitions in the capital on traditional and new Georgian textile practices and also administers workshops in the countryside to encourage the continued practice of traditional household textile production. In my brief visit to the museum, I could see that these women revel in their craft and love the museum dearly. I can’t wait to go back.
