“Alphabet as History” Catalogue Presentation

On 18 August, a presentation of the catalogue “Alphabet as History,” dedicated to the history of the Georgian alphabet and writing, was held at the Art Palace (State Museum of Theater, Music, Cinema and Choreography).

Mikheil Batiashvili, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, Mikheil Giorgadze, Deputy Minister, Giorgi Kalandia, Director of the Art Palace, and Medea Metreveli, Director of the Georgian National Book Center, hosted the event.

The Georgian-English catalogue was published with the support of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia and Georgian National Book Center. It combines unique manuscripts, printed books, rarities and works of contemporary artists. The book was published as part of the exhibition "Tbilisi in my Thoughts" dedicated to the history of the Georgian script in the Museum of Offenbach, which, in turn, is dedicated to the presentation of Georgia as an honorable guest country at the 2018 Frankfurt Book Fair.

Many samples were published for the first time in the catalogue. Initially, it was only planned as an exhibition guide, but the result saw the extensive material transformed into an illustrated scientific work of the Georgian alphabet and culture.

The book will offer the opportunity for readers to follow the development of the Georgian alphabet, starting from ancient periods to contemporary art, to observe the peculiar characteristics of all periods, to look at the history of the Georgian book or periodic printing history and to discover the works of Georgian font writers and their modern achievements.

By Anna Zhvania