On December 5 of the current year, in the 214th auditorium of the Tbilisi State University building I, two books, published by Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University Institute of Art History and Theory, were presented.

Both books were prepared in the framework of the project "Anis - Georgian Cultural Heritage" implemented with the support of Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation.

Anis, the "city of a thousand and one churches", has been a crossroad for centuries where the political and economic interests of different countries have intersected. Countries with different traditions and cultures have sought to establish themselves in Anis by simultaneously engaging in political and economic activity through their own religious and cultural pursuits. As a result, the city was formed into a unique, multifaceted environment in which the elements of Seljuk and Georgian culture along with Armenian and Georgian were actively involved.

The first publication is a collection of reports presented at the International Scientific Conference under the project “Anis on crossroads”. The conference was held in November 2016. Its purpose was to portray the crumbling, multicultural environment that characterized this historic city on the east-west coast. Accordingly, Formation of Anis’s multicultural picture with the participation of Armenian, Byzantine, Georgian and Seljuk cultural and political elements were presented at the conference. The reports presented included various aspects of the political, cultural, economic and ethno-confessional situation of the city and its region. The conference was attended by scholars interested in the above-mentioned region and topic.

The conference was supported by Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation.

The second book, "Materials for the Study of St. Gregory's Church Painting in Anis," is the publication of a diary of a 1911 work in Anis by renowned art historian and restorer Nikolai Sichov. These materials are stored in the scientific archives of the St. Petersburg Institute of Material Culture. This painting created by Georgian masters in the first half of the thirteenth century is of great importance for the study of Christian art in the Caucasus.    

This publication has been produced in collaboration with Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University Institute of Art History and Theory and St. Petersburg Institute of Material Culture History. The book was published by the Tbilisi State University Publishing House.