From 6-10 October 2026, the Academia Europaea Tbilisi Hub, in cooperation with the Georgian National Museum, will organised an international scientific conference at the Svaneti Museum of History and Ethnography, marking the 90th anniversary of the Museum.
The conference will bring together scholars and museum professionals from Georgia and abroad to reflect on the history, scholarly mission, and future perspectives of the Svaneti Museum, while also exploring recent research on Svaneti’s rich cultural heritage and broader themes in the study of medieval art and history. The programme will place Svanetian medieval art within the wider context of medieval artistic and cultural developments, creating an opportunity to discuss both the distinctive heritage of Svaneti and broader questions in the study of medieval art.
A special session of the conference will be dedicated to the memory of Rusudan Kochkiani, the former Director of the Svaneti Museum and a distinguished scholar of medieval art. The session will honour her contribution to the study and preservation of Svaneti’s cultural heritage, as well as her longstanding role in the development of the Museum and its scholarly activities.
The Academic Director of the Academia Europaea Tbilisi Hub and Director General of the Georgian National Museum, Prof. Dr David Lordkipanidze, will open the conference and moderate the sessions, which will feature contributions from internationally recognised scholars specialising in medieval studies, art history, archaeology, and cultural heritage. Among the invited speakers are Prof. Dr Claudia Rapp, Member of Academia Europaea, Director of the Institute for Medieval Research (IMAFO) at the Austrian Academy of Sciences; Prof. Dr Dirk Hoerder, Professor at the University of Bremen; Prof. Darejan Gogashvili, Senior Scientist at the Georgian National Museum; and Dr Eka Gedevanishvili, a leading researcher of medieval art, including the medieval treasures of Svaneti, among others.
The conference will provide an opportunity to connect the Museum’s 90-year history with current research and emerging perspectives on Svaneti’s cultural heritage, while situating the region within the broader scholarly study of medieval art and culture. It will also strengthen dialogue between Georgian and international scholars and highlight the Svaneti Museum’s continuing role as a centre for research, preservation, and public engagement with the region’s exceptional cultural legacy.
The conference is part of the Academia Europaea Tbilisi Hub’s ongoing programme of activities aimed at fostering international academic cooperation and promoting Georgia’s scientific and cultural heritage within wider European scholarly networks.