On October 14, 2015, the Calouste Gulbenkian Hall of the “Hayartun” Center hosted the opening of an exhibition entitled the “ARTISTS OF SAINT ETCHMIADZIN IN TBILISI”. This event was dedicated to the Tbilisi City Festival - Tbilisoba and its opening happened to be on Mtskhetoba (Day of Mtskheta). It was a continuation of the “ARMENIAN ARTISTS OF GEORGIA AT SAINT ETCHMIADZIN” Exhibition, held on the occasion of the Blessing of the Holy Chrism in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

The exhibition was organized on the initiative of the residence of the Primate of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia and the City Hall of Etchmiadzin, with the support of the Union of Armenian Artists of Georgia and the “Hayartun” Center at the Armenian Diocese in Georgia. Delegation of the City Hall of Etchmiadzin, headed by the Mayor of Etchmiadzin, Karen Grigoryan, the Vicar-General of Javakhk Supreme Archimandrite Babken Salbiyan, Metropolitan Nikoloz Pachuashvili of Akhalkalaki and Kumurdo Diocese arrived for the opening ceremony.

The Armenian, Georgian and foreign painters, art workers, intellectuals and lovers of art came to see 50 paintings of 21 artists from Etchmiadzin. Levon Chidilyan, Head of Department of Cultural Affairs at the Armenian Diocese in Georgia and Coordinator of the Hayartun Center, opened the exhibition.

The speakers Georgian MP Ruslan Poghosyan, poet and translator Givi Shakhnazari, painter Nerses Melikyan, miniaturist Merouzhan Shahumyan, the Tbilisi City Council representative Margarita Khidirbegashvili and others appreciated highly the exhibition and underlined a beautiful art display, the ability of expression through colors, and the skill to convey emotions and show the rhythm of life through brush strokes. Metropolitan Nikoloz Pachuashvili announced his intention to open a continuously operating art gallery in Akhalkalaki. The Mayor of Etchmiadzin, Karen Grigoryan expressed words of appreciation to the Primate of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia who supported the organization of the exhibition in Tbilisi and Saint Etchmiadzin and helped to implement the idea. The Mayor handed out the 20th Anniversary of Erkrapah Voluntary Union Medal, which General Manvel Grigoryan awarded to the Bishop.

At the end of the event the Primate of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia, His Grace Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan blessed the people present. His Grace welcomed the representatives of the City Hall of Etchmiadzin, the Vicar-General of Javakhk, Metropolitan of Akhalkalaki and Kumurdo Diocese, as well as artists from Saint Etchmiadzin and thanked them for being present. Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan also stressed the cultural closeness between the two Christian nations.

At the invitation of the Vicar-General of Javakhk and Metropolitan of Akhalkalaki and Kumurdo Diocese, in a month, the artists of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin will be exhibited in Akhalkalaki.

The “Artists of Saint Etchmiadzin in Tbilisi” Exhibition at the “Hayartun” Center will continue until November 14.