On the initiative of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia and IDeA Foundation with the support of the Hayartun Center, the art hall at Saint Gevorg Church hosted a presentation of “Surb Gevorg Cathedral: Frescoes”, “Sayat-Nova: Poetry” and “Shushanik, the Queen of Kartli” book-albums, on December 11, 2015. The event was attended by heads of libraries and art galleries, Armenian and Georgian art and culture representatives, representatives of the RA Embassy to Georgia, guests from Armenia.

The book-albums were published by Initiatives for Development of Armenia (IDeA) Foundation within the project for reconstruction of Saint Gevorg Church in Tbilisi, the Cathedral Church of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia. The books symbolize the shared cultural values of the Armenian and Georgian peoples.

“Shushanik, the Queen of Kartli” album is dedicated to the hagiography of Saint Shushanik, Vardan Mamikonyan’s daughter, who went through all the hurdles and tortures inflicted upon Christian Armenia and Georgia on the path of preserving their faith and self-identity. Upon the suggestion of the authors of the book-album, (Levon Igityan, Head of the National Aesthetic Centre of Armenia, and Doctor of History, Professor Hayrapet Markaryan), students of National Aesthetic Center of Armenia and Elene Akhvlediani Children's Gallery of Georgia as well as young artists of Artsakh depicted Shushanik’s biography through colors and paintings which were featured in the album.

“Sayat-Nova: Poetry” album is quite unique in this regard: the decoration and paintings “created” the atmosphere of old Tiflis.

The “Surb Gevorg Cathedral: Frescoes” album comprises the frescoes of Saint Gevorg Church created by various generations of Hovnatanyans, Gevorg Bashinjaghyan and other anonymous painters and can be truly considered valuable pieces of Armenian monumental painting.

Deputy CEO of IDeA Foundation Sergey Tantushyan welcomed the people present. The speaker mentioned that a flagship program of IDeA Foundation, reconstruction of St. George Cathedral was performed at a high level. He solemnly presented Levon Chidilyan, Director of the Hayartun Center at the Armenian Diocese in Georgia, with a collection of book-albums for the center’s library.

Poet and translator Givi Shakhnazari, artist Irena Ohanjanyan, the Counselor at the RA Embassy in Georgia, Karen Melikyan, et al in their remarks, highly appreciated the publication of the albums, which was possible owing to the joint efforts of Armenian, Georgian, Russian and English editors and designers. It praises the everlasting ideas of Christianity, beauty, love and friendship.

Head of Elene Akhvlediani Children's Gallery, Lia Gorgadze acknowledged with gratitude that the album is featuring the works of gallery students and emphasized the importance to educate the new generation in the spirit of love and mutual respect since early childhood.

The Primate of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia, His Grace Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan, in his closing remarks, expressed his gratitude to IDeA Foundation, devoted son of his nation, Ruben Vardanyan and his friends, through their generosity the full-scale renovation of the church was made possible and the cathedral serves anew its mission of spiritual, educational and cultural center. The Bishop highly appreciated the dedicated service of Eleonora Malkhasyan, Cultural Programs Manager and Project Manager of the books’ publication at IDeA Foundation, and publication and presentation of the three high-quality book-albums in particular.

The album of frescoes came out in four languages - Armenian, Georgian, Russian and English, while other two are trilingual- in Armenian, Georgian and Russian. The book-albums were published at “Nushikyan Print” printing house.

The copies of book-albums were distributed among the audience.