Nina Gamsachurdia – VELUM

The Dimitri Shevardnadze National Gallery is hosting Gamsachurdia’s solo exhibition, VELUM. The title refers to one of Gamsachurdia’s key works, created in 2024 for the project marking the 100th anniversary of the St. Lukas Society in Switzerland — www.lukasgesellschaft.ch. As an example of transcultural and interreligious art, VELUM is intended for display in various churches across Switzerland. Currently, it is exhibited in its fifth sacred space — the Kartäuser Church in Basel. At the National Gallery, this project is presented as a digital projection.

Gamsachurdia graduated in 1987 from the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts, specializing in art history and theory. Initially focused on medieval art, her academic interests soon expanded to include pre-Christian ancient cultures, as well as both Western and Eastern spiritual traditions — cultures whose essence lies in approaching the transcendent. Within this vast heritage, Gamsachurdia has shown particular interest in technological processes and the use of various artistic materials.

Since 1992, Gamsachurdia has lived in Switzerland, where her field of activity has proved remarkably diverse. She lectures, publishes scholarly studies and translations, and works in the expertise and restoration of medieval icons. In 2018, she founded the cultural association ICONARIUM.ORG, which is dedicated to the archiving, preservation, and exhibition of religious artifacts held in Switzerland.

Alongside this, Gamsachurdia has also established herself as a visual artist. Her art, born from deep knowledge, defies comparison. As a postmodern artist, Gamsachurdia challenges the boundaries between artistic disciplines. The artifacts she creates are simultaneously painting and sculpture — or more precisely, abstract, conceptually charged objects.

Anyone who has learned to engage with traditions can break free from it, even play with it – Nina Gamsachurdia. In her creative dialogue with the traditions of ancient cultures, Gamsachurdia shares her personal path toward the transcendent. She prepares all her materials herself — from the format of the wood and canvas to the ground, pigments, and varnishes. Especially noteworthy is her use of ancient pigment-making techniques from precious and semi-precious minerals such as lapis lazuli, jasper, opal, turquoise, malachite, nephrite, diamond, garnet, amber, coral, cinnabar, and more.

In recent years, Gamsachurdia has collaborated with Georgian geologist and “color scientist” Murad Tkemaladze, using pigments made from minerals sourced in Georgia.

The exhibition opening will also feature the presentation of a new book about Gamsachurdia, co-authored with Professor Ketevan Kintsurashvili and published in Switzerland by Alataverlag.

The exhibition opens on August 7 at 6:00 PM and will run through September 7.