Museum of Georgian Folk Songs and Instruments
By Resolution No. 213 of the Government of Georgia of April 30, 2019, the Museum of Georgian Folk Song and Musical Instruments was incorporated into the State Museum of Theatre, Music, Cinema and Choreography of Georgia.
The Museum of Georgian Folk Song and Musical Instruments was established in 1975 on the basis of the collection of mechanical musical instruments of Tbilisi collector Arkady Revazishvili, as a branch of the Museum of Cinema, Theatre and Music. Over time, the museum's funds were enriched with new exhibits and in 1984 it was established as an independent legal entity - the Museum of Folk Musical Instruments, and since 2006 as a legal entity of public law - the "Museum of Georgian Folk Song and Musical Instruments".
The museum's funds contain old folklore recordings, photo-phono-audio and video materials, many samples of Georgian folk, oriental, European classical and mechanical musical instruments. The museum's goal is to exhibit, preserve, systematize, and enrich the collections with new exhibits of material and intangible cultural monuments of different times - songs and musical instruments.
The museum's exhibition space includes three halls:
The first hall is dedicated to the exhibition of Georgian folk songs and musical instruments, the history of Georgian folk performance. The Georgian folk instrumental collection includes original samples of three traditional groups - stringed instruments (panduri, chonguru, chianuri, changi), wind instruments (ueno and eniani salamuri, gudastviri, chiboni, larchemi, double stviri) and percussion instruments (doli, daira, diplipito).
The second hall is dedicated to the exhibition of oriental instruments (sazi, kamancha, tar...). Georgia is located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, where for centuries Eastern culture has been established, which has influenced Georgian culture. A vivid example of this influence is the unique color of Old Tbilisi, created by the assimilation of the cultures of Georgians and other peoples of Eastern origin living here (Armenians, Azerbaijanis, Jews, Assyrians, Yezidis).
The third hall houses European classical and mechanical instruments (organ, orchestration, portable organ, various types of gramophone and gramophone, mechanical piano, harmonium, musical chests, accordion, mandolin, guitar, banjo, zither, etc.). By the 19th century, the clearly expressed European orientation of Georgian politics opened the way for the country to the latest achievements of technology and culture. It was from this time that European mechanical and classical instruments became fashionable. The urban folklore of Western Georgia also originates from this time.