The project of the National Centre of Manuscripts – the 6th International Summer School “Georgian Manuscript” – is carried out in cooperation with the University of Louvain (Belgium) with the support of the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia (grant № MG-ISE-19-203).
The aim of the project is to accumulate, develop and popularize the knowledge in humanities that corresponds to high standard, point of focus of our activity is the field of Kartvelological studies with special emphasis to manuscript studies, with a view to promoting the development of new ideas of different scientific/academic prowess forming partnerships in the area of manuscript research is yet another priority of the project.
The Summer School is an effective means of transferring the knowledge gained by generations of scholars at the National Centre of Manuscripts.
The project is complex and consists of several components:
- Within the framework of the project, a 10-day academic program of the School took place for the selected participants, who represented foreign and Georgian universities and scientific research centres;
- A collection of School material was prepared and published, which includes a course of lectures presented within the School, with illustrations and a basic bibliography;
- An important innovation is the third component of the project – the e-learning platform el-Manuscript prepared on the basis of the School video lectures
The School proceeded during July 15-24, 2021, its working languages were Georgian and English. Lectures and other activities were provided with simultaneous translation. On the last day of the School (July 24) participants presented personal research projects, followed by the closing event and the participant certificate award ceremony.
The head of the project is Prof. Zaza Abashidze, Doctor of History, Director of the K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts.
The coordinator of the project is Dr. Irina Gogonaia, Head of the Division of Educational and Qualification Projects, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts (irinagogonaia@manuscript.ge)
The Academic Program of the School
The School program is diverse and eventful. The 5 modules of the Program were devised with an eye to comprehensive structural composition, in addition to covering practically all areas related to the manuscript studies it describes the main parts of profile of the Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts.
These modules are as follows:
- Georgian script;
- Georgian manuscript;
- Georgian historical document;
- Georgian old printed book;
- Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts, as a unique institution – the most important repository of manuscripts and a scientific research centre.
The modules covered 23 lectures, including two thematically devised field trips for the School related academic topics and locations – the Epigraphy Fund of the Georgian National Museum and the Bolnisi Sioni, the Urbnisi Cathedral and the Ateni Sioni, the Jvari Monastery and the Svetitskhoveli cathedral.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to lectures, practical studies were conducted in the form of workshops and simulation games. For example, the calligraphy workshop (5 hours) was held within the module “Georgian Script”: participants got familiarised with: the Georgian alphabet (all three forms of it – Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli), the sound system, the specifics of the manuscript text, certain codicological features; this is this method of information acquisition they would avail themselves with while in the process of reading a manuscript book, historical document or archival material. The module under title “National Centre of Manuscripts” covered a study visit to the digital laboratory as well as the workshop on “Restoration of Damaged Folia”; the module “Georgian Manuscript” held workshop where participants were introduced the technology of the paper making.
Further, the School program included a presentation session where Georgian and foreign participants of the School offered reports on the results of their research. The presentation session was chaired by Prof. Bernard Coulie (Co-Chair of the School Scientific Committee, Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium, Louvain-la-Neuve)) and Dr. Emilio Bonfiglio (graduate of the Summer School “Georgian Manuscript” 2016, Fellow-Researcher of Dumbarton Oaks program 2020-2021).
A closing ceremony was held, certificates were handed over to each participant.
Academic Staff of the School
During the 6th International Summer School “Georgian Manuscript”, well-known Georgian scientists in the field of Kartvelology, as well as foreign researchers, shared the results of the research and methodology to the School participants. It is important to note that the academic staff of the school includes three generations of scholars from the Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts, the notion that concedes any validity of proof as for obtaining the continuity of knowledge accumulated in the study of Georgian manuscript heritage over the course of years.
See the School Program
School Participants
Announcement and application forms for the 6th International Summer School were distributed to foreign scientific centres and universities, higher education institutions of Georgia; the information was posted on the websites of the Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts and the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia as well as on the official website of the partner organization – the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium):
As usually the School curriculum has triggered great interest. More than 70 application forms were submitted from 15 countries – Georgia, USA, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Romania, Poland, France, Greece, Armenia, Turkey, Czech Republic, China.
Selection was carried out according to the following criteria: academic/scientific profile of the candidate, motivation for participation in the School, newsworthiness/applicability of the candidate’s presentation subject, its relevance to the Centre’s scientific directions, novelty, context; prospects for post-graduation networking.
The abovementioned criteria defined the way ten applicants were selected, they were notified of the selection results within the fixed deadlines.
Under the Covid 19 pandemic, the School procedure was conducted in the hybrid format. Students from the Georgian universities and two foreign participants attended in face-to-face format, in the mode of physical attendance, the rest of the foreign participants (5 participants) took part via the Zoom platform.
Printed and Electronic Products of the Project
The school academic program and a collection of school lecture materials were published, which became an important learning-educational resource. The collection material is presented in the form of extensive bilingual annotations, the annotations are supplemented with illustrations and a list of basic references related to the issue.
The mentioned material is available electronically on the website of the Centre (in the materials of the 6th International Summer School).
In the frame of the project, an educational electronic platform el-Manuscript was developed. At this stage it presents the lectures (or fragments of the lectures) of the academic program modules recorded during the School procedure. The future mode of platform is seen as having additionally encompassed a component of assignments and tests. The platform with the lecture material for wiewing, listening or reading, also the basic bibliography as well as the gallery of illustrations, assignments and tests will to a great degree assist students and other interested persons to enhance their capacity in knowledge acquisition and plan work independently.
At this stage the platform is only available for the Summer School alumni, who participated in sessions of the School at the National Centre of Manuscripts during 2011-2021, the sole requirement, in this case, being the registration on the course.
The mentioned printed and electronic materials are an important educational resource, which can become appropriate for use in the universities within the different training courses of Kartvelological studies.
The Academic Program of the School
The School program is diverse and eventful. The 5 modules of the Program were devised with an eye to comprehensive structural composition, in addition to covering practically all areas related to the manuscript studies it describes the main parts of profile of the Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts.
These modules are as follows:
- Georgian script;
- Georgian manuscript;
- Georgian historical document;
- Georgian old printed book;
- Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts, as a unique institution – the most important repository of manuscripts and a scientific research centre.
The modules covered 23 lectures, including two thematically devised field trips for the School related academic topics and locations – the Epigraphy Fund of the Georgian National Museum and the Bolnisi Sioni, the Urbnisi Cathedral and the Ateni Sioni, the Jvari Monastery and the Svetitskhoveli cathedral.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to lectures, practical studies were conducted in the form of workshops and simulation games. For example, the calligraphy workshop (5 hours) was held within the module “Georgian Script”: participants got familiarised with: the Georgian alphabet (all three forms of it – Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli), the sound system, the specifics of the manuscript text, certain codicological features; this is this method of information acquisition they would avail themselves with while in the process of reading a manuscript book, historical document or archival material. The module under title “National Centre of Manuscripts” covered a study visit to the digital laboratory as well as the workshop on “Restoration of Damaged Folia”; the module “Georgian Manuscript” held workshop where participants were introduced the technology of the paper making.
Further, the School program included a presentation session where Georgian and foreign participants of the School offered reports on the results of their research. The presentation session was chaired by Prof. Bernard Coulie (Co-Chair of the School Scientific Committee, Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium, Louvain-la-Neuve)) and Dr. Emilio Bonfiglio (graduate of the Summer School “Georgian Manuscript” 2016, Fellow-Researcher of Dumbarton Oaks program 2020-2021).
A closing ceremony was held, certificates were handed over to each participant.
Registration Official Opening of Summer School
მოდულის „ქართული ხელნაწერი“ ფარგლებში სკოლის მსმენელებმა დაათვალიერეს ხელნაწერთა ეროვნული ცენტრის მუდმივმოქმედი გამოფენა, რომელზეც ქრონოლოგიური თანმიმდევრობით წარმოდგენილია ქართული სასულიერო და საერო ხელნაწერი წიგნების მნიშვნელოვანი ნუსხები VII საუკუნიდან XVIII საუკუნის ჩათვლით.
16 July
Lecture-seminar: Editing Medieval Georgian Manuscripts: The Tasks of the Editor – Emilio Bonfiglio, D. Phil, Research Associate, Dumbarton Oaks (Fellowship 2020-2021)
Lecture-seminar: Principles of Composition of Old Georgian Manuscript Books (10-11 cc.) – Nestan Chkhikvadze, PhD in Philology, Chief Research Scientist, Department of Codicology and Textology, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
Lecture: Some Aspects of the History of Medieval Georgian Manuscript Production: From Liturgical Collections to Manuscripts of Educational and Scholarly Content (11th -12th cc.) – Thamar Otkhmezuri, Doctor of Philological Sciences, Head of the Department of Codicology and Textology, K. Kekelidze National Centre of Manuscripts
Lecture: K. Kekelidze Georgian National Center of Manuscripts’ Scientific Heritage (Past and Present) – Maia Matchavariani, Doctor of Philological Sciences, Chief Research Scientist, Department of Codicology and Textology, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
Calligraphy workshop – Lela Shatirishvili, PhD in Philology, Chief Research Scientist, Department of Codicology and Textology, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
17 July
Lecture: Cover of Georgian Manuscripts – Dr. Maia Karanadze, PhD in Philology, Senior Research Scientist, Department of Codicology and Textology, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
11:00-11:10 Questions and answers
Lecture: Gemstones and their Imitations on Covers of Georgian Manuscripts – Ia Akhvlediani, PhD in Geology and Mineralogy, Associated Professor, Georgian Technical University.
Lecture: Writing Materials and Means for Creating Georgian Manuscript – Darejan Gogashvili, PhD in Philology, Deputy Head of Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts and Dimitri Shevardnadze National Gallery
Paper-Making Workshop (Session 1) – Darejan Gogashvili, PhD in Philology, Deputy Head of Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts and Dimitri Shevardnadze National Gallery
Lecture: Collections of the Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts. – Tamar Abuladze, PhD in Philology, Head of the Department of Manuscript Preservation, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
Calligraphy workshop – Lela Shatirishvili, PhD in Philology, Chief Research Scientist, Department of Codicology and Textology, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
18 July
Itinerant lecture at Epigraphical Depository, National Museum of Georgia. Lecture: Georgian Epigraphy – Teimuraz Jojua, PhD in History, Senior Research Scientist, Department of Diplomatics and Source Studies, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
Discussions at Sioni Church of Bolnisi
19 July
Lecture: Conceiving Time and Space According to Historical Documents of Medieval Georgia – Mzia Surguladze, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Head of the Diplomatics and Source Studies Department, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
Lecture: Historical Documents Preserved in Old Depositories of Georgia: Calligraphy and Decoration – Darejan Kldiashvili, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Chief Research Scientist, Department of Diplomatics and Source Studies, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
Paper-Making Workshop (Session 2) – Darejan Gogashvili, PhD in Philology, Deputy Head of Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts and Dimitri Shevardnadze National Gallery
Calligraphy workshop – Lela Shatirishvili, PhD in Philology, Chief Research Scientist, Department of Codicology and Textology, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
20 July
Lecture: Old Georgian Spiritual Literature – Maia Rafava, Doctor of Philological Sciences, Chief Research Scientist, Department of Codicology and Textology, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
Lecture: Old Georgian Secular Literature – Maia Rafava, Doctor of Philological Sciences, Chief Research Scientist, Department of Codicology and Textology, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
Lecture: Collections of Georgian Manuscripts Abroad – Dali Chitunashvili, PhD in Philology, Chief Research Scientist, Department of Eastern and Armenian Manuscripts, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
Round Table – Discussion
Paper-Making Workshop (Session 3) – Darejan Gogashvili, PhD in Philology, Deputy Head of Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts and Dimitri Shevardnadze National Gallery
Calligraphy Workshop – Lela Shatirishvili, PhD in Philology, Chief Research Scientist, Department of Codicology and Textology, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
21 July
Itinerant lecture: Chronological Systems in Ancient Georgia – Teimuraz Jojua, PhD in History, Senior Research Associate, Department of Diplomatics and Source Studies, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
Discusions at Sioni church of Ateni, Urbnisi basilica.
22 July
Lecture: Miniature and Décor in Georgian Manuscripts – Nino Kavtaria, PhD in Art History, Head of the Art History Department, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
Lecture: Georgian Palimpsest – Dali Chitunashvili, PhD in Philology, Chief Research Scientist, Department of Eastern and Armenian Manuscripts, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
Lecture: Old Georgian Liturgical-Hymnographic Manuscripts and Their Importance – Eka Dughashvili, PhD in Philology, Chief Research Scientist, Department of Codicology and Textology, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
Visit to the Digitization Laboratory of the National Centre of Manuscripts – Dimitri Gurgenidze, the Main Specialist of the Digitization Laboratory, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
Calligraphy workshop – Lela Shatirishvili, PhD in Philology, Chief Research Scientist, Department of Codicology and Textology, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
23 July
Visit to the Reading Room of Rare Printed Books. Lecture: Old Georgian Printed Books (XVII -XVIII cc.) – Nana Targamadze, Department of the Library-Museum, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
Lecture: About Ivane Javakhishvili’s Archive – Oliver Reisner, PhD in History, Professor, Ilia State University
Workshop for Restoration of Damaged Folia – Tamar Dvalishvili, Research Scientist, Scientific Laboratory of Restoration and Conservation, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
Summarizing Itinerant Workshop in Calligraphy in the ancient city of Mtskheta: The Best Works. – Lela Shatirishvili, PhD in Philology, Chief Research Scientist, Department of Codicology and Textology, K. Kekelidze Georgian National Centre of Manuscripts
24 July
The Summer School Participant Presentations
The Summer School Participant Presentations
Closing Ceremony and Awarding Certificates
