23 April – 10 October | Tbilisi | GeoArt Museum

This year, we celebrate two remarkable poets, William Shakespeare and Shota Rustaveli. The whole world knows about Shakespeare whose works are timeless and relevant today as they were 400 years ago. Rustaveli, was a Georgian poet in the 12th century and is iconic to Georgians as Shakespeare is for the rest of the world.

Programme

23 April

Project launch including launch of the survey on the most popular quotations from Shakespeare's and Rustaveli's works announced 

23 April - 20 May

Online survey aimed at identifying most popular quotations from Shakespeare's and Rustaveli's works

21 May

Winning quotations will be announced and displayed on the GeoART museum  wall on the International day of Museums as part of  long night at the museum 

25 May - 25  

June Visual arts competition for Arts Academy students 

26 May

Slideshow  of the most popular quotations will be screened  on big a screen as part of the celebrations of the Independence Day. 

10 September  

Two exhibitions dedicated to Shakespeare's 450th anniversary open at the GeoART Museu on the same day. Exhibition One: The selected students' works inspired by Shakespeare's and Rustaveli's quotations; exhibition two: Shakespeare in the Georgian Art presenting posters and costumes from the shows based on plays by Shakespeare.

15 September - 10 October  

Shakespeare talks: 

  • How to read Shakespeare. Talks led by Nicholas Royle
  • Discussions on Shakespeare and Rustaveli led by Nicholas Royle and Elguja Khintibidze
  • Translations of Shakespeare into Georgian

October / november 

Best selected artworks of the Student of the State Arts Academy will be exhibited in the European School and later the exhibition will move to the various public spaces.

About the artists

William Shakespeare

Shakespeare is England's most celebrated dramatist and poet. His works have been translated into 80 languages, including Star Trek's Klingon. He helped shape the English we use today, introducing up to 300 words and dozes of well-known phrases.

His plays are known around the world for their universal themes and insight into the human condition. Yet much about the playwright is a mystery. Historians don't know his date of birth, where he was educated or how he spent seven years of his life.

Shota Rustaveli

Shota Rustaveli was the 12c Georgian poet. Even after many centuries, ‘’Knight in the Panther’s Skin’’ his epic poem, makes an interesting reading for people of all nationalities because of the masterfully presented universal, eternal ideas and humanism. Above all, Rustaveli deserves an honorary place in the world cultural milieu because of the unique artistic quality of his verse. Similarly to works by Shakespeare, Homer and Dante, his epic poem represents the crossroads in the aesthetic development of humankind.

Selected quotations from Shakespeare and Rustaveli

The document bellow presents the most popular quotations from Shakespeare and Rustaveli’s works identified through our online survey. Presentation of the quotations was part of the museum activities and was displayed on the Arts Palace museum exterior wallon 21 May. 

Find the most popular quotations on our YouTube

Our partners

We work in partnership with The GeoArt Museum, Georgian National Book Centre, Tbilisi State Academy of Arts, and European School.

Photo gallery

Please find amazing photos from the Press Launch and Museum Night.

External links