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If you’re still looking for holiday decorations, you might want to try enamelware from Georgia. A group of Georgian artists are dedicating themselves to reviving the centuries-old tradition.
The ancient skill of enamelling in Georgia dates back to the eighth century. It’s associated with traditional religious art and was acknowledged as a royal craft. It used to be very popular in Georgia, but for unknown reasons, was lost around the 15th century.
In Georgian museums, people can still admire some of those unique enamel works. One example in the Georgian National Museum is an icon of the Georgian patron saint, St. George, from the 1400s.
Now some artists in the capital Tbilisi, like David Kakabadze, are trying to bring the craft back.
Kakabadze said, "The main aim for us is to revive tradition of enamels and Georgian ornaments, which date back centuries. Enamel in Georgian art was mainly used to make ornaments and also, very rarely, small medallions were made from enamel which adorned the space around the central icon. But during the years in our studio, the technique has been so improved that we have even made icons only using enamel techniques."
Enamel is made by applying layers of colored powdered glass to an object, usually made of metal. Different colors were achieved by different burning temperatures. Nowadays, artists are using these traditional techniques to create modern enamel landscape pictures, jewelry and religious icons.
The revived artform is becoming popular among art specialists and customers again. Both ancient and modern enamelware are offered, with religious icons and images being especially popular.
中国公共新闻摘编：GAN JADE |
