The Chair of the Education, Science and Culture Committee, Mariam Jashi delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the exhibition - "Wardrops’ Georgia - History and Present" - organized at the Korneli Kekelidze Georgian National Center of Manuscripts.

“Everyone is well aware of the contribution Marjory and Oliver Wardrops made for Georgia from both diplomatic and literary points of view. While the British siblings were in Georgia, our country was faced with the burdensome challenges of maintaining its independence and building democratic institutions though these processes are not yet complete today. A century ago, they established a unique model of international cooperation as well as the promotion of the country's culture and traditions. They were distinguished diplomats - ambassadors of Georgia not only to the UK, but to the global community. Today's exhibition is one of the few expressions of gratitude that we can dedicate to their memory, and I do hope, Georgia should have even more faithful and supportive partners today. Editions of those masterpieces such as "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" by Shota Rustaveli, "The Wisdom and the Lies" by Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani, "Life of St. Nino", "Kilila and Damana" are unique. On behalf of the Committee, I would like to not only thank you for your support, but also to express our commitment to maximize the popularity of Wardrops’ contribution in the general education system. Future generations should be cognizant of their merits”, - Mariam Jashi delivered.

The exhibition featured a written heritage of Wardrops and other related archival and periodical materials preserved at the National Center of Manuscripts: Wardrops' friendly and business letters to Ilia Chavchavadze, Olga Guramishvili, Ekvtime Takaishvili, Korneli Kekelidze, Vasil Karbelashvili, etc.

The unique handwritten books that captivated the British brother and sister fallen in love with Georgia so much with their form or content that they translated them into English as to introduce the culture of these masterpieces to the Western world.

2019 marks 150th anniversary since the birth of Marjory Scott Wardrop and UNESCO celebrates this date internationally. The same year also marked 155th anniversary since the birth of Oliver Wardrop.

As the Justin McKenzie Smith noted at the ceremony, the importance of diplomatic and literary work embarked by the British siblings is immense and their contribution still awaits to be properly perused and identified, as new materials, pursuant to recent studies, are constantly being discovered and examined.