Chairman of the Supreme Council of the World Abaza Congress Mussa Ekzekov acquired 10 works by the first professional Abkhazian artist, world-class master Alexander Chachba-Shervashidze.  

The WAC team joined the search for works that constitute the invaluable heritage of Abkhazian culture.
Mussa Ekzekov purchased at an auction 10 paintings by Alexander Chachba-Shervashidze with costumes for the “Miranda” opera by N.I. Kazanli (based on Shakespeare's “The Tempest”) and Wagner's Tristan and Isolde.

After the fire at the National Art Gallery in Sukhum, many concerned people around the world began searching for surviving works of Abkhazian masters. The fire destroyed or damaged almost 4 thousand pieces of art, including about 300 works by Prince Alexander Chachba-Shervashidze that were tragically lost.
 It is impossible to replace what was lost in the fire, but our team will try to preserve and pass on to descendants what remains. Preservation of intangible and tangible cultural heritage is one of our main tasks.

Alexander Chachba-Shervashidze was a painter, decorator, art historian and art critic, the first professional Abkhazian artist. He studied in Paris in the studio of Professor Fernand Cormon - it was with him that Vincent Van Gogh and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec studied. He was accepted into the National Society of Artists of France. In 1906, the artist moved to St. Petersburg, where he became a decorator at the St. Petersburg Imperial Theaters.