The former residence of the publicist, author and pioneer of literacy throughout the country during its life under the Tsarist Russian rule, the Museum is one of six from across Europe that have been distinguished with the selection, as the 2023 EMYA winners were revealed on Saturday.

They were picked from 33 museums from 18 countries that are members of the Council of Europe, after jury members visited the venues to learn about their infrastructure, collections and ideas. Jury Chair Amina Krvavac said many of the nominees had "stood out for their exceptional and inspiring work, which presented a challenge for the jury tasked with selecting this year’s winners".

Selected alongside the Thackray Museum of Medicine in Leeds, Graz Museum Schlossberg in Austria, FeliXart Museum in Belgium, Abbey Church of Payerne in Switzerland and Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen in the Netherlands, the Tbilisi Museum represents the Tbilisi Museums Union in the list.

Its selection for the EMYA Commendation follows similar honours for other Georgian-based museums over the recent years, including the a diploma for the Bolnisi Museum, of Georgian National Museum network, in 2022 and a nomination for the Art Palace museum in 2019.

This year's candidates also included the GNM's Vani Archaeological Museum.