Old Tbilisi photos exhibited

On July 7, an exhibition of selected works from the online photo competition held as part of the Urban Heritage Preservation: Identity and Spirit of Old Tbilisi project, conducted by the British Council in partnership with the Goethe Institute, Riksantikvaren, Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage Preservation, Istoriali Georgian Arts and Culture Centre (GACC) and Georgian National Committee of the International Council On Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS Georgia) opened in Tbilisi.

Two important award ceremonies were held at the opening. The winner of the online competition was announced: Nikoloz Mchedlidze, a Faculty of Architecture student, was awarded a camera as a prize for his photo 'Light'. Six winners of a competition for the best development design (infill design) for a particular area in Betlemi Quarter were also announced. The prize for the winners - Nikoloz Maisuradze, Tornike Dadiani, Ketevan Tsutskiridze, Ketevan Bochoidze, Ia Koroshinadze and Mamuka Kharazishvili - is a study tour to the UK, Germany and Norway.

From 15 March to 15 June the Old Tbilisi Identity and Spirit online competition was held on Facebook. The competition was open to everyone interested in Tbilisi’s unique cultural heritage, and those who like to use their camera to capture places and views in the old city, places, which might soon disappear due to the negligence of the public and the authorities. More than 100 people uploaded their photos and the project has developed more than 3,000 fans so far. Partly this is thanks to the online photo competition. The project partners are happy that a lot of participants understood the spirit of the place and shared it in their photos.

As part of the project an international conference was also held on 4-6 June. The theme of this policy dialogue conference was 'Spirit of the Place'.