Events

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A meeting on family violence issues was held in Sheraton Metekhi Palace in Georgia's capital Tbilisi on July 22. The meeting was supported by the Georgian Ombudsman’s Office and UNDP.
Representatives of different organisations and state structures working on the issue discussed ways to fight family violence. They talked in particular about examples specifically related to an ethnically and religiously diverse society. They also spoke about setting up efficient mechanisms for resolving the problems.
“This problem exists, although no open discussions are held to resolve it. This meeting, attended by representatives of religious and ethnic councils will help to conduct an open dialogue on this issue”, commented spokesperson Giorgi Tughushi.

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Works of Russian photo reporter Viktoria Ivleva, entitled Apotheosis of War, were exhibited in Karvasla, on July 24. A total of 42 photos were presented dedicated to people who have died in different countries as a result of military conflict. Avleva currently works as a reporter for the Russian newspaper Novaia Gazeta and her photos are published in newspapers such as The New York Times, Stern, Spiegel, The Express, Sunday Times, The Independent, Die Zeit, Focus and Marie-Claire. In 1991, Avleva won the prize of World Press Photo - Golden Eye, for being the only journalist to enter the fourth reactor of Chernobyl’s nuclear electric station. The organisers of the exhibition were Alliance - Georgian-Russian peace making women dialogue, Cultural-Humanitarian Fund - Sokhumi, Journalist Assosiation-Gendermediakavkaz and the Georgian Ministry of Culture.

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Organisers of the Art-gene annual festival put on concerts by Prani and Khidi on July 24. Some other regional groups also gave concerts of their pieces to the society at the Ethnographic Museum of Georgia. In addition traditional martial art competitions and games were held under the framework of the festival.

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Unique materials expressing Georgian riders (from Guria region) travelling in America will be restored, stated the representatives of Georgian Theatre, Music Movie and Choreographic Museum on July 25. The history of Georgian riders in America began in 1892. For more than 30 years they demonstrated their horse riding skills at Buffalo Bills and other arenas in the United States. Their particularly skilful style impressed foreigners so much that in 1892, the Queen of England, Victoria hosted the horsemen in Buckingham Palace. The documents which will be restored are very significant as the majority this type of document was destroyed by the Bolsheviks.

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A Children's University of Democracy created by the non governmental organization 'Be Careful - Children' held a training seminar and interactive game in Batumi, on July 26-30. 32 participants - children of soldiers killed in August 2008 war, socially unprotected children from Batumi School No. 4 school and representatives of national minorities took part in the 'Democracy is Our Style' training and in interactive game elections of Tbilisi Mayor. As the organizers of the event stated such activities help children become active members of society.

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Levan Koghuashvili's "Street Days" was awarded a special Tolerance Award, at the European Film Festival, on July 27. The jury members mentioned the producer has specific way of expressing morality. He talks about a lack of morals, without teaching moral lessons from the screen.

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A summer film tour was launched in Georgian regions on July 27, with the help of the National Cinema Centre of Georgia. The aim of the project is to interest Georgian citizens in cinema. Within the framework of the project Georgian films are being shown to people free of charge. Georgians will be able to become acquainted with classical cinema works and animations. Club Sardapi organised the project.

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The Ministry of Culture and Environmental protection, the Georgian Film Society and the National Archive of the Ministry of Justice signed a memorandum on the protection of cinema inheritance, on July 30.
During the initial stages, the Georgian Film Society has delivered nearly 4000 cinema documents to the National Archive for protection, including 1000 films, nearly 3000 scripts and other written materials. As pointed out by the signatories, the documents' placement in the National archive will yield better protection and will also simplify the task of finding materials for researchers.

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The National Folklore Centre moved to Agmashenebeli Avenue on August 1. With Guga Kotetishvili’s designed interior the renewed building will be a wonderful blend of Georgian traditional art and patterns of the modern world patterns.

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Batumi hosted the National art and folklore festival – Voice of the Nation, on August 2-4. The festival was organized by Tbilisi State University Student Union. 12 universities from Tbilisi and 6 regional ones participated in the event. The aim of the festival is to popularise Georgian folklore among the youth and reveal talented students. The festival was first organized last year.

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According to the Georgian media, famous British composer and singer, Chris de Burgh is planning to visit Georgia’s seaside region of Adjara during the first half of August. It is understood the singer will hold the first concert for August 15 for locals and foreign tourists and guests. The song 'Lady in Red' made the singer very popular in 1986.