Improvisation of Georgian Art - Art Gene Festival
By Mariam Chanishvili
Wednesday, June 12
Georgia offers several festivals in summer. Art Gene is one of them, which is the most popular events both among the locals and tourists.
The annual festival traditionally takes place in the beautiful Open Air Museum of Ethnography in Tbilisi.
The Museum represents 14 ethnographic zones of Georgia; each of which presents the particular historic-ethnographic area of Georgia.
Art Gene will take place from July 7 to July 14 this year.
Georgian folk music consists of at least 15 regional styles, known in Georgian musicology and ethnomusicology as "musical dialects." Georgian folk music is well-known for its rich traditions of vocal polyphony. Special three-voice vocal techniques are characteristic to Georgian harmonies.
Georgian polyphony, along with traditional dances and other activities associated with traditional and folk culture, will be presented at Art Gene Festival.
Art Gene features live concerts by Georgian musicians, the exhibition of modern art, handcraft, Georgian cuisine, traditional dances as well as folklore shows.
The program includes the concert by Dato Evgenidze, Asea Sool, Chveneburebi and Lela Nakeuri, Frani, Nino Katamadze, Sukhishvilebi, etc.
The festival tours around the regions of Georgia and finishes in the capital Tbilisi.
Folklore concerts will take place in Adjara, Imereti, Kakheti, Samegrelo, Tusheti, Svaneti, Guria, Kvemo Kartli and Samtskhe-Javakheti.
Art Gene Festival is an initiative of Georgian NGO “Union of Art Gene,” formed by a group of friends whose mission was to identify problems associated with traditional and folk culture and find ways for solutions. The Art Gene group mainly consists of artists and musicians
The festival Art Gene is an ongoing project since 2004, and it is said to be a popular public art event in Georgia. 40 000 visitor attendance rate in 2007 revealed a further steady 90% increase as in previous years, which has led to an extension of the venue and activities in the coming years.
Tickets are available at tkt.ge, biletebi.ge and eventikz.com.
