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Georgian National Museum, Winchester University ink a memo
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Author: By Kate Lekishvili
The long-term relationships between the Georgian National Museum and British Institutions were crowned, when on July 22, a cooperation memorandum was signed between the National Museum and Winchester University, one of the oldest academic institutions in Great Britain.
The memorandum was signed for five years, and involves cooperation between the National Museum and Winchester University in academic fields. The memorandum also envisages cooperative research projects, works linked with archaeological teaching, lecture-seminars for Georgian and British students and the exchange of research data and other academic information.
In the recent past, a number of projects and archaeological expeditions were carried out between Georgian and British institutions; as a result of the UK’s financial support, several Georgian students have had the opportunity to travel to France, Switzerland, England, Italy and other countries in order to get acquainted with modern archaeological methodologies.
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Ancient woman’s remains discovered on Ilmazloshi territory
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Author: By Kate Lekishvili
According to Georgian law, anyone planning on conducting large-scale construction is first obliged to examine the territory and explore the existence of cultural heritage in the area.
The state-owned company Georgian State Electricity System (GSE), has ordered a group of archaeologists from the Georgian National Museum to study the area surrounding the village of Ilmazloshi, in the Marneuli region, for the existence of cultural heritage.
This was an obligation before the law was implemented, as everyone who planned to conduct large-scale construction is first obligated to examine the given territory for signs of the existence of cultural heritage. Since July, of 2011, GSE has begun implementing a project which envisions the construction of new electricity transmitting lines connection Georgia with Azerbaijan.
After the preventive works in Ilmazloshi, archaeologists discovered the burial ground containing a woman, which was later studied. It was concluded that the woman’s body dates back to the eighth century BC.
It was determined that not only did the sepulcher belonged to a woman, but along with her body were buried golden jewelry (rings and earrings), as well as ancient pottery and animal remains.
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July 28 – Kvirikoba
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Author: By Tony Hanmer
July 28 is possibly the most important annual religious festival in Svaneti, although there are some strong contenders, such as Christmas, Easter, Maryamoba (the feast of the Virgin Mary) and the 2 Giorgobas (St. George’s days). On this date all eyes are turned towards the church of St. Kvirike (1112 AD), with its XII-XV century frescoes by the great Tevdore, high above the village of K’ala, about 10 km below Ushguli towards Ipari.
It was some years into my Svaneti experience before I was able to attend Kvirikoba. The best way is to base yourself in either Ushguli or Mestia, going to the church for the day, as there is little accommodation in K’ala itself.
Kvirikoba is not a subject well described on the internet, a main source of information for me. I suppose I need to ask some more Georgians about it, though from the details I have found online, I should prepare for some contradictory replies. The two main thoughts I can discover are, first, that this is an Orthodox Christian festival (God forbid that it should be anything else in Svaneti! We are Christians here...), commemorating the martyrdom of “Kvirike, the son of Ivlita, who both were tortured to death for their faith”. The second, older and less eagerly discussed root is “Kviria, a pre-Christian pagan deity, protector of soil, man and animals”. (God forbid that it should be anything else in Svaneti! We were pagans first and thus we remain.)
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Black Sea Jazz festival ends on a high note
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Author: By Salome Kobalava
The fifth annual Black Sea Jazz Festival brought an unprecedented amount of music enthusiasts to Batumi from July 19 until 24. Those six days of the festival attracted and amused locals, tourists, reporters, musicians and their fans alike by offering them a rich musical program and diverse genres.
“Without being modest I should admit that a jazz event of such scale has never taken place in Georgia,” said Michael Giorgadze, Director of Eastern Promotion, the company which organized the event and which organizes Jazz festivals in Georgia.
“Any European or US festival would be proud of the names that performed in Batumi. Not to mention the culmination of the program with Macy Gray’s performance. Both from a technical aspect and from an organizational point of view, the Black Sea Jazz Festival was a big success,” he added.
Two features which distinguished this year’s festival from previous ones was that it offered free performances in the streets and there were an unprecedented number of participants - more than 150 musicians from 11 countries, more than 20 bands and more than 40 performances.
Starting from classical jazz, those attending the festival enjoyed several genres of music- funk, pop-blues, gospel, reggae, electronic jazz experiments and even street performances by a German Brass Band who entertained passersby.
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