On 19 June, the presentation of the project ‘Community-based inventorying of intangible cultural heritage, related to traditional income-generating activities in Old Tbilisi’ results implemented in the framework of UNESCO ‘Intangible Heritage and Creativity for Sustainable Cities’ Program was held in Old Tbilisi, Upper Bethlemi Terrace.
The project was generously supported by Yong Xin Hua Yun. The presentation brought together community members, representatives of the cultural sector, and local authorities.
The event also marked the start of the ‘Online Festival – Tbilisi ICH Week,’ which aims at raising public awareness about the importance of safeguarding the living heritage in an urban environment such as Tbilisi.
The program included a short overview of the project results and a show of the short video stories about the ICH bearers.
Project activities were carried out from November 2020 to June 2021 and included meetings with local community members, capacity-building activities led by International facilitators, community-based inventory exercises, which involved audio-visual and narrative documentation and production of promotional videos.
Following a series of online capacity-building workshops, a project team composed of 10 young local facilitators was formed and extensive fieldwork was carried out, including interviews with professional organizations and networks, community representatives of different ethnic diasporas, as well as online questionnaires distributed through social media. As a result, more than 40 ICH elements were identified and a database for Tbilisi ICH bearers was created.
Video stories will be published on Facebook page in the framework of The Online Festival – Tbilisi ICH Week from 4-11 July 2021.
Photo source: Georgian Craft Association
