CULTURE
GEORGIA TODAY DECEMBER 8 - 11, 2017
British Council Brings Cinderella to Batumi
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n December 12, the British Council-Georgia invites Batumi residents and visitors to experience an emotional and visually captivating story about family, love and growing up, as seen from a new angle. British theater director, with the actors of the Batumi State Drama Theater, present “Cinderella: a fairy tale” by Sally Cookson and Adam Peck. This is a contemporary version of one of the most popular fairytales, “Cinderella”. The audience will be part of Cinderella’s grief, as well as parental love, parental cruelty, sibling rivalry, jealousy, isolation, revenge, survival, falling in love and of course – magic! As Sally Cookson writes: “this very simple tale, actually addresses fundamental questions about […] what it is to be human.” Join us in the world of the fairytale at 7PM on 12 December and become a part of an unforgettable show at the Batumi State Drama Theater. The performance is a part of the Performing Arts Support Program successfully implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport of Adjara Autonomous Republic in Georgia.
EU Declares that Culture is Important not only Aesthetically, but also Economically
BY MAKA LOMADZE
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n November 30, at the NATO and EU Information Center in Tbilisi, Mr. Yanos Herman, Ambassador of EU, and Mr. Levan Kharatishvili, Deputy Minister of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia, met with the media to discuss the contribution of the EU on the subject of culture in Georgia. The purpose of the EU-Eastern Partnership Culture and Creativity Program is to support the cultural and creative sectors’ contribution to sustainable humanitarian, social and economic development in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. “The EU is providing significant support to Georgia within different projects. The EU is important for us because of its organizations and institutions. We
constantly feel its support at every single stage. Culture is not an exception. Several important reforms have taken place in the area of culture in Georgia, thanks to the help and technical assistance of the EU. It is of the utmost importance to mention the cultural strategy – the first ever long-term cultural document in the history of Georgia. This is the largest scale document of its kind” Levan Kharatishvili, Deputy Minister of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia said at the start of the meeting. “We have already implemented 10 successful projects.” he mentioned. Thanks to Creative Europe, the European Commission program, the process of creating new industries has begun in Georgia. As Kharatishvili clarified, this is the ground for the future of culture, a kind of ‘cultural industrialization’, making it an important mechanism for the social and economic development of the country. Janos Herman, Ambassador of the
European Union, talked generally about the participation of EU in the field of culture in Georgia: “The EU has been evolving in the last decade the areas which are crucial for our common future. Definitely, culture is one of the main areas. The first step was to develop mechanisms, to provide financial and professional support to develop culture, which is not easy. We have realized that culture can also be an area which generates resources in a way that no other area can, because it generates activities which are linked to the future. Especially in times of transformation, adjustments to the demands of the future; culture is proving itself to be a crucial area”. Cultural and creative industries amount to 4.5% of the whole GDP of the world. They develop faster than other industries and the service sector. Purportedly, culture is the area which shows the best pace in terms of employment and economic growth in EU countries. Cultural and creative industries give jobs to 8.3 million citizens of the EU. The research on UNESCO development indicators conducted in Georgia, reveal that 5.5% of the local population is employed in the field of culture, which forms about 2.8% of the whole GDP of Georgia. Georgia was the first country from the list of the Eastern Partnership countries that became a member of the Creative Europe, European Commission program. According to Ketevan Shengelia, Head of Creative Europe Desk Georgia, all publishers are welcome to apply for literary translations. She named Cinedoc, International Documentary Film Festival based in Georgia, and Kote Marjanishvili State Drama Theater among the successful beneficiaries of Creative Europe program.
2017 Baroque Festival Closes BY LIZA NADIBAIDZE
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he Tbilisi Baroque Festival, establishedbytheTbilisiState ChamberOrchestraGeorgian Sinfonietta, with the help of the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection, in 2015, was held for the third time this year. Partners of this year’s festival were Check in Georgia, Tbi-
lisi City Hall, Goethe Institute, the Embassy of Italy, the Tbilisi State Conservatory and several privately owned companies. Six concerts were held during the festival, giving the Georgian audience the chance to see world renowned performers, Georgian and foreigner stars, among them: orchestra Akamus Berlin, the Anchiskhati Choir, Ketevan Kemoklidze (mezzo soprano), Salome Jicia, (soprano), Ana Tsatrsidze (soprano), Sergey Malov (violin/cello da spalla, Austria), Jean
Rondeau (Harpsichord, France), Davide Amadio (cello, Italy) and others. Along with the concerts, some of the open rehearsals-workshops and scientific & cognitive lectures were held. The Tbilisi Baroque Festival came to an end on December 7, at Rustaveli Theater, with a grandiose concert featuring Georgian Sinfonietta, Sergio Azzolini, Giovanni de Angeli, Priska Comploi, Ai Ikeda and Davide Amadio. Drezeden’s (Royal Wind Musicians) was performed.
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