Inside Mappa Cartographica’s rare collection of European charts PAGE 9
Exhibition of Wekua and Djorjadze’s Works from the ATINATI Collection at the ATINATI Cultural Center
dedicated to popularizing Georgian art and culture, ATINATI operates as both a media platform and a Cultural Center.
One of ATINATI's main directions is the expansion of its collection of artwork, which is currently in its fifth year and already includes over 2000 pieces. The ATINATI Private Collection includes works created in various media, which offer a vivid picture of Georgian art's continuous growth, from Modernism to the present day.
The ATINATI Cultural Center’s latest exhibition ‘ATINATI COLLECTION’ presents works created in various mediums by two distinguished, contemporary Georgian artists—Andro Wekua and Thea Djorjadze—from the ATINATI Private Collection.
Thea Djorjadze was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, in 1971. She studied at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts, and later at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf.
this week’s issue...
Possible Tomb of Georgian King Ashot the Great Uncovered in Northeastern Turkey
NEWS PAGE 2
Ukraine Latest: Russia’s Gains and Energy Attacks Mark a Pivotal Week in the Russia–Ukraine War
POLITICS PAGE 3
Babiš’s Big Return: Czech Elections Reshape Political Landscape, Georgian Dream Unlikely to Reap any Benefits
POLITICS PAGE 4
Georgia’s PM Blames West for Silence as US Senators Condemn Democratic Backsliding
POLITICS PAGE 5
Dancing a Nation into Being: The Sukhishvili Ballet at 80
SOCIETY PAGE 8
The Émigré Georgian Artists at the Motherland’s Service
CULTURE PAGE 10
Mapping the Human Condition on Stage: Tbilisi’s Theater Festival Asks the Questions that Cross Borders
CULTURE PAGE 10
Sulkhan Saladze in front of the Hereford Mappa Mundi, created around 1300. The map features the ancient Georgian kingdom of Colchis and the Golden Fleece.
Possible Tomb of Georgian King Ashot the Great Uncovered in Northeastern Turkey
BY TEAM GT
Archaeologists excavating the ruins of Gevhernik Fortress in northeastern Turkey have uncovered what may be the long-lost burial site of Ashot I of Iberia, also known as Ashot the Great—one of medieval Georgia’s most influential rulers. The find marks a potentially groundbreaking moment in Caucasian archaeology and offers the first material evidence supporting centuries-old historical accounts. The discovery was made by a team from Van Yüzüncü Yıl University in collaboration with Turkey’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Excavations at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, located within the fortress, revealed a two-meterlong arched tomb, which Turkish experts believe could be the final resting place of King Ashot I, who ruled in the early 9th century.
Ashot I, who held the Byzantine title of Curopalates (guardian of the palace), played a pivotal role in unifying Georgian territories under the Bagrationi dynasty and establishing Tao-Klarjeti as the political and cultural heart of Georgia. His reign laid the foundation for the kingdom’s eventual unity and closer ties
with the Byzantine Empire.
The site, known historically as Artanuji and today as Gevhernik, was a key political center during Ashot’s time. Until now, the exact location of his burial had remained uncertain, with historians relying solely on medieval chronicles.
In response to the discovery, the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia confirmed that Georgian researchers have visited the site, led by Professor Vakhtang Japaridze, to assess the findings and collaborate with Turkish counterparts. However, they noted that no human remains or inscriptions have been found in the tomb so far, making it impossible to confirm its ownership at this stage.
“The Agency commends the dedication of Turkish colleagues to the scientific study of Artanuji Fortress, a site of exceptional historical and cultural importance that once served as the political heart of Tao-Klarjeti,” the agency said in a statement. They emphasized the need for further archaeological and laboratory analysis to determine whether the tomb indeed belongs to Ashot Kurapalati.
Despite the uncertainty, the discovery has already reignited academic interest in Georgian medieval history, the legacy of Ashot the Great, and the shared cultural heritage of the South Caucasus and northeastern Turkey.
World Bank Lifts Georgia’s 2025 Growth Forecast to 7%
BY MARIAM RAZMADZE
The World Bank has revised its forecast for Georgia’s 2025 economic growth to 7%, marking a 1.5 percentage point increase from its previous projection. The updated figures were released in the Bank’s latest regional economic review, mentioning Georgia’s stronger-than-expected performance in 2024 as the main reason for the upward revision.
Looking ahead, the World Bank expects Georgia’s economy to expand by 5.5% in 2026, up by 0.5 percentage points
Art, Color, and Connection: A Heartfelt Workshop at Night Serenades Festival
BY TEAM GT
As part of this year’s Night Serenades Festival, a moving and memorable masterclass was held for members of the Parents’ Bridge Association—a group supporting children and young people with disabilities. The workshop, led by artist and designer Nino Mirianashvili, offered a creative space filled with expression, imagination, and joy.
Organized with the support of the Ministry of Culture of Georgia, LEPL Creative Georgia, and Tbilisi City Hall, the event welcomed around 30 participants. Through the universal language of art, these young artists explored the world of color, shape, and optical illusions.
“This has been a tradition for six years now,” shared Nina Tsagareli, Director of the Night Serenades Festival. “Each time, the gratitude and energy these children give us stays with our team long after the festival ends. It’s deeply inspiring.”
For Nino Mirianashvili, the day was emotional and unforgettable: “The children created with such excitement—from black and white sketches to vibrant, colorful illusions. They mixed tones, explored contrasts, and turned simple drawings into magical artworks. Color helps them navigate the world. They interpret it in their own way and share it with others through kindness, creativity, and emotion. For many, art is their clearest, most beautiful form of communication.”
The Night Serenades Festival, which opened in Borjomi on August 20 and
continued in Batumi with sold-out concerts and art exhibitions, concludes with two major performances in Tbilisi: October 9 – Tbilisi State Conservatoire, Grand Hall
Beatrice Venezi (Conductor, Italy), Veriko Tchumburidze (Violin, Georgia/ Turkey), Festival Base Orchestra Georgian Virtuosi (First Violin – Lela Mtchedlidze).
Program: Johannes Brahms – Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77 (arr. Ilan Rechtman), Pyotr Tchaikovsky – Serenade for Strings in C major, Op. 48. October 11 – Balletto di Roma Performs in Georgia for the First Time
The celebrated Italian dance company Balletto di Roma will perform Astor – A Century of Tango, a vibrant tribute to legendary composer Astor Piazzolla: Balletto di Roma (Italy) and Mario Stefano Pietrodarchi (Bandoneon, Italy).
Founded in 1982 in Abkhazia by worldrenowned violinist and conductor Liana Isakadze, Night Serenades is Georgia’s longest-running classical music festival. Since 2018, it has been led artistically by Giorgi Issakadze, musician, educator, and nephew of Liana Isakadze. The festival is organized by Art Alliance, with the ongoing support of major Georgian cultural institutions, city halls, and international partners. Sponsors and partners include Yves Rocher, Piel Naturals, Pavilion Wines, PSP, and Nita Furniture House.
In addition to its concerts, Night Serenades continues to stand out for its dedication to cultural outreach, bringing the transformative power of art and music to communities across Georgia.
Tbilisi Metro to Receive New Train Cars in 2027
BY MARIAM RAZMADZE
Deputy Finance Minister Giorgi Kakauridze announced that Tbilisi’s metro system will begin receiving new train cars in 2027. Speaking during a parliamentary hearing on next year’s budget, Kakouridze said the first advance payment under the state contract is expected to be made this month.
In July 2025, international tender winner GT Group was awarded a €150 million contract to supply 111 new metro cars to Tbilisi City Hall. The rolling stock will be manufactured by the Chinese company CRRC, with funding provided by the AIIB.
“The renewal of Tbilisi’s bus fleet is a continuous process that must happen
EU Neighbours east. systematically to avoid replacing hundreds of buses at once. The same applies to the metro: around 212 cars need to be replaced. This year, we signed both a financing agreement with the Asian
Infrastructure
and a supply contract. While deliveries may not start in 2026, new metro cars will begin arriving in 2027,” Kakauridze said.
Salome Zurabishvili: Georgia’s Economy is Worsening Due to Isolation
BY TEAM GT
from its June estimate.
Georgia’s upgraded forecast aligns with similar revisions from other international institutions. In recent weeks, both the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) raised their 2025 growth estimates to 7%, while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) adjusted its July projection to 7.2%.
The report also provided new projections for neighboring countries: Armenia’s growth outlook improved to 5.2%, while Azerbaijan’s and Russia’s forecasts declined to 1.9% and 0.9%, respectively. Turkey’s growth expectation was raised slightly to 3.5%.
Georgia’s economic situation is deteriorating as a result of the country’s growing isolation, former President Salome Zurabishvili said in an interview with Deutsche Welle.
“The economic situation in Georgia is bad and getting worse. This is because we are isolated. Most of our bilateral programs have been suspended by our partners, both Europeans and Americans. What was true on election day is still true today, because the opposition won the elections. It is still true that the vast majority of the Georgian population is pro-European and does not agree with the seizure of the future by Russia and its policymakers,” Zurabishvili stated.
She also accused the ruling party of trying to suppress ongoing protests through punitive measures.
“Among them are fines against people on the streets, as well as dismissals from work, in a country where there are no alternative jobs. The pro-European majority in Georgia has not disappeared. The
ruling party itself now faces acute internal problems, as they are not only detaining opposition leaders but also their own ministers on corruption charges,” the fifth president of Georgia said.
Image: Formula
Photo: Business Standard.
Photo:
Investment Bank (AIIB)
Ukraine Latest: Russia’s Gains and Energy Attacks Mark a Pivotal Week in the Russia–Ukraine War
COMPILED BY ANA DUMBADZE
This week’s fighting in Ukraine was marked not by dramatic breakthroughs, but by grinding advances across multiple fronts. Russia has renewed its focus on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure as winter approaches, and there are fresh signs that diplomatic efforts toward even a temporary pause have all but stalled. Kyiv reported steady tactical successes in key areas, though independent analysts and open-source maps confirm that Moscow continues to slowly expand the territory it holds. This steady progression is shaping both Ukraine’s military decisions and how Western allies plan to replenish Ukrainian defenses. Ukrainian commanders described heavy fighting in Donetsk and surrounding areas, where their forces are working to slow Russian advances and inflict costs on attacking units. President Zelensky and military officials pointed to significant Russian losses near Pokrovsk and Dobropillia—areas repeatedly identified as intense battlegrounds—though the situation remains fluid and costly for both sides. These reports align with continued fighting around Kupiansk, Lyman, and contested zones in Zaporizhzhia.
At the operational level, observers tracking the war note that Russian forces have kept up localized offensives, gaining ground bit by bit over the past month. One monitoring group described the past four weeks as showing a measurable uptick in Russian-held territory—a worrying sign for Kyiv, as this kind of attrition tends to benefit Moscow over time.
The battlefield map is shifting in small, incremental pieces rather than sweeping moves. Both sides report daily gains and losses of villages and forward positions. Russia claims new footholds in Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk, while Ukraine highlights its efforts to disrupt Russian logistics and cause heavy casualties. U.S.-based analysts noted the heaviest Russian casualties this week occurred in the Pokrovsk, Kupiansk, and Lyman sectors—areas where control over small terrain features can affect supply lines and firepower.
In his nightly video address, President Zelensky said: “We are inflicting frontline losses on Russian troops in Donetsk,” citing operations near Dobropillia. He acknowledged “intense fighting … difficult conditions” in areas like Kupiansk and parts of Zaporizhzhia. He also described conditions near Novopavlivka as “difficult,” adding that “our active defensive actions there are showing good results.”
A major development this week was the renewed Russian campaign against Ukraine’s energy and industrial infrastructure. Overnight strikes severely damaged a thermal power plant and took out transmission lines serving regions far from the front—an escalation that heightens humanitarian risks as cold weather sets in.
A Russian drone attack on Odesa injured five people and damaged both port and energy facilities, according to the regional governor. The strike knocked out power for 30,000 people and set containers of vegetable oil and wood pellets on fire.
Ukrainian energy providers and local officials said these strikes target more than just military assets—they aim to break civilian resilience and strain Ukraine’s war economy. The power plant strike injured several workers and
prompted authorities to open warming centers and emergency shelters in the affected areas.
Alongside damage to infrastructure, the human toll continues to mount. Throughout the week, missile and drone strikes on populated areas caused deaths and injuries. Emergency workers dug through rubble, treated the wounded, and helped displaced families. Ongoing power and water outages are making it harder to deliver aid and provide basic services along the front lines.
Ukraine is continuing to invest in longrange strike systems, counter-drone tools, and air defense to blunt incoming missile barrages and drone swarms. Russia, meanwhile, is deploying large-scale drone attacks and precision strikes to test Ukrainian defenses. Still, this week showed that neither side has a decisive weapon to bring the war to a close. The focus is shifting toward endurance—restocking ammunition, fixing damaged gear, keeping supply lines open, and maintaining infrastructure under pressure. Industrial capacity, foreign support, and resilience are becoming as important as firepower. Diplomatically, momentum has faded.
What once seemed like a possible path to talks has now grown cold. Russian diplomats said this week that the “impetus” for peace following the U.S.–Russia summit has largely disappeared, dampening hopes in some Western capitals. Kyiv continues to insist it won’t accept any deal that locks in territorial losses, while Moscow appears to see military leverage as its best bargaining chip.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov put it bluntly: “The impetus for peace in Ukraine after [the Putin–Trump] summit has been exhausted.”
He also pointed fingers at Europe: “This is the result of destructive activities, primarily by the Europeans.” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen responded strongly during a speech to the European Parliament: “This is not random harassment. It is a coherent and escalating campaign to unsettle our citizens, test our resolve, divide our Union, and weaken our support for Ukraine. And it is time to call it by its name. This is hybrid warfare.”
She urged European nations to go beyond traditional military responses.
Even as talks stall, Western and European support for Kyiv continues. Ukraine
approved the reallocation of more EU funds toward defense, aiming to speed up military procurement and bolster logistics as the fighting intensifies. Brussels and its member states are also keeping up macro-financial aid, helping Ukraine sustain governance and public services despite enormous pressure. On the battlefield, allied support remains crucial. From ammunition and air-defense modules to longer-range weapons funded through joint mechanisms, these transfers are central to Ukraine’s ability to counter Russian advances. The U.S. and NATO partners are using a combination of direct aid, pooled funds, and stockpile replenishment to keep weapons flowing—an approach likely to continue as the war grinds on.
Historically, Ukraine’s role as a gas transit hub to Europe gave it some protection—providing about 5% of the EU’s gas in 2024 and bringing in much-needed revenue. That arrangement offered a degree of deterrence against attacks on its energy grid. But since the transit deal expired on January 1, 2025, those safeguards have faded.
Now, Ukraine relies on domestic production (around 19 bcm last year) and imports via connections with Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. It’s also tapping into Balkan pipelines and receiving limited LNG shipments through Greece and Croatia. But continued strikes on power and gas infrastructure risk worsening civilian hardship and may increase political pressure on Ukraine’s allies to step up—not just with weapons, but with emergency energy and rebuilding assistance.
If Russia keeps making slow territorial gains, Ukraine faces tougher choices: where to send reserves, when to launch risky counterattacks, and how to minimize losses while holding the line.
The Russian attack cut power to 30,000 consumers. Archive photo by Ed Ram/Getty Images
Babiš’s Big Return: Czech Elections Reshape Political Landscape, Georgian Dream Unlikely to Reap any Benefits
INTERVIEW BY VAZHA TAVBERIDZE
Pavel Havlícek, Czech political analyst and expert on Central European affairs, sat down with RFE/RL’s Georgian Service to unpack the results of the country’s recent parliamentary elections — a vote that delivered a striking victory for former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš and left the ruling coalition reeling. He discusses what these shifts mean not only for Czech domestic politics, but also for the country's foreign policy, its stance on Ukraine, and its relationships with partners like Georgia.
LET’S BEGIN WITH THE BASICS: WHAT JUST HAPPENED IN THIS ELECTION? WHO CAME OUT AHEAD — AND WHO DIDN’T?
The headline story is the strong performance of Andrej Babiš, the former prime minister. He secured around 35% of the vote, higher than any result he’s achieved in the past. That’s significant not just numerically, but symbolically.
He successfully consolidated a broad segment of the anti-establishment electorate, drawing support from both farleft and far-right voters. That shift likely explains why traditional proRussian and fringe parties did so poorly: the far left failed to even cross the 5% threshold needed to enter parliament, and far-right groups, despite polling projections of 14–15%, ended up with under 8%. The ruling Spolu coalition was the biggest loser, dropping roughly 20 seats — a serious blow to its influence and standing.
WHAT SECURED BABIŠ’S TRIUMPHANT VICTORY? AND WHAT’S BEHIND THE RULING PARTY’S FAILURE?
That’s where it gets more complex. In absolute terms, the coalition actually performed relatively well, securing over 23% of the vote. A drop from 27 to 23 isn’t a crushing defeat, especially considering they beat Babiš last time by just one seat. What propelled Babiš to unprecedented heights was his ability to rally non-committed voters, many from disadvantaged regions, who backed him in hopes of improving their living conditions.
the EU for interfering in our domestic affairs.”
IS HE GOING TO HAVE ANY TROUBLE FORMING A COALITION WITH FREEDOM AND DIRECT DEMOCRACY (SPD) AND THE MOTORISTS FOR THEMSELVES?
We’re already seeing things move surprisingly quickly. The Motorists are demanding quite a few important portfolios in the new government, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while SPD is asking for the Ministry of the Interior. We’ll see how much Babiš is willing to accommodate them — for example, it’s all but guaranteed that he won’t give up the Ministry of Defense.
WHAT’S BABIŠ’S NEW CZECHIA GOING TO LOOK LIKE — BOTH DOMESTICALLY AND EXTERNALLY?
Babiš wants to be a recognized and respected leader whose word carries weight; he has no intention of being Europe’s black sheep like Orbán
SO SHOULD WE EXPECT THE ORBÁN & FICO UNION TO TURN INTO A TRIUMVIRATE?
There will certainly be some level of normalization of relations, especially with Slovakia. Czech-Slovak relations are really poor at the moment because of clashing agendas, especially regarding Russia and Ukraine. So there will certainly be some effort at normalization.
Babiš’s first foreign visit will be to Slovakia, where he’ll try to mend bridges.
But as far as entering a fully-fledged partnership with Fico and Orbán — that’s unlikely.
He is and will remain a pragmatic figure. It’s in his interest to maintain good relations with Germany and France, where he does a lot of his business. He also wants to keep an open channel with Poland, another crucial country, not only in terms of national security, but also for his private business interests. Babiš wants to be a recognized and respected leader whose word carries weight; he has no intention of being Europe’s black sheep like Orbán. If he were to travel to Moscow and start negotiating with Putin about returning to Russian gas, he’d be burned at the stake back home in Czechia. You can only stretch the rope so far, and it’s already pretty thin. So it’s impossible for him to fully join ranks with Fico and Orbán in opposing the rest of Europe. He’ll be far more flexible than either of them.
be as outspoken as it was under the former government. The key question is how that will affect things on the ground. They’ll probably be reviewing a lot of things, but I don’t think they’ll cancel the initiative altogether.
There’s both domestic and international pressure — domestically from the future opposition, and internationally from partners. I can already sense that they’ll probably try to find a new format for the ammunition initiative, maybe rename it, but not cancel it altogether. That would be a huge reputational risk, and economically it would make no sense. The initiative works by other countries coming to you with money, asking you to process things, and letting your companies earn, which in turn brings money into the state coffers. So Babiš would really be shooting himself in the foot if he did away with it.
WHAT DO YOU THINK THE MOOD IS IN MOSCOW? ARE THEY CELEBRATING?
Maybe not celebrating, because their biggest allies in the Czech political scene didn’t even make it into parliament, but perhaps they have reason enough to smile. The very harsh anti-Russian rhetoric is definitely disappearing, and that, for sure, makes the Kremlin happier than it was with the outgoing government.
A QUESTION ABOUT THE GEORGIAN DREAM PARTY, WHOSE LEADERS RUSHED TO CONGRATULATE BABIŠ. ARE THEY GETTING ANOTHER ALLY IN BRUSSELS ALONGSIDE ORBÁN AND FICO? AND OF THE SANCTIONS THAT HAVE RECENTLY BEEN IMPOSED — ARE THEY LIKELY TO BE REVERSED?
At this point, it seems unlikely that there will be any major shift in relations between Prague and Tbilisi. Of course, the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jan Lipavský, has been criticized for being overly activist, for his tweets and such, and that tone will most likely disappear. But I don’t see the names of the Georgian government officials, or representatives of the repressive apparatus, being removed from the sanctions list.
BUT THERE WON’T BE ANY MORE NAMES ADDED TO IT EITHER?
Jumping into bed with people like Ivanishvili would definitely damage Babiš's interests within the EU. He won’t be willing to pick up the baton for him
BEING A BILLIONAIRE BUSINESSMAN, ONE ASSUMES BABIŠ KNOWS HOW TO SELL HIS PRODUCT. WHAT WAS HIS SELLING PITCH TO THE CZECH VOTER, AND WHY WAS IT SO APPEALING?
Essentially, it was a promise of major socio-economic redistribution. His campaign was largely focused on domestic issues, painting a contrasting picture to what the current government offered — namely, a focus on foreign policy, security, and defense: “We are the ones defending Czechia from Russia; we managed to wean Czechia from Russian gas.”
Whereas Babiš was basically saying, “Look, I’m not the radical they make me out to be. We don’t want to make any radical moves. We want to stay in the EU and NATO — but we will criticize
I wrote an article called “The World According to Andrej Babiš,” emphasizing his focus on domestic dynamics. Domestically, he wants to return to some of his old projects — for example, electronic evidence of payments, a measure he introduced to fight the grey economy. He’s saying, “Look, we will mobilize resources.” He wants to strongly prioritize the private sector, which he sees as the main driver of growth, and he really wants to kick-start the economy.
Externally, it’s all quite simple and mostly negative: no to the EU migration deal, no to the Green Deal, no to Eurozone entry, and no to digital regulation. Babiš will be loosely following the Patriots for Europe narrative: “We’re a sovereign nation; we decide what’s best for us.”
When it comes to NATO and Visegrad Four cooperation, he’s very much in favor. He says these are the transatlantic bonds that hold us together, that they’re important for our place in the world. He’ll want a good relationship with the White House, good relations with the neighbors, above all, of course, with Orbán.
WHAT ROLE WILL PRESIDENT PAVEL PLAY? WILL HE TRY TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST BABIŠ ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND DEFENSE ISSUES?
He’ll definitely act as a guarantor of the constitutional order and of Czechia’s traditional alliances. He feels very passionately about NATO and the EU. In the run-up to the elections, he bluntly said that if there’s a candidate for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or Defense who questions membership in either of those alliances, he’ll outright veto their nomination.
There are also a number of other measures through which the president can make the government’s life quite difficult, and he won’t shy away from a fight if needs be. But at this point, especially early on, he’ll be quite tactical about it. He’ll pick his battles and focus on the big issues.
WOULD ONE OF THOSE BIG ISSUES BE THE CZECH INITIATIVE ON ARMS DELIVERY TO UKRAINE? WHAT DOES BABIŠ’S RETURN SPELL FOR UKRAINE IN GENERAL?
It’s hard to make any sweeping statements, but the support for Ukraine won’t
That’s true. It might slow down, but I’d say it’s still too early for Georgian Dream to celebrate and cheer for Babiš.
DO YOU SEE BABIŠ PUBLICLY ENDORSING GEORGIA IN BRUSSELS, MUCH LIKE ORBÁN DOES, SAYING, “THESE ARE GOOD GUYS”?
No way. And the issue with Babiš is that it’s really not in his interest. There’s nothing about this matter that would occupy his attention to the degree that he’d feel the need to speak out and champion the cause.
COULD IVANISHVILI, AS ONE BILLIONAIRE TO ANOTHER, PERHAPS BRING FORTH A PERSUASIVE ARGUMENT TO SWAY BABIŠ?
There’s no mutual interest there. And Babiš is very cautious — he has quite a good compass for these things, and he knows where something could actually harm him. Jumping into bed with people like Ivanishvili would definitely damage his interests within the EU, and he won’t be willing to pick up the baton for him. As I said earlier, he has no intention of becoming the new black sheep of Europe.
Czech election winner, billionaire Andrej Babiš. Source npr
Georgia’s PM Blames West for Silence as US Senators Condemn Democratic Backsliding
BY TEAM GT
Georgian Prime Minister
Irakli Kobakhidze is accusing the United States and the European Union of turning a blind eye to what he claims was a violent attempt to overthrow his government during the recent local elections. His comments come as tensions escalate between Georgia’s ruling party and its longtime Western allies.
“It’s been four days since a violent assault on the President’s Palace took place,” Kobakhidze said during a press briefing. “It was openly described beforehand as an effort to overthrow the government. And yet, not a single country or organization — not the US, not the EU — has spoken out against it.”
Kobakhidze’s remarks follow widespread protests that erupted across Georgia on October 4, the day of local elections boycotted by major opposition parties. Demonstrators clashed with police outside the presidential palace on Atoneli Street, where railings were torn down and an attempt was made to storm the grounds. Of note is the fact that elsewhere in the city- particularly outside the parliament building and along Rustaveli Avenue, the rally of, some say up to 20,000 people remained peaceful.
So far, 35 people have been arrested for the Atoneli uprising, including several high-profile opposition figures such as opera singer Paata Burchuladze and United National Movement (UNM) members Murtaz Zodelava and Irakli Nadiradze. Five opposition leaders have been formally charged with attempting to overthrow the government — a crime that carries up to nine years in prison.
US SENATORS SLAM GEORGIAN GOVERNMENT
OVER CRACKDOWN
Across the Atlantic, US Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Jim Risch (R-ID), both senior members of the Senate For-
eign Relations Committee, issued a strong rebuke of Georgia’s leadership. In a joint statement, they said the government's actions were pushing the country further away from democratic norms.
“We are increasingly troubled by the Georgian government’s response to the elections,” they wrote. “Outlawing opposition parties, jailing their leaders, and using politically motivated investigations — this is not how a democracy behaves.”
The senators also called out the government for targeting former US officials and individuals who had testified before Congress, calling the accusations “baseless.”
“Let’s be clear: it is Georgian Dream, not the United States, that is undermining Georgia’s democracy and future,” they said, urging the Trump administration to rethink its relationship with Tbilisi.
GOVERNMENT ACCUSES FOREIGN POWERS OF INTERFERENCE
Meanwhile, Georgian officials have pushed the narrative that foreign money
— particularly from the United States — is funding unrest.
Pro-government broadcaster Imedi TV aired a report alleging US-linked financial transfers from Thailand were being used to support radical opposition groups.
The US State Department quickly dismissed the claims as disinformation, saying the transactions in question were routine embassy payrolls processed through its financial services hub in Bangkok.
“Rather than asking for clarification, senior Georgian officials chose to echo these false reports,” a State Department spokesperson said. “This has contributed to an atmosphere of harassment toward current and former US embassy staff.”
The US also confirmed that it had requested a meeting with Georgia’s Ambassador to Washington, Tamar Taliashvili, to express concern. Georgian officials insist it was not a formal diplomatic summons.
EU ALSO RAISES
ALARM OVER ELECTION CONDUCT
Georgia’s relationship with the European Union is also under strain. The European
People’s Party (EPP), the largest group in the European Parliament, condemned the local elections as neither free nor fair, citing widespread voter intimidation, a crackdown on civil society, and harassment of opposition figures.
“The Georgian people want democracy, not repression. They want to move closer to Europe, not be pushed away,” the EPP said in a statement calling for sanctions on individuals close to Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili.
International observers have not yet released their final assessments, with the OSCE reporting that its monitoring efforts were delayed by late government invitations.
Prime Minister Kobakhidze rejected the criticism, accusing Western leaders of applying double standards. He took issue with EU officials who called on both the government and opposition to show restraint, arguing such neutrality ignored what he insists was a coordinated coup attempt.
“In a situation like this, telling both sides to behave — is that really a reasonable response?” he asked.
GEORGIAN OFFICIALS DOUBLE
DOWN
Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze responded to the US Senate criticism by accusing Senators Risch and Shaheen of siding with what he called the “global war party.” He reiterated the ruling party’s support for President Donald Trump, and expressed hope for a “reset” in USGeorgia relations.
“We’ve said it many times, and I’ll say it again — we support Trump in defeating the deep state,” Kaladze said. “We want a real friendship with the United States, one that’s built on mutual respect.”
While Georgian Dream continues to defend its actions as necessary for protecting national sovereignty and law and order, critics at home and abroad argue that the government is sliding toward authoritarianism.
With key opposition leaders behind bars, tensions rising with Western allies, and accusations of foreign meddling flying in both directions, Georgia finds itself in the middle of a political storm — one that shows no sign of clearing.
UN Human Rights Council Adopts Resolution on Georgia’s Occupied Territories
BY TEAM GT
The UN Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution on Georgia’s occupied territories, titled “Cooperation with Georgia,” the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.
The resolution, which Georgia has been submitting annually since 2017, was adopted for the first time by consensus, a move described by the MFA as “unprecedented support for Georgia.”
Deputy Foreign Minister Lasha Darsalia
presented the resolution during the council’s session, emphasizing the international community’s commitment to Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.
The resolution highlights ongoing concerns over the situation in the occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (“South Ossetia”) and calls for increased cooperation between Georgia and UN human rights mechanisms. Analysts say the consensus adoption signals growing international attention to Georgia’s territorial disputes and may strengthen diplomatic efforts to resolve long-standing tensions in the region.
At a joint committee session in Georgia’s one-party parliament, First Deputy Finance Minister Giorgi Kakauridze presented the draft state budget for 2026, pointing
The Deputy Minister said that these figures will allow the government to meet all ongoing financial commitments and fund current programs without compromising stability.
Kakauridze added that the version presented to the parliament is preliminary and will be finalized later this year after incorporating parliamentary recommendations.
He also reviewed the mid-year execution of the 2025 budget, emphasizing stable revenue performance and consistent adherence to fiscal discipline, which guided the formation of next year’s budget framework.
Left to Right: US Senator Jim Risch, PM Kobakhidze, US SenatorJeanne Shaheen. Source: AP
Photo:
BUSINESS
Ensemble: Authentic Chinese Dining at Hualing Tbilisi
BY KESARIA KATCHARAVA
Hotels & Preference Hualing Tbilisi is a five-star hotel that belongs to The French International Hotel Chain. Introduced to Georgia for the first time by “Hualing International,” it features the unique Chinese restaurant Ensemble, where guests can experience authentic dishes from various regions of China. Located on the second floor, Ensemble offers five private dining rooms and serves Xinjiang delicacies in an exclusive setting that also highlights Cantonese and Sichuan cuisine. Chef Jianhua Yin tells us more about the restaurant.
WHAT MAKES RESTAURANT ENSEMBLE SPECIAL?
First and foremost, at Ensemble we believe that Chinese cuisine is more than just food… it is an art that has been passed down from generation to generation. What makes us special is our dedication to authenticity, combined with a modern touch. We don’t just follow recipes; we reinterpret them, using locally sourced Georgian ingredients to enhance traditional Chinese flavors. This creates a unique fusion you won’t find anywhere else. In addition, we place great emphasis on the presentation of every dish, making it as visually appealing as it is delicious.
HOW MANY CHINESE CHEFS WORK AT ENSEMBLE?
We are proud to have eight incredibly talented chefs from China working in
our kitchen. Each of them specializes in a different regional cuisine, giving our menu an even more distinctive character. Their knowledge, experience, and passion for Chinese culinary traditions shine through in every dish they prepare.
CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT CHINESE CUISINE AND THE DISHES YOU PREPARE HERE?
China’s culinary landscape is remarkably
diverse, with each region offering its own unique flavors and cooking styles. At Ensemble, our mission is to showcase this diversity. We serve dishes inspired by Xinjiang cuisine, known for its bold and spicy flavors, such as our spicy chicken. We also feature Cantonese dishes, distinguished by their delicate taste, such as our Cantonese-style sweet and sour shrimp balls. And, of course, we prepare Sichuan specialties, includ-
ing Mapo Tofu. Altogether, Ensemble’s menu offers guests a culinary journey through China from right here in Georgia.
WHICH CHINESE DISHES ARE MOST POPULAR AMONG GEORGIAN CUSTOMERS?
Our Georgian customers are very open to discovering new flavors. It is motivating for us to see how much they enjoy
our food. I am especially pleased that Chinese cuisine is becoming increasingly popular here. In terms of favorites, Georgians particularly enjoy chicken with pineapple, Kung Pao chicken, and fried rice. They are also very fond of our dumplings and noodles, which we prepare fresh every day.
DO YOU USE ANY SPECIAL TECHNIQUES THAT MAKE YOUR DISHES UNIQUE?
Absolutely. One of our signature techniques is the slow-cooking of chicken and beef, which allows us to create tender, flavorful dishes. We also use the special wok hei method cooking over very high heat in a wok to achieve a smoky, stir-fried aroma that is distinctive to Chinese cuisine. And, of course, we focus heavily on balancing the flavors in every dish to ensure that all ingredients complement one another perfectly.
HOW DO YOU SEE THE PROMOTION OF CHINESE CULINARY CULTURE IN GEORGIA?
I believe that food is a universal language capable of building bridges between cultures and bringing people closer together. By sharing Chinese cuisine with Georgian customers, we hope to contribute to a deeper understanding and appreciation of Chinese culture. We also plan to host culinary events and workshops where people can learn more about Chinese cooking techniques and ingredients. Our goal is to create a space where people can come together to celebrate the richness and diversity of China’s culinary traditions.
Why Aviation Matters for Georgia’s Future
BY ARTEM KUZMENKO, AVIATION EXPERT AND CEO OF BLUE SKY ACADEMY IN GEORGIA
Aviation is more than just airplanes and airports. It is a strategic enabler of growth, connectivity, and opportunity. For Georgia— a country located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia—aviation holds the key to unlocking economic integration with the European Union, boosting tourism and trade, and positioning the nation as a regional hub for transport and innovation.
Over the past decade, Georgia has made undeniable progress in building its aviation sector. Modern airports in Tbilisi, Batumi, and Kutaisi now serve millions of travelers each year, strengthening Georgia’s role as a bridge between East and West. Yet for all these successes, the aviation industry still faces challenges that prevent it from realizing its full potential.
BEYOND THE MAJOR AIRPORTS
Tbilisi, Batumi, and Kutaisi stand as impressive gateways, but the real untapped opportunity lies in Georgia’s smaller airfields and general aviation sector. Facilities such as Natakhtari and other regional aerodromes remain underutilized, despite their potential to support private flying, flight training, medical transport, and emergency services.
In countries like the Czech Republic or Poland, general aviation is not a niche—it is the backbone of pilot training, regional mobility, and even economic development. Georgia can learn from
these examples: investing in local airfields, maintenance hangars, and training schools can transform aviation from a tourism-driven industry into a diversified ecosystem that benefits business, education, and national security.
THE KEY CHALLENGES
Several barriers continue to hold Georgia back:
1) Regulatory gaps – Georgia aspires to integrate fully with European standards (EASA), but harmonization is still incomplete. Without this, local licenses and certifications have limited recognition abroad.
2) Insufficient investment – Major airports attract funding, but regional infrastructure—runways, fueling systems, hangars—remains underdeveloped.
3) Human capital shortages – Pilots, instructors, engineers, and air traffic controllers are in short supply. Too often, Georgia relies on training abroad, creating bottlenecks and raising costs.
4) High operational costs – Aviation fuel is expensive compared to regional markets, while maintenance for light aircraft often requires sending them abroad.
These issues are not insurmountable, but they require strategic vision and decisive action.
LEARNING FROM NEIGHBORS AND EUROPE
Georgia is not alone in facing these challenges. Armenia and Azerbaijan have invested heavily in flight training centers and regional airfields, while Turkey has advanced its alignment with European standards, opening opportunities for its pilots in EU markets. In Central Europe, small countries like the Czech Republic have built powerful aviation ecosystems
Pilot training. Source: Blue Sky by nurturing general aviation and exporting trained pilots across Europe. The lesson is clear: treating aviation as a strategic industry—not just a sector for tourism—pays dividends in jobs, connectivity, and influence.
A STRATEGIC ROADMAP
If Georgia is to seize its opportunity, several steps are essential:
1. Accelerate regulatory alignment –Full harmonization with EASA standards would make Georgian licenses internationally recognized and attract European operators.
2. Invest in regional infrastructure –Modernizing Natakhtari and other airfields with proper runways, lighting, and hangars can extend aviation activity beyond the major hubs.
3. Develop local talent – Scholarships, tax incentives, and exchange programs with European training organizations
would strengthen the pipeline of pilots and engineers.
4. Stabilize fuel and maintenance access – Long-term supply contracts and the establishment of certified local maintenance centers would lower costs and improve reliability.
5. Position Georgia as a regional hub
– Leveraging its geography, Georgia could attract training organizations, MRO (maintenance, repair, overhaul) providers, and international partnerships, integrating aviation with logistics and transport strategies.
A VISION FOR THE FUTURE
Georgia has geography on its side, a growing tourism market, and the ambition to integrate with Europe. But vision must be matched with execution. By modernizing regulations, building infrastructure, and investing in human capital, Georgia can transform aviation into
a driver of sustainable growth. The choice is whether to remain a consumer of aviation services, or to become a producer of aviation expertise. With bold action today, Georgia can take its rightful place as a regional leader in the skies.
AUTHOR BIO
Artem Kuzmenko is an aviation and transport expert with over six years of experience in the development of flight training and aviation infrastructure in Georgia and Central Europe. He is the CEO of Blue Sky Academy in Georgia, a flight training organization preparing the next generation of pilots under EASA standards. Kuzmenko has been actively involved in aviation policy discussions, international cooperation projects, and the promotion of general aviation as a driver of economic growth in the Caucasus region.
FalLeaFlamenco
BLOG BY TONY HANMER
Autumn has arrived here in Svaneti with a silent explosion of color. It firmly challenges my recent preference for black and white in landscape photography: there are just so many hues on display together!
The evergreen trees are staying that way, of course, quite dark. Their cousins, the deciduous (leafed) trees, are bursting into all shades of yellow, orange and red, mixed in with the conifers. Above all this in altitude, but mixing in with it, are (currently short-lived) sprinklings of snow white and the severe blacks and grays of the mountain rocks themselves.
Our relative low altitudes in Etseri (“only” about 1600m) are slower to change than the higher places in and above Ushguli, a village which has already had two snowfalls itself. The cold up there does bring on the season faster, sooner. I rediscovered this accompanying some Swiss friends for an overnight to Europe’s, Georgia’s and Svaneti’s highest village recently. They had asked me to be their guide, and covered all my expenses en route. Some from the party of six I have known for over a decade; others were new to me, but our friendship flourished for the next few days.
Staying in the guest house of my former Ushguli hosts, Dato and Nanuli Ratiani, we first took a brisk walk the steep front way up to Queen Tamar’s Summer For-
tress, so named because its height above Ushguli renders it much less accessible in winter (not for me, though. Obsession won, nearly two decades ago, and I made the slog up in waist-deep snow). They were dazzled by the view of the village far below, presided over by Mt. Shkhara, Georgia’s highest mountain, whose glacier is also the headwaters of the Enguri. Weather, kindly having given us a beguiling half-look at Mt. Ushba the day before, now performed similar wonders with this imposing wall. These views are never guaranteed. A solid curtain of cloud is by no means rare; a cloudless blue sky not very interesting, though of course more revealing. We had the best, in between. Back down the longer, shallower back way and home for supper.
The next morning, after breakfast, we drove most of the way to the foot of Shkhara, then walked the remaining 2.5 km right to it and its glacier. Again, clouds moved around us, but left enough visible of the lifeless mountain peaks and the warm tones of the trees we hiked through, further along in their transition than Etseri’s lower forests, which will soon catch up. In my guide role, though, I found it a bit tough to give photography the sole attention it needs, and I don’t feel like I captured as much or as well as I would have had I been alone. But it was enough. I might go back soon, solo, to repeat the photographs attempt. No regrets, though. I was helping others fall in love with Georgia and Svaneti.
However… my best shot of autumn 2025 so far, which titles this article, is just a
tight close-up of a red grape leaf in our own tiny Etseri vineyard, shot before my Swiss guests arrived. The wind was blowing it around a bit, but I tried to hold it steady with one hand while my 90mm macro lens got in close for every detail. Multiple frames later (possible because I’m shooting digital, not 36 frames of 35mm film per precious roll), I had something special, though I didn’t even recognize her until beginning to process the frames on my laptop. A lady’s gloved hand holding the skirt of her red dress as she twirls through the flamenco. This time, such a small scene captures autumn for me better than all the fall colors of large forest landscapes I have seen, so far. Intimate and miniature, but saying it all nonetheless.
Tomorrow, and the weeks ahead before all the leaves come down and snow turns everything to starkest whites on blacks, may give me the wide landscapes I have come to expect here. But until then, and alongside them anyway, will stand out my tiny flamenco dancer, made of a single sunlit leaf, mostly tantalizingly out of focus even.
Tony Hanmer has lived in Georgia since 1999, in Svaneti since 2007, and been a weekly writer and photographer for GT since early 2011. He runs the “Svaneti Renaissance” Facebook group, now with over 2000 members, at www.facebook.com/groups/ SvanetiRenaissance/ He and his wife also run their own guest house in Etseri: www.facebook.com/hanmer.house.svaneti
Dancing a Nation into Being: The Sukhishvili Ballet at 80
BY IVAN NECHAEV
In Tbilisi, the Zurab Tsereteli Museum of Modern Art has become a temporary archive of movement. From October 2 through December 1, its whitewalled galleries are lined not with canvases but with garments that once spun in the air, photographs of bodies midleap, and the quietly monumental documents of a company that has carried the pulse of Georgia across the world for eight decades. The exhibition, “80 Years of Triumph,” marks the anniversary of the Georgian National Ballet, known simply—affectionately, nationally, almost as a proper noun— as Sukhishvilebi.
For most audiences outside the Caucasus, “national ballet” tends to evoke either state institutions of classical dance
or the folkloric troupes of mid-20thcentury cultural diplomacy. Sukhishvilebi, founded in 1945 by Iliko Sukhishvili and Nino Ramishvili, belongs to neither category entirely. It emerged from the folk traditions of the mountains and valleys— those fiercely athletic circle dances, the sword-flashing martial steps, the quicksilver footwork of the highland men—yet it transformed those vernacular forms into a stage language capable of conversing with global modernity. When the company appeared at the Paris Opera in 1957 and later toured the United States, they astonished audiences accustomed to classical uniformity. Here was a vision of a nation moving as if each dancer’s spine carried a line of ancestral melody, each heel-strike a fragment of mountain percussion.
The anniversary exhibition avoids nostalgia in the sentimental sense. Instead,
it proposes that Sukhishvilebi is itself a form of living archive. The curators— working closely with the company’s current directors, the descendants of its founders—have treated costumes not as decorative memorabilia but as choreographic documents. These garments are eloquent: they speak of the dialogue between folk pattern and stage spectacle, between the Georgian landscape’s earthy palette and the demands of the proscenium.
The photographs lining the walls function less as heroic portraits than as a cartography of movement across time. Early black-and-white images show Sukhishvili himself, wiry and intense, caught in a suspended mid-turn. Nearby, color prints from the 1970s capture the ensemble as it embraced grander, more theatrical formations in dialogue with symphonic arrangements of traditional
melodies. More recent images reveal the company’s experiments with lighting and spatial composition that resonate with contemporary dance aesthetics while remaining rooted in the idiom of the ensemble.
In Georgia, the company’s story has long been intertwined with the country’s own sense of cultural continuity. Through decades of political upheaval—from the late Soviet period to independence and the challenges of a globalized era—Sukhishvilebi carried an idea of Georgianness that was neither narrowly nationalist nor merely folkloric. It offered an embodied argument that a culture’s vitality can be preserved not by freezing it in time but by staging its capacity for reinvention. The juxtaposition reveals not rupture but continuity through adaptation— a principle as relevant to cultural heritage as to choreographic practice.
Exhibiting a dance company poses a paradox: how to present an art of motion in the stillness of a museum. The Tsereteli Museum resolves it by framing the exhibition as a study of traces—the marks
that movement leaves behind. In doing so, it aligns itself with a broader contemporary interest in performance archives and the anthropology of gesture. Scholars of dance history will find in this show a case study of how vernacular movement can be codified for the stage without losing its improvisatory spark. Cultural historians will recognize in it a narrative of a small nation’s assertion of visibility on the world’s stages. For the general visitor, it is simply an encounter with the beauty and discipline of bodies in motion, mediated through the objects and images that have outlasted the ephemerality of performance.
The Georgian National Ballet at eighty is not a relic; it is a reminder that certain artistic forms endure precisely because they have learned to transform themselves. By assembling its history within the rooms of a modern art museum, the curators suggest that choreography, too, belongs to the archive of modernity—not as a fossil but as a living thread of memory, carrying forward the rhythms of a place and a people.
Photo by the author
Photo by the author
When Maps Tell a Story: Inside Mappa
Cartographica’s Rare European Collection
BY TEAM GT
When Sulkhan Saladze came across a rare panoramic view of Tbilisi on a German auction site a decade ago, he had no idea it would change the course of his life. What began as a single purchase soon grew into a lifelong passion for old maps, books and engravings, each revealing stories of exploration, trade and the historic ties between Europe and Georgia.
Today, as co-founder of Mappa Cartographica, Saladze curates one of the region’s most remarkable private collections of antique maps, uncovering forgotten chapters of Georgia’s presence on some of the world’s oldest charts. We spoke with Saladze, former chair of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, a leading civil society organisation, about how his fascination began and the partnership that transformed a childhood interest into a thriving collection.
WHEN DID YOU BECOME INTERESTED IN CARTOGRAPHY AND ANCIENT BOOKS?
My interest goes back to my childhood and school years. Geography and history were always my favourite subjects. At my parents’ home in Keda, Adjara, where I grew up, we had a large library filled with encyclopedias, atlases, and books on history and ethnography. As a child, I dreamed of becoming an archaeologist above all else. In the end, I chose to study law and set aside my early fascination with maps and ancient books for a time.
HOW DID YOUR COLLECTION FIRST BEGIN, AND HOW DID THOSE EARLY MAPS AND BOOKS FIND THEIR WAY TO YOU?
It all started quite by accident. About ten years ago, a friend shared a post on social media about a German collector auctioning the first panoramic view of Tbilisi. I registered that same day and placed a bid. To my surprise, I won. That moment brought the first panoramic view of Tbilisi into my life, created by Jean Chardin in 1673 during his travels in Georgia and printed by Moses Pitt in London in 1686.
Buying that view marked the beginning of my renewed passion for old books
and maps, this time focused on early European editions. Soon after, I acquired a 1723 map of the Caspian Sea region, printed in Paris. It was the first detailed European map of the area, and the prominent Georgian writer, lexicographer, and diplomat Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani had contributed to its creation.
My collection later grew to include the French edition of Prince Vakhushti Batonishvili’s map of Georgia, printed in Venice in 1775. This edition introduced Georgian place names into European cartography, including Djiketi (Jiketi), Apkhazeti (Abkhazia), and Zemokartli (Upper Kartli).
Over time, I began gathering engravings and illustrations of Georgia and Georgians printed in Europe between the 16th and 19th centuries. Today, my private collection includes more than 300 maps and engraved prints.
TELL US ABOUT THE PROCESS.
EACH PIECE MUST BE A REAL ADVENTURE TO FIND AND BRING TO GEORGIA.
Finding old European maps, engravings or books involves balancing price, age, condition, rarity, markings and, above all, the connection to Georgia. Experience has taught me that haste never helps, but waiting too long can be equally risky. I often joke that the motto “make haste slowly” is the collector’s best friend. Nothing compares to the moment a new purchase arrives in Tbilisi. Unwrapping it and seeing a piece you may have searched for years is pure magic.
HOW DID MAPPA CARTOGRAPHICA BEGIN?
In early 2021, I completed my term as chairman of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association. I decided to take a break from my professional career and devote more time to my lifelong passion for finding, collecting and studying old European maps and books. After the pandemic, I realised that I no longer felt drawn to the pace and pressure of a lawyer’s life.
In August 2023, I met Mr Zaza Gogotishvili, the founder of Anagi, Georgia’s largest construction company. We are both from Batumi, and from our very first conversation it was clear that we shared a deep interest in collecting old maps and books. Mr Gogotishvili’s genuine enthusiasm for history and cartography made a strong impression on me. What began as a meeting of shared interests soon developed into a close collabora-
tion based on a common vision. It was Mr Zaza Gogotishvili who suggested creating a space where these rare European maps, books, and engravings could be presented to the public. In April 2024, we founded Mappa Cartographica and began building a collection. Initially, the focus was on Georgia. Later, we added collections on Azerbaijan and Armenia, with plans to include Central Asia. Today, Mappa Cartographica features maps not only of Georgia but also of the wider region.
Our themes range from ancient European maps depicting Georgia to maps of empires, seas, continents, and the world that include references to the country. Many of the maps, books, and engraved illustrations in the collection were printed centuries ago in Western Europe — in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Spain, Switzerland, and England.
The oldest map in our collection was printed in Ulm, Germany, in 1486. Based on Ptolemy’s Geography, it shows the lands between the Black and Caspian Seas, including the ancient Georgian kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia.
We continue to expand the collection,
a deeply rewarding process, especially given that when I began, few people in Georgia showed much interest in ancient maps. Today, our collection offers a remarkably rich display. Mr Gogotishvili’s unwavering support has been vital to the growth and success of Mappa Cartographica.
As interest grows, more people are discovering the fascination of old maps. This emerging community of collectors and enthusiasts is helping to uncover forgotten chapters of Georgian history. European archives still hold many undiscovered treasures, and each new map has the power to reveal fresh stories about our nation and its place in the world.
WHAT IS THE PROFILE OF MAPPA CARTOGRAPHICA?
At its core, Mappa Cartographica serves an educational and cultural mission, promoting and popularising historical discoveries. We have already hosted several talks on history, cartography, and topics related to our collection, and we plan to expand these educational initiatives to offer audiences even more ways to engage with the material.
Publishing is also a key part of our work. We produce map reproductions and other printed materials to highlight Georgian history and its earliest connections with Europe. It is fascinating to explore how European travellers perceived Georgians over the centuries. We plan to reprint rare books and atlases under the Mappa Cartographica Series.
We also provide opportunities for institutions and private collectors to acquire original printed editions — maps, books, and engravings that are centuries old. For passionate collectors, we offer consultancy services to help build collections or locate and acquire specific items worldwide.
WHICH MAPS OR BOOKS IN THE COLLECTION ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF?
We have many exceptional pieces, but three stand out in particular.
One belongs to what we call our “gold fund”: the Tabula Peutingeriana, an ancient Roman road map dating from the fourth century. The original has been lost, but a thirteenth-century copy preserved at the Austrian National Library in Vienna is recognised as the surviving version. Last year, with the help of our partners in the United States, we acquired the 1753 Vienna edition. Comprising twelve sections and stretching almost six metres, it shows the ancient Georgian kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia, along with fortress-cities such as Gonio, Batumi,
Phasis, and Sokhumi.
Another highlight is the first largeformat lithographic copy of the Hereford Mappa Mundi, dated 1872, originally created around 1300 in Hereford Monastery, England. Only about thirty of these early lithographic copies survive worldwide, and one now resides in our gallery. Among more than five hundred illustrations and inscriptions on the map is a depiction dedicated to ancient Colchis and the Golden Fleece.
We also hold the first printed edition, published in 1611 in Hanau, Germany, of the world map created by Genoese cartographer Pietro Vesconte between 1311 and 1325. This exceptionally rare piece is particularly significant because it is the first map in European cartography to label our country as “Georgia.” For us, it represents the birth certificate of the nation’s most widely recognised foreign name.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR MAPPA CARTOGRAPHICA? ARE THERE ANY UPCOMING DISCOVERIES OR INITIATIVES?
We have recently completed negotiations with one of the largest collector houses in the United States to acquire a 1696 Paris-printed map by Nicolas de Fer depicting the Great Wall of Asia. This map was produced in limited numbers for the French royal court and aristocracy, and its decorative panels include three illustrations related to Georgia, including a scene of Georgians entering Jerusalem under the flag of Saint George.
With the help of our international partners, we have also located the first Paris edition of Vakhushti Batonishvili’s map of Georgia, published in 1766. We hope to add this rare piece to our collection by the end of the year.
Last year in London, we acquired the travel atlas of Jacques François Gamba, France’s first consul in Tbilisi, dated 1826. Roughly half of its sixty lithographic illustrations relate to Georgia and Georgians, yet it has never been published in Georgia. Early next year, on the 200th anniversary of its creation, we will release the first Georgian edition of Gamba’s Atlas of Travels.
Soon, we will participate in the 24th Old Map Fair in Paris, alongside some of Mappa Cartographica’s well-known collector partners. I am confident that we will uncover many more rare maps, books, and engravings of significance to Georgia.
I can say with certainty that visitors to Mappa Cartographica, and anyone passionate about old European maps, can look forward to many exciting discoveries in the years ahead.
Sulkhan Saladze shares his fascination with ancient maps.
Georgia in the first edition of Jean Chardin’s Book of Travelers, published by Moses Pitt, London, 1686.
The Émigré Georgian Artists at the Motherland’s Service
BY NUGZAR B. RUHADZE
Sakartvelo, as any other nation in the world, is proud of its heritage and art because they define Georgia’s cultural identity, linking it to its past and, without any exaggeration, providing a sturdy foundation for the country’s future. Our collective memory has the potential of strengthening cohesion between our progeny and fostering mutual respect between the Georgians, preserving all our cultural assets, especially the most distinguished pieces of art, for subsequent generations to enjoy.
The Ministry of Culture of Georgia, as a bedrock of national culture and headed by its new minister Tinatin Rukhadze, is doing its utmost to bring our cultural heritage to the point where the nation’s unique identity is defined, influencing politics, society, and worldview to the benefit of the Georgian people.
Last week, in one of the buildings of the Georgian Museum of Fine Arts, a truly heartening event took place: Dimitri Bukiya, the son of the People’s Artist of Georgia Vladimir (Vova) Bukiya, solemnly presented for permanent preserve three wonderful paintings by his father to the Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts.
Vladimir Bukiya graduated from the Georgian Academy of Fine Art in 1976. Since then, over the course of decades, he has been steeped in a talented artist’s creative work and academic life, having given to the world myriad valuable pieces of art. Currently, this well-known Geor-
gian painter is living in New York, USA, successfully continuing with his creative endeavor, trying to see the world with the eye of an artist who is little by little losing both his eyesight and his spot in the field.
Bukiya’s works have been exhibited in countries like Georgia, Estonia, Russia, France, Spain, and America, everywhere attracting a huge deal of attention from art lovers, dealers, and collectors.
Vladimir Bukiya never desisted from broadening his innovative horizons, having created a whole series of abstract works, cloisonné, sculptural pieces, and panels.
Dimitri Bukiya made a vast and per-
fectly explanatory presentation of his father's work and his desire to continue donating his works to the Museum of Fine Arts. This time it was three pieces. Thirty more are in store, waiting for shipment to Tbilisi. These are the precious assets, and the stories connected with them, that symbolize our nation's continual strength and livelihood, its enduring values, sense of pride, and selfworth. They are erecting a real bridge between our past and future. The act is a sure sign of sustainable development and cultural continuity. It definitely develops a sense of belonging. The event was celebrated by a solid audience of Tbilisi intellectuals and art
buffs, who know what a noble gesture like this one means for the nation. The event was organized and monitored by Neli Kobiashvili, the well-known Georgian journalist and the author of a popular edition about the great Niko Pirosmani, the world-renowned Georgian primitivist painter of the 19th and 20th centuries.
Minister Rukhadze made a meaningful talk that elucidated the importance of events like this one, having briefly but very clearly outlined the attitude of the current Georgian government towards arts, donations thereof, and the value of the repatriation of the Georgian artifacts in general. With an underlined respect for the attending public, the lady minister expressed her sincere gratitude to the attending audience for their participation in the event.
The famous Georgian sculptor Gya Japaridze talked about Vladimir Bukiya’s life, works, and personality, emphasizing his place and importance in the realm of Georgian arts. The fact that they went to the same art school made his talk even more attractive.
While talking about Vladimir Bukiya, we should not forget about other outstanding Georgian artists who have lived in America like him and have acted in the same patriotic way. For instance, Vladimir Kandelaki and Otar Shiukashvili. It is a wonderful feeling that the émigré artists are not forgetting their motherland and are proud to have their works exhibited in Sakartvelo more than anywhere else.
Patriots and talents like them make a huge difference for Georgia, which is not just about another piece of art, whatever extrinsic price it might have, but the unfading intrinsic value harbored in their gifts to the homeland forever. It is definitely not the everyday political triviality that constructs this nation’s appreciable destiny, but the way the nation is treated by its sons and daughters, notwithstanding their whereabouts or standard of living.
Mapping the Human Condition on Stage: Tbilisi’s Theater Festival Asks the Questions that Cross Borders
BY IVAN NECHAEV
By mid-autumn the Georgian capital once again became a meeting ground for the world’s stages. The Tbilisi International Festival of Theater 2025, long a point of exchange between East and West, presented an international program that made the city feel briefly like a laboratory of contemporary performance.
The festival opened earlier with Richard III by Gesher theater from Tel Aviv— an event we discussed in last week’s issue—but what followed, over the next
10 days, was a tightly composed sequence of works that treated theater not as escapism but as an instrument of inquiry.
The Georgian audience encountered, in succession, a British work that recasts the heroic quest as an inner psychological struggle; a Greek meditation on routine as quiet surrender; a Latvian film-performance in which Mikhail Baryshnikov lends a human face to the exhaustion of power; and an Israeli dance piece that imagines the body as a vessel of light.
In a year when theater everywhere faces the pressures of digital distraction and political fatigue, this program stood out for the way it trusted the stage — and the body on it — to carry philo-
sophical weight.
THE PULSE OF A HEROIC QUEST: TRAPLORD BY IVAN MICHAEL BLACKSTOCK (UK)
At first glance “TRAPLORD”, presented at theater Factory 42, has the energy of a club night: bass-driven sound, streetinflected movement, a sharp visual edge. Yet its hour-long arc unfolds as a contemporary version of the katabasis— a descent into the underworld in search of self-knowledge. Choreographer and cultural innovator
Ivan Michael Blackstock, who received the 2023 Olivier Award for this work, uses dance, spoken word, and theater as interwoven languages. The piece addresses what it means to grow up as a Black man in a society that projects menace onto you before you have even lived your own story.
Blackstock’s choreography fractures and recombines: explosive jumps break into weighted stillness; hands reach outward as if testing the air for permission. The text is sparse, less declarative than confessional.
THE SIEGE OF ORDINARY LIFE: THE HOUSE BY DIMITRIS KARANTZAS (GREECE)
Two days later the stage of theater Factory 42 was transformed into a nondescript urban apartment for Dimitris Karantzas’s “The House,” commissioned by Athens’s Onassis Stegi.
A man and a woman — never defined as couple, siblings, or flatmates — go through the rituals of a typical day: folding clothes, doing accounts, arranging the shopping. The gestures, at first merely domestic, acquire a ritualistic rhythm. The outside world exists only as a faint electronic hum.
Gradually one realises that the routines have become fortifications: a strategy to keep at bay the unarticulated threats beyond the apartment door. The piece suggests that the most pervasive violence of contemporary urban life is not spectacular but incremental — the slow erosion of agency by the sedatives of routine and image.
AUTHORITY IN DECLINE, SEEN IN A FACE: THE WHITE HELICOPTER BY ALVIS HERMANIS (LATVIA)
The festival’s marquee event came on October 2: Alvis Hermanis’s “The White Helicopter”, a hybrid of film and staged presentation, centred on the last day of Pope Benedict XVI before his 2013 resignation — the first papal abdication in six centuries.
Rather than exploring Vatican intrigue, Hermanis trains his camera — with cinematographer Andrejs Rudzats — on the face of Mikhail Baryshnikov, who portrays Joseph Ratzinger. The closeups, often unflinching, turn the actor’s features into a topography of thought: furrowed lines as ridges of memory, eyes reddening as conscience tightens its grip.
The dialogue between the Pope and his secretary, played with measured dryness by Kaspars Znotinš, becomes a debate on Europe’s moral exhaustion.
The production’s intellectual restraint is its drama: in Baryshnikov’s stillness one senses the solitude of a figure confronting the limits of inherited authority.
A SPIRAL OF LIGHT AND GRAVITY: MANA BY NOA WERTHEIM (ISRAEL)
The international program closed on October 5 with “Mana”, created by choreographer Noa Wertheim for Israel’s
Vertigo Dance Company, at the grand Marjanishvili theater.
Drawing on a line from the Zohar — “What is repaired first, the vessel or the light?” — Wertheim sets out to choreograph the breath itself: the interval between inner and outer worlds. Her long-developed spiral movement language lends the work the sensation not of staged spectacle but of a living current, at once rooted and ascending. The dancers — ten in all — move as if following the logic of wind-driven waves: surges, retreats, recombinations. The hour-long performance felt closer to ritual than to display.
A FESTIVAL AS A CARTOGRAPHY OF QUESTIONS
The four works, viewed in succession, chart a kind of map of contemporary concerns. Blackstock’s inner heroic quest in a society of stereotypes. Karantzas’s portrait of routine as quiet capitulation. Hermanis’s meditation on the solitude of authority. Wertheim’s search for reconciliation between body and spirit. Each arrives from a different cultural context and artistic idiom — spoken word and street-derived dance, parabolic domestic theater, filmic psychological portrait, meditative choreographic ritual — yet together they trace the outlines of the twenty-first-century predicament: identity constrained, attention fragmented, institutions in doubt, the body still the primary site of meaning. Tbilisi, historically a crossroads of empires, languages, and faiths, proved again that a theater festival can be more than a seasonal celebration. It can serve as a civic space where the fractures of contemporary existence are staged with enough clarity to be recognised, if not yet resolved.
Photo by the author
Exhibition of Wekua and Djorjadze’s Works from the ATINATI Collection at the ATINATI Cultural Center
She currently lives and works in Germany. Her artwork is characterized by diverse forms of sculpture and installation.
Djorjadze often works with a variety of materials: textiles, wood, glass, plaster, and metal. By combining these different materials, she creates forms that are both delicate and powerful. Her works, often minimalist and abstract, carry a strong emotional and poetic resonance. Motifs of impermanence, temporality and fragility are often found. Her art explores space, time, memory and cultural identity.
Thea Djordjadze’s art is often seen as a space of borders and intercultural dialogue. Her work is deeply connected to Western contemporary art, while also carrying traces of post-Soviet experience and personal memory.
Andro Wekua was born in Sokhumi, Georgia, in 1977. Producing multifaceted pieces that include painting, sculpture, video art, installation and graphics, Wekua is one of the most famous Georgian contemporary artists in today’s international art scene.
He spent his childhood and youth in Abkhazia, but after the war in the 1990s, he was forced to leave Sokhumi with his family. This traumatic experience is often reflected in his work. He studied at the Tbilisi Academy of Arts, and, later, in Basel, Switzerland.
Andro Wekua's art stands at the intersection of personal trauma and collective memory. His characters are often transparent, dreamlike figures—half-realistic, half-imaginary. He works in a plethora of media, creating life-size sculptures, painted abstractions, and cinematic videos. His works are on the one hand deeply intimate, and on the other deal with universal themes: war, displacement, time. His style is often described as "melancholic surrealism"—with spaces and figures merging in reality and dream.
This aluminum sculpture, painted with acrylic, depicts a magnolia branch. The magnolia, which once flourished in Wekua’s childhood city of Sokhumi, becomes a symbolic element in his sculpture—preserving the world he lost in his youth. The work embodies the absence of familiar places and memories, and serves as a nostalgic icon of a vanished past.
In it, Wekua combines personal nostalgia with the archaic symbolism of nature. At glance a simple flower, it
becomes a metaphor for a lost homeland, the impermanence of time, and the continuity of life.
The sculpture features a girl sitting on a wolf’s back. She is depicted with a calm, almost emotionless look, and the wolf as a strong, darkly symbolic figure.
It is an image from a fairytale scene—one that is simultaneously connected to the world of childhood, mythology, and the subconscious. As in other works by Wekua, here, too, the boundary between reality and the imaginary is felt.
For Wekua, the wolf is associated with both danger and natural force, while the girl is a symbol of peace; a weak being. Their unity shows the simultaneous coexistence of man and nature, weakness and strength. As said, the themes of war and lost homeland are often present in Wekua’s work, and here, too, we can see the vulnerability of man in relation to a violent environment.
This work can be considered a metaphor for the confrontation between man and the forces surrounding him. The girl on the wolf seems to carry the combined weight of personal stories, nostalgia, and collective myths.
As in Wekua’s other works, this film creates an intense and charged space, where time is suspended between past and the future. The film extends the visual language Wekua has cultivated over the years: house, landscape, interior,
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animal, figure, face, car. These motifs intertwine and ultimately create a woven work of spiritual landscapes. Like fragments from memory, they show a unity of places, memories, feelings, fears, and traumas deeply embedded in the subconscious, generating a special emotional charge.
We can describe this video as a visualization of memory, seeing Wekua’s personal stories transformed into a collective memory where reality and imagination intertwine.
In the film, we see the influence of the artist’s childhood—the city of Sokhumi, and the years spent in Tbilisi. We can also see how Georgia was affected by the civil war. All this, Wekua combines with Western tinges. Here, East and West meet not as clear contradictions, but in a complex and intricate unity.
In this film, Wekua creates an emotion-
ally powerful mood with minimalist methods. Realistic images, people, animals, objects, and places are featured in generalized time and space. The climax of the film is a palm tree engulfed in flames. Here, the palm tree appears to us as a metaphor of Wekua’s childhood home, Abkhazia, which finally transforms into a statue and a symbol of eternity.
The work consists of a thin metal structure used to form a light, minimalist frame. A soft, yellowish-cream fabric is inserted into the frame, appearing to have been randomly folded and rolled. The composition blends a strict geometry and an organically soft form. The use of soft material creates the sensation that the work is in constant flux, as if it could fall apart or be replaced at any time. This feeling of transience and incompleteness is common in Djorjadze’s work.
The metal structure is associated with solidity, and the foam with a sense of vulnerability: a union that presents the coexistence of opposite states. It does not have an obvious narrative, but it nonetheless evokes emotional associations: it can be imagined as a fragment of an internal space, a trace of a body, or an abstract object that combines the existential and the abstract.
The work can also be perceived as an artifact of personal space, where the soft material resembles the body or an everyday object, and the minimalist frame the architectural frame of the space.
Thea Djorjadze’s abstract sculpture expresses a sense of transience, vulnerability and contrast. By combining soft and hard elements, the artist creates an abstract yet emotionally charged object that can be considered as a combination of body, space and memory.
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