Abstracts - International Initiative for Georgian Cultural Studies

Maia Shavishvili
Department of Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture, Monuments Protection and Sport of Georgia.
Georgia
General Overview of the Restoration field in Georgia
Recently the processes of heritage protection, as well as restoration and rehabilitation of cultural heritage
sites, have been more actively managed by the Ministry of Culture, Monuments Protection and Sport
of Georgia. The branch developed out of multidisciplinary studies and is based on international experience.
Its work is promoted in different directions: “State Program for Rescuing Unique Monuments” is currently
under way. Some one hundred monuments, including paintings, architecture and manuscripts, have been
restored under this program. Special emphasis has also been placed on the monuments listed as the UNES-
CO World Heritage Sites, and activity has begun on the following sites: Rehabilitation and infrastructure
development of the Gelati Monastery complex; urgent intervention in a small Jvari Church in Mtskheta;
documentation in the “Bagrati Church” in Kutaisi and carrying out research activities.
The ministry collaborates with foundations for development of the branch to promote its work. Thanks
to the support granted, the following work has been accomplished: translation and publication of a professional
book under the authorship of I. Jakiletto, G. Caneva and I. Massari; publication of the collection of
works “Conservation of Architectural Monuments”, among others.
The Faculty of Restoration of Fine Arts and Architecture, earlier integrated with other faculties, was
founded in 2004 as an individual unit at the A. Kutateladze Tbilisi State Academy of Art. A diagnosticresearch
laboratory was set up at the above facility, and a special education program, which meets international
standards, was developed.
As a result, interest in the field has increased. Georgian government grants have paid more attention
to restoration activities. Popularization of the branch has generated great demand. It is attracting young
people, who now have of the opportunity to gain skills by working along side professionals.
The Archives of the Department of Monuments’ Protection, formerly an independent body, was also
integrated into the Ministry. Materials on restoration projects since 1920s are preserved in the archives. Today,
parts of these documents can also be considered “monuments” of cultural heritage. They are of special
value to restorers when accomplishing restoration and intervention activities.
Sabina Vedovello
C.B.C. Conservazione Beni Culturali. Italy
A Shared Project
In this paper I would like to provide an overview of a long period of collaboration which began in 1996
with funding from the World Bank Italian Trust Fund.
That initial experience laid the foundations for an understanding of some of the principal problems
facing the cultural heritage of Georgian monuments, and for the exchange of ideas about project planning
and treatments.
Three joint projects have been worked on up till now, in the churches at Kintsvisi, Timotesubani and
Martvili. In each case, while the problems specific to the individual structures have been studied, at the same
time each project has thrown light on approaches which can be applied in other situations. Furthermore, in
each project Georgian professionals have shown ever higher levels and stronger senses of autonomy.
The illustration of the three different projects, pointing out their intrinsic differences and sketching their
separate evolutions, provides an idea of the complexity of the situations that had to be faced, and also shows
how we arrived at the various treatment methods adopted, in each case following strict criteria aimed at
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