Abstracts - International Initiative for Georgian Cultural Studies

suggesting well-defined itineraries both in Tao-Klarjeti and elsewhere Georgia, preparing visual material
and texts for Turkish, Georgian, European and Asian tourist guides, and organizing seminars and lectures
for hotel administrators and inhabitants in the vicinity of the monuments and museums, which will be
discussed with the intention of initiating a Turkish-Georgian cooperation, not only to realize a well-equipped
and organized program for cultural tourism but also to diminish the negative effects of mass tourism.
Maka Dvalishvili
Georgian Arts and Culture Center. Georgia
Cultural Projects for Development
CULTURAL TOURISM
Throughout history, “Culture” (in particular “Art”) was considered to be a field of creativity, and of
consumption of “noble” and “extraordinary” strata in society. Culture in the counties of the Soviet Union
was subsidized by the government and was almost never regarded as an economically beneficial activity
or business (except for artisanship). Contrary to in the West, this approach to culture still continues in
Post Soviet countries, where the role of culture is merely reduced to aesthetic rather than economic value/
function.
Therefore in terms of the market economy, culture should acquire an important role in economic
development. The Western European and US experience proves that the percentage of cultural product
income equals—and some cases exceeds—profits garnered in fields such as small businesses, tourism,
crafts-based enterprises, and the movie or music industries.
The field of culture acquires a special economic importance in a country such as Georgia, with its deeprooted
cultural heritage and its tradition of cultural philosophy that has been an integral part of Georgian
national identity for centuries. Despite the observed trends of overall cultural decline in modern Georgia,
the idea of a national cultural identity has strong hold in Georgian consciousness, which makes transforming
culture into profitable field viable.
However, it is important to draw line between commercialized culture and authentic art. The culture
economy is comprised of such field as cultural tourism, creative industries, cultural districts etc. that fosters
an environment for further development of these fields as well as improves their sustainability. (It must be
noted that this concerns only the applied fields but not the fine arts).
Finally, the most important point is that transformation of culture into a profitable product should
not threaten the artistic value of the art. Consequently, the tools for protection of artistic values should
be determined and worked out. It is especially true that while cultural tourism is in its early stages of
development in Georgia, all negative impacts of non-organized tourism should be investigated. To do so,
we can consider the experiences of such cities as Venice, where the growth of the tourism industry has had
a negative impact on local cultural heritage and infrastructure;
The paper analyzes and presents considerations for the development cultural management and studies
cases of cultural project development in Georgia.
Mary Kay Judy
Architectural and Cultural Heritage Conservation. USA
Georgian Cultural Heritage as an Economic Resource
The paper will establish that stewardship and legal protection of Georgian cultural heritage has direct
benefits as a resource for local economic development.
While the protection of local cultural heritage is vital for the preservation of national history and identity
for generations to come- it also comprises a myriad of resources from Old Tbilisi, medieval churches and
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