Georgia selected as Guest Country for the major Europalia Arts Festival
Europalia is a major biennial Festival held in Brussels and other locations in Belgium. Photo: Europalia Arts Festival.
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Georgian art and culture will be in focus of European institutions and citizens in the 2022 edition of Europalia Arts Festival, a major biennial event hosted in Brussels.
All facets of the country’s creative potential and cultural legacy will be highlighted for Festival visitors by a representation of Georgia as the official Guest Country between October 2022 and January 2023.
The selection of Georgia for the status was revealed earlier today by Natalie Sabanadze, the country’s Ambassador to Belgium and Head of Georgian Mission to the European Union.
The most recent Europalia edition celebrated Indonesia, with the next Festival set to host Romania:
Speaking to reporters at Georgia’s Foreign Ministry, Sabanadze said the Festival would bring a “celebration of Georgian culture” to Brussels, Belgium and European capitals.
Europalia editions involve hundreds of events and activities showcasing guest countries during the biennial occasions run under the patronage of the royal family of Belgium.
The next Festival edition in 2019-2020 is dedicated to Romania, while the most recent event highlighted art and culture of Indonesia.
Georgian arts and culture were showcased at this year's Frankfurt Book Fair within the Guest of Honour status for the country. Photo: Georgia's Culture Ministry press office.
The Europalia team develops its editions in cooperation with a national team from the selected Guest Country, with its “multidisciplinary programme” reaching a “broad European audience not only with exhibitions, but also with performing arts, music, literature, conferences and film”, organisers said.
Hosted since 1969, the most recent Festival was visited by around 570,000 visitors and spectators going to 20 exhibitions, 75 concerts, 98 dance and theatre performances, 32 literary events and 37 film screenings.
Georgian culture and arts were most recently represented at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, where artists, authors and cultural institutions from the country were introduced to audiences in German-speaking countries in the run-up and during the major event.
The Frankfurt Book Fair, the world’s largest literary occasion that showcased Georgian authors and culture this year, concluded last weekend with awards to the best Georgian literature of 2018, concerts and a handover to next year’s Guest of Honour.
Georgia has officially joined a year-long, Europe-wide program of exhibitions, conferences, performances and workshops in celebration of the European Year of Cultural Heritage throughout 2018.
A selection of some of the most notable Georgian films, from a Soviet classic to contemporary releases, will be screened at Brussels’ BOZAR Centre of Fine Arts in a new festival launched by the venue next week.
The rich collections of cultural exhibits at the Georgian National Museum were on display for a high-profile visitor this week as Tibor Navracsics, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, was introduced to the heritage in Tbilisi.
Georgia’s culture ministry has announced it will establish a national fund of culture to support financing of cultural projects, develop creative industries and contribute to Georgian artists’ participation in international platforms, as part of a large-scale reform of the cultural field.
A Georgian research project for exploring and preserving history of textile in South Caucasus has been declared as one of the winners of this year’s European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage.
A series of displays and talks at Mexico's International Image Festival are introducing Georgia - a first-time participant of the event - to viewers through its Invited Country status.
The Europalia arts festival, a biennial multidisciplinary event highlighting artistic and cultural facets of select countries in its editions, will this year showcase Georgia through the country's tradition of polyphonic singing, remembrance of its traumatic historical events and the legacy of its avant-garde art scene in the first decades of the 20th century.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Wednesday said the showcase of Georgia’s “ancient history and rich culture” through exhibitions, shows, theatre performances and literary evenings of this year’s Europalia arts festival in Brussels was a “great honour” for the country.