Georgian Culture Week in London
Tweet 
Share
Georgian Culture Days will be held in London with the support of the Georgian Ministry of Culture. For the first time, Georgia will also participate in the Londons Christmas Fair.
Culture Week will last from November 27 untill December 2 and is organized by the analytical online newspaper Iberia, the British-Georgian Chamber of Commerce and a UK-based Georgian newspaper Britaineti.
The Culture Days will start tomorrow with the exhibition of Georgian photographers Giorgi Abdaladze, Irakli Gedenidze and Zurab Kurcikidze and will continue with the presentation of David Magradzes poetry collection "Giacomo Ponti on November 29.
Irakli Gedenidze was the personal photographer of Ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili until he would be accused of passing secret information regarding the movements of the President to Russian intelligence and charged with espionage in 2011. The Counter-Intelligence Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia detained three other Georgian photojournalists also: Gedenidzes spouse, Natia Gedenidze, photographer for the Georgian newspaper Prime Time; Zurab Kurtsikidze, a photographer for the European Pressphoto Agency in Georgia; and Giorgi Abdaladze, a photographer for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia (MIA). MIA insisted that the three photographers longtime friendship was in fact functioning as an underground spy cell. Georgia has vigorously defended the arrests, implying they were politically motivated or an attack on press freedom. Mr. Abdaladzes lawyer in the published a letter saying that the charges were in retaliation for him having distributed photographs of a May 26 rally that had been violently broken up by riot police. Soon after this, Kurtsikidze and Abdaladze agreed to plead guilty to espionage and as a result, they were released on probation, with conditional sentences ranging from six months to three years. The photographers were discharged from accusation and criminal record only in March 2013.
In addition, a Georgian wine tasting will be held on December 1. The event is organized by the National Agency of Wine and Georgian Ministry of Agriculture and aims to popularize Georgian wines. The museum Vinopolis will host the occasion in the historic district of London, which has 25 million visitors every year. "Consequently, wine tasting in Vinopolis will significantly contribute to the popularization of the Georgian wine on British market", Ministry of Culture said in official statement.
Culture Days will end with the Christmas Fair and market, which will also be presented by the Georgian Ministry of Culture. From November 28 till December 2, British viewers will get acquainted with Georgian handcrafts and traditional Georgian art.Interestingly, After France, Switzerland, Italy and Germany, Georgia is the very first country from post-Soviet space participating in the Christmas Fair on Hibernia Wharf. The Georgian Market will also present books published by the Museum of Film, Theatre Music and Choreography, printed materials on Georgian modernism, and souvenirs.
The Fair will be opened with a concert from the Georgian State Ensemble Rustavi. It aims to increase awareness of Georgia for foreigners, to introduce them the rich culture of the country, and promote Georgian agricultural products on the London market.
Visitors and residents of the Polish seaside city Gdańsk will have the opportunity to learn about Georgian dance, music and arts for a week starting this Friday.
Hungary will be the next country to host a celebration of Georgian culture as part of new efforts to develop closer cultural and educational relations.