Georgia celebrates German Language Month
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Four Georgian cities will host a diverse program of cultural, educational and entertainment activities as the country celebrates German Language Month.
From next week nearly 30 public events and performances will take place in capital Tbilisi, in the western city Kutaisi, seaside resort town Batumi and in southern Akhaltsikhe to celebrate the language spoken in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
The program will involve theatre shows, literature evenings, film screenings, workshops and more.
The month of celebrations will officially open on April 26 with a concert by German folk band Gankino Circus at Tbilisi's Movement Theatre.
Georgian writer and dramatist Nino Kharatishvili will be awarded the German-Georgian Prize for Culture within the program. Photo by Marcus Kaufhold.
Visitors of the month-long program are also invited to a theatre production titled Anger, based on a play by Germany-based award-winning Georgian author Nino Kharatishvili.
The theatre show will be presented at Tbilisi's Tumanishvili Film Actors Theatre for three days starting May 6, before the Georgian dramatist is awarded the German-Georgian Prize for Culture on May 8.
Writers from German-speaking countries will also join the German Language Day celebrations in Georgia.
Austrian writer Ludwig Laher will hold a literature evening on May 16 in Georgia's capital before travelling to Akhaltsikhe to host a meeting with literary enthusiasts on May 16.
Organisers of the program invite book fans to meet and talk with German author Angela Steidele – the winner of the 2015 Bavarian Book Award for her debut novel Rosenstengel.
Meanwhile sporting events will also feature in the celebratory agenda, with Kutaisi hosting a Goethe Cup football tournament on May 21.
Other highlights of the program include a Rustaveli Cinema Theatre screening of the 2015 family film Heideabout a young girl living in the Swiss Alps with her grandfather and a game of Geocaching involving German poems.
The game, held in Tbilisi streets, will involve participants looking for poems hidden in public spaces and uploading photos or videos upon their discovery to social network Facebook. Each upload will bring points to discoverers, with individuals, couples or groups gaining most points over three days of the play Find a Poem announced winners of the game.
The German Language Month will end on June 3 with a presentation of the educational program Teaching the Teaching of German Language, a joint project of the Goethe Institute Georgia and Ilia State University.
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