National Museum exhibition, talks to explore communism in Georgia

Tbilisi residents and visitors interested in contemporary history are invited to a German-Georgian retrospective on communism and its influence on the 20th century Georgia in an exhibition Communism After 100 Years.

A display of visual works and a program of public talks will focus on the subject in the auditorium of the Georgian National Museum on Wednesday.

Informative banners and Soviet-era propaganda posters as well as photographs illustrating the theme will be put on display for viewers.

The Red Army enters Tbilisi in February 1921 to complete the Soviet takeover of Georgia. Photo: National Parliamentary Library press office.

With this exhibition and discussion we will try to create a platform for rethinking the thesis of ‘the end of the communism’ [...]”.

Together with the additional material representing local narrative of the communism the exhibition will provide the global context for understanding the communism in Georgia”, said a preview from organisers.

Talks will be given at the event by academics dealing with varied historical subjects around the era.

A Soviet-era banner with a slogan for a high harvest goal. Photo: National Parliamentary Library press office.

The roster of speakers will include professor Jorg Baberovski and doctor Sarah Caroline Matuschak from the Humboldt University of Berlin.

Academic figures working in Tbilisi and offering their insight to the audience ill include professor Otar Janelidze from the Tbilisi State University as well as professors Timothy Blauvelt and Oliver Reisner from the Ilia State University.

The speakers will talk about subjects including Art and Power in Totalitarianism, Teaching History in Soviet Georgia and Myths about the Soviet dictator Stalin.

A discussion with the audience will follow the individual talks to round off the event.