Culture, health ministries release guides for reopening of cultural institutions
A view of the audience hall at Marjanishvili Theatre in Tbilisi, closed since state measures against the pandemic were enacted in mid-March. Photo via Kote Marjanishvili State Academic Drama Theatre.
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With various sectors of economic activity and socialising reopening in Georgia following the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the culture and health ministries have now published guidelines for cultural and artistic organisations to prepare their spaces for hosting audiences again in the near future.
Recommendations for shows, rehearsals, museum and gallery displays as well as hosting of visitors to natural reserves were published by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Health with a view on safeguarding staff and audiences of institutions involved in these types of activities.
The guidelines follow under four principal subjects: managing groups of visitors, technical preparation of spaces for audiences, and setting up of performance or display space for closed and open-air venues.
The recommendations involve mandatory requirement of face masks and social distancing, with a space of five square metres designated for each visiting individual and a time period of one hour mandated between each guide-led visit.
Disinfection of equipment and provision of disinfectant solutions for visitors is also part of the measures, while theatre troupes are asked to limit rehearsals to two hours and breaks between them to 1-1.5 hours.
Spacing of orchestra/choir artists with two metres between them, and a recommendation of holding rehearsals, concerts and shows with "minimal" sets have also been sent to cultural institutions.
The venues in question have been closed since mid-March, with museums, theatres and galleries switching to offering digital displays and recordings of past shows to their audiences.
The full guidelines for cultural and artistic venues can be accessed on the official website of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia.
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