Tbilisi protest alleges "Bolshevik purges" in Fine Arts Museum layoffs, calls for resignation of culture minister
Tbilisi historian Tsira Elisashvili addressed the protesters outside the ministry offices in Tbilisi on Friday. Photo: Luka Pertaia/Netgazeti.
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A group of citizens and culture field professionals gathered outside the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Youth of Georgia on Friday to demand resignation of minister Thea Tsulukiani and end to "Bolshevik purges" at culture institutions, following layoffs from the Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts and a recent spat between the ministry and the Literature Museum over a newly published poetry collection.
In the protest event attended by activists, members of some political opposition parties, former employees of the Fine Arts Museum and lawyers representing their interests, the participants alleged "retribution" from the ministry in laoyffs, as part of a reorganisation of the structure that reduced the number of employees by nearly 30.
The layoffs included high-level professionals like Nana Burtchuladze, Principal Curator of the Medieval Section; Nino Khundadze, Guardian of the Georgian Art Fonds, and curator Nino Chikhladze.
The three individuals have alleged bias from the culture ministry, stemming from the professionals' critical opinions on the ongoing plans regarding the safeguarding of Fine Arts Museum collections, as part of the ministry's plans for rehabilitation and renovation of the venue.
Burtchuladze told Netgazeti the ministry had scrapped previous plans for rehabilitation of the long-neglected building, located near Freedom Square in downtown Tbilisi, and replaced it with an own project while laying off or demoting employees who had expressed disagreement with new policies.
The culture ministry revealed the reduction of staff numbers as part of a reorganisation at the Fine Arts Museum on January 14, announcing the process - started on December 6 - had resulted in reduction of employee number from 175 to 146, with a resulting raise in salaries for a "large part" of remaining professionals.
On Friday, Blue Shield Georgia, a cultural heritage committee organisation, released an open letter addressed to prime minister Irakli Garibashvili, Public Defender Nino Lomjaria and culture minister Thea Tsulukiani and lamenting the layoffs of "highly qualified specialists", alleging the process "endangers both national collections [in the museum] and labour rights of professionals".
The layoffs were also criticised in a separate latter - signed by the Georgian National Committee of the International Council of Museums, Blue Shield Georgia and the Georgian National Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites - also released on Friday.
Along with disagreements over the reorganisation process, the Friday protest outside the culture ministry concerned a recent spat between the ministry and the Literature Museum over a recent release of a book dedicated to the life and poetry of poet Elene Dariani.
Published with technical errors attributing two works by 20th century poet Ana Kalandadze to Dariani, the publishing led to the ministry posting a statement on social media on January 17, citing "strong reaction of the public" to the mistakes and pledging a "serious review" of the issue with Lasha Bakradze, director of the museum who worked to compile the book with editor Tea Tvalavadze, his deputy.
The ministry's reaction, in turn, saw responses from a part of the culture field professionals and commentators who alleged an overreaction from the ministry, aimed at "misrepresenting" the publishing error as a "vendetta" against Bakradze.
Lawyer Sulkhan Saladze, attending the protest outside the ministry on Friday, alleged "repressions" started at culture institutions following the appointment of Tsulukiani as culture minister in early 2021, while Eka Kiknadze, the former manager of the Fine Arts Museum, said the ministry aimed to "dissolve" the museum as an institution.
In comments with Netgazeti, Kiknadze said staff selections under the management of Tsulukiani had been switched from being based on "professionalism" to "ideological loyalty" to the culture authorities, calling the staff laid off since Summer 2021 the "best specialists" of their field. Two of the professionals, Kiknadze and Dinara Vachnadze, are involved in a process of suing the authorities for their layoffs.
A protest in central Tbilisi involving activists, artists and citizens on Thursday demanded publication of culture ministry's plans for the Fine Arts Museum collections, transparency around the venue's fate and professional involvement in its restoration.
The Ministry of Culture, Sport and Youth has denied media reports on a possibility of the long-neglected Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts, a major cultural venue in central Tbilisi, being demolished, after an opposition-minded TV channel and social media rumours indicated nefarious plans in place for removing the building.
The restoration of Shalva Amiranashvili Fine Arts Museum in Tbilisi will involve State Academy of Arts students, while the venue will also see artwork removed from its collections in 2010 returned to its vaults, following initiatives of the culture ministry under the recently appointed minister Thea Tsulukiani.
Georgia's newly appointed Minister of Culture, Sport and Youth Thea Tsulukiani has revealed plans to restore the Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts as part of a reorganisation of the Georgian National Museum network.
Georgia's Culture Ministry has relieved Gaga Chkheidze, the Director of the Georgian National Film Centre (GNFC), of his position for "misuse of funds" and "potential cases of nepotism", with the state body announcing the move on Monday.
The Georgian Culture Ministry on Tuesday announced it had returned four paintings by Georgian artists to the country from the Georgian Embassy in Iran, and said 11 other pieces were "missing" from a group of works moved out of the country in the 1990s.
Gaga Chkheidze, the former Director of the Georgian National Film Centre who was relieved of his position by Culture Ministry on Monday, has responded to allegations by the latter and said he will sue the Ministry if not reinstated, in addition to outlining a range of grievances about the treatment of the GNFC by the current Culture Minister.
A group of Expert Commission members of the Georgian National Film Center have launched a legal dispute against their dismissals and alleged the Culture Minister’s bias in their replacement on the positions in the midst of work to select winners of the body’s current competition for feature films.
A newly established union of culture workers has vowed to fight the sacking of up to 20 employees of the Georgian National Museum network this week, after the professionals held a protest in Tbilisi on Wednesday in response to the latest round of controversial dismissals from cultural institutions since the appointment of Culture Minister Thea Tsulukiani.
A group of 130 current and recently dismissed employees of the Georgian National Museum network has asked Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili to interfere in controversial developments at their museum venues to ensure the "destructive policy" of Culture Minister Thea Tsulukiani, who is accused of politically motivated dismissals of professionals at culture institutions, is "stopped".
A former Georgian National Museum employee has won a court case against her dismissal from the national network in one of the first rulings in a series of lawsuits filed by a group of professionals recently laid off from the body and alleging political motivations by Culture Minister Thea Tsulukiani in the move.
Three international bodies of cultural heritage monuments and museums have questioned the culture ministry's plans for evacuating precious exhibits of the Tbilisi-based Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts, as well as what they see as a lack of participation of relevant professionals in the planned rehabilitation of the major venue.