Georgian Wrestling - Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity
The Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage will hold its annual meeting for the 13th time from 26 November to 1 December in Port Louis, Mauritius. The inscription of Georgian Wrestling (Chidaoba) on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity will be examined on November 28.
The 13th annual meeting will be attended by the Georgian delegation, represented by the Director of the National Agency for Cultural Preservation of Georgia, Nikoloz Antidze, Chief Coordinator of the International Relations Unit of the same agency, Manana Vardzelashvili, the Secretary-General of the Georgian National Commission for UNESCO, Ketevan Kandelaki and the President of the National Wrestling Federation of Georgia, Gela Beruashvili.
In 2014, the National Agency for Cultural Preservation of Georgia granted Georgian Wrestling the status of Intangible Cultural Heritage. In 2016, according to the resolution of the Prime Minister, Georgian Wrestling was bestowed with the national category. Afterwards, the given issue was sent to UNESCO, with the objective of inscription of Georgian Wrestling on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Wrestling is the ancient type of sport, which is widespread in Georgia. The wrestling scene on the Alaverdi wall represents it as one of the oldest types of sports practiced in Georgia. The faces of the characters of the scene, their clothes and manners of their movement indicate the traditional Georgian wrestling art. Religious festivals were accompanied by such competitions. Due to this fact, Georgian Wrestling is an expression of the identity of the Georgian nation.
Georgian Wrestling includes almost 200 stratagems and maneuvers, and is classified in six principal fields. Music is an unalienable part of Georgian Wrestling.
The list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of UNESCO also includes the following elements: Georgian Polyphonic singing (2001) and Living culture of three writing systems of the Georgian alphabet (2016).
By Ketevan Kvaratskheliya
Source, Image source: Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia