Culture Plus: the Ministry of Culture Publishes a New Magazine

Begin working in a kitchen or in some corner if you wish, but do it in a Georgian way, with Georgian words, with a Georgian idea, with Georgian knowledge and awareness, and with Georgian love…- said Shalva Kikodze, Georgian expressionist painter, graphic artist and theatre decorator, in 1920.

With this in mind, the quarterly bi-lingual (Georgian-English) magazine ‘Culture Plus’ is the latest offering of the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection, produced with the hopes of boosting awareness of the deep historical and contemporary culture that Georgia has to offer. With the themes of history, literature, cinema, visual arts, music, artists, festivals, culture heritage and more, the magazine also aims to promote talented Georgian artists, musicians and writers.

The first issue is packed with descriptions of past and future festivals, amongst them this year’s Black Sea Jazz festival with its crowning glory- Snoop Dogg, the Venice International Biennale and Prague Quadrennial, and Frankfurt Book Fair 2018, at which Georgia will be the Guest of Honor. You will also hear the wisdom of such Georgian greats as Galaktion (in this case, from his Cyber-self), get a real feel for the Kutaisi beloved by famed poet Akaki Tsereteli, and hear a fair criticism of the state of the country’s cinema industry from someone very much in the know.

As the Editors say in the preface to the magazine:

“Georgian culture and art is an important lever in the country’s intellectual and economic formation. Furthermore, both our country’s success and the basis of our future are strongly dependent on our intellect, our spirituality, taste, and culture in general.

Every nation should try to reveal its national essence to its own, as well as to the rest of the civilized world, and to acquaint them with it. A nation that fails to share its spirituality with others has no future, and this is tantamount to treason.”

The new ‘Culture Plus’ magazine will be distributed to governmental institutions and the diplomatic corps, and will be found in libraries throughout Georgia.

Katie Ruth Davies