Kultura! – Article Archive

The idea of the city as a subjective experience is highly relevant to contemporary urban anthropology. According to recent tendencies, the city is no longer understood only through its formal and technical characteristics, but also through the systems of meanings and the material affects that individuals present within it experience or attribute to it. Accordingly, the popular view that people are connected to urban space through feelings of trust, familiarity, and comfort – in this case, specifically in the context of Kutaisi – may be shaped by different causes, including the phenomenon of cultural familiarity and the infrastructural particularities that evoke the affects mentioned above.

Kutaisi’s mythological and historical past offers countless reasons for pride. Suffice it to say that it has been named among the world’s five oldest cities, and that it is mentioned in literary and historical sources beginning in the 7th century BCE, while the myth of the Argonauts, in which our city is mentioned, is even older than the myth of the Trojan War (14th century BCE), because it involved the sons and grandsons of the Argonaut adventurers. That is precisely why we decided to dedicate the first international literary festival to myth and literature, a festival that Kutaisi hosted for the first time on November 28-30, 2025, with its status as a UNESCO City of Literature. Organized by the Kutaisi…

Lately, when people begin speaking about the history of manganese extraction in Chiatura, they mark the merits of Akaki Tsereteli and then move directly to Harriman’s activity in Chiatura. They note the terrible condition the American magnate found in the town and how much he managed to do in just a couple of years. No one denies Harriman’s role and contribution, but it is deeply regrettable to skip over several decades as though they had never existed, as though these people—whose work cost them their lives and the sacrifice of their families—had never even been born. Yet they managed to accomplish a great deal within a rather short and difficult period. It is precisely the activity of these great patriots…

In discussions of Soviet architecture in the Imereti region, the sanatoriums of Tskaltubo may be the first thing that comes to mind. My aim here is to uncover and discuss the “hidden” – and at times overlooked – architectural examples found in Kutaisi. Before turning to specific buildings, it is worth briefly reviewing Soviet modernist architecture in general, a field that has become increasingly interesting to art historians over time. This growing interest can be explained by several factors: the rediscovery of a rich modernist architectural heritage that had been cut off from Western history as a result of the Cold War. Interest has also been shaped by the fact that, after the loss of many works from the Soviet…

This city has a soul – aristocratic and somehow majestic. It has color: a mixture of plants and sunlight. It has strict geometry, both curved and twisted. In the 1950s of the last century, sanatoriums built for the recreational function of the city, officially designated as a resort, appear today as conceptually significant architectural masterpieces representing different stylistic trends. Just a few years ago, the city – an origin of form, light, and the rebirth of nature – inspired actor Jim Carrey to purchase a moving NFT artwork created by Swedish artists Ryan Koopmans and Alice Wexsell. The work depicts a room in an abandoned sanatorium in Tskaltubo and is digitally processed as if the forces of nature had prevailed…

The study of cemeteries and the system of meanings associated with them in the urban context is a highly topical subject in modern social and cultural anthropology. In addition to their practical and ritual functions, cemeteries have acquired important symbolic meanings within urban space, which are interpreted differently by various authors and theoretical approaches. In this brief analysis, I will discuss several perspectives on the symbolic load and social understanding of cemeteries as elements of urban space and will connect these considerations to the local context of cemeteries in Kutaisi.

It is often said that the history of Kutaisi is rooted in the city’s rich antiquity and culture. Recently, I came across a work by the artist Gocha Chkhaidze called House on Tsereteli Street. That is why I decided to talk about the architectural character of Kutaisi in this article. Part of the city’s culture consists of its buildings, bridges, and overall urban style, which often escape our attention. This time, let us look at the history and significance of the famous bridges of Kutaisi. When I speak to friends visiting the “City of White Stones” for the first time and want to tell them about its architectural value, I usually begin with the Shota Rustaveli Bridge, the White Bridge,…

In Chiatura Municipality, there is a small village of 180 households – Tskhrukveti. Although modest in size, it would be difficult to find another village that has given so many scholars to the homeland at the same time. It is here, in a picturesque setting, that a beautiful oda house – a type of traditional Georgian mansion – stands, bearing the name of Academician Giorgi Tsereteli for the past forty years. In earlier times, the Tsereteli Palace stood on this very site, serving as a gathering place for the Georgian intellectual elite of the 19th and early 20th centuries: Akaki Tsereteli, Galaktion Tabidze, Niko Nikoladze, Ivane Varazashvili, Grigol Zdanovich, Konstantine Abashidze, and others. Although this historic residence was later destroyed,…

Whenever he appeared, everyone on the street would follow him with affection – a calm man, always in a black shirt, with a suit casually thrown over one shoulder. The light in his large eyes could not be hidden even by his thick eyebrows, and yet there was a quiet mystery in the strict lines of his face and in its characteristic expressions. Once, director Geno Chiradze filmed the artist in a short episodic role, preserving these features, this voice, and these elegant manners forever in the film Zvaraki (1990). In the film, the role of Otar Kandaria was originally meant for Levan Abashidze, who played the main character, but the personal charm of the newly recognized Kutaisi artist was…

The history of the Argveti Saeristao begins with King Parnavaz. “…Was sent to Margvi as Eristavi and gave him a small mountain, which is Likhi, up to the sea above the Rioni. And this Parnavaz built two fortresses.” (Vakhushti, Description of the Kingdom of Georgia.) According to Leonti Mroveli, the Argveti Saeristao included the territory from the Likhi mountain to the Rioni and from the Racha mountains to the Fersati mountains. The rise of the Baghvash-Orbeliani dynasty began after they took control of Kldekari together with the Argveti Saeristao. Kldekari, as a border domain, was extremely important strategically because it was truly the gateway leading from Byzantium into the heart of Georgia. Both allies and enemies understood this well. The…