Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia to speak on 21st June 2013
BGS is pleased to announce that Mr David Usupashvili, Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia will be the keynote speaker at a Georgian event BGS will be holding with Pembroke College Cambridge, in the afternoon of Friday June 21st 2013. This will take place in the Old Library at Pembroke College and will be followed by a reception with Georgian wine and song. More details of all the speakers and full details of the event will be announced shortly.
British Ambassador to Speak to BGS
BGS is pleased to announce a talk by the current British Ambassador to Tbilisi on Monday 20th May 2013. David Moran arrived as Charge d'Affaires to Georgia in January 2013. His previous appointments as Ambassador include Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan as well as postings to Nairobi, Moscow and Paris. More details to follow.
BGS members to visit British Library
A visit for BGS members to see the wonderful British Library collection of Georgian manuscripts and other artefacts will take place at the end of February, including a special tour of the British Library. This will be arranged by BGS member Anna Chelidze, who is a curator at the BL. The exact date will be announced shortly and the event will start at 4pm.
Donald Rayfield to speak at Georgian Christmas event
By popular demand Donald Rayfield has been asked to give the talk at our BGS Georgian Christmas event on Tuesday January 8th 2013, 6.30pm, at the Georgian Embassy. Donald will be talking about the great Georgian writer Otar Chiladze who died in 2009. Donald has recently finished the translation of 'A Man was Going Down the Road' to be published December 2012, and 'Avelum' to be published April 2013. His talk will be followed by a short presentation about regional differences in the Georgian Christmas with Georgian wine and special seasonal snacks.
Georgian Classes at UCL
Keti Kalandadze will be teaching Georgian in the Dame Katheleen Kenyon Meeting Room, 2nd Floor Lewis Building, 134-136 Gower Street, London WC1 6BP. Classes take place each week on Tuesday 7.00pm Elementary, Thursday 7.00pm Beginners and Friday 7.00pm Intermediate. For further details contact Keti on 07525 437850.
Georgian Studies Day 2012 "Georgia: Tradition and Innovation"
Georgian Studies Day 2012, organised by the Embassy of Georgia, University of Westminster and Dr. Tamara Dragadze, is on Wednesday 7th November at The University of Westminster, 309 Regent Street, London W1B 2UW, registration at 9.15am. Download pdf here. If you wish to attend please email
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by November 5th.
Georgia Embraces Democracy But Destroys Its Past
Luke Harding's Letter From Tbilisi in the Guardian October 14th, is about the unfolding tragic destruction of old Tbilisi's heritage. BGS director Peter Nasmyth contributes.
Robert Parsons to talk at Royal Asiatic Society 30th October 2012
BGS is delighted to announce that the distinguished journalist Rob Parsons, who has been covering Georgia since he first went there in the 1980s, will be speaking on Tuesday 30th October. Royal Asiatic Society, 14 Stephenson Way, London NW1 2HD. 6.45pm RAS blog
Dash Arts Presents New Documentary Films From Georgia 3 October 2012
A free Dash Café event screening documentary shorts from modern Georgia, followed by a conversation between Elhum Shakerifar and Daniel Gorman (Director of Firefly International) about the documentary film-making scene, and the wider picture of modern culture, in Ukraine, Armenia and Georgia. There will also be music from the Mazaika Duo. Wednesday 3 October, 7.30pm, Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, E1 6LA. Download pdf.
Richard Lewington to talk on his Year with the EUMM in Georgia
BGS and Chatham House will co-host an illustrated talk by Richard Lewington - a personal view of the last year spent with the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia. Fascinating insight should be provided by this senior diplomat, the talk will take place at Chatham House on October 3rd at 4pm-5.30pm. Admission by invitation only will be emailed to members and RSVP will be essential. More details to follow.
Abkhazia is one of two bits of Soviet Georgia that declared independence after the collapse of communism. Although its independence has only been recognised by half-a-dozen countries -- among them, of course, Russia -- it is enough to prevent Tbilisi having any influence over what happens there.