Crafts Festival 2018

First International Festival of Crafts Workshops

Georgian State Museum of Folk and Applied Arts in collaboration with the Georgian Heritage Crafts Association with the support of Akhaltsikhe Municipality City Hall and Ivane Javaxishvili Samtskhe-Javakheti History Museum is organizing the International Festival of Crafts Workshops, which was held on 14-16 September 2018 at Akhaltsikhe Castle (Rabati). The Festival was financed by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Georgia and USAID Zrda Activity in Georgia.

The festival aims to promote traditional craftsmanship by supporting the revival and development of traditional workshop institutions. By bringing together craft makers from all over Georgia and internationally with various visual and educational activities on the territory of Akhaltsikhe Castle (Rabati) the festival acts to give a new life to historic heritage and attract more visitors.

The main activity of the festival included the demonstration master classes by Georgian and international craft makers of different craft fields (ceramics, woodcarving, natural dies, carpet/rug weaving, felt making, jewelry, etc.) Georgian State Museum of Folk and Applied Arts presents the exhibition -“19th and 20th Century Traditional Craft Workshops in Georgia”- where the Dioramas and old photos of various crafts workshops accompanied by the educational Programs for Kids, created especially for this exhibition by the Museum staff.

Participants of the festival had the possibility to present unique skills, specific services of the workshop, and a small display of their craft items. Moreover, artisans will set new local and international contacts that will create an important background for their further development. Moreover, the festival aims to raise awareness of local possibilities among tourism actors and enhance the integration of artisan workshops in tourist routes. A special focus was made on the craft workshops from the Samtkhe-Javakheti region.