Since regaining independence, Georgia has been active in working with international organizations and is a member of the UN, UNESCO, Council of Europe, European Union, World Tourism Organization, ICCROM, and GUAM.
Georgia has signed various agreements in the sphere of culture with EU countries, CIS countries (Commonwealth of Independent States), USA, China, Israel, India, etc. (100 countries).
The Ministry of Culture, Sport and Youth of Georgia (in all its modifications) has developed and implemented bilateral and multilateral foreign cultural policies.
In the Culture Strategy 2025 the seventh strategic goal is “Internationalization of Culture”.
7.1. Objective: The internationalization of the cultural sector helps the development of culture, increases the nation’s export capacity and empowers its image.
Tasks:
- To ensure harmonization of cultural sector legislation with ratified international norms and its approximation to EU legislation;
- To strengthen cooperation between Georgia and other countries through bilateral/multilateral agreements and/or joint programmes;
- To support the internationalization of Georgia’s cultural sector and intensify efforts to establish it in the European and international markets.
- To strengthen international cooperation to support the efforts of creative industries to join international online platforms, export their products and increase the public accessibility of international online platforms;
- To take into account the importance of cultural and creative resources in terms of foreign trade policy, international relations and diplomacy.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also has a responsibility for international cultural cooperation which is administered by its Department for Foreign Economic and Humanitarian Relations. This Department is responsible for some aspects of cultural policy and the protection of Georgian cultural heritage abroad. After 2008, the cultural policy of the separatist governments in the breakaway “independent” republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has been openly nationalistic and anti-Georgian. In particular, this relates to the immovable monuments of cultural heritage and teaching and use of the Georgian language. The Georgian state has opposed this policy using legal measures (Law on Occupied Territories, and financial tools (financing of programmes for reintegration and integration, promotion of culture of national minorities).
In the joint strategic priorities of the Ministries of Culture and Monument Protection and Internal Affairs of Georgia for 2011-2014, special attention was paid to the active involvement of UNESCO in the problems of protection of cultural heritage and the education sphere in the Georgian territories occupied by Russia.
The Ministry of Culture (in all its modifications) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cooperate closely on Euro-Atlantic integration. Georgia and the European Union signed the Association Agreement, including a deep and comprehensive free trade area (DCFTA), on June 27th 2014 in the margins of the European Council meeting in Brussels. Chapter 17 of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement is devoted to cooperation in the cultural field and is concretely mentioned in Article 362 and 363:
Article 362: ” The Parties will promote cultural cooperation taking duly into account the principles enshrined in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions of 2005. The Parties will seek a regular policy dialogue in areas of mutual interest, including the development of cultural industries in the EU and Georgia. Cooperation between the Parties will foster intercultural dialogue, including through the participation of the cultural sector and civil society from the EU and Georgia”.
Article 363: “The Parties shall concentrate their cooperation in a number of fields:
- Cultural cooperation and cultural exchanges;
- Mobility of art and artists and strengthening of the capacity of the cultural sector;
- Intercultural dialogue;
- Dialogue on cultural policy; and
- Cooperation in international fora such as UNESCO and the Council of Europe, inter alia, in order to foster cultural diversity, and preserve and valorize cultural and historical heritage.”
Significant financing and support of international cultural cooperation was implemented through the international funds and institutions, such as the Open Society Georgia Foundation (Soros Foundation), South Caucasus Regional Office of the Heinrich Böll Foundation, the British Council Georgia Office, the Alexander Dumas Centre of French Culture, the French Institute, the Goethe Institute, and USAID. Each of the listed funds contributes to the development of public participation and cultural diplomacy according to their priorities.
In 2007 – 2011 the “Georgian Seasons” programme was organized and financed from the presidential and governmental reserve funds at the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection. The state undertook liability for the regular participation in such prestigious international events as the Venice Biennale, Prague International Festival, Frankfurt Book Fair, Berlinale, Istanbul Biennale, Edinburgh Festival and others.
Since 2012, the programme has evolved into the Strategic Goal “Internationalization of Culture”, which is funded by the Ministry of Culture.
Before the pandemic, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, through the International Education Centre established in 2014, actively promoted the participation of young people in international exchange programmes, including in the field of culture.
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