Art Gene Festival

Art Gene Festival is Georgian folklore and the amateur theatricals annual festival. It was established in 2004 with the initiation of so-called Zumba - Georgian Rocker Zaza Korinteli and his friends, whose mission was to identify problems associated with traditional and folk culture and find ways for their solution. Actually the aim of the festival is to popularize Georgian folk works, also to collect those unknown creations. During the festival you are able to listen to not only the residents of Tbilisi, but also, the summoned musicians from all over Georgia.

Also, there is held up nationally applied art products purchasing- exhibition. The idea was great, they decided to travel around Georgia and investigate those indigenous, traditional art forms, which has been passed down from generation to generation. Why is it so important? Because all these things are forming the integral part of Georgian life. This culture is the reason, why little Georgia is still standing there, on the map, between super-kingdoms. So, a group of friends collected and started the journey. They investigated more than 100 families, who were known to have maintained their strong traditions. They also recorded their voices and started to think about the first Art Gene Festival. Most of them were selected to participate in a Gala concert. So, during this research, Art Gene Group has found out previously unknown artists, blacksmiths, who have their indigenous methods thought to be extinct. As a result of this research, the group published book “Masters of Georgia’s Traditional Crafts“. Here, the reader can find out how the assistants were working within different fields throughout Georgia. There are also documentary films about this festival, called “Adila“.

Art Gene is not just a high-performance, this festival exhibit modern and traditional folk music, the most obvious among them is, for example- ensemble Sukhishvilebi. Their soloists and choreographers are creating dances, which are merging both- traditional and super-modern dances. You can see one of Sukhishvilebi's performance. Also, here there are exhibited sales of folk handicrafts, traditional cuisine and folk games.
For every nation, the most important thing is to be loved between his new generations, otherwise, its traditions will just disappear within time. That’s why, Zumba and his friends are trying to attract and interest young ones, to attend this festival. This is the reason, why, in parallel, they staged popular rock concerts towards the evenings of festival days. This pact proved to become one of the trademarks of our festival.
There is one more thing I would like to notice, every year the initiators of Art Gene Fest are choosing a new main theme of the Festival. Their motivation was to give each annual Art Gene Festival its own distinct profile. For example, in 2004 the main theme was “Family folklore and polyphonic songs”, in 2006: "Caucasian House and traditional medicine”, later, in 2009: “Georgian ecology and bio products” and so on …

6 reasons why you should attend Art Gene Festival in Georgia?

1 . Art Gene Festival proved to be the one of the most successful, self- sustained and highly attended festival in the South Caucasian Region.
2. This festival has supporters, who is growing year after year, from both, the local and the international community.
3.Festival’s participants are not only Georgians, but also other ethnic minorities of Georgia and even from countries, like:Chechnya, Ingushetia, Ukraine, Turkey, Latvia, Japan, China, France. So, it’s like international Festival.
4. You can meet there any kind of generation as it covers the widest range of cultural activities, including: arts, knitting, sewing, cloth and felt making, pottery, wood carving, jewellery, culinary, dance and etc.

5. Art Gene Festival emphasizes on the fields of activities, which are still part of daily life.
6. And one more thing, it’s held up in the Georgian Ethnography Museum, under the blue, blue sky, near The Turtle Lake, so you can enjoy within the nature yourself. How to get there? Open Air Museum of Ethnography.

I'm sure, you will love it.