Georgia at a cultural crossroads

Writers, artists, filmmakers and intellectuals are all among the huge movement of peaceful protest marches that have been taking place in Georgia's capital Tbilisi and other cities.

The protests primarily target the so-called law on transparency of foreign influence, or "foreign agents" law.

This legislation from the ruling Georgian Dream party requires non-governmental organizations (NGOs), media organizations and other groups that receive more than 20% of their financing from foreign sources to register as "pursuing the interests of a foreign power."

"The independent cultural sector, which has brought Georgia a lot of international attention, has had little choice but to protest constantly over the past months," says Sonja Katharina Schiffers, director of the South Caucasus Region office of the German Heinrich Böll Foundation in Tbilisi.

Nino Lomadze, founder and editor of Indigo, a government-critical magazine, explains that the law disadvantages independent media, NGOs and non-profit organizations.

She believes the country's press freedom and freedom of expression are threatened by the contentious law, which would allow the government to control and repress the media as it sees fit. She adds that support from the international community is essential for Georgia's independent media.

Many critics of the legislation also fear that it could impact Georgia's candidacy to join the European Union.

Georgia's pro-Western president, Salome Zurabishvili, vetoed the law, but Georgian Dream has enough seats in parliament to override her veto and enact the legislation.

Moves to suppress culture

Georgia's government has been trying for some time now to exert greater influence on the country's cultural life.

For example, two important institutions, the Writer's House in Tbilisi and the National Film Center, have been brought under state control in the past two years. 

Film manager Gaga Chkheidze, the long-serving director of the Tbilisi International Film Festival, fell out of favor with the ruling party after criticizing the government for failing to immediately distance itself from Russia following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

He lost his position as head of the National Film Center, financial support was slashed, and the film festival budget was reduced.

In 2023, Germany awarded Chkheidze the Goethe Medal, the country's most important award in foreign cultural policy. The medal is given to advocates of freedom of art and cultural exchange.

This background provides a clearer picture of the current protests. "This is clearly about the ruling party effectively consolidating its solo rule," says Georgian author Giorgi Maisuradze.

Like many others, Maisuradze describes the divisive law project as the "Russian law" since it mirrors the "foreign agents law" adopted by Russia in 2012. The legislation not only aims to strangle civil society, says Maisuradze, but also symbolizes different possible fates for Georgia. Will the country become an autocracy in Russia's sphere of influence? Or will it remain steadfast on its path toward a democratic state with a strong rule of law?

"We are against changing course away from Europe toward Russia," says Lascha Bakradze, a documentary filmmaker, historian and Germanist who leads the Literature Museum in Tbilisi. "This law walls off our way to Europe," he adds. "No one here wants to live in Russia but in the democratic structure of a law-and-order state." 

Nearly all Georgians agree on this. "We've experienced what it means to live under Russian influence for more than two centuries," Indigo magazine editor Lomadze explains. "We know what it means. We have no question about it. That's the only thing that Georgian people have consensus about." 

A country being 'uprooted'

Salome Jashi portrayed Georgia's struggle for its future in a poetic and subtly political way in her 2021 documentary, Taming the Garden. The film tells the story of how an influential man uproots centuries-old trees to have them transplanted in his private park. The man — presumably Georgia's former prime minister and leader of the Georgian Dream party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire oligarch — remains unnamed in the film. To this day, the film is not allowed to be shown in Georgia.

"The tree was not just a tree; it was, to me, a metaphor for cultures, for people, for societies, for values," explains filmmaker Salome Jashi. She sees the documentary as a "metaphorical journey." 

"Today, when we're facing the implementation of this, it's actually a real thing," Jashi points out. "I myself suddenly feel like that tree. I feel uprooted; I feel my whole country and society uprooted." 

Protests demonstrate the population's will to remain European 

Maisuradze also speaks of a "historic moment" for his country. He doesn't want to imagine what will happen if the protests are unsuccessful. "We expect the West not only to watch, but also to act," he says, listing sanctions against rich and politically influential Georgians as an example. "Otherwise Georgia will be lost!" he adds.

The demonstrations against the law on transparency of foreign influence are expected to continue until the Georgian presidential elections in October.

The protests are important, says Schiffers from the Heinrich Böll Foundation, "because it also shows to the outside world that society continues to be pro-European." Many Georgians intellectuals and artists share her view.

This article has been translated from the German.