Tbilisi. Archive in Transition

The capital of Georgia practically presents a new face everyday. Ambitious building projects and large foreign investments are constantly changing the cityscape of Tbilisi. This relentless development is the subject of much debate among the city's residents: what should be preserved and what may be subjected to change? What is available for sale and what is common property? What do we want to remember and what are our sources of inspiration?

"Over the past decade, Georgia has experienced a process of intense transformation that is particularly reflected in its capital – where ambitious building projects and increased foreign investment has led to a sense of constant transformation stretching from the old town to the outlying districts. Attending to this transformation demands new discussion among the city’s inhabitants and raises important questions: What is to be preserved and what is to be destroyed? What can be owned and what belongs to everyone? What do we want to remember and what can be forgotten?

With the Archive of Transition, we set out to record different dimensions and velocities of change within the city. We talked to artists and cityplanners, architects and activists, priests and politicians, to understand what change means to all of them."

The publication was prepared by NGO "FROH!" in partnership with the German Foreign Office, Georgian National Book Center, Heinrich Boell Foundation South Caucasus Regional Office, Goethe Institute in Tbilisi, National Archive of Georgia, DVV-International, Ministry of Culture and Sport of Georgia, HFBK, and Washington University in ST. Louis.