Georgian

In 1984, the Georgian director Tengiz Abuladze made a film called Repentance. It was quickly banned  for its truly daring allegorical depiction of Stalin’s terror and how future generations of leaders suppress the truth of the crimes of their ancestors. However, Gorbachev’s glasnost policies unearthed the film and allowed for its domestic and international release […]

The history of soccer in Georgia goes back to the late 1800s, when it was brought to country by English sailors shortly after the sport was invented. Although Georgia was an early adopter of the sport, its development has been arguably held back by colonialism. Georgia was largely a backwater for Soviet soccer and the […]

Georgian polyphonic singing, added to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, is a musical technique in which a single song has several melodies, each sung concurrently, with no one tune dominating the others. In Georgia, the style varies by region, but the practice reflects both military, folk, and religious culture. […]

Hip-hop was introduced to Georgia in the 1980s as perestroika loosened the blockade on western influences within the USSR. Local rappers appeared at that time as well, but it was not until the 2010s when the Georgian hip hop scene really began to have appeal not just at home but also abroad. The artists below […]

Nino Katamadze has been given many titles, from “jazz-diva” to “the Georgian Janis Joplin.” Her experimental, genre-defying work makes it not only possible but sensible to compare her to jazz artists and rock stars alike. Katamadze and her band Insight (together known as Nino Katamadze & Insight) are renowned across the globe, performing almost non-stop […]

Saperavi is a dry red wine made from the Saperavi grape varietal grown in some areas of Kakheti, Georgia. It is an extractive wine with a strength of around 10.5-12.5% alcohol and a notably high level of acidity, making it suitable for blending with a number of other wine varieties. Saperavi, which actually means “paint” […]

Kindzmarauli is a semi-sweet red Georgian wine aged for 2 years. It is produced from Saperavi grapes in the Kvareli region of Georgia. Wines from Kindzmarauli wine are a deep, inky purple-red color and often have hidden notes of blackberry and spice, frequently described as producing a “velvety” and “harmonious” taste. Many fans of the […]

While in various parts of North America and the Middle East, lemonade refers to a non-carbonated, sweetened lemon beverage, in most of Eurasia, lemonade is a sweet, fizzy drink resembling what most of us call “soda.” Generally regarded as a Western invention, lemonade reached Georgia by 1833 and, soon after, the Georgians were pairing fizzy […]