The Georgian poet and multimedia artist Zurab Rtveliashvili (1967-2021) represents how poetry's power to dwell confronts authoritarianism.
04.04.2016
On the challenges facing the contemporary writer who dares to question the status quo.
03.17.2014
A polyphonic blog-poem—in English and Georgian—about decolonizing one's self.
04.22.2013
One week after the bombings in Boston and I still feel the urge to write about this so much.
04.03.2013
Zviad K. Gamsakhurdia wrote his work “Dilemma for Humanity” just before his imprisonment in 1977.
01.31.2013
Nino Chubinishvili has created her own Alter-Modern world in Tbilisi.
12.26.2012
Naira Gelashvili is in her own right one of the leading Georgian writers and literary critics of last 40 years or so. Her writings have been very popular and controversial through the last 25 years when she came out as one of the leaders of Georgia's Green movement and at the same time defending rights of minorities through the Caucasus.
10.15.2012
October 1st saw once again that liberalism does not equal democracy.
09.21.2012
On Tuesday, Georgian TV unveiled unprecedented facts of torture and rape of inmates, some of whom are under age of 18 that were used by the government of Mikheil Saakashvili, friend of Mr. Bush and Senator McCain. This is not just a copy of Aby Ghraib tortures but even going further.
07.11.2012
“Freedom is the right to tell people what they do not want to hear” —George Orwell
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Irakli Zurab Kakabadze
Born in 1969, Irakli Kakabadze is a Georgian writer, performance artist, peace and human rights activist. His first prize was awarded in 1990 by the TSISTAKRI MAGAZINE for the best creation of 1990 - Allegro or Chronicle of one Year. In 2009, he was awarded the Oxfam/Novib PEN Freedom of Expression Prize. Kakabadze's articles and stories have been published in Georgian, Russian, and English newspapers and magazines. In 2007 he received the Lilian Hellman/Hammett grant from Human Rights Watch. From 2008 to 2012, Kakabadze was based in Ithaca, NY, where he developed a new method of integrating performing arts and social sciences, called "Rethinking Tragedy" or "Transformative Performance." Kakabadze has also pioneered a multi-lingual and multi-narrative performing style, called Polyphonic Discourse. Irakli Kakabadze's work as an artist-activist is subject of an American verite documentary At the Top of My Voice filmed by Indian American Director Sudhir Venkatesh and Larry Kammerman.
In May 2008 Kakabadze shared a stage at PEN World Voices Festival in New York with György Dragomán, Hasan Elahi, Asli Erdogan, Péter Esterházy, Chenjerai Hove, Jenny Marketou, Ivy Meeropol, Francine Prose, and Ingo Schulze, at the Writers and Artists Against the Surveillance State. In November 2008 at the Miami Book Fair Kakabadze shared a stage with Sarah Mkhonza, Russell Banks and Derek Walcott to perform another piece of Polyphonic Blues. Kakabadze has performed his polyphonic style of poetry at the Frankfurt Book Fair (2009) and “Free the Word” in London (2010) (23). At the 2010 “PEN World Voices” Festival in New York Kakabadze performed Polyphonic Discourse at the Cabaret Show that featured the author with Natalie Merchant, Ben Okri and Ariel Dorfman. He has performed at many literary and peace festivals including in Berlin (2014), Palma De Mallorca (2016), Valencia (2016), ext. His book 'Umberto vs Ernesto' or 'Marginal Delirium' was published and has introduced polyphonic discourse in December 2013. In 2017 publishing house 'Intelekti' has published another book of his essays "Love Doctrine" that is highly influenced by the works of Mahatma Gandhi.