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        THE ARTGENE FESTIVAL takes place in Tbilisi every summer in July. This is a festival featuring many art forms, but foremost it's a display of Georgian folklore. Each region has it's own day which continues into the late night with among other things jazz, pop music, folk-songs and classical music. The festival is also a display of contemporary art like paintings, clothing, design and woodcraft.

We had only one day at the festival in the beginning of July 2006, as our stay in Georgia had a tight schedule. For me, not knowing the particular regions costumes and rituals, it is difficult to explain what I saw beyond the images. The first thing I noticed was the amount of young Georgians attending the festival. I did not even spot ONE drunk person either. My biggest disap-pointment was that I could not participate the next nine days of the festival. Therefore this pictorial only represent fragments of what was taking place. Next time I will spend more time, and maybe get some useful input on the costumes. That does not happen when you stand watching with open mouth.

The big mystery of WHEN.
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The major problem with the ArtGene festival is that it’s almost impossible to find out when and where it’s taking place. Marketing is obviously not a part of it, so you’re in the dark until you accidentally stumble over a poster or hear someone talk about it. The organizers of the event are Zaza Korinteli, Giorgi Baramidze, Maria Lanevski and Niaz Diasamidze – front man of the band 33a. I would think that the period 10-20.th of July is a good guess if you plan to attend.
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Traditional costume.


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Traditional costume.
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Radical design of hats.