International Kartvelological Congress

The International Kartvelological Congress was held in Tbilisi on November 10-14, 2015. It was organized by the Georgian Acacemy of Sciences, Tbilisi State University and the Georgian Patriarchate.

Prof Karina Vamling, Caucasus Studies (Malmö University) participated with the paper “These wine wells are just as good as the old Goths’ vats of mead” – historic-ethnographical materials on Georgia in early Swedish newspapers.

 

Märta-Lisa Magnusson interviewed in Open Democracy

Senior lecturer Märta-Lisa Magnusson is interviewed on recent developments in Nagorno-Karabakh in an article published in Open Democracy. The article discusses problems related to the lack of  international standing of Nagorno-Karabach.

Read the article by Lucas Goetz in Open Democracy –  “Nagorno-Karabakh: European Dreams”: https://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/lucas-goetz/nagornokarabakh-european-dreams

On the security situation in Chechnya

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Radio P4 interview with Märta-Lisa Magnusson, senior lecturer in Caucasus Studies at Malmö University, on the security situation in Chechnya.

Background
Following a decision by the Swedish Migration Board a Chechen family was sent back to Chechnya from Sweden. A couple of months after their return the father was killed.

Listen to the interview: http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=91&artikel=6129699

Perspektiv på Ukraina, Ryssland och Kaukasus

biblioteketMärta-Lisa Magnusson, universitetslektor i kaukasusstudier vid Malmö högskola,  höll föredrag på Arvika Bibliotek 11 februari över temat Perspektiv på Ukrainakrisen. Ryssland och de postsovjetiska staterna i Kaukasus.

Det händer på Arvika Bibliotek http://arvika.se/kommunochpolitik/pressochinformationsmaterial/nyheter/nyhetsarkiv/dethanderpaarvikabibliotekv7.5.3278eb23144b2e75ebe17749.html

nyheterperspektiv

Visiting Dmanisi – cradle of first Eurasians

We often think about the Caucasus as the crossroads of Asia and Europe. Add another ancient road to this: Africa! At archealogical excavations in Dmanisi 1.75 million years old Hominid remains have been discovered. (reconstructions below).

dmanisi2 dmanisi3As noted in the UNESCO World Heritage description (http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5225/), this is the earliest Hominid remains beyond Africa.

 

Visit Dmanisi: http://dmanisi.ge/?lang=en

dmanisi1Dmanisi is located 85 kilometers south-west of Tbilisi. The site includes remains from the most ancient period of settlement as well as later stone, bronze and historical Middle ages.

(Photo K.Vamling)

Project presentation at Sokhumi University: Abkhaz electronic library

1654198_868075383225601_4400330469273951624_nA unique project in Abkhazalogy was presented at Sokhumi State University, Tbilisi, on November 6. The aim of the project is to create an electronic library of Abkhaz literature published mainly after 1991 on the Abkhaz language, grammars and dictionaries, as well as works on Abkhaz archeology, history, ethnography, folklore, literature and other areas of the Humanities. The project is funded jointly by UNDP  and EU (COBERM).


1513690_868086256557847_8538579649693276041_nProject leader is professor Teimuraz Gvanceladze (photo above, to the right), a prominent specialist on the Abkhaz language and Director of the Institute of Abkhaz Language and Culture at Sokhumi University. Co-workers in the project are both Abkhaz and Georgien scholars: Dr. Rezo Kacia, Dr. Gvanca Gvanceladze, Dr. Tamar Gitolendia and Sofiko Chaava. The research team has already started their work and at the project site around 60 pubications are already available: www.abkhazovedenie.com

The project presentation was covered by the Abkhaz  team of the news program Moabe, 2TV (Meore Arkhi), November 7. In the clip below professor Teimuraz Gvanceladze  tells about the project and, as one of the foreign guests at the presentation, professor Karina Vamling, Malmö University (Sweden), gives her views and comments on the importance of the project.  The program is broadcasted in the Abkhaz language.

Contacts and international exchange – Sokhumi University and Malmö University

Sokhumi State University, Tbilisi, is a partner university in the Erasmus Mundus EMINENCE project where Malmö University also participates. The exchange is open at all levels – staff, post-docs, PhD candidates, students at MA and BA levels (read more: http://www.mah.se/english/Education/Exchange-student/MundusEminence/).

Rally in Tbilisi

“No to annexation”

Today, on November 15, the central Rose Square and Rustaveli Avenue i Tbilsi, were  closed for traffic. From the morning police vehicles and hundreds, or most probably several thousand, policemen lined up along the avenue, blocking off side-streets. 15nov1By 3 o’clock the square was packed with demonstrators, gathering with flags and banners. Among the Georgian flags were many EU flags, US and UK  flags, Ukrainian flags. The banners carried slogans such as  “Stop Russia”, “Russian troops – get out of Georgia”.

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The rally is a protest against “Russia’s occupation” of Georgia’s breakaway regions. It is organized by the opposition party United National Movement, which criticises the current Georgian government for  not being sufficiently active in countering this development.

Some news links on the event

Civil.ge: PM on UNM’s Planned Rally
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=27820

Georgian Journal: Tbilisi prepares for the protests: blocked off streets and police patrols
http://www.georgianjournal.ge/society/28753-tbilisi-prepares-for-the-protest-blocked-off-streets-and-police-patrols.html

BBC: Georgians protest against Russia-Abkhazia agreement
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30071915

Civil.geAt ‘No to Annexation’ Protest Rally UNM Slams ‘Collaborationist’ Govt
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=27824

Photos & video  by Karina Vamling

1st International CUA Conference on Endangered Languages

img389Professor Karina Vamling participates in the 1st International Caucasus University Association (CUA) Conference on Endangered Languages, organized in Ardahan, Turkey, by Caucasus University Association, Ardahan University. Dates: October 13-16, 2014.

The title of her paper is “Internet as a tool for language development and maintenance?”, where she discusses Megrelian as a case in point.

Read more:
https://ardahan.edu.tr/cuaconference2014/

The video below shows very short climpses from the different papers with a focus on languages of the Caucasus, presented at the conference.