Foto: Klára Machková
Invitation to the photo exhibition
WHERE to find the exhibition? 4th floor of the Faculty of Arts UP building at Křížkovského 10, Olomouc - Department of Slavonic Studies
WHEN? From 4. 10. 2024 to the end of October 2024
KLÁRA MACHKOVÁ,
Until 5 June 2024, student of the 2nd year of the Master's Degree in Russian for Translators, from 6 June 2024, graduate of the Faculty of Arts UP.
SAKARTVELO: WARMTH WITH SAD EYES
Traineeship in the Czech Centre Tbilisi, Erasmus Scholarship Fund of the Faculty of Arts UP, SS 2023/2024
Georgia is a country located on the border of Europe and Asia in the South Caucasus region. It is the second country in the world to embrace Christianity and has a rich and complex history. I associate Sakartvelo (the Georgian name for the state) with the smell of their typical bread „shotis puri“, the wax of church candles, as well as the exhaust fumes of thousands of cars that pass through the Georgian capital of Tbilisi every day.
During my final year of my Master's degree I spent 3 months in Tbilisi as an intern at the Czech Centre. Working for the Czech Centre gave me the opportunity to travel around a large part of Georgia and get to know its culture and meet warm-hearted Georgians. Although at first glance they seem sullen and uptight, once you get to know them better, you find that they are very friendly and willing to share what little they have. Georgia is not a very rich country, but it does boast stunning scenery. I enjoyed this most in the Greater Caucasus, which was a great place for hiking in the spring months. Unfortunately, however, Georgians don't always take care of nature, as evidenced by the litter along the roadsides.
But I will always remember above all how Georgians know how to enjoy life, how they would give themselves for others, despite the fact that they do not have an easy fate (about 20% of Georgia's territory is occupied by the Russian Federation). Three months in Sakartvelo changed my perspective on many things and I am glad that thanks to the new Prague-Tbilisi line we can fly to this beautiful country anytime. (KM)