At a ceremony today in Tbilisi, Georgia, Programme of Cultural Cooperation between the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Estonia and the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia for 2017-2020 was signed. Indrek Saar, the Estonian Minister of Culture and Mikheil Giorgadze, the Georgian Minister of Culture and Monument Protection, took part in the ceremony held at the Georgian Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection.
The bilateral agreement on Cooperation in the Fields of Culture, Education, Science, Youth and Sports between Estonia and Georgia was signed on 12 October 2004 in Tallinn. The agreement created the basis for the subsequent Programme of Cultural Cooperation for 2013-2016, which was signed in Kuressaare on 26 July 2013, during the Saaremaa Opera Days festival at which the Georgian opera was in focus. The term for the new Programme signed today is also three years.
Minister of Culture Indrek Saar stated that Estonia and Georgia share close cultural ties and their cooperation has advanced significantly in recent years. “Estonia has valuable experiences in the cultural field, which our experts are happy to share with their Georgian colleagues. For example, in the field of heritage protection, Georgia is especially interested in our experiences related to the protection of industrial heritage. We are looking forward with great interest to the performance of the State Ballet of Georgia at the Jõhvi Ballet Festival,” Saar said. “We see several cultural fields in which we can further strengthen the excellent cooperation that already exists with Georgia,” the minister added.
On his two-day visit to Georgia, Minister of Culture Indrek Saar will meet with his colleagues, Mikheil Giorgadze, the Minister of Culture and Monument Protection, and Tariel Khechikashvili, the Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs. Minister Saar’s plans also include meetings with representatives from the Georgian National Museum and the Georgian National Opera in order to discuss the further development of cultural relations and cooperation within the framework of the cultural cooperation programme. The Minister will also visit the Tbilisi football stadium and, at a meeting with Georgian sport leaders, to discuss best practice related to sports facilities and organising large-scale international sport competitions.
Estonia has a total of almost 50 agreements for cultural cooperation and joint programmes with countries throughout the world. Cooperation agreements and programmes enable cooperation with foreign countries and their cultural institutions to be developed and supported, and thereby helps to promote Estonian culture globally.
More information:
Madis Järv
Deputy Head of the Foreign Relations Department at the Ministry of Culture
[email protected]
506 0157