Georgian-Armenian artist, poet, and puppeteer, Armen Hovhannisyan, uses his puppet shows to unite the Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Georgian communities living in the multicultural municipality of Marneuli, Georgia.
Last week, Caucasus Edition, the publication of the Imagine Center for Conflict Transformation, held another Zoom webinar, this time entitled “Rethinking Peacebuilding in the South Caucasus in Relation to the War in Ukraine.” Recently, there have been many commenting on what the Russian invasion might have on this region, though framing it as a need to reconsider peacebuilding strategies in the South Caucasus is an especially relevant one.
The One Caucasus Festival has been and gone, but because of COVID-19 it took on a very different format this year. At first, it seemed as though it would be held as it always has been with musicians from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and elsewhere performing in a festival area conceived and constructed by architects from throughout the region and abroad too.
After covering last year’s One Caucasus Festival for Meydan TV there was no way I was going to miss this year’s. That was just as well as there was definitely more international media interest in the event that brings Armenians, Azerbaijanis, and Georgians together in a small, somewhat isolated village located about two hours away from Tbilisi.
One of the standout bands at this year’s One Caucasus Festival in Georgia was undoubtedly the Baku-based Les Gardiens du Silence, a collective playing improvised world and spiritual music. They had also performed in Tbilisi a week earlier, and did so again soon after the festival, but it was their performances around a campfire at One Caucasus that was the most enjoyable.
Stratfor has published my text and photographs on the One Caucasus Festival held in the village of Tserakvi in Georgia. It’s aim is to bring together young Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Georgian musicians and other artists to work together to build a common image of a united and peaceful region.
I’ve been meaning to attend the annual One Caucasus festival since it started three years ago, but this year’s event, held 25-28 August in the Georgian village of Tserakvi, was the first time that I have. Naturally, I put together two video reports, in Azerbaijani for the BBC’s Azeri Service, embedded further down this page, and in English for Meydan TV, directly below.
Cross-border projects in a conflict-riven region come in many forms, but perhaps the most overlooked has arguably been those in the area of culture. There have been some notable exceptions such as the CIS Youth Symphony Orchestra that performed in Yerevan and Baku as well as elsewhere, but otherwise most cultural events featuring both Armenian and Azerbaijani musicians perform in neighbouring Georgia.
This year, Azerbaijani-Georgian communities across Georgia came together to celebrate Novruz with a variety of events and festivities.
Last weekend, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Prime Minister, Shahin Mustafayev, called for the immediate return of those non-enclave villages controlled by Yerevan in the Gazakh region of Azerbaijan. On Tuesday, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressed the issue during a live press conference.
For a year, the European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA) has been deployed on the border with Azerbaijan, which it patrols regularly: a measure considered necessary by Yerevan – which fears a new conflict – but viewed with suspicion by Baku.