Guerilla Gardening Camp, Vake Park, Tbilisi, Georgia © Onnik James Krikorian 2014
Braving the recent snowfall and plummeting temperatures, environmentalists have managed to prevent construction from continuing in Tbilisi’s central Vake Park — for now at least. Blockading the road leading to the site where a new hotel is being built, activists from Guerrilla Gardening Tbilisi are now camped out adjacent to the construction site.
Data Lapauri, one of the main figures behind the action, says that he’s particularly encouraged by this — and particularly bolstered by the show of public support experienced to date.
Local residents deliver hot soup while some taxi drivers, usually more notorious for over-charging customers, are even dropping off supporters of the action free of charge, he told me. Some cafes have also not charged for food when it’s ordered for take away and delivery to activists on site. Members of the Alternative Cultural Centre of Tbilisi collective has also donated a large tent.
Guerilla Gardening Camp, Vake Park, Tbilisi, Georgia © Onnik James Krikorian 2014
Facebook is also used extensively in their campaign while, despite low use in general in region, Twitter’s ability to send out updates via SMS is useful for urgent calls to mobilise if an when there are attempts to evict the activists or resume construction.
Twitter announcement, Vake Park, Tbilisi, Georgia © Onnik James Krikorian 2014
What’s most impressive, however, is the sense of camaraderie and unity evident among all, regardless of age, and even when the temperature hits minus figures. Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso has just published my small photo story on the protests.
Plans to construct a hotel in the corner of Tbilisi’s Vake Park have met opposition from residents of the Georgian capital. Although the Mayor’s Office says the development in Vake Park is not illegal, demonstrators disagree. Instead, they argue, the area where the hotel is being constructed was privatised without sufficient public discussion.
Organised via Facebook, the protests are now a regular occurrence with citizens and foreign residents invited to gather close to the construction site to make protest banners and signs while also engaging in other recreational activities. These include playing with frisbees, walking dogs, and even tightrope walking.
[…]
Activists have also received messages of support from neighbouring Armenia where environmentalists successfully prevented the construction of kiosks in Mashtots Park.
However, that action was arguably only a phyric victory. The area of green areas, including parks, in Yerevan, the Armenian capital, has already been significantly reduced, often to make room for the construction of cafes and restaurants by government officials or their relatives. The concern is that Tbilisi is experiencing the same trend.
For now, however, construction has been stopped.
The photo story is also available in Italian here.
Guerilla Gardening Camp, Vake Park, Tbilisi, Georgia © Onnik James Krikorian 2014
