NEW BLOG POST: FLY AWAY by Sophia Cherkezishvili 2005©CAC. Posted by Nino Biniashvili (georgianfemaleartists.blogspot.com)

FLY AWAY by Sophia Cherkezishvili 2005©CAC I was introduced first to Sophia Cherkezishvilis works through the Actual Art website. Sophos creations captured my attention and I immediately contacted Aleandra Gabunia from Actual Art and eventually got to Sophia, and posted her art on the Georgian Female Artist's blog.

Thanks to Ninia Biniashvili and Aleandra Gabunia for this link: www.actualart.ge




Another Video-Art

ARTICLE: Will There Be a Second Crimean War? By Andreas Umland (pendemocracy.net)

Escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian quarrel over Crimea could destabilise European security

The Caucasus war of August 2008 was a shock to Russian-Western relations. The West's timid reaction to the five-day conflict and to Russia's de facto annexation of two Georgian provinces do not bode well for the future of European security. The recent renewal of friendly relations between Moscow and Washington and the current rapprochement between President Dmitry Medvedev and the liberal Russian intelligentsia may give reason for hope, but a major source of instability in northern Eurasia remains in place.

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ANALYSE: Länderanalyse Südkaukasus: Krise und Kriegsgefahr? (fes.de)

Hans-Peter Merz schickte mir diesen Link einer Analyse der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung zur Lage im Kaukasus: Matthias Jobelius. Länderanalyse Südkaukasus: Krise und Kriegsgefahr? Nach dem Fünf-Tage-Krieg verlangten die Opposition und Teile der Zivilgesellschaft ...

ARTICLE: Lay to rest ghosts of war in the Caucasus. By Thomas de Waal (ft.com)

While the rest of the world struggles with the first crisis of globalisation, the Caucasus is still stuck in a pre-1914 age of clashing Great Powers. As last August’s conflict in Georgia painfully showed, nowhere else in the wider Europe is war such a danger.

Yet this May could be a bright moment. Russia, the US, the European Union and Turkey – the constellation of powers with an interest in this unfortunate region – are in brief alignment. They have an opportunity to begin to defuse what is the least visible and the most dangerous threat to the region and its many energy pipelines: the unresolved Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.

The moment follows the long-awaited announcement last month by Armenia and Turkey, backed by the major powers, that they have drawn up a plan to restore relations. This could see their border re-opened and a commission formed to study the 1915 massacres of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

That would be a great achievement, but there is a snag: Nagorno-Karabakh, the unrecognised territory, legally part of Azerbaijan, which is under Armenian control. While the Armenians say the two issues should not be linked, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, mindful of his close ally Azerbaijan, has said that there must be progress on the Karabakh issue before the border re-opens.

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NEWS: Rebellion breaked out and was finished soon - what was happen really? (welt.de)

Georgia sent tanks to a military base near the capital Tbilisi where it said a rebellion was under way on Tuesday and accused Russia of financing a coup. There was no official reaction from Moscow and it was unclear how many were involved in the uprising at the Mukhrovani base, home to several hundred soldiers, or what its aims were.

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MUSIC: Georgia to host rival contest after Eurovision ban on Putin song (timesonline.co.uk)

Normally the Eurovision Contest is a mass spectacle for the european community and their different countries. Only interesting is who is the singer king for one summer in this area. But Georgia would like to start a new area in this champion games. It is possible to start a political music contest in this entertainment?

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BLOG: Religious Invasions

Modern Day Crusaders: The Ashkenazi Spearhead (April 27, 2009)

Brief Ancient history: The many waves of Crusading forces assembled in Medieval Europe with the avowed purpose of recapturing the Holy City of Jerusalem from the hands of the “Infidels” the Moslems were mainly of trading nature: they were meant of securing the spice and perfume routes of India and the Far east Asia via Egypt.

The Crusaders failed to capture Egypt and the objective of investing money in order to securing cheaper spices and perfumes that were transported by land routes through Iran and Turkey did not generate any return and the campaigns stopped.

The maritime crusading campaigns restarted in the 17^th centuries by Portugal and Spain; India and the Far Eastern Asian sources of spices, perfume, and gold were colonized and maritime stronghold ports were established around Africa, India, Yemen, and the Persian/Arabia Sea.

The British recaptured most of these colonies and “trading comptoirs” and secured the direct administration of Egypt.

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PHOTOGRAPHY: Opposition blocks the Rustavelli Avenue in Tbilisi. By Ralph Haelbig

Different reactions about the blockade of traffic can you listen in the capital of Georgia. Interesting is how quiet is the centre of this city. Usually you can't pass this street. The traffic here is normaly a typical georgian Impression for all foreigners. 

Many georgians can't really understand the behaviour from the opposition - only to say Saakashvili have to resign is for many inhabitants here in Tbilisi not enough. Never knows what the opposition would like to change after Saakashvili. Some people believe that could be unrest for Georgia. 

Most of the taxi drivers said only Saakashvili have going to go. For myself I could't expert any constructive political offer. It is time to end the blame game.

BOOK: The New Cold War by Edward Lucas - By Aley Birch (corrupt.org)

In August 2008, Georgia launched a large-scale military attack in the separatist region of South Ossetia. Shortly after, Russian combat troops began firing into Georgia with full military response, which escalated a long conflict between the pro-West region in South Caucasus and Russian-backed Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Western response was largely condemning, but surprisingly soft. The European Union was simply baffled: Is Russia returning to its old Soviet patterns?

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edwardlucas.blogspot.com

AmazonShop: Books, Maps, Videos, Music & Gifts About The Caucasus

TRAVEL BOOK: Murderers in Mausoleums. By Jeffrey Tayler.

As Jeffrey Tayler points out in his new book Murderers in Mausoleums: Riding the Back Roads of Empire Between Moscow and Beijing, we hear a whole lot about Moscow and Beijing in the news these days - and thousands more tourists visit each city every month - but we don’t hear much at all about the places in between.

From the vantage point of someone who has lived in Russia since 1993, and can speak Russian, Turkish and enough Mandarin to chat with locals along the way, Tayler set out on a journey to figure out what’s going on in the twenty-first century version of these places in between. He traveled from Moscow across the Caucasus, through Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and on through northern China to Beijing - an overland trip of some 7,200 miles.

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AmazonShop: Books, Maps, Videos, Music & Gifts About The Caucasus

EURASIANET: AZERBAIJAN: SHOOTING AT AZERBAIJAN’S OIL ACADEMY LEAVES AT LEAST 13 DEAD

Jessica Powley Hayden 4/30/09

At least 13 people were killed and 13 wounded when a lone gunman went on a rampage at Baku’s Azerbaijan State Oil Academy early on April 30, Azerbaijani officials said. The alleged gunman, a Georgian of Azeri origin, was among the dead.

The shooting began as students gathered for their morning lessons. Some survivors reported seeing more than one gunman. "We were attending a lecture. Someone began to kick the door. Suddenly two [gunmen] burst into the room and shot at the students sitting in the front row. The students began to flee the lecture hall. When I left the room I saw a lot of wounded people in the corridor," one student told APA News Agency.

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EURASIANET: GEORGIA: ETHNIC RUSSIANS SAY, "THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE HOME"

Molly Corso 4/30/09

Eight months ago Georgia suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Russian army. The repercussions of the military disaster have been far reaching, yet Georgians do no seem inclined to vent their frustrations on ethnic Russians living in Georgia.

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ANALYSE: Die Weltwirtschaftskrise in Kaukasien und Zentralasien (eurasischesmagazin.de)

Werden die Auswirkungen der globalen Wirtschaftskrise auf den GUS-Raum betrachtet, richtet sich der Blick meist nur auf Russland, die größte Volkswirtschaft, vielleicht noch auf Kasachstan, die zweitgrößte, oder auf die zum Sorgenkind internationaler Finanzorganisationen gewordene Ukraine. Aufmerksamkeit verdienen aber auch die kleineren Volkswirtschaften in Zentralasien und im Südkaukasus, wo mit schmerzhaften sozialökonomischen Einschnitten zu rechnen ist.

Von Uwe Halbach

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ARTICLE: Eurasian pipelines - a forecaster's nightmare (heritage.org)

by Ariel Cohen, Ph.D.

The world's leading experts who gathered at Columbia University's Harriman Institute for the conference, "The Architecture of Energy Export System of the Caucasus and Central Asia," believe that future uncertainties jeopardize western control of much of Eurasian energy.

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FRONTLINE-BLOG: Baku shooting: some unanswered questions. By Ali S. Novruzov (frontlineclub.com)

on May 2, 2009 2:56 PM | 1

According to Reuters on 30 April, 2009, a gunman entered State Oil Academy in Baku, Azerbaijan and “went from floor to floor firing on teachers and students after the bell rang for morning classes” before killing himself. According to official sources 13 people, including the gunman himself – Georgian citizen of Azeri descent, Farda Gadirov were dead and another thirteen were wounded.

All early reports talked about “terror” and “terroristS”, until an official from the Presidential Administration intervened and said that “such incidents happen in many countries” by apparently comparing it to other rampages in American and European colleges. As a person following this news scrupulously, I can say that after this official statement all the news reports changed their tunes. Officially, and unofficially it was not a terror act anymore! There was a “loner” (probably a psychopath) who killed 13 people for no reason.

However, ladies and gentlemen, I have some questions.

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ART REVIEW: Sculpture Born of Scissors and Paper (nytimes.com)

By BENJAMIN GENOCCHIO

Published: May 1, 2009

It is hard to define sculpture these days. Artists continue to make three-dimensional objects, but the range and variety of materials they employ defy classification. This is enchantingly evident in a show by the Armenian artist Karen Sargsyan at the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art.

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MUSEUM: Armenian Film Festival (mfa.org)

Three Documentaries by Serge Avedikian
4 — 5:33 pm
Remis Auditorium

We Drank the Same Water (Nous avons bu le meme eau) (France, 2007,
72 min.). When Serge Avedikian was invited to a theater festival in Istanbul in 1987, he could not resist crossing the Sea of Marmara to find the town in which his Armenian grandfather once lived. The day he spent there left him with haunting memories. Incomplete, half-stolen images remained, revealing the furtive traces of an Armenian community forced to leave in the 1920s. The film centers on Avedikian’s return to Soloz in 2006 and attempts to restore the dialogue between Armenians and Turks and encourage people to embrace the future without forgetting their past. In French with English subtitles.

Lux Aeterna by Serge Avedikian and Levon Minasian (1998, 11 min.).
On December 7, 1988, a terrible earthquake ravaged an entire region of Armenia, including its second-largest city, Leninakan. Several hours after the seismic shock, the directors began to film the devastation.

Terra Emota by Serge Avedikian and Levon Minasian (1999, 10 min.).
Ten years after the devastating earthquake that destroyed the city of Leninakan, the directors returned to the scene to record the city and its inhabitants. Discussion with director Levon Minasian follows screenings.

NEWS: 1 May 09 | Caucasus Reporting Service 491 (iwpr.net)

Karabakh Eyes Armenia-Turkey Thaw With Suspicion

The recent warming in the relations of the two estranged neighbours provokes ambiguous reactions in Nagorny Karabakh. By Karine Ohanian in Stepanakert (CRS No. 491, 1-May-09)

Border Turks Want Door to Armenia Kept Shut

Plan to reopen frontier between Armenia and Turkey wins few friends in towns and villages on Turkish side. By Sabuhi Mammadli in Igdir, Turkey (CRS No. 491, 1-May-09)

Russia’s Gift of Recognition Hurts Abkhaz Traders

Exports nosedive as an unintended consequence of Moscow’s diplomatic gesture of friendship.
By Anaid Gogorian in Sukhum (CRS No. 491, 1-May-09)

SCIENCE: Georgian Asylum Applications Rise: Significance

In several surveys , we have asked the question: "would you leave Georgia if you had the chance?" We believe that this question is a good measure to gauge people's perception of their current situation.

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NEW BLOG: MoldovANN reports from Tbilisi. By Ann Merrill. (pcmoldovann.com)

I’m in Georgia (the country, not the state). Beautiful! Great food! Great people!

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FILM: Ursula Biemann in Conversation and a Screening of Black Sea Files (2005) (berkeley.edu)

Ursula Biemann in Conversation and a Screening of Black Sea Files (2005)

Film - Feature | April 30 | 4-5 p.m. | 142 Dwinelle Hall

Moderator: Deniz Göktürk, Associate Professor of German and Film Studies, UC Berkeley

Speaker/Performer: Ursula Biemann, Zurich- based artist

Website: www.geobodies.org

Sponsors: Film Studies, The Strategic Working Group on Cultural Forms / Local Stakes / Global Circuits, The Working Group on Contemporary European Performance, German, Department of, The Multicultural Germany / Transnational Europe Project, European Studies, Institute of

Zurich-based artist, theorist, and curator Ursula Biemann interrogates in her video-essays how migration and technologies of mobility are reshaping our world. In videos such as Performing the Border (1999), Remote Sensing (2001), and Europlex (2003), she exposes the gendered dimension of migrant labor and the precarious position of global sex workers. Her award-winning work has been shown worldwide in solo exhibitions, art biennials, film festivals, and activist conferences. Biemann’s 2005 project Black Sea Files explores the sociopolitical and cultural effects of oil extraction in the Caspian Sea, focusing on the daily practices of oil workers, farmers, refugees, and prostitutes living along the building site of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. The video-essay combines an experimental aesthetic practice with the investigatory fieldwork of anthropologists and journalists to expose how visual intelligence is detected, withheld, and circulated. Black Sea Files is part of a larger visual research project with Angela Melitopoulos and Lisa Parks called B-Zone: Becoming Europe and Beyond.

VIDEO: Protests continue in Georgian capital- 02 May 09 (youtube.com)

Nearly four weeks after some of the biggest street protests in Georgia's recent history, anti-government demonstrators are continuing their call for President Mikheil Saakashvili to step down.

They have blocked the main streets outside parliament with hundreds of imitation prison cells, despite the government's offer on democratic reforms. Al Jazeera's Matthew Collin reports from the centre of the protests in Tbilisi.