Shaping Identity in Georgia: Museums, Maps and Monuments
Georgian history reflects the power of memory. The collapse of the USSR and Georgia’s independence in 1991 cannot be understood without an examination of the population’s urge to rediscover its past. The rediscovery of memory and history in Georgia in the 1980s and 1990s was the prelude to a revolution which shattered Soviet Georgia’s legitimacy and reshaped Georgian identity. Memory and history are powerful political tools for any state, and since Georgia’s independence in 1991, successive governments have adopted policies which aim to restructure history through the control of a new national narrative. This panel will explore the ways in which government policies have re-modeled Georgia’s public space with a particular emphasis on the role of maps, museums, and monuments. In what ways have these tools reshaped Georgian identity and overcome competing narratives?
Georgian history reflects the power of memory. The collapse of the USSR and Georgia’s independence in 1991 cannot be understood without an examination of the population’s urge to rediscover its past. The rediscovery of memory and history in Georgia in the 1980s and 1990s was the prelude to a revolution which shattered Soviet Georgia’s legitimacy and reshaped Georgian identity. Memory and history are powerful political tools for any state, and since Georgia’s independence in 1991, successive governments have adopted policies which aim to restructure history through the control of a new national narrative. This panel will explore the ways in which government policies have re-modeled Georgia’s public space with a particular emphasis on the role of maps, museums, and monuments. In what ways have these tools reshaped Georgian identity and overcome competing narratives?