The experimental research laboratory 'Lurji Supra' (blue tablecloth) takes part in the contest of UNESCO

Tbilisi State Academy of Art (TSAA), the only higher educational institution in arts and crafts in Georgia, and its Faculty of Design aim to promote professional development of the craftsmen working in the field of handicrafts throughout the country, and offer a seminar-workshop program based on an online platform. At this time, in Georgia, the well-known "Traditional Georgian Blue Tablecloth Workshop" is already being conducted. This has been organized on the basis of the Art Academy since 2011, with support of the Ministry of Culture. Its activities serve to create the "Blue Tablecloth" – the unique kind of Georgian textile. Last year, contemporary exhibits of the Georgian blue tablecloth were presented at the 40th UNESCO World Exhibition of Textiles, focused on the Indigo Techniques, which took place in Paris and included participation of many countries. The department of Textile Technology at the Design Faculty, Tbilisi State Academy of Art, develops this important area of handcraft, and according to the challenges of both, preserving cultural heritage and supporting the creative industry, has established the following initiative: the multi-stage educational-training seminar-workshops “Traditional Blue Cloth for Developing Creative Industries”. Remote conducting of the seminar/ workshop will unite the textile designers, women and amateurs, based in the regions, jointly with the Art Academy’s students in the capital, as well as, those art academy students, representing the ethnic minorities. In order to facilitate an employment, the workshop participants will include women living in the regions, as well as, the representatives of ethnic minorities in Georgia (50-100 participants from Shida Kartli, Bolnisi, Marneuli, Pankisi, Dusheti).
Theoretical part of the conference and seminars will be managed by representatives of the LEPL National Museum of Georgia ( textile direction), National Agency for cultural heritage preservation of Georgia, Azerbaijanian cultural museum of Mirza Fatali Akhundov, Ministry of Education, Science, culture and Sports of Georgia, field experts of the TSAA Faculty of Design.
Practical workshop will be held by the, field experts of the TSAA Faculty of Design and the artists, specializing in educational, research, artistic studies in textile design and other directions of the applied arts (textile, glass, ceramics, fashion and design directions)

Project objectives:
Applied arts & Craftwork: The project’s major goal is to develop textile workshops in order to restore the esthetic principles of the historical Georgian textile, to employ the unique methodology of creative reproduction from the Georgian Traditional Georgian Textiles – the Blue tablecloth.
The project is aimed on integration of women from the regions into the cultural space, drawing on their individual talents and abilities, and increasing their social means and economic potential. The TSAA students and women from the region will learn the textile design traditions and technologies, as well as, the restoration techniques. For the first time in Georgia, the women from the region will have the opportunity to participate in the textile workshops and the create the textile products from home.