Cultural Heritage Grants to be announced (August 31)
On
Monday, August 31, in the main auditorium of Georgia's National Museum, U.S.
Ambassador John Tefft, Director of the Georgian National Museum, Davit
Lordkipanidze and Chair of the National Agency for Cultural Heritage, Nikoloz
Vacheishvili, will announce two grants for the preservation of Georgian
cultural heritage. The grants - totaling nearly $80,000 - are part of the U.S.
Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), a U.S. State Department initiative in support
of the preservation of cultural patrimony worldwide. To date, over 500 projects in developing
countries have received grants amounting to over 13 million dollars. This
year's competitive grant awards by the AFCP include projects from the Georgian
National Museum for the safeguarding and conservation of medieval manuscripts
and icons in the Svaneti Museum of History and Ethnography, and from the
National Agency for Cultural Heritage for rehabilitation of St Georgi's Church
in Arbo and Trinity Church in Tirdznisi. Both are located in Shida Kartli. The
U.S. government's contribution for the preservation of Georgia's cultural
heritage is a milestone in strengthening the bonds of friendship between
American and Georgian people.