By decision of the Georgian government, starting May 25, the Writers’ House will be reorganized into the Association of Writers’ Museums, and other state museums will be merged with it. The corresponding decree was signed by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze.
The following will be merged with the Writers’ House:
- The Ilia Chavchavadze State Museum in Saguramo;
- The Kvareli Ilia Chavchavadze State Museum;
- The Akaki Tsereteli State Museum;
- The Galaktion and Titsian Tabidze House-Museum;
- The Vazha-Pshavela House-Museum;
- The Yakov Gogebashvili House-Museum;
- The Ivane Machabeli Museum.
These museums will become structural units of the Writers’ House.
The current director of the House, Keti Dumbadze (who has been in office since August 2023), must decide in the coming days whether she will continue working in the new position or resign.
She was appointed to this position by Tea Tsulukiani, who was the Minister of Culture at the time. Back then, a group of Georgian writers, translators, publishers, and literary figures declared that they refused to accept Dumbadze as the new director:
“We do not recognize interference in literary life and processes through Soviet methods. We demand the creation of a commission, in cooperation with a working group appointed by the writers, which will select a candidate for the post of director of the Writers’ House and develop a new management and administration document, in order to avoid future interference in the work of the Writers’ House through unilateral and partisan decisions.”
