Museum Sector Challenges in the Region of Adjara

Tinatin Baghashvili 

Interview with Tamuna Oragvelidze, Ph.D. Mass Communication and former director of the Association of Museums in the region of Adjara

- Tell us about your career in the museum sector?

I have been working in the museum sector for almost 14 years, but even after I have left the museum I continue to work as a freelancer on various projects in the museum sector. I really believe that once you fall in love with museums, you will always be connected to them.

Tamuna Oragvelidze
I started working at Nobel Museum in Batumi, later I became the director of the museum and then I managed the Museum Union of Adjara Region, which includes up to 10 national museums. During my work in the museum I learned a lot, taking risks and overcoming the challenges was one of the greatest experiences I had. Contemporary approaches are very different and we all have to accept them. I think that museums today have a different meaning, they focus more on human emotions and identity. We should promote this value, real-time interaction with visitors, to make the museum sector in Georgia more popular. Creative thinking is also very important, by offering different objects with creativity, which are related to the museum context.

- What were the challenges you faced while working in the museum field?

In the Soviet era, there were times when schools or organizations were told to go to the museum, but in today's world, people have the freedom to choose whether to go to the museum or not. Therefore, we should turn the museum into a space where people like to go and spend their time. Moreover, it is not only the exhibition that can attract visitors, although it is very important, but I mean the additional services, cafes, shops, open spaces or even parking, which is a very problematic issue for our museum spaces. I understand that this is a complex issue, but it is very important because there are many busses and tourist groups that go to the museums and need parking. In addition, there are no paid terminals, which can also be understood as an inflexible and non-customer-oriented service. However, during my time as director, we introduced online ticket sales, audio guides and virtual tours, and all of this is now available. I consider this the greatest success in my time as director of Museum Union. We have also added separate programs.

Another challenge I would note is that staffing is also very problematic in the museum field. They are not professionals and are not open to the initiatives that give the museum less chance to develop and experiment.

-Why are the museums in Georgia unique, especially in the region of Adjara?

Initially, before coming to the city of Batumi, there is the Religion Museum, because of its content and the tolerance that Batumi brings. It is important that the city has always been multicultural and very tolerant, where all religious representatives have always lived friendly and peacefully. We have many families where we meet different religious groups of people, mainly Muslims and Christians, who live in a free and tolerant environment. They celebrate all the events and holidays as for the Muslims or for the Christians. 
Nobel Museum in Batumi

Along the two quarters there is the brother Nobel Museum, which is the unique story of the inventor's life period in Batumi. There are many cities that try to be identified as posh cities, while Batumi does not need that because there is the living history of the house where the Nobel Brothers lived. They put in railroads and an oil terminal and made Batumi the closest gateway to Europe. And since Batumi is a port city, all new things were integrated there first. There were many internationally known writers living in Batumi. I would also like to note that Archeological Museum is unique because it tells the story of gold mining and the story of Medea, who was Georgian, and the story of Golden Fleece, story that is internationally known. Also, I must mention that the oldest museum in Adjara region Khariton Akhvlediani Museum is dated 110 years, where you can see the rich exhibitions about fishermen, local life, Georgian cuisine, ships, national clothing and Georgian culture.


-What are the funding models for museums in Georgia?

Mainly the museums are state funded organizations, but there are also some privately funded projects that published books, contributed events, etc. I suggest that there is a huge potential and I think a team of professionals is needed who would consciously work on fundraising. We also do not have a fundraising service, for example if members of the public or visitors want to donate to the museums. But I must mention that we have "Friends Club" initiated by the museum, who often participate in the activities and events of the museums for free. Therefore, this kind of contribution also helps the museum sector in general. The "Friends Club" includes various professionals and I am really grateful to them. With the support of the club members, we have made some promotions and advertisements in the city of Batumi for the very special event "110 Annual" of Akhvlediani Museum.

- Is the museum sector in Georgina ready to develop additional services to generate more revenue? 

From my perspective, there are a lot of challenges when you talk about finances and management that still need to be worked on. I understand that there is very little capacity in the museums, but we can still hire some professionals or people from Friends Club who would contribute. I think if the desire is there, anything is doable, and I think museums should be more open and management should not really be afraid of the challenges. There are some museums that have shops, but that is not enough.

-	What would be your advice to the future director of museums?

We should not identify the museums only for the "museum people" or art lovers, we should create the space in the museums where different groups of people can come together, work, collaborate and create. There is a huge potential in Adjara. Besides, there are so many museums in Batumi, you cannot just leave out the museums, otherwise you will not really feel the spirit of the city. I suggest that the museum should have a strong management, operational systems, marketing and communication. It should be open to new initiatives and experiments that can expand audiences and engage the public. The museum should be the place where people like to go to have memorable experiences. In the end, I have to admit that Batumi itself is a city museum that will not let you go once you have visited it.