Rivers of Tbilisi

Welcome to the official web repository for Rivers of Tbilisi. Rivers of Tbilisi was started as an Instagram page in 2022. The objective of the project is to explore and document the often hidden, neglected, polluted, or buried rivers in and around Tbilisi’s neighborhoods. Since the time the project has started, many resources relating to it have appeared on the web (some created by me and some by others). This page serves as an archive of links and any other information related to the project. If you’ve arrived here from the Instagram or elsewhere, feel free to look around the rest of this website for information relating to another part of what I do in Georgia, my tour business.

Reference Materials:

Rivers of Tbilisi collaborative map: an open-to-edit custom Google map, where pins, descriptions, and photographs relating to Tbilisi’s rivers can be uploaded by anyone.

Rivers of Tbilisi – A Virtual Tour: a recorded flythrough I made on Google Earth for the exhibition of the 2024 Tbilisi Architectural Biennale, exploring most extant rivers and khevis in Tbilisi. The video is an hour and 22 minutes long, but contains timestamps for easy reference to individual rivers.

Articles:

An Expedition to the Vera River – Mziuri to Maghlivi: an article I wrote for the 2024 edition of De:nostalgia magazine. (See the original publication in De:nostalgia here.)

Rivers of Tbilisi – a brief history of the urban center’s relationship with its waterways: an article I wrote for the April 2024 edition of Investor.ge magazine.
Uncovering the Hidden Rivers of Tbilisi: an article written about the Rivers of Tbilisi project by Sarah Cowles for the Substack of her landscape architectural practice Ruderal.
Sewage in the Mtkvari: an investigative journalism piece by Nino Tsverava and Nino Apakidze that I contributed to. (Georgian language)

Other Media:

Rivers photo slideshow: a slideshow I created for a talk at Untitled Gallery in Tbilisi in 2023.

now you are making noise music: an experimental film about the Rioni River in west Georgia I created for the spring 2023 (Kutaisi) edition of Caucasus Cinema.

One very happy river in Tbilisi, above Abanotubani neighborhood.

One rather sad river in Tbilisi, Vazisubani neighborhood.

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