Akhmeta Hosts First Silk Fair
Georgia held its first-ever Silk Fair last Saturday in the old silk cocoon drying facility in Atskhuri, Akhmeta municipality, Kakheti, organized by the Georgian Silk Association and the State Silk Museum with support from Akhmeta Municipality. The event marked a major milestone, the successful revival of raw silk production in three regions of Georgia in the country’s first coordinated effort in decades.
The old Soviet-era facility is the only one of its kind still preserved in Georgia out of more than three hundred that once operated across the country. It provided an excellent venue for the fair and the joy and energy of the new guardians of the silk sector in Georgia.
More than fifty of them took part; silk farmers, artisans, scientists, museum curators, educators and rural women entrepreneurs. Local villagers and tourists, enjoyed exhibition stalls showcasing silk, wool, wood, and clay crafts, masterclasses on traditional silk thread making as well as silk and felt crafts were held alongside competitions and traditional songs performed by local ensembles.
The Swedish Ambassador to Georgia and the Head of the Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency expressed their appreciation for being part of the fair, alongside local women and men working to revive sericulture in their communities in Georgia.
“I’ve been to a lot of fairs, but I’ve never experienced such genuine unity, respect, and passion for a common goal, a real collective effort,” one attendee said.
“I’ve had new orders today and decided to join the Silk Association to grow my small silk business,” another participant said.
The silk sector was always unique in that industrial level manufacturing was fuelled by silk produced in rural HH’s. The fair was a major step forward in making the intangibe tangible again in rural communities in Georgia.
The Georgian Silk Association is facilitated by the Mercy Corps Georgia Alliances Caucasus 2 (ALCP2) programme, co-funded by the Swiss Development and Cooperation Agency (SDC), the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) and Sweden.
See these TV reports on Akhmeta Silk Fair: