What happened: On September 25, the Minister of Culture, Tea Tsulukiani, suspended the election of the rector of Tbilisi State Conservatoire, scheduled for October 10, 2023.
Why is this important? The current rector’s term of office expires on 21 October. With elections canceled, there are fears that the Ministry will appoint its preferred candidate. On September 27, artists and academics protested the interference and pledged to protect the autonomy of the Conservatoire.
Are there objective grounds for such concern? Yes, Minister Tsulukiani has taken concrete steps to dismantle quasi-independent institutions and centers subordinated to the Ministry and installed loyal leadership.
You can read several of our articles for the background:
- 04/09/2023 – Georgian Literary Community Boycotts the Ministry of Culture and House of Writers
- 21/08/2023 – 200 Georgian Filmmakers Boycott the National Film Center
- 11/08/2023 – Georgian Dream Faction Member Appointed Head of Writers’ House amid Writers’ Protests
- 15/06/2023 – Is Culture Minister Taking Over the Film Center?
Elements of the dispute
- The State Conservatoire announced an open competition for the position of its rector on July 28, 2023, since the term of the current rector was expiring on October 21.
- The Ministry said the rector’s election in 2019 was legally flawed – a claim that the Conservatoire rejected – and told the Conservatoire to redress its institutional and management structure.
What did the ministry want?
- The Ministry specifically asked to change its statute and transform one of the Conservatoire’s departments – the International Center for the Research of Traditional Polyphony – into an independent research institution, giving it a vote on the Conservatoire’s board. According to the Ministry, the existence of the Center as a department is not compliant with regulations.
- The Conservatoire said that it filed suggestions for adapting its management structure to the Ministry in 2022 but received no comments over 15 months. They suspect that the Ministry’s demand to upgrade in the status of the Polyphony Center is aimed at placing a loyal member of the board.
How did the conflict develop?
- An attempt to resolve the differences was made on October 29, when a meeting at the Ministry took place. But the ministry suspended contacts after it transpired that the Conservatoire filed a lawsuit with the Tbilisi City Court on October 2, seeking the annulment of the Minister’s order from September 25.
- The court rejected this petition to suspend the decree. The Conservatoire said since the term of the current rector expires on October 21, continuation of the legal dispute loses sense.
What now?
- The Ministry launched the process for determining the future status of the Polyphony Center, which, given the legal requirements stipulated in the Law on Higher Education, will take time.
- The Ministry linked the determination of the status of the center with the election of the rector, making it impossible to hold the elections of the rector in the near future.
- The time will run out on the current rector, allowing the Ministry to appoint the rector ad interim.
Conclusion
Using the legal and administrative tools at its disposal, the Ministry is likely to appoint a loyal temporary manager of the Conservatoire and, through changes in the Statute, appoint a loyal member to the board. In a process similar to the House of Writers the Conservatoire is also likely to lose its autonomy and get the manager personally loyal to Minister Tsulukiani and the ruling party.
