Caring for ‘National Treasure’: Political Agency of Heritage Objects in the Caucasian Highlands (WGF - Post-PhD Research Grant)

Medieval churches and religious objects, referred to as 'gandzi' or 'sagandzuri,' serve as symbolic assemblages that engender distinct forms of power relations in Upper Svaneti. These artifacts, beyond their ritual function, act as discursive and affective nuclei for communal life in some of the most inaccessible villages, enabling local communities to renegotiate sovereignty vis-à-vis the state and the Orthodox Church. The study employs phenomenology of caring to explore the agentive capacity of these heritage objects, highlighting their role in shaping livelihood practices and power dynamics in a region characterized by geographic remoteness, scarce resources, and an unstable tourism-dependent economy.

Nutsa Batiashvili. (2022). Caring for ‘National Treasure’: Political Agency of Heritage Objects in the Caucasian Highlands (WGF - Post-PhD Research Grant). (:Unav). https://doi.org/10.48512/XCV8501880