[Falkor-info] EVS positions in Open Air Museum of Ethnography in Georgia

[info@falkor.org]

APD in Georgia is looking for two volunteers for one EVS project in 
Tbilisi. The project is situated in the Ethnological Museum in Tbilisi 
and contains wooden house reconstructing and gardening. The project can 
start in March 2008 for 12 months.

You can find the project information below.

Interested volunteers should get in contact with APD via 
apd.youth.@gmail.com.

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Architectural restoration and landscaping at the Open Air Museum in 
Tbilisi, Georgia.
Two European Volunteers

Time: From 15th March 2008 to 15th March 2009
Venue: Tbilisi, Georgia
More information: apd.youth@gmail.com

The Open Air Museum of Tbilisi, Georgia, is actually proposing two 
European Volunteer Service placements (EVS) to work on architectural 
restoration and landscape areas with the current interns. For being an 
EVS, neither education background nor language skills are required, but 
a high motivation to take part into the daily work of the Museum. All 
young people between 18 and 30 years old who are interested into the 
proposed topics can apply by sending a Curriculum Vitae and a motivation 
letter to the following address apd.youth@gmail.com before the 25th of 
October 2007.

Description of the organisation

Giorgi Chitaia Open Air Museum of Ethnography, the first of its kind in 
the Caucasus, was founded in 1966. Giorgi Chitaia, a renowned Georgian 
ethnographer, developed the idea of the museum and led its 
establishment. Georgian architect Longinoz Sumbadze created master plan 
of the museum.

The Open Air Museum is a scientific and educational institution 
presenting natural, cultural and intangible heritage of Georgia. It 
represents a miniature model of the country displaying Georgia’s ethnic 
culture in its diversity. The Museum is stretched on 50 hectares of land 
and is divided into 11 areas. Examples of vernacular architecture and 
household objects from the regions of Georgia are exhibited in ten 
historical-ethnographic areas, each half of them imitating regions of 
West and East Georgia.

The Museum presents about 70 exact copies as well as original dwelling 
houses and subsidiary buildings from the following historical and 
geographical regions of Georgia: Kartli, Kakheti, Samtskhe-Javakheti, 
Guria, Samegrelo, Imereti, Racha-Lechkhumi, Abkhazia, Achara, Svaneti. 
One area is dedicated to historical and archaeological monuments 
including V-VI century basilica, II millennium B.C dolmen from Abkhazia 
and a collection of historical tomb stones.

Description of work

The volunteers work is divided into two parts: architectural part and 
landscaping part. The volunteer will serve as a normal staff of the museum.

As an architectural restorer the main responsibility will be to assist 
the museum in the field of restoration. The museum is carrying out a 
restoration project on five most endangered buildings in the museum, for 
which it is contracting an NGO in heritage conservation (ICOMOS 
Georgia). The above mentioned project will be ongoing throughout the 
period of the volunteers work, thus the volunteers will become part of 
the team working on those five houses.

Apart from the ongoing project, the volunteers will participate in other 
small scale restoration works that will be planned and executed by the 
museum. These small scale projects could be rehabilitation and 
restoration works on the deteriorated houses, or parts of the houses, 
outhouses and subsidiary buildings.

In both cases, the volunteers will work in a team and will be supervised 
by the administrative head of the museum.

Apart from restoration work the volunteers will be in charge of 
monitoring the physical condition of the houses. He will supervise 
regular check-ups (twice a month) of the houses which have hosts and be 
in charge of maintaining the houses which are closed. This would mean 
systematic (once a month) monitoring round to check the leakage, damage 
to timber, glass, etc., make sure the houses get enough ventilation and 
fire is burnt regularly to ensure drying of timber and make sure that 
the timber is dust free.

The volunteers will be encouraged to show own initiatives in terms of 
planning their activities and come up with new ideas on extra work 
according to their specific interest, i.e. craftsmanship, teaching, some 
specific technical skills, etc.

The landscaping part of the volunteers work includes as well a broad 
range of activities. The volunteers will be in charge of:
New acquisitions and planting;
Maintenance of existing plant life;
Participation in the preparation of events/festivals.

At the moment the museum is working on a project called the “Georgian 
Garden” where all the endemic species of Georgian Flora from all regions 
of Georgia will be represented in a terrace like gardens. The volunteers 
can get involved in this project and assist in its finalisation and 
thereafter, help maintain it.

A second project that the museum will be launching and where the 
volunteers will get involved is “Medea’s Garden”. This project will 
involve set up of a garden and pharmacy of healing herbs and medicine 
which will be sold there. They will be involved in the development of 
the concept and its implementation.

The volunteers will have the task of day to day maintenance of flowers 
and other plants.

Expected results thanks to the volunteers work:
Improved condition of the houses;
More buildings restored;
Better maintained buildings – best way of conservation
Existing plant life maintained;
Project “Georgian Garden” completed;
Project “Medea’s Garden” launched;
New green areas of the museum created.
Work schedule

The volunteer´s work will follow the normal working timetable of the 
museum. The working hours will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from May to October 
and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from November to April from Tuesday to Saturday. 
The restorer will do most of his work at the different houses and yards 
of the museum. He will have, according to the project work, some work in 
the office, like drawing, measuring, calculating. Apart from the regular 
work described in point 1, he will have some extra tasks to support the 
staff during the special events, such as festivals, parties, various 
celebrations, etc.

Learning outcomes for the volunteers

The volunteer restorer will be encouraged to show and utilize his skills 
and knowledge in the field of heritage conservation. At the same time he 
will have a chance to cooperate with a skilled group of professionals 
working on the international rehabilitation project funded by UNESCO. He 
will get a chance to benefit from learning from a timber specialist from 
Norway who is actively engaged in the ongoing rehabilitation project and 
comes to hold workshops for carpenters and timber specialists in 
Georgia.  In the restoration process he will closely observe the 
traditional crafts processes, learn about traditional tools and 
techniques. The volunteer will learn about the different types of 
dwelling houses built historically in Georgia, as all of its kind is 
represented on the venue of the museum. Working at the museum will be a 
good chance for the person to get to know the specifics of running an 
Open Air Museum. Apart from that, the volunteer will have sufficient 
free time in the winter season to engage in other learning activities, 
such as learn Georgian language, travel throughout Georgia, etc.

Furthermore, the volunteers will get experiences in the planning of the 
museum landscape and in its practical implementation. They will be able 
to benefit from co-operating with professional experts from botanical 
institutions in Georgia which are consulting Georgian National Museum in 
its botanical projects. The volunteers will have freedom to take 
initiative and suggest his ideas for the new landscaping of the museum.

European Volunteering Service Conditions

The European Commission is financing the EVS programme. For further 
information please consult the website of the Youth policy of the 
European Union: http://ec.europa.eu/youth

Requirements for the volunteers:
-Being between 18 and 30 years old.
-No education background is required.
-No language skills are required.
-100 % of travel costs are covered.
-Accommodation, food and local transportation allowance are provided.
-Pocket money (80 €/ month) is provided.
-Insurance and language courses are provided.