Irakli Kakabadze is a Georgian writer, performance artist, peace and human rights activist. In 2009, he was awarded the Oxfam/Novib PEN Freedom of Expression Prize. Kakabadze's articles and stories have been published in Georgian, Russian, and English newspapers and magazines. In 2007 he received the Lilian Hellman/Hammett grant from Human Rights Watch. From 2008 to 2012, Kakabadze was based in Ithaca, NY, where he developed a new method of integrating performing arts and social sciences, called "Rethinking Tragedy" or "Transformative Performance." Kakabadze has also pioneered a multi-lingual and multi-narrative performing style, called Polyphonic Discourse. Irakli Kakabadze's work as an artist-activist is subject of a verite documentary At the Top of My Voice.
Biography
Kakabadze was born in 1969. In his early youth (1987–1990) Irakli Kakabadze was actively involved in the anti-Soviet dissident movement and participated in the National Liberation movement of Georgia. By 1989 he was the youngest member of the National Liberation Committee formed by the first President of Georgia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia. In 1990, at the age of 21 he was elected to the National Forum of Georgia, which included the nine strongest political parties there. Kakabadze was not eligible to run due to his age, but he helped the liberation movement to win October 1990 elections by a wide margin. After the election of Zviad Gamsakhurdia as Georgia's President, Kakabadze quit his political activities and dedicated himself to literature and arts. He moved to the United States in 1990 and then adopted a bilingual writing style. Kakabadze also works in the field of peace studies and conflict resolution. He has been a practitioner of nonviolent social change and conflict resolution for nearly two decades. He was an active participant of two peaceful revolutions in 1989 (as one of the leaders of student movement) and in 2003 (as one of the leaders of civil disobedience committee).
During his work as peace and human rights activist in 1988–2010, Kakabadze was arrested and assaulted a number of times by the Soviet and Georgian police. From 2000 to 2015 he worked as a South Caucasus coordinator for Institute for Multi-Track Diplomacy in Washington, DC. Kakabadze also works in the field of peace studies, nonviolence and conflict resolution. He has been a practitioner of nonviolent social change and conflict resolution for nearly three decades. He was an active participant of two peaceful revolutions in 1989 (as one of the leaders of student movement) and in 2003 (as one of the leaders of civil disobedience committee). During his work as peace and human rights activist in 1988–2017, Kakabadze was arrested and assaulted a number of times by the Soviet and Georgian police. He was first arrested by Saakashvili regime in 2006 and his last arrest happened in December 2015 after protesting the appointment of Mr. Murusidze to the supreme court of Georgia. Irakli Kakabadze was advocating for political, social and economic rights of people in Georgia since 1988. His campaigns included the campaign against death penalty that was implemented in 1998, against 'Death Squads' in 2006 that has also brought some perpetrators to justice in 2013 and now for socio-economic rights. Since 2015 Kakabadze has been actively involved in the movement of homeless and landless in Georgia, who are advocating for their own socio-economic rights as citizens of Georgia.
Literary career
Irakli Kakabadze has published more than 500 short stories and essays in Georgian and English newspapers and magazines. His novel, Allegro or The Chronicle of One Year received the 1990 Best Literary Creation Award from the Georgian magazine Tsiskari. His play “Candidate Jokola” was controversial in Georgia, as it was about a love story between a Georgian presidential candidate and an Abkhaz woman. In 2009, he was awarded the Oxfam/Novib PEN Freedom of Expression Prize. Kakabadze's articles and stories have been published in Georgian, Russian, and English newspapers and magazines. In 2007 he received the Lilian Hellman/Hammett grant from Human Rights Watch. From 2008 to 2012, Kakabadze was based in Ithaca, NY, where he developed a new method of integrating performing arts and social sciences, called "Rethinking Tragedy" or "Transformative Performance." Kakabadze has also pioneered a multi-lingual and multi-narrative performing style, called Polyphonic Discourse. Irakli Kakabadze's work as an artist-activist is subject of an American verite documentary At the Top of My Voice filmed by Indian American Director Sudhir Venkatesh and Larry Kammerman.