A water body flowing from the Caucasus before mingling with the Caspian Sea—known in human tongues as Mtkvari, Kura, Cyrus—was the living pulse of Georgia, circulating in the bodies of its dwellers as they swam, drank, and marked their deepest rituals at its edge. Known for its capricious nature: changing rapids, fluctuating shallows, and periodic flooding, Mtkvari was a powerful non-human force cradling multifarious ethnic communities along its path.
This intricate bond fell victim to Soviet functionalist planning and post-Soviet capitalist extractivism, leaving the river walled, isolated, and exploited solely for utility. We engage with Mtkvari by tracing these distinct traumas across urban and rural landscapes. In Tbilisi, the river suffers from severe urban instrumentalisation—encased in concrete embankments and highways that sever citizens from the water. Conversely, the rural Mtkvari faces violent extraction; its riverbeds are mined and drained for global trade routes, devastating local ecosystems and human memories alike. This rupture demands cultivation of a new relationship that revives the profound connection human-centered progress has so carelessly erased.
Our methodology centres on attunement, seeking bodily proximity to the water to imagine alternative, non-extractive ways of coexistence. To navigate the river’s damaged networks, we practice “following humble agents”—tracing the quiet movements and interactions of birds, plants, and water currents to locate survival islands—liminal spaces to reconnect with the traumatised river. Through collaborative storytelling, we aim to recall forgotten intimacies with the more-than-human world and translate these connections into site-specific design interventions. We envision these interventions not as functional, problem-solving structures, but as subtle spatial and meditative anchors. Ultimately, we aim to disrupt utilitarian habits of the everyday and give the river a stronger voice and presence, treating Mtkvari as a living, equal entity in co-creating our shared world.
