Natalia Chitishvili, PhD

Education

Conferences

• “Architecture of Refectories in Medieval Georgia,” Localism across Borders (Tokyo Institute of Technology), Tokyo, Japan, 16 November 2013.
• “King and Bishop in the Church: Liturgical Planning in Medieval Georgia”, Xes Rencontres internationales des doctorants en etudes byzantines, Paris, 2017.
• “Arrangement and Decoration of the Altar Tables in Medieval Georgian Churches: Byzantine Context and Local Traditions”, Forum Kunst des Mittelalters: Ponti – Peaks – Passages, Bern, 19 September 2019.
• “Some Aspects of Early Liturgical Planning in the South Caucasus”, Artistic Networks in the Caucasian Space: New Researches and Perspectives, Fribourg 2022.
• “Women at the Margins: Gender Segregation of the Sacred Space in Medieval Georgia,” Peripheral Vision. Marginal Themes, Motifs, Locations in Byzantine Literature and Art, Centre of Early Medieval Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic, 2023.
• “Above the Nave: Architecture and Function of Upper-Level Spaces in Medieval Georgian Churches”, Final Workshop of the SNSF Lead Agency Project: Cultural Interactions in the Medieval Subcaucasian Region: Historiographical and Art-Historical Perspectives, Fribourg, 4 December 2024.
• “Seats of Secular Authorities in Medieval Caucasian Church Architecture”, ASIAC XIX Annual Conference, Venice, 17 December, 2025.
• “Royal and Ecclesiastical Thrones: Staging Authorities in Medieval Georgian Churches,” 25^th International Congress of Byzantine Studies, Byzantium beyond Byzantium, Vienna, 27 August, 2026.

Seasonal Schools, Workshops, Seminars

• Summer Workshop Cappadocia in Context (Koç University RCAC), Cappadocia, 11–26.06.2015.

• Travel Seminar Crossing Frontiers: Christians, Muslims and their art in Eastern Anatolia and the Caucasus (the Courtauld Institute of Art), Turkey – 6–16.07.2016; Armenia – 6–15.09.2016; Georgia – 8–18.09.2017; Israel – 8–15.12.2017.

• Techniques and Instruments for 3D Documentation and Three Dimensional Properties, Instituto Superiore per la Conservazione ed il Restauro (Rome, Italy), 2018.

• Seasonal School Tao-Klarjeti History and Heritage of Movable and Immovable Monuments (Chubinashvili National Research Centre), 7–16 September, 2019.

Fellowships

09.2020–02.2021 – Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, Department of Gerhard Wolf.

Research Projects

2005–2012              Corpus – History in Images. The Representations of the Historical Figures in Georgian Art – Participant.

2017–2020              Perception and Representation of Architecture in Medieval Georgia – Researcher (Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia).

2021–2024              Cultural Interactions in the Medieval Subcaucasian Region: Historiographical and Art-Historical Perspectives – PhD Student (Swiss National Foundation)

Editorial Activities

• G. Bochoridze, Churches, Monasteries and Antiquities of Kartli, eds Zaza Skhirtladze, Natalia Chitishvili, in collaboration with Inga Gogoberishvili (Tbilisi, 2012) (in Georgian).

• Since 2015 – Member of Editorial Group of Georgian Antiquities (Annual journal published by Chubinashvili National Research Centre)

• Georgia as a Bridge Between Cultures: Dynamics of Artistic Exchange, eds Manuela Studer-Karlen, Natalia Chitishvili, Thomas Kaffenberger, Convivium supplementum, 1 (2021).

• Medieval Svaneti, Objects, Images, and Bodies in Dialogue with Built and Natural Spaces, eds Manuela Studer-Karlen, Michele Bacci, Natalia Chitishvili, Convivium supplementum, 2 (2023).

• Approaches to Sacred Space(s) in Medieval Subcaucasian Cultures, eds Michele Bacci, Natalia Chitishvili, Gohar Grigoryan, Thomas Kaffenberger, Manuela-Studer-Karlen, Vesna Šćepanović, Rome/Brno 2023.

Books

Bridges in Medieval Georgia (Tbilisi 2023).

Chapters for books

• The Architecture of Monastic Refectories in Medieval Georgia, in: Historic Christian and Related Islamic Monuments in Eastern Anatolia and Syria from the Fifth to Fifteenth Centuries A.D., eds Shiro Sasano, Yasuhito Fujita, and Masashi Morita (Tokyo, 2014), pp. 105–110.

• Three-Dimensional Architectural Models as Acroteria in Medieval Georgia, in: Perception of Architecture in Medieval Georgia, eds Mariam Didebulidze, David Khoshtaria, Tbilisi 2021, pp. 239–348 (in Georgian).

Articles

• Trinity Church of Karbi, Georgian Antiquities, 12 (2008), pp. 76–100 (with Z. Skhirtladze) (in Georgian).

• Materials for the History of the Church of Kartlis Metekhi, Georgian Antiquities, 14 (2010), pp. 167–193 (in Georgian).

• Tympanum Relief of the Cathedral Church of the Transfiguration in Ruisi, Historical Collections, N3 (2013), pp. 288–309 (in Georgian).

• The Division of Space in Early Medieval Churches in East Georgia (Preliminary Thoughts), Georgian Antiquities, 23 (2020), pp. 15–31 (in Georgian).

• Altars in Medieval Georgian Churches, Preliminary Notes on their Arrangement, Decoration and the Rite of Consecration, Georgia as a Bridge Between Cultures, Convivium, Supplementum, eds Manuela Studer-Karlen, Natalia Chitishvili, Thomas Kaffenberger, 2021, pp. 90–115.

• General Overview of the Three-Dimensional Architectural Models as Acroteria in Medieval Georgia, Studia Ceranea, 11(2021), pp. 531–548.

• Erik Thunø in collaboration with Natalia Chitishvili, Gateway to Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, Museum and Cultural Heritage, eds Irma Dolidze, Eka Kacharava, Tbilisi 2021, pp. 700–707.

• Gendering Sacred Space in Early Georgian Churches, in: Approaches to Sacred Space(s) in Medieval Subcaucasian Cultures, eds Michele Bacci, Natalia Chitishvili, Gohar Grigoryan, Thomas Kaffenberger, Manuela-Studer-Karlen, Vesna Šćepanović, Rome/Brno 2023, pp. 65–100.

• Upper Galleries in Medieval Georgian Church Architecture, Georgian Antiquities, 27 (2024), pp. 138–195 (in Georgian).