Georgian Human Rights on the Edge:
An evening with Ana Jabauri and Matt Shally
an Artists at Risk (AR/PM) Talk in cooperation with Voima
Save the Date:
Friday 29 August, 2025 at 17:00
Location:
Rosebud Sivullinen bookshop, Kaisa House, Kaisaniemenkatu 5, Helsinki.
Snacks and drinks will be served.
Context
Human rights are under serious threat in Georgia, following a highly contested parliamentary election in October 2024, with the pro-Russian Georgian Dream party claiming victory amid allegations of widespread electoral fraud and intimidation. The opposition has refused to recognize the results, citing significant discrepancies between official counts and exit polls, leading to ongoing protests and calls for new elections. Since then, the Georgian Dream party has cracked down on protests, dissent and human rights, introducing new legislation threatening voices for democracy, transparency, independence from Russia and LGBTQ+ rights among others.
This AR/PM-Talk brings to the stage two AR/PM-Residents from Georgia to reflect on the current state of affairs, their work and future prospect: Ana Jabauri, a prominent human rights lawyer and the LGBTQ+ artist and activist Matt Shally.
Moderators:
Iida Simes (Voima), Marita Muukkonen and Ivor Stodolsky (Co-Directors of AR)
Speakers:
Ana Jabauri
Ana Jabauri is a human rights lawyer from Georgia. She is currently the second resident of the Artists at Risk (AR) Human Rights Defender (HRD) programme in Helsinki, initiated in cooperation with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and the City of Helsinki, with key funding from ProtectDefenders.eu.
Jabauri graduated from the Free University of Tbilisi in 2017, and obtained a Master’s Degree in Comparative Constitutional Law from the Central European University in Budapest in 2018. She also undertook a training course at the HERTIE School of Executive Education in Human Rights Monitoring and Advocacy, and holds a certificate in European Law and Economics from the Riga Graduate School of law.
Ana Jabauri has worked with various local and international organizations, primarily focusing on human rights monitoring and advocacy throughout the last years. In 2023-2024 she led a team tasked with monitoring public assemblies in Georgia, as well as another team monitoring judicial proceedings with alleged political motives. She was actively involved in monitoring, documenting and reporting on grave breaches of human rights identified during mass protest against the “foreign agents” legislation in Georgia. Jabauri was also part of the Human Rights Center’s observation mission for the 2024 Parliamentary Elections in Marneuli, Georgia.
Currently, Ana Jabauri works at Media Institute, a civil society organization, and is actively engaged in advocacy before UN bodies and other international actors regarding documented human rights violations in Georgia.
Matt Shally
The Georgian artist known as Matt Shally is renowned for his vibrant work in film, drag, theatre, and fashion performances, often incorporating personal insights and experience and unapologetic self-expression. He performs and directs shows and concept performances in the Georgian underground scene, which often highlight the resilience of the Georgian queer community, despite ongoing societal challenges.
While Georgia has an anti-discrimination law that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, the Georgian parliament has followed the Russian example, banning “LGBTQ propaganda”, same-sex marriage and adoption to encourage a negative attitude towards LGBTQ+ persons.
Shally became a short-term AR-Safe Haven Helsinki Resident earlier this year, providing him with a safe space to practise his creative work without risk. During his residency, Shally has continued his creative projects in both Helsinki and Tbilisi, working primarily on theatre and supporting the Georgian LGBTQ+ community. He has also been enjoying summer in Finland, engaging with various artistic scenes.
This event is held by Artists at Risk (AR)/Perpetuum Mobile (PM) in cooperation with Voima.
Perpetuum Mobile (PM) is an international NGO based in Helsinki, whose Artists at Risk (AR) and Ecologists at Risk (ER) initiatives have brought over 1100 artists and rights-defenders to safety at over 330 AR/ER/PM residences around the world. Its founders and directors Ivor Stodolsky and Marita Muukkonen (mentioned in alternating order) curate internationally and contribute to political, theoretical and artistic symposia and juries. AR has received awards such as the State Prize of Finland and the European Citizen’s Prize of the European Parliament.
Voima is a Finnish independent magazine on culture and society, with a print run of 60.000 copies issued ten times a year, distributed throughout Southern Finland and online. Voima has run a series of articles under the title ‘Vlast’ – just as ‘voima’ is power in Finnish, this is the term in Russian – focusing on human rights and the lack thereof in Russia. Iida Simes has contributed to Voima since its founding in 1999, and is a journalist and activist for freedom of expression.
