Vere, the Waterbody of Tbilisi (GER)

Water is the true origin of life on Earth. Its diverse, liquid and circulating nature shapes bodies. In this context, the term “body water” refers to the water content within a body, and “waterbody” or “body of water” means the accumulation of water on the Earth’s surface. Rivers are also waterbodies and are considered as symbols of movement and vitality. They have a life cycle and often a distinct character, which is being personified as temperamental or deliberate one. In many cultures rivers are seen as sacred and mystical entities, and in various countries, they have achieved the status of legal persons. However, the Anthropocene idea–that humans define nature–has led to a hierarchical structure of nature-culture and subject-object dichotomy, which in urban contexts, is represented as the taming of ‘wild nature’. Accordingly, since the 20th century, urban rivers have mainly been downgraded to practical uses as infrastructure, as in the case of the Georgian capital. In Tbilisi, the tributary Vere, which once gave its name to the historic district, is hardly to be found. Initially, during the Soviet Union, domesticated nature such as the zoo, central park, and swimming complex replaced the landscape in the river valley. Later, with the construction of the highway, the traffic flow erased it within the landscape of the city. Vere has become invisible but remains tightly interwoven with the city. The flow of the river could never be completely arrested despite all attempts. It repeatedly tries to reclaim its riverbed and counters the eradication of nature with a kind of revenge. All this makes it feared and admired at the same time as a resilience and untamable natural body. Such characteristics can make rivers symbols of civil disobedience and protest: “The river of people will not stop flowing from the heart of the country,” has become the highlight and the principle of the largest protest movement in Tbilisi to date.