The traditional Turkish shadow play, Karagöz, and the traditional Turkish art of marbling have been showcased at the 2nd International Traditional Handicrafts Workshop Festival, held in Akhaltsikhe, Georgia.

Held in Rabati Castle thanks to cooperation between the State Museum of Folk and Applied Arts of Georgia and the Georgian Heritage Crafts Association between June 28 and 30, 2019, the festival was attended by approximately 150 handicraft specialists from Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, France, Spain, Lithuania and Georgia.

During the festival, workshops were organized on wood carving, carpet weaving, stone dressing, jewelry design, metal art, glazing, ceramics, felt, saddle, rag doll, and instrument making, and Yunus Emre Institute's Tbilisi Branch made demonstrations on the Karagöz-Hacivat shadow play and marbling.

The Karagöz-Hacivat show staged by shadow play artist Suat Veral and Turkey's first female shadow play artist Merve İlken won the hearts of the participants, particularly including the children. The marbling workshop gave the participants the opportunity to engage in the process of producing their own works with a hands-on approach. The Institute's booth was visited also by Samtskhe-Javaheti Deputy Governor Zurab Khachidze, Akhaltsikhe Mayor Zaza Melikidze and Akhaltsikhe Culture Office Director Zaza Tamarashvili.

Seeking to forge friendship among countries by bringing together diverse local arts and handicrafts from different countries, the festival also hosted seminars, concerts and entertainment activities.