Qartulad - Zoom

Desperate, families and friends turned to a corporate video conferencing tool: Zoom.

Tech startups in Tbilisi are now working on a “Georgian Mode” for video conferencing: a button that automatically allows five people to speak at once, a chacha glass visual effect, and a “Supra Timer” that reminds you when it’s been 45 minutes since the last toast. zoom qartulad

Gaumarjos, Zoom Qartulad. Nini Kapanadze is a Tbilisi-based writer covering the intersection of technology, folklore, and fermented grapes. Desperate, families and friends turned to a corporate

Companies have adapted. Georgian businesses now hold “Zoom Shaurma breaks.” Universities conduct oral exams in Qartulad —meaning the professor and student spend the first ten minutes arguing about whose internet is worse. Nini Kapanadze is a Tbilisi-based writer covering the

Even the Orthodox Church, initially suspicious, has seen priests giving blessings via Zoom, crossing themselves in front of webcams. One priest in Kutaisi famously said, “God is everywhere. Even in the waiting room.” As 2024 progresses, “Zoom Qartulad” is evolving. Younger Georgians are mixing it with Discord and Instagram Live. The government has started using Zoom for public hearings—a move met with the expected chaos of 500 unmuted microphones.

But the soul of Zoom Qartulad remains stubbornly analog. It is not about the software. It is about the refusal to be silenced. In a world that pushes for efficiency, brevity, and mute buttons, Georgians have taken a cold corporate tool and injected it with warmth, wine, and wonderful, glorious noise.

By Nini Kapanadze