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Luka and Elene. Their family moved here from Gagra and have lived in the sanatorium "Metallurge" for 29 years. "We live in an open prison,” says Lali, Luka's and Elene's grandmother. “It's internal imprisonment, nothing else. The children grow up on the third floor. We can hardly take them out. Outside, there are so many things a child might want to do - play on the swings, buy chocolate ... We are locked up at home due to lack of money." Sanatorium "Metallurge," Tskaltubo, Georgia, 2021. ©Tako Robakidze for the VII Mentor Program.
Maguli, from the village of New Kindghi, used to work in a tea plantation in Abkhazia. She reflects, "I bought everything with my hard work, and when we had everything, that's when the war started." She recalls that everyone lived well in their village, and she didn't fully appreciate the sea as they had a lot of work to do. Now, they talk a lot and have a lot of time. Since 1994, Maguli has lived in the sanatorium "Megobroba" (Friendship). Tskaltubo, Georgia, 2021. ©Tako Robakidze for the VII Mentor Program.
Lolita. She has lived with her three children and nine other family members for almost 29 years in the sanatorium "Metallurge". Lolita has been working since she was 18 years old; she strives to give her children a better future. Lolita hopes she will be able to move into her own apartment in the spring. Tskaltubo, Georgia, 2021. ©Tako Robakidze for the VII Mentor Program.
Children are playing freeze tag in the inner courtyard of the sanatorium “Metallurge”. Tskaltubo, 2021. ©Tako Robakidze for the VII Mentor Program.
Nazi from Sochumi. She worked at the Sukhumi Central Hospital as an operating room nurse in the gynecological department until she was appointed to the surgical department after the war started. She worked there until the fall of Sochumi. She has been living in the sanatorium "Aia" for 29 years. Tskaltubo, Georgia, 2021. ©Tako Robakidze for the VII Mentor Program.
Lisa, 10 years old, plays with the curtains. Her family has been living in Sanatorium "Megobroba" (Friendship) for 27 years. Tskaltubo, Georgia, 2021. ©Tako Robakidze for the VII Mentor Program.
Victoria with her grandmother. Sanatorium "Tbilisi", Tskaltubo, Georgia, 2021. ©Tako Robakidze for the VII Mentor Program.
Omar Janashia, from the village Aradu, has been living in the sanatorium "Gelati" with his sister Shusha for almost 27 years. He recalls that during the war Mkhedrioni (Georgian nationalist paramilitary group) left them and the village was defended by the people of his age. "We stood for two hours at our checkpoints . When they took Sokhumi, there were only two of us left in the village. At first I hoped that we would go back, but now I do not believe in it. The Russians deployed troops there, I do not think we will ever return.” Tskaltubo, Georgia, 2021. ©Tako Robakidze for the VII Mentor Program.
A man living in this room died in August. He was drying the laundry, accidentally he leaned against an old railing, and fell over. stair railings and stairs are also so damaged that it is quite dangerous to walk. Nevertheless, several families still live on the third floor of the sanatorium. Sanatorium "lmereti', Tskaltubo, Georgia, 2021. ©Tako Robakidze for the VII Mentor Program.
Ina, from Ochamchire, was 18 years old when she was on the beach with her friends and they suddenly spotted airplanes, followed by the sound of gunfire. She had no idea what was happening. When she returned home, she learned that the war had begun. It was August 14th, 1992. Ina and her sister fled to the Imereti region. She vividly remembers their arrival, realizing they had nothing, not even a cup. "Outside, my mother found a bottle, which she washed thoroughly and placed on the table. It made her feel like a local resident." Ina experienced being bride-kidnapped in Tskaltubo and later raised three children on her own. Currently, she awaits the opportunity to obtain an apartment. Sanatorium "Megobroba" (Friendship), Tskaltubo, Georgia, 2021. ©Tako Robakidze for the VII Mentor Program.
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Tako Robakidze

VII Mentor Program 2023-24

Tako Robakidze is a documentary photographer based in Tbilisi, Georgia. Her work focuses on documenting sociopolitical conditions and experiences of war in Georgia. Since 2014, she has worked as a freelance photographer and partnered with Georgian and international NGOs to cover diverse social topics. In 2017, she received the Magnum Foundation Photography and Social Justice Fellowship and was the recipient of the Tbilisi Photography & Multimedia Museum Multimedia Lab Production Grant in 2020. Also that year, Tako received a production grant from the Goethe Institute for her work on Georgian IDPs. In 2021, she received the Stanley Greene Legacy Prize and Fellowship. More recently, she became a VII Academy Fellow and a National Geographic Explorer 2022/2023. 

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