2013 marks the twentieth anniversary of the British Council in Georgia. For twenty years we have been working to develop mutually beneficial cultural relations and to support the exchange of creative ideas between the UK and Georgia involving other countries in which the British Council operates.
We create international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and build trust between them worldwide. We call this work cultural relation. Our high profile work in English, arts and Education & Society helps hundreds of millions of people worldwide to learn about and experience creativity and excellence from the UK. Millions of talented people of all ages, particularly younger people, engage face-to-face and online with us to learn English, develop new skills, experience life and study in the UK and earn UK qualifications; we also present the best and the most innovative of contemporary UK art.
The British Council Georgia office opened in 1993 and since than our work has expanded from a small library to a wide range of operations covering English, exams, arts, society work and the Teaching Centre, our latest achievement, which has already become a popular destination for learners of English of all ages.

On the occasion of the anniversary, Her Majesty's Ambassador Mrs Alexandra Hall Hall will be hosting a reception at the British Embassy in Tbilisi at 19:00-21:00 o'clock on 4 October 2013. We will be celebrating our 20th anniversary together with Mr Michael Bird, British Council Regional Director, whose visit is a confirmation of the British Council's strong interest and support for our country and for the work carried out in partnership with our Georgian partners.

Michael Bird's visit will feature numerous meetings with the British Council's key contacts in the fields of education and culture, while a busy cultural programme will also constitute an integral part of his visit schedule.
At 18:00o'clock on 4 October, Michael Bird will attend the opening of Artisterium, International Visual Arts Festival which we have for five years. At 20.00 o'clock on 5 October Michael Bird will attend The Animals And Children Took To The Streets by 1927, the show which is the Tbilisi International Festival of Theatre which is another our great partner.

More detailed information about Mr Michael Bird
Michael Bird has served as a regional director since 2009. First he was appointed as the British Council's Regional Director for South East Europe and later, in early 2011, he led Wider Europe - the region Extending from the Western Balkans on the Adriatic to the Far East of Siberia and the Pacific, on the way taking in the Black, Caspian and Aral Seas, from tiny Montenegro to the vast expanse of Kazakhstan, Russia or Ukraine.
Michael Bird studied at Cambridge, Harvard and Voronezh Universities. After joining the British Council in 1985, he was posted to Moscow at the time of glasnost and perestroika and developed new education and training programmes in 13 of the 15 then the Soviet republics.

In 1991 he moved to Brussels, where he advised UK universities and research organisations on EU research and mobility programmes. In 1993 he set up a new British Council operation in St Peters- burg, with outreach programmes covering much of North West Russia. In 1997 he moved to Kyiv, where as Director of the British Council in Ukraine he co-located the British Council with the Goethe-Institut and developed English language programmes and initiatives to support civil society. He was awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) in the Millennium Honours List in 2000. From 2001 to 2005 he was Director of the British Council in his native Scotland, where the devolved Scottish Government has created new dimensions for international cultural relations. From 2005 to 2009 he was the Director British Council in Germany, where as a member of the British Council's regional management team for West Europe and North America he contributed to the creation of the British Council's current strategy for Europe. Michael speaks fluent German and Russian.