Die Doukhobors in Georgien und ihre traditionelle Lebensweise in Gorelovka (Dschawachetien)

Von Ralph Hälbig; Fotografie von Natela Grigalashvili

Die Doukhobors sind eine christliche-spirituelle Sekte, die im 17. Jahrhundert in Russland entstand und eine pazifistische Gemeinschaft bildete. Zwischen 1898 und 1903 wanderten die meisten nach Kanada aus - unterstützt von Tolstoi und seinen Anhängern - um dem Militärdienst in Russland zu entgehen. Sie betonen einen gewaltfreien Widerstand, lehnen den Militärdienste ab und distanzierten sich vom Staat. Viele Doukhobors emigrierten aufgrund religiöser Verfolgung nach Kanada, wo sie in British Columbia leben. In Nordamerika waren sie berüchtigt für gewalttätige Handlungen, darunter Bombenanschläge und Brandstiftungen, die von einer radikalen Gruppe namens "Söhne der Freiheit" verübt wurden. Diese kleine extremistische Gruppe repräsentierte jedoch nicht die gesamte Doukhobor-Gemeinschaft. Meist zeichnen sich die Doukhobors durch eine einfache und gemeinschaftliche Lebensweise auf Basis von harter Arbeit aus. Trotz der negativen Berichterstattung in den Medien sind die Doukhobors bekannt als eine pazifistische und gesetzestreue Gemeinschaft.

Ihr Haupterwerbszweig ist die Landwirtschaft. In ihrer Gemeinschaft legen die  Doukhobors großen Wert auf Frieden, soziale Gerechtigkeit und Gleichheit. Ihre religiösen Praktiken umfassen gemeinschaftliches Gebet und das Singen. Heute engagieren sich die Doukhobors für Menschenrechte, Umweltschutz und sind als religiöse Gemeinschaft in Kanada anerkannt.

Auch in Georgien sind die Dukhobors eine orthodoxe Sekte, die an Pazifismus und Geschlechtergleichheit glaubt, die sich weigerte, zur russisch-orthodoxen Kirche überzutreten und Wehrdienst zu leisten. Von der Krim nach Georgien verbannt, gründeten sie dort mehrere Dörfer in der Region Dschawachetien. Viele leben in Gorelovka. Die Dukhobors sind bekannt für ihre gepflegten Häuser, farbenfrohe Gebäude und ihren tiefen Glauben. Diese religiöse Gemeinschaft praktiziert eine egalitäre Spiritualität und hat eine tiefe Verbindung zum Frieden. In den 1990er Jahren schrumpfte ihre Gemeinschaft aufgrund eines Exodus nach Russland - sie hegen nostalgische Gefühle für die Sowjetunion, in der sie Gleichberechtigung erfuhren.

Photobook: The Doukhobors’ Land. Photos: Natela Grigalashvili
Text: Damien Bouticourt. 

Gerade in Georgien bewahrten die Doukhobors ihre religiösen Überzeugungen und Traditionen. Sie haben auch ihren traditionellen Kleidungsstil beibehalten, der sich von der einheimischen Bevölkerung unterscheidet. Die Doukhobors in Georgien haben ihre landwirtschaftlichen Aktivitäten im Kaukasus spezifisch entwickelt und sind aktiv in sozialen und kulturellen Bereichen ihrer Gemeinschaft engagiert. Trotz der Herausforderungen und des geringen Interesses der Regierung hoffen die Dukhobors darauf, dass ihre Gruppe in Gorelovka an Stärke gewinnt und ihren vergangenen Status wiedererlangt.

Die Doukhobors in Georgien bewahren ihre traditionellen Lebensmittel- und Landwirtschaftspraktiken. Im Kaukasus gründeten sie ihre Siedlungen und konzentrierten sich auf Viehzucht, kultivierten ihren Kartoffel- und Weizenanbau und verwendeten dabei  besonders robuste Saatgutsorten. Sie pflegen enge Beziehungen zu anderen Einwohnern und tauschen Lebensmittel aus. 

Ihre traditionelle Ernährung umfasst Brot, Gerichte aus Gerstenmehl, Salamata, Kisel', kut'ia, Kulesh, lapshd, Piroggen, Kalachi und andere mit Mehl zubereitete Gerichte. Die Doukhobors verwenden Bohnenkraut zum Würzen von Suppen und zur Teezubereitung. Sie konsumieren fermentierte Getränke wie Kwas (Nussbier) und selbstgemachten Alkohol. Gemüse und Früchte wie Rüben, Radieschen, Karotten, Kohl, Gurken und Auberginen werden fermentiert oder eingelegt. Pilze wie Svinushki haben bestimmte heilende Eigenschaften. Hanf- oder Flachssamenöl wird zu Salaten hinzugefügt. Milchprodukte wie Butter, Käse, Milch und Sahne sind reichlich vorhanden. Fleischgerichte werden reichlich zubereitet und Fischgerichte mit Karpfen, Forelle und anderen Arten stehen auf dem Speiseplan. Der festliche Tisch ist während der Feiertage besonders reichhaltig und abwechslungsreich gedeckt. Die Doukhobors verstehen etwas von guter Ernährung. Auch das haben sie nicht verändert und verstehen es, an die nächste Generation weiterzugeben.

Weitere Links zu den Doukhobors in english: 

* Georgia's Dukhobors: An Orthodox Sect That Believes In Pacifism, Gender Equality. By Nadia Beard, Natela Grigalashvili

* The Doukhobors' Land - Natela Grigalashvili 

* Natela Grigalashvili: The Doukhobors’ Land 

"Natela Grigalashvili wurde im ländlichen Georgien geboren und erlangte nach ihrem Aufenthalt in der Hauptstadt ihre Meisterschaft durch harte Arbeit und Visionen. Da Natela ihr Kind großzog, war sie nicht in der Lage, Vollzeit Fotografie zu studieren. Sie besuchte Kurse, die in den damals bestehenden Fotosalons angeboten wurden, und war oft die einzige Frau im Raum. Später wurde sie die erste georgische Fotojournalistin. Auf diesem Weg ist Grigalashvili nie von ihrer künstlerischen Vision abgewichen, das darzustellen, was direkt vor ihren Augen verschwand: ein einst lebendiges und erfülltes Dorfleben und ländlicher Mikrokosmos sowie die nomadische Weltanschauung der georgischen Hochländer, die Grigalashvili vor vielen Jahren zu besuchen begann. Es ist so kraftvoll zu sehen, dass Grigalashvili endlich die internationale Anerkennung erhält, die sie verdient. Ich habe Natela kennengelernt, als ich 2017 an meinem Buch "King is Female" arbeitete, und die Gespräche, die wir in diesem einen Jahr geführt haben, dauern noch an." (Nina Mdivani)

* Russian Doukhobors in Canada 1. The Coming of the Doukhobors 

* Russian Doukhobors in Canada. 2. The Sons of Freedom’sProtest and Violence 

* Russian Doukhobors in Canada. 3. The Forced Assimilation ofChildren 

* Last Days of the Georgian Doukhobors. By Mark Grigorian 

* Georgia: The Last Collectiv Farm. By Olesia Vartanian

* Two Kristinas: The Fate and Future of Georgia’s Doukhobors. By Elene Shengelia, Lasha Shakulashvili 

* About History- The 'Spirit Wrestlers' of Georgia  

* Armenians and Doukhobors in Gorelovka, Georgia

* Georgia: Treatment of Doukhobors (Dukhobors) and stateprotection available to them 

* The Doukhobors of Gorelovka. Spiritual Warriors 

* Gorelovka – Sorrow of the Last of Doukhobors

* The Doukhobors of Gorelovka 

* Doukhobors 

* The Doukhobors: History, Ideology and the Tolstoy-VeriginRelationship by April Bumgardner 

* The Doukhobors of Georgia: traditional food and farming 

* Dukhobors in Georgia:A Study of the Issue of Land Ownershipand Inter-Ethnic Relations in Ninotsminda rayon (Samtskhe-Javakheti). By Hedvig Lohm

FOTOGRAFIE: Natela Grigalashvili: Buch meiner Mutter via @photogrvphy.com

Meine Mutter wurde am Anfang des Zweiten Weltkrieges in einem kleinen Dorf geboren. Zu dieser Zeit war ihr Vater schon im Krieg, von wo er nicht zurückkam. Sie war zehn Jahre alt, als ihre Mutter starb. Sie wurde von einem Zug überfahren. Ich erinnere mich daran, wie sie einmal sagte: "Ich war in der Schule, mitten in der Stunde öffnete einer meiner Klassenkameraden die Tür und schrie: Keto, deine Mutter ist tot". Seitdem wurde sie von ihren Brüdern und ihren Frauen erzogen. Ich weiß nicht viel über ihre Kindheit, weil sie nicht gern darüber sprach. Ich kenne nur Bruchstücke, die über die Jahre Verwandte erzählten.

Keto, meine Mutter, war 22 Jahre alt, als sie in einem Bergdorf geheiratet hatte, wo ich und mein Bruder geboren wurden. Sie war nicht streng, aber sie liebte auch nicht wie eine Mutter. Nachdem ich die Schule beendet hatte, zog ich in die Hauptstadt Tbilisi, um weiter zu studieren. In dieser Zeit starb mein Vater. Nach dem Abitur blieb ich in der Stadt. Meine Mutter gab mir diese Freiheit, aber gleichzeitig hatte sie aber auch kein Interesse an meinem Leben dort. Aus diesem Grund war ich lange Zeit sehr zornig. Jedes Mal, wenn ich nach Hause kam, zurück in das Dorf, wo ich aufgewachsen war und welches ich immer wieder vermisst habe, konnte ich sehen, dass niemand auf mich wartete - ich war ein Fremder dort. Langsam entstand ein Abgrund zwischen uns und wir wurden uns fremd. Es dauerte Jahre, um diese Vergänglichkeit zu überwinden und diese Realität zu akzeptieren.

Es dauerte Jahre, um zu verstehen, dass wir in vielerlei Hinsicht ähnlich sind. Ich weiß, dass jetzt, nach so vielen Jahren, meine Mutter denkt, dass ich auch eine gleichgültige Tochter war. Und ich kann ihr nicht sagen, wie sehr ich sie immer liebte, wie ich sie immer wollte, dass sie glücklich war und wie ich immer wollte, dass ich jemanden war, den sie liebte. Ich wollte dieses Buch über meine Mutter machen. Aber am Ende erkannte ich, dass dieses Buch über uns ist, über mich und meine Mutter.

Book of my Mother © Natela Grigalashvili

Natela Grigalashvili wurde in Khashuri, Georgia geboren. Ihr Kindheitstraum war Kamerafrau zu werden, aber die Fotografie erwies sich als das Medium, die einem Künstler mehr Komfort verlieh. Die Künstlerin wurde in verschiedenen Studios zur Fotografie hingeführt und wurde als Fotograf selbständig. Seit den 1990er Jahren beteiligt sich Grigalaschwili an verschiedenen Ausstellungen und Kunstprojekten. Sie arbeitete als Fotoreporter sowie als Filmoperator. Grigalashvili erhielt den Alexander Roinishvili-Preis für ihren Beitrag zur georgischen Fotografie im Jahr 2007. Ihr Foto "Der Sohn eines Fischer" wurde von National Georgraphic im Jahr 2013 ausgewählt. In den 1990er Jahren fotografierte sie mit schwarz-weiß Filmen. In den letzten 10 Jahren hat Grigalashvili Farbfotos mit einer Digitalkamera aufgenommen. Die Künstlerin macht hauptsächlich Fotoserien und realisiert Langzeitprojekte. Während der Arbeit an einer Foto-Serie konzentriert sich Grigalashvili auf die Geschichte, die von dem Bild erzählt wird ... Die berühmten Serien sind: Georgian Village, Javakheti, die Dukhobors, Aserbaidschaner in Georgien, Tiermarkt, Traditionelle Feiertage, Pankisi Gorge. Grigalashvili lebt und arbeitet in Tiflis. Sie unterrichtet Fotografie an der Staatlichen Akademie der Künste von Tbilisi und an der Tbilisi State University. Die Künstlerin arbeitet permanent an Fotoprojekten und reist in verschiedenen Regionen Georgiens. Grigalashvili gründete die Schulen in Javakheti (2014) und in der Pankisi-Schlucht (2015).

Webseite: www.natelagrigalashvili.com

Original Source with more photographies in English here: photogrvphy.com

PHOTOGRAPHY: Very cool photo series presented on Tamara Natenadze Photo Blog. By Timothy M. Bowser

This is an interesting look but one that I cannot say I've shared in. I've spent over three years living among Adjarians and spending much time in the highlands and villages of Xulo. There is a dark dignity to the photos presented here, and the people do have this dignity but I do not feel that there is the darkness illustrated here. I do not imply darkness as a mood or feeling, only the lens through which the photographer chose to portray her subjects. I have always found the highlanders to be amazingly open and joyous. I've spent a few Shuamtoba festivals at Beshumi and Goderdzi. They are riots of color, wrestling, horse racing, dance, and song. Marriages are conducted before the community and drunken fights are pretty common. The days leading up to the festivals were filled with merriment and obscene amounts of drinking. I've partook. Remember these are Muslim populations. The idea/s that we know anything about the Muslim world in Adjara is correct in the photographer/author's opening assessment. We do not know much about it. What we think we know about the populations of Adjara are most likely mistaken and wrought with unwarranted prejudices. One thing mentioned in the article and I find a truism is that the households would fall apart without the women managing them and they are present at the supras but are only periphery participants. Very cool photo series presented on Tako's blog. I found the smaller village Shuamtoba festival very interesting.


Timothy M. Bowser (e-portfolio)


Tim Bowser's Blog: beyondbatumi.com
beyondbatumi@gmail.com
facebook.com/beyondbatumi
Twitter @beyondbatumi

Tamara Natenadze Photo Blog: takonatenadzeajara.blogspot.de

PHOTOGRAPHY: The Tale of the Last Molokans. By the Georgian Levan Kherkheulidze (georgianphotographers.com)

(georgianphotographers.com) A village in Kakheti (Eastern Georgia, Caucasus), formerly called Ulianovka, and even earlier mentioned as Alexandrovka, is a distinguished place – more than a century and a half it has been a residence area of the Molokans (Russian: молокане) are sectarian Christians with centuries-long history of existence) . Decades ago the whole village was densely populated but nowadays there are only 80 of them left.

The majority of the youth has left Georgia, or moved to towns. Only the elderly are left, sticking to their protestant belief and devoted to their customs.

The Molokan liturgy is a truly distinguished, interesting and joyful process to watch: on Sundays they gather in an azure-blue chapel-house, divide into two groups.

In the main chapel hall Nikolay Presbyter (priest) reads the Bible from the Obryadnik (or the Typicon/liturgical book), he offers prayers and chants together with the congregation.

There is a kitchen next door with a heated Russian Pechka (oven) and a stove.

Under the careful eye of the cook women roll out dough, put it on longer sticks and let it dry in the oven, later to slice it into strings of dough and boil noodles. Next to it one can see huge pots of steel, fixed in the middle of the stove, with boiling meat in one and compote (stewed fruit) in the other; Samovars are lined up outside: boiling water for some tea.

As soon as 3-hour-long prayers are finished, a long table is laid in the chapel; and while Nikolay the Presbyter keeps praying, the table is laid with the Samovars, teapots, tea glasses, pieces of sugar and candies. The joyful priest orders the Molokans to keep quiet and have some tee; the tee is again followed by prayers; the next is noodles, yet another session of prayers, then the sliced, boiled meet followed by apple compote, slightly shaded red with some extra cherry marmalade. All this is followed by yet another set of prayers, of course. The liturgy is over.

Having witnessed this, you can imagine yourself in a Russian fairy tale; though you can never get rid of the disturbing idea: this might be the tale of the last Molokans.




Molokans in Georgia, Photo: Levan Kherkheulidze




Molokans in Georgia, Photo: Levan Kherkheulidze



Molokans in Georgia, Photo: Levan Kherkheulidze

More photos by Levan Kherkheulidze are here in georgianphotographers.com


Interesting link: Molokane and Pryguny in Georgia

PHOTOGRAPHY: Tbilisoba. By the Georgian Dina Oganova (georgianphotographers.com)

(georgianphotographers.com) Tbilisoba is a holiday,celebrating in the capital of Georgia-Tbilisi, it’s also call “city’s day”. It was first held in 1979 and has since become an established tradition.

Tbilisoba. Photo by Dina Oganova

More photos by Dina Oganova are here in georgianphotographers.com

PHOTOGRAPHY: Gorelovka photo club in Georgia (osgf.ge)

(osgf.ge) The idea of establishing rural photo club came to Georgian photographer Natela Grigalashvili in 2013 when she was working on photography project ‘Doukhobors in Georgia'. Later the same year, she approached the Open Society-Georgia Foundation with a project proposal to establish a photo club in village Gorelovka of Ninotsminda Region.

The village Gorelovka, in Samtskhe-Javakheti Region of Georgia, was founded by a Doukhobor (Spirit Wrestlers) religious group exiled from Russia in the mid-nineteenth century. Today, along with the original settlers, Doukhobors, Gorelovka is a home to Armenians and ethnic Georgian Muslims resettled from Ajara.

There are no major conflicts between the village residents of various ethnic and religious backgrounds, nevertheless they are alienated and lack affinity towards each other. As the prospect of growing tension is high, creation of examples of durable cooperation and collaboration among the members of diverse community is a challenge.

Community engagement through arts is an effective way of addressing the issue of isolation. The idea behind the establishment of a photo club was to introduce the residents of Gorelovka to the art of photography while drawing closer people of ethnically and religiously diverse community and building stronger relationships between them.

The implementation of the project supported by the Foundation started with the selection of volunteers. Twelve Georgian, Russian, and Armenian amateur photographers aged fifteen to sixty-two joined the club. Once they received cameras, photographers Dea Soselia and Natela Grigalashvili conducted photography courses for them. They started with the introduction to the theory, practice and philosophy of photography, and then moved to more practical skill building on composition, lighting, focus modes and camera functions. The training included photo tours and on-location assignments among others. While traveling to the neighboring villages as a group for assignments, the members of the club got to know each other better and establish relationships. After the assignments were completed, the best images were selected for inclusion into the photobook titled Gorelovka and for printing as postcards.

The exhibition of works by the photo club members took place at the Gorelovka House of Culture on August 4, 2014. In their pictures the members of the club told their story in their own way: overlooked countryside, idyllic rural landscapes, everyday life of the villagers, portraits- provided an insight into this peculiar rural world.

facebook.com/Photoclub-Gorelovka

VIDEO: Meeting Georgian Photographer Dina Oganova (newscafe.ge)

(newscafe.ge) Dina Oganova, Georgian photographer was our guest in Focus of the Week, produced by GIPA Student Media.

Her future plans, news about her hand made book - "My Place" in the talk show with Hasmik Hayrapetyan and Sona Simonyan.

Anchor: Hasmik Hayrapetyan

Producer: Sona Simonyan

PHOTOGRAPHY: Irma Sharikadze, "Letters" By Irma Sharikadze - Kolga Tbilisi Photo 2014 - B&W Gallery (Tbilisi, Gogebashvili St. 46 b)

«…Dear Frida, we have mellow and warm October here. The beauty around makes you want to cry! Last week we visited Vassily's parents in the village and celebrated the harvest. A covey of village girls was following me – everyone stared at me and whispered indelicately. I'm a colonel's wife for them, a city bimbo – embodiment of inaccessible city chic. And I'm thinking of you, my sweet sister, of your magnificent beauty, of your mixing in high society… Frida, tell me about THEM, what are they like? What's the difference between us and them? How does it feel – being a wife of the first revolutionary artist? Is it true that he's a sleep-walker? – Erenburg himself told a fellow general's wife about that…» 

«…it's weird that you ask me how I feel about being a great artist's wife, Maritsa. Why don't you ask me how I feel about being a great artist myself, how I achieved it, how I suffered and how many strokes of fate I survived. By the way, Rivera is not the least of them. But the strong is not the one who encountered obstacles, but the one who managed to overcome them! I wonder if you have heard about Nietzsche, that bourgeois philosopher. He claims that man is something to be overcome. Yes, Maritsa, Adam's child must jump over himself. And I did it. «Jump over myself» - that was my ticket to the «high society».

«…Dear Frida, I've just returned from the street, still in my coat. I went to the church nearby… 

It was already getting dark, when I set out to the church – I didn't want to encounter any acquaintances, you know. The church is situated deep in the park. It barely functions – only old priest comes there from time to time. Back in the days they kept the Theotokos of Three Hands icon in this church. Today there are only a few icons on its walls. I prayed to Saint Panteleimon for your health, so that he saved you from those terrible pains.

When I was leaving the church, a scary picture unfolded before my eyes: the sky was completely dark with ravens. I have no idea what that meant. It would surely be better that it didn't mean anything at all.

I covered my face with my hands all horrified, got down on my knees and began to pray passionately. All of a sudden I felt somebody touching my shoulder. I cried with fear. The priest was standing behind me. Not the old priest, but a young unfamiliar one.

«You shouldn't be afraid of ravens, - he told me dismally, - they are of the same breed as pigeons».

I felt ill at ease and hurried away. On the way home it dawned upon me that the young priest looked exactly like the lawyer, who told me about your (my twin sister's) existence. I'm scared!..»

«…You know, Maritsa, I had a dream about our mother. She was a beautiful woman with loose wiry hair under a felt hat. She was wearing a batiste flower dress and tarpaulin boots with male jacket on her shoulders. I liked her a lot and was longing for her, I wished I could hug her. I was reaching out for her trying to bridge the distance between us. But when I finally approached her I was in for a big disappointment – there was a hairy male chest under thin fabric of her dress… That's my rubbish fantasies! Nevermind this nonsense…

Maritsa, have you ever seen our mother in your dreams? What was she like? Do you actually believe that subconscious mind of three-year-old twins could adopt the mother’s image? It’s such a pity that you don’t draw! We would have simultaneously painted the mother’s portraits and exchanged them. It’s not that interesting to fantasize alone. I don’t want to impose my vision on you. We'd better do it like that: be my mother and I'll be yours, if you have nothing against that, of course… I will write on your photo right now: «Mother!..» 




www.facebook.com/irmastudio

georgiatoday.ge

kolga.ge/photoweekprogram/KOLGA 2014 [eng.pdf]

issuu.com/kolga tbilisi photo 2014 catalogue



პროექტი „წერილები“

ავტორი: ირმა შარიქაძე

ქართველი ხელოვანის პროექტი „წერილები“ ჩვენს საერთო კულტურულ სისხლის მიმოქცევას გვახსენებს - ხელოვნების შესაძლებლობას, გადაკვეთოს საზღვრები და მოიცვას არა მხოლოდ ადამიანები, არამედ საკუთარი თავიც. ფრიდამ საკუთარი ტყუპი და გამოიგონა, რომელიც ახლა ფრიდას იგონებს და რომელიც ირმა შარიქაძის პერსონაჟია. პროექტში „წერილები“ ორივე მათგანს ვხედავთ - ფრიდას და მარიცას - ქართველი ხელოვანის ალტერ ეგოს, მის თამაშს საკუთარ პერსონაჟთან, ხასიათის სტრატეგიებთან, ისტორიისა და ხელოვნების ენებთან. ფრიდამ დაბადა მარიცა, ფრიდა ჩნდება მარიცასადმი წერილებში - დები ერთმანეთის სიმბოლური დედები ხდებიან („სჯობს ასე გავაკეთოთ: იყავი ჩემი დედა და მე ვიქნები შენი, თუ წინააღმდეგი არ ხარ, რა თქმა უნდა“). ეს ნაზი მეტაფორა გამოსახულებისა და რეფერენტის, ხელოვანისა და პერსონაჟის რთული დილექტიკითაა განმსჭვალული. ეს დაღვინების დიალექტიკაა, რომელიც ფრიდა კალოსკენ იყო მიმართული და, სავარაუდოდ, მისი შემოქმედების არსი განსაზღვრა. ირმა შარიქაძე საკუთარ შემოქმედებით სიმწიფეს დების ამ გამოგონილ ბიოგრაფიას უკავშირებს. 

გარდა ამისა, ტყუპი დები სილამაზეს აორმაგებენ...მაყურებლის ყურადღება უმწიკვლო გამოსახულებისკენაა მიმართული და სურათის ქვეშ, ხელნაწერ ტექსტს აწყდება. შესაბამისად, მაყურებლის მიერ პროექტის აღქმა ეფუძნება არა პრიალა ჟურნალების კლიშეებს, რომლებიც პირდაპირ უკავშირდება ეფექტურ ფოტოგრაფიას, არამედ კონცეპტუალურ კოდებს...

თუკი ერთსა და იმავე დროს დაც ხარ და დედაც, ეს იმას ნიშნავს, რომ ერთი მამა არსებობს, რომელიც ქმარი ხდება. სიზმარში ფრიდა ბატისტის კაბაში გამოწყობილ დედას ხედავს, თუმცა მოულოდნელად, შუქმგრძნობიარე ქსოვილის ქვეშ, მამაკაცის ბანჯგვლიან მკერდს აღმოაჩენს. ეს საზარელი სიზმარი შემოქმედებით ძალისხმევაზე მეტყველებს. ამ დროს, ინდივიდუალურობა შთამომავლობით მიღებული ტაბუსგან თავისუფლდება. ირმა შარიქაძის შეზღუდვებისგან გათავისუფლებული ძალისხმევა ცხოვრებისეული გარემოებების წინააღმდეგ ამბოხში, მამაკაცურობისკენ მისწრაფებაში ვლინდება. პროექტი ანარეკლებითაა დამუხტული...

ალექსანდრე ევანგელი

EXHIBITION: "My Place". By Dina Oganova (DIKARKA) in Tbilisi (Dikarka.ge)

Friday 13,2013 , 19:00, Old Cinema "Apollo" Agmashenebeli Ave. 135

more: www.Dikarka.ge


Karavella from DIKARKA on Vimeo.


Karavella

In 1992 there was a civil war in Georgia,It lasted 13 months. Georgia has lost its historical part – Abkhazia... The war is over, but the conflict exists till now. Abkhazia continues to fight for independence.

There are 250 000 refugees in Georgia after this conflict. The governmental bodies gave them shelter in different buildings like hotels, hospitals, schools ...

One of these settlements in Tbilisi is Student’s City” - 14 stores building without elevator also they have problems with electricity and water supply.

The most of refugees are still unemployed, and their monthly income is only 28 GEL. Some of families have additional income and get 33 GEL from government.

But the main problem is that they never now when they have to leave their new "homes" again. Abkhazia is the most painful topic for Georgians, but everyone here believes that we will go to our homes back again...

P.s.
"Karavella" it was the old ship in Abkhazia. I was asking people,what they remember and miss most of all except their homes and some of them were saying about it. 

more here: georgianphotographers.com/dina oganova

EXHIBITION: “PHOTOGRAPHY IN GEORGIA” - the presentation of the book on June 6, 2013

On June 6, 2013, at 8 PM
Union PILOTS and the TBC Gallery will host
the presentation of the book

“PHOTOGRAPHY IN GEORGIA”

This publication is the first attempt of analyzing the development of Georgian Photography in the years 1955-2012. 

The book illustrates up to 2000 color and monochrome photo images from 201 photographers. These are the photo-documents that shaped the history of country’s most recent 60 years.

The book presentation will be accompanied by the photo-exhibition of unique Georgian State News Agency (Sakinformi) collections covering 

Soviet Georgia’s life from 1960s up until the “Perestroika’s” launch in 1985.

The “Sakinformi” photo-exhibition is held for the first time in Georgia.

The evening will be followed by Robi Kukhianidze’s ethnic rock

Please visit us at the following address:
7 Marjanishvili Str. TBC Bank
  

ESSENTIAL PHOTOGRAPHY: The Tbilisi Photo Festival. By Nathan Thornburgh (roadsandkingdoms.com)

Photo: A Salafi woman with a child, met in the street. Dagestan.Photo by: Maria Turchenkova, Hidden War in the Land of Mountains

(roadsandkingdoms.com) Tbilisi, hillbound city of stone bridges and medieval churches, has alsobecome in recent years a city of photography, a place that some of the best photographers in the world call home. This is partially a fault of geography: it is nestled between the ever-wars of the north Caucasus and the intrigues of Iran, not far from Iraq or Afghanistan. There are additional benefits for photojournalists: low rents, a strong local grappa called chacha, and the ability to smoke almost anywhere at anytime.

But any conversation about why Tbilisi is known for photography should start with Nestan Nijaradze and the Tbilisi Photo Festival that she helps run. Nestan is one of the last true muses of this earth: descendant of Imeretian aristocracy, educated in Paris, ardent defender of humanist Georgia. She has been Artistic Co-Director of the festival from the beginning, and it has always been beautiful, always a crossroad of east and west and north and south. This year it features the kind of brave work it always has—not least the North Caucasus projects shown below. But the 2013 festival, which starts May 28, is more than exposition this year, more than education. This year it’s a referendum on the soul of Georgia.

Here’s why: On May 17, a small silent protest in support of anti-homophobia groups took place as planned in the center of Tbilisi. It was met by a mob of thousands, egged on by Orthodox Christian priests baying for violence. The crowd overwhelmed police lines, attacked the peaceful protesters and, when they were being evacuated, savaged the buses with stones and bricks and bottles. It was a minor miracle that no one died. But the notion that some of us have, that Tbilisi can be a city of both tradition and tolerance, suffered a terrible blow.

I reached Nestan at home in Tbilisi over the weekend.

Roads & Kingdoms: What the hell happened on May 17? 

Nestan Nijaradze: We were expecting that one day there would be something like this, that the church would take control of the crowd. We saw terrible scenes—people beating each other, and priests encouraging it. There were priests running in the streets, battling, with chairs in their hands.

Yesterday there was another protest, and again this violence. We were a thousand people, not more. But of course we have to continue. It’s very possible that this would become a radical orthodox country.

R&K: What were they saying as all this was happening?

NN: They were saying, you have sold our country, our traditions. There were saying, you are all—I only know how to say it in French—enculé, fucked in the ass.

But there were also heterosexual people like I am, and we were like, sorry, we are very banal.

R&K: The open-air “night of photography” is a big part of your festival, and it’s on the street. Is that going to change?

NN: We are doing still photo night, still with the Arles Festival, our partner from the beginning.

During this one night in old Tbilisi, we bring in the whole world. We have around 10,000 people who come to this event. The program is already closed, it’s edited. But yesterday morning I got a call from a Georgian magazine, and they asked if they can give us photos from May 17. And of course, we’ll find room. We’ll be able to show this thing to a huge public.

R&K: What’s the value, in times like this, of having a photo festival?

NN: We don’t have a photo festival just to have a photo festival. We want to make the public more mature; to give a larger vision of modernity and the modern world, what’s going on, in Georgia, in the region, the Caucasus, the larger region from Iran and Afghanistan, or Europe; to show it’s not only Georgia, there are not only our own problems. The modern world is a huge structure with a very, very complicated reality. We want to bring it here.

We want to do this through the best photographers, but also through the emerging photographers we find in every corner here when we go looking. There is a group of female photographers who are bringing very interesting work from the north Caucasus. A group of Ukrainians working on Chernobyl. Georgians, Azeris, Armenians. Kurdish Iraqi slideshows on Kirkuk ten years after the invasion and petrol smugglers on the border. Also huge maps of the countries that we put in the program.

R&K: Are you afraid of being targeted?

NN: You know, it’s always possible. We have a transgender series. One by [NOOR photographer] Pep Bonet, another by a young French photographer.

We are expecting of course, that there might be a reaction. We are ready for that, but it doesn’t mean we’re going to cancel the exhibition because of crazy priests running through the street encouraging absolutely stupid young men to beat others.

It’s very important to show the reality of [sexual minorities]. For transsexuals, they’re making this decision that are obliged to be in the sex industry, because it’s the only way for them to continue to exist.

We are not a human rights organization. But we are trying to focus on these stories.

Some of the work is about nightlife and prostitution and drugs, but it’s also about the violence of the world these people are living in. It’s about the economic condition, and how they suffer. The job is to bring this world to this public that suffers from a narrow vision of reality, that has no wish to understand that the modern world is much more complicated and scary.

R&K: Have you talked directly with church leaders about this?

NN: No, no, no. We are trying to be smart. The problem of May 17, first of all, was that all Georgia media was presenting the wrong idea, that the protest was going to be a gay pride parade. It wasn’t: it was a silent march in support of the organizations that protect the rights of sexual minorities. But all the press, during ten days beforehand, they were saying gaypride gaypride gaypride.

We are not looking for any scandals. Even in the titles we put on the show, they are not so easily understood as being about transsexuals, for example. It’s not because we want to complicate it. We are spreading the info without making any big stories about what we’re going to do.

We are ready for anything. But if we think too much about it, it will be impossible to continue. And we have to continue. The festival is just days away.

R&K: Tell me about this work on the North Caucasus in the festival.

NN: We have a few traditions for the festival that we try to maintain from the very beginning. One of them is to try to always show something on the Caucasus. It attracts international public, international media and it’s a chance to show more about the region where Georgia is located. Not just the South Caucasus, but the North, because it’s very important for us, historically.

So in the past we’ve had [Thomas] Dworzak on the Kavkaz, and [Stanley] Greene on Chechnya.

It’s also a tradition to show one country through the work of young photographers. It’s a very interesting trick to show a country through photography. This year’s festival starts a few months before the Sochi Olympics, and Sochi was very political from the beginning, especially for us. So we were thinking okay, why not give the place and space to this huge international event? At the same time, we know what is going on around Sochi, how far it is from the glamour place of winter skiing.

It raises the question: does the larger public know that the Winter Olympics will be held in a very complicated region that still has great risks?

The images are also very interesting, because you see for the last four or five years, the North Caucasus is mostly photographed by Russian photographers. So our shows from the North Caucasus are all Russian photographers, except for Andrea Bruce in Ingushetia.

There are new names, like Maria Turchenkova with her Dagestan work, and Maria Plotnikova in Sochi, and Grozny Nine Cities, which is a joint project of three young photojournalists: Olga Kravets, Maria Morina, and Oksana Yushko. We see the Grozny and Chechnya that pretends to be in normal life, but of course, there’s more to the story.

And, because of the Sochi connection, we decided to include the Sochi Project; they will make a presentation.

R&K: There’s also been a change in government in Georgia since the last festival. The government is a major sponsor. Has that hurt the festival?

NN: You know, it’s incredible timing. It was a really hard year. All the people we were partnering with in government changed. The people in City Hall changed, but they are still supporting us. We never deal directly with the government. Nobody ever asked us what we are doing. Nobody touches us. Nobody asks. They know we’re doing things at a very high level.

This year was the hardest one. But we are doing it, and we are convinced that this is the most important one yet.

[Top image by Oksana Yushko from Grozny Nine Cities]

Nathan Thornburgh is the co-founder of Roads & Kingdoms and the intrepid voice behind @roadskingdoms. He is a former editor and foreign correspondent at TIME Magazine.

facebook: facebook.com 

VIDEO: The Photographer Natela Grigalashvili (myvideo.ge)

PHOTOGRAPHY: "My Place" by Dina Oganova in PHOTOGRAPHY Magazine Issue 4 (hashtagphotographymagazine.com)

look here: hashtagphotographymagazine.com

PHOTOGRAPHY: Privat Museum. By Guram Tsibakhashvili (tsibakha.com)

(tsibakha.com) Guram Tsibakhashvili

Date and place of birth - 01/02, 1960, Tbilisi, Georgia

Citizenship - Georgian

Civil status - Married

Education – 1977-1982 Tbilisi State University

Scholarships:

2006 – “Rezidenz”, Exchange Atelier for 1 and half month, Die drom, France

1999 – CMS Stifftung Grant, Exchange Atelier for 3 Months, Basel, Switzerland

1996 – “Kulturkonatct” grant, Austria

Working experience:

2007-Present, Chief Editor of “Photo Magazine” (The first photo magazine in Caucasus);

2007- Present, Tbilisi Photographer’s House, Co-founder;

2000 - Caucasian Center for Cultural Development - Media Art Farm (MAF), The First Institution of High Education in Photography in Caucasus, Co-founder;

1999- 2007 Photo editor of the magazine “Amarta”;

1988 - Present, Photographer of Local and international newspapers and magazines;

Taught programs in the theory and history of photography:

2008- Present, Caucasian University, Media School;

2007 -2009, Tbilisi State Academy of Art;

2001- 2006, Caucasian Center for Cultural Development, Media Art Farm (MAF);

1990-1994, Tbilisi State University

more: tsibakha.com