CULTURE

Where We’re At: Etseri, Svaneti

BLOG BY TONY HANMER

Well, a little stressed out is where we’re at, what with the fi ts and starts of the café building process.

When we bought the house and started renovating it about 11 years ago, there was not a window in it, no electricity or water. The nearest place from which to have the necessary double-glazed windows ordered was Zugdidi, 110 km away. Each hole had to have its old rotten thick wood frame knocked out and then be measured carefully. We could only bring 2 or 3 windows up at a time in my 4x4 Hyundai. But that was okay, as we couldn’t afford more than that many at a time, anyway! 2 years later, we had all the windows in: 25 of them at about 220 GEL a pop.

Fencing was another big project, as the land had been open to the bovines for about 10 years. Slats, posts every two meters, and wire. A straight steel bar to make post holes in the ground with; a sledgehammer to pound them in; pliers and wire cutter. Plus at least 1 other person to help, initially showing us how fencing is done up here in Svaneti, then anyone who had learned that alongside me, such as my wife’s brother-in-law, because it’s much easier as a two-person job.

More and more: the garage, built by aforementioned bro-in-law plus Lali’s father, a legacy to him now he’s gone. A gazebo by a travelling American who offered to make things for room and board. The initially essential outhouse, fi rst new “building” on the land, made by Lali’s brother and me.

As it was, getting materials and transporting them were always diffi cult procedures, given limited local availability and big trucks. Even planks had to be bought green, so very heavy, and dried by us on-site for at least 6 months if we needed them to be fl at. Until Mestia developed, even sand and gravel had to come from around Zugdidi.

Now, at least, there is a BIG building shopping center in Mestia, for everything from the smallest nails to drywall/sheetrock, cement, all the tools you could want, electrical and plumbing supplies, and all in between. That cuts our buying distance from a 220 km round trip to about 60. Ditto for sand and gravel, dredged from the Enguri River in Mestia. Cement blocks too, even closer: from the factory at Becho, a 20 km round trip.

Transport, though, remains the bottleneck. It’s rare that the seller of your goods has any kind of vehicle available to get your things to you. I would simply throw money at it, but no: this you have to organize yourself. Also the warm able bodies to unload what you’ve bought (usually loading at the far end can be done by the seller). Schoolboys from grades 10-12 are our best source, when they’re available and not digging potatoes or cutting trees with their fathers in the forest for the winter’s stove supply.

Our café builders, from Chkaduashi near Zugdidi, come highly recommended and do good work. But, as always in Georgia, family matters often take them away and delay work. Today it was an ormotsi, the 40 days after death memorial, of the aunt of the main guy. He drove down from Mestia, rounded up the other two before I could even give them brunch, promised an evening or tomorrow morning return, and whisked them off.

We are looking at weather forecasts, gritting our teeth at every lost sunny, warm day before the snow descends for good, and hoping to have done what needs to be completed before that: interior cement walls, windows and exterior walls, to at least weatherproof the place before winter. Once this is in place, the interior fi nishing work can also proceed at a more leisurely pace even during that season.

Opening ceremony? No date in sight yet. Scheme for keeping the local men

CULTURE

out of the place while still serving wine and beer, though no hard alcohol? Thinking carefully through options for that too. Video cameras and perhaps initially a bouncer. This is where we’re at right now.

And…as always at the moment, in Georgia’s current political season, #mishavs means: “It matters to me”!

Tony Hanmer has lived in Georgia since 1999, in Svaneti since 2007, and been a weekly writer and photographer for GT since early 2011. He runs the “Svaneti Renaissance” Facebook group, now with nearly 2000 members, at www.facebook.com/ groups/SvanetiRenaissance/ He and his wife also run their own guest house in Etseri: www.facebook.com/hanmer.house.svaneti

Meet Nina Tsagareli, Director of the 13th 'Night Serenades' Festival

The festival ‘Night Serenades,’ founded by the legendary musician Liana Isakadze, has got us into an annual habit of being able to enjoy interesting and enriching discoveries at numerous delightful musical evenings.

The company ‘Art Alliance’ has been the organizer of Night Serenades for four years, and so GEORGIA TODAY decided to sit down with the company's founder and festival director Nina Tsagareli to fi nd out more about this year’s event.

WHAT DOES THE THIRTEENTH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL NIGHT SERENADES PROMISE LOYAL LISTENERS?

We promise you as unique and interesting evenings this year as ever, as we host famous, talented Georgian and foreign musicians. Renowned soloists and conductors, among them Maestro Vakhtang Machavariani, Italian bandoneonist Mario Stefano Pietrodarchi, German clarinetist Sabine Grofmeier, Maestro Nikoloz Rachveli, singer Sopho Khalvashi, and pianist and composer Sandro Nebieridze, will take part in the festival. For the second year in a row, Sandro has created new works for the festival as requested by Giorgi Isakadze, the artistic director of Night Serenades and the founder and director of the Music and Dance Academy in Ingolstadt and Munich.

It is also noteworthy that this year's festival pays special attention to the cognitive-educational program for students and youth, which includes sectoral masterclasses and workshops. I should also mention that the festival is sticking to its tradition of inviting experienced and world-famous Georgian and foreign artists to share their experiences with the younger generations. As society and music lovers already know, our goal is to support the musical education of young talented teenagers and promote their professional development, not only in the capital but also in the regions of Georgia. SERENADES SO SPECIAL?

The Batumi Concert Evening was dedicated to the friendship of the Georgian and Italian people, and we celebrated the 110th anniversary of the famous Italian composer Nino Rota. The virtuoso Italian bandoneonist Mario Stefano Pietrodarchi really fascinated the audience with his amazing program. "The Italian People" is the name of a work written by Maestro Nikoloz Rachveli during the pandemic in support of the Italian people, and Night Serenades’ attendees got to hear it live for the fi rst time. I should also mention the brilliant performance of the famous Georgian singer Sopho Khalvashi within the framework of the festival.

Astor Piazzolla's "Tango Oblivion" with Mario Stefano Pietrodarchi, Maestro Nikoloz Rachveli, and Sopho Khalvashi was heard for the fi rst time on stage. Their creative collaboration left the audience very excited.

The festival, together with renowned and successful musicians, always pays great attention to talented young musicians. At this year's festival, we introduced the musicians of the Konstantine Vardel Quartet to the audience. During the festival, they had the opportunity to work with maestro Nikoloz Rachveli and musician Mikheil Kartvelishvili, with virtuoso Italian musician Mario Stefano Pietrodarchi.

WHAT TREATS DOES THE TBILISI CONCERT PROMISE US?

The Tbilisi concert will be a real celebration for music lovers. Maestro Vakhtang Machavariani, famous German clarinetist Sabine Grofmeier, young talented pianist and composer Sandro Nebieridze, and the main pearl of Night Serenades- the festival's basic orchestra "Georgian Virtuosana," an amazing orchestra formed by Liana Isakadze. It was created with a unique concept, as all members are musicians with distinguished talent, successfully working in Georgia or abroad. The main conductor of the orchestra will be Maestro Vakhtang Machavariani, the conductor is musician Sergo Eroyan, and the concertmaster is violinist Lela Mchedlidze.

As the director of the festival, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the traditional supporters of the festival: the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs of Georgia, Batumi City Hall, Tbilisi City Hall, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, the Italian and German embassies in Georgia and the company "Ardi."

Thanks too, to all the supporters of the festival and all the media partners. Thanks to our team, musicians, and our festival listeners for their loyalty.

It is important to hold the festival continuously. Last year, when we fi nished negotiating with the festival guests and the contracts were signed, a world pandemic broke out. The solution was to hold the festival online. It is this format that made it possible for music lovers to enjoy the festival's concert program from anywhere in the world. Lots of people watched the broadcast of the concerts, expressing amazing emotions and gratitude to the festival and the performers.

Music is an international language, the main thing is to enjoy it and perceive what is happening on the stage at a particular moment.

Night Serenades is the oldest festival in Georgia, created by a world legend, it counts decades, and I am proud of its existence.