კულტურა პლუს 3 (33) 2023

s a g a n m a n a T l e b l o - s a z o g a d o e b r i v i

J u r n a l i

sarCevi / CONTENTS moqalaqeSi adamianis gadasarCenad...

2

TO SAVE THE HUMAN IN THE CITIZEN…

nu geSinia!

16

DON’T BE AFRAID!

niniko morbedaZe

26

NINIKO MORBEDADZE

sixaruli da imedgacrueba

48

(galaktionis pirveli wignis gamo)

interviu pionerfilmis xelmZRvanelTan, grigol CigogiZesTan

56

INTERVIEW WITH THE HEAD OF PIONEERFILM, GRIGOL CHIGOGIDZE

Tbiliseli mavri egvipteSi anu...

66

TBILISIAN MOOR IN EGYPT

saqarTvelos sinfonieta

74

GEORGIAN SINFONIETTA

cocxali wignebi

80

LIVING BOOKS

cis natexi da koxis qva

90

SKY SHARD AND HAIL STONE

saredaqcio jgufi EDITORIAL STAFF revaz iukuriZe REVAZ IUKURIDZE xaTuna kereseliZe KHATUNA KERESELIDZE ekaterine CulaSvili EKATERINE CHULASHVILI aleqsandre ServaSiZe ALEKSANDRE SHERVASHIDZE mariam gabedava MARIAM GABEDAVA

dizaineri DESIGNER nikoloz bagrationi NIKOLOZ BAGRATIONI

el-fosta: kulturaplusm@gmail.com facebook.com/kulturaplusm beWdva: favoriti stili / Print: Favorite style

gamodis kvartalSi erTxel JurnalSi ganTavsebuli masalis gamoyeneba SeiZleba mxolod redaqciis TanxmobiT

Issued quarterly The materials published in this magazine cannot be used without the authorization of the editorial staff

garekanze: `kunZulis moqalaqe“ qaRaldi, akrili, tuSi. 99 x 90sm. 2011 Cover: Citizen of an Island, Acrylic, Indian ink on paper. 99 x 90cm. 2011

ISSN 2346-8165

3 (33) 2023

foto: badri vadaWkoria

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3 (33) 2023

daTo maRraZe

moqalaqeSi adamianis gadasarCenad... (fiqri striqonebs miRma) DATO MAGRADZE

TO SAVE THE HUMAN IN THE CITIZEN… (thoughts beyond verses)

poezia CemTvis gadarCenaa da ara nevrozis gaziareba sxvaTaTvis... umberto eko ambobda: `me imas ar vwer, rac xalxs unda, me vwer imas rac minda rom xalxs undodes~.… dRes, Tanamedroveobam, ufro gaaiola literaturis roli. arada namdvil mkiTxvels nawarmoebis aRsaqmelad albaT, imdenive Sroma sWirdeba, ramdenic namdvil avtors. Tanamedroveobas bevri gaurkvevloba axlavs, yvela droSi. bevria gatacebuli literaturiTa da xelovnebiT, es xalxi mohyavs trends. vfiqrob, rom epoqas da trends ki ar mohyavs poeti, piriqiT poets mohyavs epoqa. tarkovski werda: harmoniis gancda, rom gvqondes TanamedroveobaSi, aRar viqnebodiT saWiroo _ …swored es harmoniis aRdgenis survili gawerinebs. harmonia dairRva wuTisofelSi, adami darCa RvTaebrivi harmoniis gareSe da TviTon cdilobs RvTaebrivi notebi daiWiros melodiaSi an sityvaSi, andac Teatris scenaze imisTvis, rom eziaros da gauziaros sxvas, meore adamians. rogorc kopolas naTlimamaSia _ aqeT, ganaTebuli qorwilia, mziT savse da iqiT don korleones Cabnelebuli oTaxi. kopolasTan karavajos esTetikaa _ gayofilia naTeli da bneli. kopolam karavajos esTetikiT gamijna don korleones mrwamsi... es filmi ar aris marto mafiaze, aq sul sxva siRrmeebia. Tundac lordi eqtonis sityvebi rad Rirs: Zalaufleba ryvnis, absoluturi Zalaufleba absoluturad ryvnis! kargi films an speqtakls rom naxav da am emociis gaziareba gsurs megobrisadmi, asevea poeziaSic _ roca saTqmels miadgebi, ginda rom es saTqmeli gauziaro Senians, raTa Tanagancda, TanagrZnoba aRZra. vfiqrob, xelovnebis masazrdoebelic TanagrZnobis aRZvraa, arsi ki dakarguli harmoniis aRdgenis survilia. mainc ra aris poetis misia Tanamedrove saqarTveloSi; Seicvala rame? iliam da akakim XIX saukuneSi poetis misia gansazRvres...

XIX saukuneSi eris winamZRolobiT ganisazRvra poetis misia: `rom warvuZRve wina ersa~… maSin daibada universitetis, bankis, Teatris, Jurnalis, gazeTis,

To me, poetry is salvation, not the spreading of neurosis to others…

Umberto Eco said, “I do not write what people want, I write what I would like people to want”… Today, contemporaneity has made the role of literature easier. But to understand a literary work, real readers probably need the same amount of work as real authors. At any time, contemporaneity comes with a lot of confusion. Many people are excited about literature and art, but these people were brought there by trends. I think that it is not an epoch or trend that creates poets; but on the contrary poets create epochs.

Tarkovski wrote, “If we had a feeling of harmony with our contemporary time, then we wouldn’t be necessary anymore”…

It is precisely our will to restore this harmony that makes us write.

The harmony was lost in our world; Adam remained without divine harmony, and he is trying to catch some divine notes in a melody or word, or even on a theater stage, in order to share them with himself and with someone else, another human.

As in Coppola’s ‘Godfather’, on this side, there is a bright, sunny wedding, and on the other, Don Corleone’s dark room. Coppola has Caravaggio’s aesthetics – he separates the bright from the dark.

Coppola has separated Don Corleone’s worldview with Caravaggio’s aesthetics… This film is not solely about the mafia; it has many other deep messages. Let us remember Lord Acton’s words: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

When you see a good film or show and you want to share this emotion with your friends, it’s a similar situation as in poetry – when there is something to say, you want to say it to your close ones to create sympathy and compassion. I think that the main source of sustenance for art is compassion, and its essence is the wish to retrieve a lost harmony.

What is a poet’s mission in contemporary Georgia? Did anything change recently?

Ilia and Akaki have defined the mission of a 19th century poet…

In the 19th century, this mission was defined as guiding the nation…

It was at that period that the ideas for a university, bank, theater, journal, magazine, library, and many others were born, and many others were brought to fruition too. But in the beginning of the 20th century, Galaktion Tabidze arrived, and a new era began in Georgian literature. Galaktion comes down from the pedestal of the nation’s

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No, 14, Kazbegi Street

yazbegis quCa #14 da iyo saxli, iyo magida, iyo TovliviT qaTqaTa sufra. da aRarasdros aRar wavida dResaswauli mosuli stumrad.

There was a house and there was a table, There was a snow-white cloth on the table, And once celebration came in here As a guest, it never departed.

ar darCenila aravin ubrad da gamoebnen magidas TokiT. da iyo deda _ qaTqaTa sufra da iyo mama _ sufraze doqi.

No one here remainted silent, They were bound to the table by ropes.

Mother was there –the snow –white tablecloth, And there was father – a jug on the table.

iyo saxelic... da usaxeloc, rogorc sCvevia xalxmraval baqans, da iyo deda _ TeTri sayelo da iyo mama _ perangze laqa.

There were those with a name, and also the namless, Just as it is on a crowded platform, And there was Mother – a white collar, And there was Father – a stain on a shirt.

dgeboda dila Ramis narCeniT, ismoda lurji monastris zari, deda _ gaxsnili farTod fanjrebi, mama _ oTaxSi orpiri qari.

Morning was approaching, With the remains of the night, Bells rang out from the blue monastery, Mother- windows flung open wide, Father – the draught in the sitting-room.

da mere, roca Rrublian samans miuaxlovda sneuli sevda, kedelze gaCnda Rimili _ mama, RimilTan cvilis sanTeli _ deda.

After that, when a sickness Came close to the edge of the clouds, A smile appeared on the wall – Father, And near the smile was a candle – Mother.

da iyo saxli.

And that was the house.

biblioTekis da sxva mravali idea da bevri ram ganxorcielda kidec. magram XX saukunis dasawyisSi movida galaktion tabiZe da qarTul literaturaSi daiwyo axali era. galaktioni Camodis eris winamZRolis piedestalidan da is uSualod mkiTxvels mimarTavs, esaubreba da ara _ nacias.

CvenTan, literaturuli kalendari ar mihyveba Cveulebriv welTaRricxvis kalendars. guramiSvilamde, rusTavelis erTpirovnuli xelmwifeba grZeldeba. `daviTianma~ taxti ki ar Seuryia `vefxistyaosans~, aramed axali nakadi Semoitana, axali xma gaisma. Semdeg modis XIX saukunis sazogadoeba da XX saukunes iwyebs galaktioni. albaT, male gaurkvevlobis burusic gaifanteba da XXI saukunec dadgeba..

guide, and he addresses the reader directly – not the nation.

In Georgia, the literary calendar doesn’t follow the ordinary one.

Rustaveli’s one-man reign continues until Guramishvili. The latter’s ‘Davitiani’ didn’t usurp ‘The Knight in the Panther’s Skin’s’ throne, but it brought a new stream, a new kind of voice. Then comes the 19th century society, and Galaktioni starts the 20th century. The fog of confusion will probably dissipate soon, and we will arrive in the 21st century…

In terms of literature, I understand, but when you addressed the “calendar” 21st century Georgian society to tell them that we should “save the 19th century”, what did you mean exactly?

I think that the 19th century is based on Erekle’s decision. Erekle brought the 19th century. Erekle’s decision was to take a step towards

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literaturulad gasagebia da kalendarulad damdgar XXI saukunis qarTul sazogadoebas roca mimarTeT `gadavarCinoT mecxramete saukune~, ras gulisxmobdiT? XIX saukune Cemi azriT, erekles gadawyvetilebaze dgas. ereklem moitana XIX saukune. erekles gadawyvetileba iyo evropis sasargeblod da ara ruseTis `efesbes~ sasargeblod gadadgmuli nabiji. araerTxel mimarTa ereklem evropis qveynebs, Tumca evropas maSin CvenTvis ar ecala. arsebuli realoba ki, aseTi iyo: osmaleTi, sparseTi da evropaSi `fanjaragaWrili~ ruseTi, sadac 12 saimperatoro universiteti funqcionirebda, maT Soris, mecnierebaTa akademiisa da lomonosovis daarsebuli klasikuri formis, evropuli tipis moskovis universiteti. am geopolitikur viTarebaSi, evropis sasargeblod gadadga nabiji ereklem, eris fizikurad gadarCenisTvis. romelsac mohyva didebuli XIX saukune _ gardamtexi Cveni qveynisTvis... romelic pirobiTad dodaSviliT iwyeba da agvirgvinebs ilia. XIX saukunem gansazRvra ara mxolod Cveni momavali, Tqven warmoidgineT Cveni warsulic ki da... amitomaa mudam axlidan gadasarCeni da momavalSi wasaRebi... da dRes ra da rogor sinamdvileSi gviwevs cxovreba? dRevandeli tendencia aseTia: surT, rom adamiani datovon cudisa da kargis garCevis gamocdilebis gareSe. Sen rom ar iziareb kacobriobis gamocdilebas da cudisa da kargis garCevas SeniT iwyeb, roca SenTvis sokratedan moyolebuli aravin arafers warmoadgens da Tavad sazRvrav cudi da kargi ra aris _ es mxolod arajansaR vnebas aRvivebs... Tu ver igeb kaci xar Tu qali xar, bavSvi Tu moxuci, cocxali Tu mkvdari _ e.i. ukve misaRebi xar arsebuli trendisTvis. adre, nebismier religiaSi vicodiT, rom adamiani iswrafvis srulyofilebis xatisken. srulyofilebis xati ki yvelas Taviseburad warmoudgenia: zogs buda hgonia, zogs alahi, zogs qriste. axla veqtori Setrialda: me Tu ver mivdivar srulyofilebis xatamde, Cemi brali ki aRar aris (adre am barieris mizezebs Tavis TavSi eZebdnen), axla srulyofilebis xatma ikiTxos _ is unda movides CemTan. logika Setrialda: WeSmaritebam srulyofilebis xatidan adamianSi gadainacvla. aris mcdelobebi, rom ultraTanamedroved warmoCndes adamiani da gauswros dros. dro rom RmerTs gauswrebs _ is droa saSiSi!!! ram moitana es RirebulebiTi krizisi? ho, rTuli kiTxvaa... Cemi azriT, adamianis ampartavnebam, romelmac adamiani Semoqmedis uaryofamde miiyvana!.. daTo maRraZis sulieri kavSiri qarTvel mwerlebTan... vinc dakavSirebulia maradisobasTan, RvTaebriv samyarosTan _ yvelaferi minda memSoblos an ZaliT veSvilo. yvela meZvirfaseba vinc magrZnobina, rom didi

Europe and not towards the Russian ‘FSB’ of the time. Erekle had addressed European countries several times, but Europe didn’t have time for us back then. Our reality was this one: the Ottoman Empire, the Persian Empire, and Russia, which had a “window with a view on Europe” and 12 imperial universities, including the Science Academy and the University of Moscow, which, the latter, was founded by Lomonosov in a classical European manner. In this geopolitical situation, Erekle chose to march towards Europe to physically save the nation. And this was followed by the great 19th century – a decisive one for our country… Which, by convention, starts with Dodashvili and is crowned by Ilia Chavchavadze. The 19th century determined not only our future, but also – would you believe it? – our past… And that’s why it has to be saved again at all times, and protected and taken into the future…

And today, in which reality are we living?

This is today’s tendency: they want to leave people without any experience of distinguishing wrong from right. When you don’t make use of humanity’s experience and start distinguishing the right from the wrong by yourself, when nobody represents anything for you after Socrates, and you decide yourself what is good and what is bad – this only revives unhealthy passions… If you don’t know if you are a man or a woman, a child or an old person, alive or dead – it means you can be accepted by the new trend of our time.

We used to know, in any religion, that humans strive for fulfillment.

And everybody sees fulfillment in their own way: for some, it is Buddha, for others, it’s Allah, and for others still, the Christ. Now, the tables have turned: if I cannot reach fulfillment, it’s not my fault anymore (before, they used to look for the reasons for this challenge in themselves); now it is fulfillment itself that has to come to me. The logic was turned upside-down: truth was moved from fulfillment to humans themselves.

Humans sometimes attempt to appear ultramodern and to go

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gaiqeci babilonidan! _ alo, ar ismis, wydeba Seni xma, interneti cudad muSaobs, xarveziT iWers,

magram isic calmxriv efeqtiT,

macade, gaval… Tan yayania,

radgan qalaqis Zveli mkvidrebi

Sekrebaze var, yvela Tavisas erekeba

valdebuli varT, rom maT Cvendami

da cudad mesmis, ai, gavedi…

upat.cemobas vupasuxoT pativiscemiT.

au, aqac ra ambavia, sTqvi rame,

_ gaiqeci babilonidan!

mgoni ukeT ismis, risi Tqma gsurs,

Tu yvelaferi daSvebulia,

iTiSeba, iqneb moaswro…

_ akrZalulia Tavisufleba.

_ gaiqeci, gaiqeci babilonidan!

amerikuli ocneba iSva,

politikosi sityvebs eZebs

roca vesternis finalur kadrSi

da cocxal sityvas

orfrTian karTan Serifi dasves,

niRabiviT moargebs logoss,

rogorc wertili,

mere Ralatobs da Teatris

amboxebuli striqonis bolos.

rekvizitis fuqcias aZlevs,

rac fridrix nicSe RmerTs moukvda, _

gascveTs, rogorc bordelSi meZavs

TviTon CaTvala, rom RmerTi mokvda.

da mere ukve sunTqvadakargul

ase mieca dasabami

sityvaTa cxedrebs gauwodebs

axal epoqas,

politikosTa axal Taobas

sadac dabalma CaTvala rom

mravaljeradi moxmarebisTvis.

simaRle mokvda

politikaSi mokluli sityva

da salieri miesalma

sunTqvas ganagrZobs poeziaSi.

maestros sikvdils.

me im qalaqidan var

society _ mosaxleobis

sadac

is nawilia, gansacdelisas

miminom xoxobi gaitaca

vinc Rirsebas

da qalaqis merma biujeti.

SeinarCunebs.

sad pativcemul moqalaqeebs

moaqvT gmirebis portretebi

aqvT vrceli CV-i

saprotestod aRgznebul masebs.

da ara aqvT biografiis

moaqvT gmirebis portretebi,

erTi, Tundac koWli striqoni.

rogorc Zaxili…

sadac Tavs imiT iwoneben,

moaqvT gmirebis portretebi,

rom mosawonsac iwuneben.

rogorc samxili…

aq, babilonSi daaviwydaT,

moaqvT gmirebis portretebi

rom samSoblosTan

rogorc maxvili…

ver geqneba tkbili romani,

da erTaderTi samiznea _ society.

rom samSoblos siyvaruli

_ gaiqeci babilonidan!

ganwirulia calmxrivobisTvis,

…ukraina cecxlis alSia

radgan odesme Tu moicala

da ruseTi dasavleTs utevs…

da siyvarulze gipasuxa siyvaruliTve,

da vidre evrosajariso formirebaSi

masac calmxrivad eyvareba Seni saflavi.

sakuTar sqesSi gaerkvevian,

upat.cemoba! _

orTaviani arwivis mzera

babilonis erTaderTi Rirebuleba…

miswvdes iqneb

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dasavleTsac, aRmosavleTsac. _ gaiqeci, gaiqeci babilonidan, rogorc maSin, mimarTe noes, fexze sadgomi erTi bileTi Tuki darCa,miaSure noes kanoes. dRes samyaroSi erTaderTi moqmedi porti _ araratia. drois borkili, _ majis saaTi Tissot-ic rom movixsna da Sors movisrolo epoqa xom ar Seicvleba… anda saiT unda gaviqce, irgvliv yvelgan babilonia… _ ara, me vrCebi babilonSi, rogorc mexanZre, erT bavSvs xom mainc gavarideb uRmerTobis elvare xanZars, rom mere iqneb, babilonis moqalaqeni davesizmroT keTil sizmarSi. P.S. oTxi bgera maleris karze nacnobma miTxra, rom gustav malers simfoniisTvis undao Tema, _ „gadarCenisTvis“… Zalian male davwere, Tema vigule Cemad. libreto vande gzavnils safostos, momesma petres Zaxili: _ rabi! …vadareb wyalze wasul apostols kompozitoris binisken nabijs. oTxnotiani intro da: _ antre! _ gTxovT, rom acnoboT maestro malers, gareT civa da cotaTi mamtvrevs, Tqvenis nebarTviT, raimes davlev. …akordiT mTxra sityva oriod… da sulis simebs Seaxo xeli, me ki varskvlavTa caze orions vucqer da vxdebi nawili mTelis.

qveynidan var _ baraTaSvilidan dawyebuli, firosmaniT gagrZelebuli... rogorc marsel prustma Tqva, `cxovreba _ es aris Zalisxmeva droSi~ _ hoda, guram rCeuliSvilis `alaverdobac~ minda vaxseno. alaverdi jer xom xuroTmoZRvarma dainaxa _ roca fiqrSi ielva alaznis velze aseTma taZarma _ ai, am gaelvebaSi aris cocxali alaverdi, mere rom cxadSi ganxorcielda... da es qveynis kulturaze metyvelebs... magram gavida saukuneebi da Caqra es gancda. rCeuliSvilis protesti ra aris?! _ is gaelveba moenatra da mwerali midis Tavganwirvaze _ im wamis, gaelvebis gadasarCenad... swored es aris marsel prustis naTqvami _ `Zalisxmeva droSi~... baraTaSvilis `merani~, rom Targmno prozis enaze _ guram rCeuliSvilis `alaverdobaa~. don kixotic gaelvebis gadarCenaa? sul male espaneTSi, `servantesis institutSi~, Tqveni wignis prezentacia gaimarTeba, amazec rom mogviyveT... servantesis institutSi miwveva udidesi pativia CemTvis, pirvel yovlisa imitom, rom servantesis institutia, Semdeg kidev imitom, rom Tanamedrove SinaarsiT da saqmianobiT albaT, yvelaze masStaburi literaturis institutia qveyanaze. bunebrivicaa... rogorc dostoevski ambobs: `RmerTi rom SegekiTxebaT me SegqmeniT Tqven da Tqven ra SeqmeniTo, Cven unda vuTxraT, rom don kixoti davwereT.~ servantess undoda samyaros gadarCena da dawera `don kixoti~. man yvelaze ukeT icoda, rom ar SeiZleba don kixotis sikvdili imitom, rom didi idea mokvdeboda. amitomac don kixots sikvdilis win ubrundeba Zveli goneba da kvdeba rogorc kixano alonso imisTvis, rom aRdges rogorc don kixoti... da rac Seexeba Cemi wignis prezentacias 30 oqtombers, madridSi, servantesis institutSi gaimarTeba. espanel mkiTxvels Cemi poemis _ `baraqiani miwis~ espanur versias warvudgen. es saRamo servantesis institutis mTel qselSi _ pirdapir eTerSi gadaicema. am instituts aqvs filialebi londonSi, stambolSi da samyaros yvela did qalaqSi. am prezentaciis Semdeg mivdivar TurqeTSi wignis bazrobaze, sadac oTxi sxvadasxva gamomcemlobis mier gamocemuli Cemi Turquli wigni unda warvadgino. sityvam moitana da minda gamovxato Cemi aRtaceba rusTavelis saxelobis qarTuli literaturis institutis mimarT, romlis dRevandelma xelmZRvanelobam da kerZod, irma ratianma mweralTa Zalian mniSvnelovani saerTaSoriso forumi Caatara TbilisSi orasamde delegatiT, romelSic monawileobdnen pensilvaniis universiteti, delis universiteti, kembrijis universiteti da Zalze saxelovani Tanamedrove mwerlebi da literatorebi. espaneTs SevexeT da ras niSnavs TqvenTvis evropisken swrafva...

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Flee, Flee from Babylon!

Hello? Can’t hear you,

Disrespect!

your voice – comes and goes

This is Babylon’s only value

network connection is lousy

and it’s all one-sided

the signal weak – I’m at the meeting.

because we, the city’s ancient inhabitants

Hold on, there’s a babel of voices

are obliged to respond to disrespect

all talking at once – I can’t hear a word!

with respect.

I’ll go outside.

Flee, flee from Babylon!

I’m outside now and it’s just as bad here!

If everything is lawful,

Tell me – I hear you

freedom is in fetters.

more clearly, but the line’s fading fast–

The American dream was born

quick, say what you have to say,

when, in the final scene of the Western,

“Flee, flee from Babylon!’’

the sheriff stood at the saloon door

The politician searches for the word,

like the full stop placed

then distorts the living word to

at the end of a rebellious verse.

Logos, to function as a mask.

Since God missed out with Friedrich Nietzsche,

Then he breaks his word,

Nietzsche declared God to be dead.

using it as a mere prop,

This was the beginning

exhausting it like a whore in a brothel

of the New Era

handing over the lifeless corpse of words

in which the lowly consider

to the new generation of politicians

the great to be dead.

to abuse as they wish.

and Salieri exulted in the death

But the word suffocated by politics

of the Maestro.

lives on in poetry

Civil society is composed of those

I’m from the city

who maintain their dignity

where the hawk swooped on the pheasant

despite temptation.

and the mayor on the budget,

Masses march in protest

where respectable citizens

brandishing the portraits of their heroes,

flaunt excellent CVs

they brandish the portraits of their heroes

but haven’t so much as a line

and shout, proud

of biography,

to brandish the portraits of their heroes

where they boast about despising

as testament, so the crowd

what others hold dear.

brandishes the portraits of their heroes

Here in Babylon, they forget

like swords, and remains unbowed,

that you cannot have a dream romance

their target just one: society!

with the homeland;

Flee, flee from Babylon!

the love of one’s homeland

Ukraine is under fire,

is doomed to be unrequited

and Russia attacks the West;

for, even should she return your love,

while European military forces

it is not you, but your tomb she loves.

waste time disputing sex,

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the double-headed eagle’s gaze sweeps over both East and West.

Flee, flee from Babylon, ask Noah for help once again, buy a last ticket for his Ark, never mind if it’s second-class.

In today’s world the only port still in operation is that of Ararat.

Time is in chains – wristwatches.

If I take off my Tissot and throw it away that won’t change the era.

So where to should I flee?

Babylon is all around us, -No, I prefer to stay in Babylon, and like a firefighter I will rescue at least one kid from the blazing furnace of the godless.

P.S. four knocks on Mahler’s door An acquaintance informed me that Gustav Mahler wanted a theme for his symphony “salvation” … I wrote one straight away, because I feel the topic to be the very one I hold most dear.

I entrusted my libretto to the mail, and suddenly heard Peter’s voice call – Rabbi, Master!

Taking steps toward the composer’s apartment.

I think of the apostle walking on water.

The intro was composed of four notes, then “Entrée!”

Go and inform Maestro Mahler, if you please, that I am chilled to the bone; with your leave I’ll drink something strong before I freeze.

He spoke no more than couple of words but these plucked the strings of my soul I gazed at Orion in the night sky, awed, feeling at last that I was part of the whole.

faster than time. If time goes faster than God – then that time is dangerous!

What brought about this crisis of values?

That’s a difficult question… I think it’s people’s presumptuousness, which has brought the human to the denial of the Creator!..

What is Dato Magradze’s spiritual connection with Georgian writers?

Whoever is connected to the eternal, divine world – I want all of them to become my parents, and me to become their child.

I am very thankful to anybody who has made me feel that I am from a great country – from Baratashvili to Pirosmani…

As Marcel Proust put it, “life is an effort in time”, and I want to mention Guram Rcheulishvili’s ‘Alaverdoba’ about this too. Wasn’t Alaverdi first seen by its architect? When the vision of such a temple in the Alazani Valley sparked in his mind, this is when Alaverdi became alive, before appearing in reality… And this speaks of our country’s culture…

But centuries have passed, and this feeling has disappeared. What is Rcheulishvili protesting against?! – He is missing this spark, and the writer sacrifices himself – in order to save this second, this spark… This is precisely what Marcel Proust means in “effort in time”… If you translate Baratashvili’s ‘Merani’ in prose, it is Guram Rcheulishvili’s ‘Alaverdoba’.

Is Don Quixote also about saving this kind of spark? Very soon, there will be a presentation of your book at the Cervantes Institute in Spain; could you tell us more about that too?

Being invited by the Cervantes Institute is a great honor for me, firstly because it is the Cervantes Institute, and secondly, because with regards to the work they do, it is perhaps the largest institute of literature in the world in terms of scale. As Dostoievski said, “When God asks you “I have created you, and what did you create?”, you have to answer that we have written Don Quixote.”

Cervantes wanted to save the world, and he wrote Don Quixote. He knew better than anyone else that Don Quixote couldn’t die, because a great idea would die with him. That is why Don Quixote comes back to his senses before dying and dies as Alonso Quijano, so he can be reborn as Don Quixote.

As for the presentation of my book, it will take place on the 30th of October in Madrid, at the Cervantes Institute. I will present the Spanish version of my poem ‘Abundant Soil’ to Spanish readers. This evening will be broadcast live on the whole network of the Cervantes Institute, because the latter has subsidiaries in London, Istanbul, and every large city of the world. After that presentation, I am going to a book fair in Turkey, where I have to present a Turkish book published by four different publishing houses.

This reminds me of a similar subject. I would also like to express my utter gratitude towards the Rustaveli Georgian Literature Institute, the current administration of which, and particularly Irma Ratiani, have organized a very important international writers’ forum in Tbilisi, with up to 200 delegates, including from the Pensylvannia Institute, the Delhi University, the Cambridge University and world-renowned contemporary writers and literary critics.

We talked about Spain – what does it mean to strive for Europe…

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3 (33) 2023

maradiuli ganaxlebis formula arsebobs evropaSi. dRes, SeiZleba, evro biurokratiis oficialur warmomadgenels miaCndes, rom piramidebi junglebSi aSenda, rabindranaT Tagoric junglebis binadaria, Cinur kulturaze, rom aRaraferi vTqva. sxvaTa Soris, gustav malers Svili rom gardaecvala da niu-iorkis metropoliten operidanac daiTxoves, saSinel depresiaSi Cavarda, SemTxveviT mis Zmas masTan darCa Cinuri poeziis wigni. am wignma gamoiyvana igi depresiidan.

SesaZloa am faqts batoni borelisTvis araviTari mniSvneloba ar aqvs, magram CemTvis Zalze sagulisxmo epizodia didebuli, evropeli kompozitoris cxovrebaSi. CvenTan evropa miaCniaT an mxolod genderul marazmad, an meqad da medinad, yvelaferze Tvali rom unda daxuWo da cal fexze idge. arada cal fexze dgoma ar aris Rirseuli da frangis winaSe idgebi Tu rusis, ra mniSvneloba aqvs?!

Tanamedrove evropisken swrafvaze ra giTxraT, magram dRes iseTi xalxi mogviwodebs `Sin evropisken~, rom ar gavamZafro mxolod erTs vityvi, rom mTqmeli naTqvams unda hgavdes, sxva SemTxvevaSi SesaZloa Temis diskreditacia moaxdinos…

A formula of constant renewal exists in Europe. Today, an official representative of the European bureaucracy might think that the pyramids were built in the jungle, that Rabindranath Tagore was an inhabitant of the jungle, and similarly about Chinese culture.

By the way, when Gustav Mahler’s child died and he was sacked from the New York Metropolitan Opera, he entered a severe depression. His brother inadvertently left a book of Chinese poetry at his place. And this book took him out of his depression. Perhaps this fact doesn’t have any importance for Mr. Borrell, but to me, this is an utterly interesting episode in the life of a great European composer.

Here, they look at Europe either as a place where there is chaos among genders, or a Mecca or Medina, where you have to close your eyes to everything and stand on one foot. But standing on one foot is not dignified, and does it matter if you do it before the French or the Russians?!

I can’t tell you much about striving for contemporary Europe, but today, I will only say one thing about some people who tell us to “go home towards Europe”, not to make things worse: practice what you preach – otherwise, you could lose credibility…

I will tell you what I like in Europe – whatever peaks they reached in terms of thought, education, and art, they “translated” them into everyday life, and one can feel it everywhere: at the court of law, the

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3 (33) 2023

evropaSi me ra mxiblavs imas getyviT _ saazrovno, saganmanaTleblo, saxelovnebo sivrceSi, rac ki mwvervalebi Seqmnes, adgnen da Targmnes yoveldRiuri yofiTi kulturis enaze, romelic igrZnoba _ sasamarTloSic, sadalaqoSic, quCaSic, kafeSic... maTi cxovrebis wessa da samoqalaqo SegnebaSi vlindeba es kultura. vfiqrob, sulieri sazRvrebis gaxsnisTvisaa mniSvnelovani evropasTan Tanacxovreba. Tumca, marto Cven ar gvWirdeba evropa, maTac vWirdebiT. evropa SeiZleba gamoketo sacavebSi, gadauSlel wignebsa da muzeumebSi, magram axali sisxli maTac sWirdebaT ganviTarebisTvis _ axali samyaro, axali sicocxle.

CvenTvis mniSvnelovania, rom geografiul evropaSi – kulturuli evropa gadarCes. da kultura ra aris? kultura adamianis cxovrebis wesia, sulieri mdgomareobaa, sadac raRac uxerxulia, raRac sircxvilia, sadac Rirebuleba arsebobs.

XX saukunec ukulturobiT daiwyo _ iliaze nasroli tyvia iyo ukulturoba da ara, gamwarebuli glexis nasroli tyvia batonze. im dros rac ufro uvici da ukulturo iyavi, sazogadoebaSi ufro dawinaurdebodi. ilias mkvlelobac swored amaze metyvelebs.

hairdresser, in the streets, in a café… This culture perspires in their way of life and civil understanding.

I think that in order to open spiritual borders, it is important to cohabit with Europe. But it is not only us who need Europe, they need us too. Europe can be put in safes, closed books, and museums, but they need new blood too to develop – a new world, a new life. To us, it is important that the cultural Europe survives in the geographical one.

And what is culture?

Culture is a way of life, a spiritual condition, in which something is embarrassing, something is shameful, where values exist.

The 20th century also started with a lack of culture – the bullet shot at Ilia was a lack of culture, not the bullet shot at a master by a resentful peasant. At the time, the more ignorant and cultureless you were, the more you would go up in society. Ilia’s murder attests to this too.

Mamardashvili said that the truth is more important than the homeland when the homeland, and the homeland alone, was becoming the truth. The truth always means the homeland, but does the homeland always mean the truth?...

I have the impression that the roads taken by Barabbas and the Christ have not been clearly understood in our society. Barabbas’ road is the road to getting free from Rome. As for Christ’s road, it is that of getting free from sin. Naturally, if you have some national pride, you will fight for your country’s independence, but leave some place for God in your heart, because God tells you much more than freedom… Ilia Chavchavadze is

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3 (33) 2023

sityvis karnavali bibliur scenas da damtveril kulisebs, rembrandtis diadi Sedevris sanacvlod, muxlze ar daudga daRlili ulise. poetis edemSi eva Tu ar nava _ rdobs, rogor ielvebs striqonis stiqia?.. kovziT maziara sityvebis karnavals, axalis Ziebis Zvelma religiam.

viski da vitrina… _ madloba Mariot-s!

Camivlis pirquSi, mRelvare sadroSo, magonebs goias umZimes periods, _ mTvlemare goneba urCxuls rom warmoSobs. marcvlian mis saxels, vinc icnes beladad, surT, rom marmarilo augon kararis, Sekruli warbebiT mosazRvres elada, romelSic poetis adgili ar aris. gadabmul warbebis es mavTulxlarTebi mwams, Tavisuflebis simReras mavalebs, radganac arafriT ara hgavs gandegil mamaTa umanko Casaxvis savanes.

baliSze SeorTqlil mocartis rekviems ismens gaZarcvuli dekembris mocxari… iReben kanonebs, rom ver gaarkvio kaci xar, qali xar, mkvdari, Tu cocxali?.. boTlidan jiniviT TviT sibrZne amova, Rrmadsamecniero sesiiT wonadiT, Semousxdebian nikalas samovars SeSlili mgzavrebi Tu bosxis xomaldis… uxerxul RimiliT Tavs vicav, maSinac, umanko warsulze saubrobs bozi rom da isev Mariot-s! vinatri saSinlad, barmens rom gavZaxo: _ Double, please, on the rocks!

mwams, Tavisuflebis simRera mavalebs, uqonel aznaurs, qoneba gavfanto, mavalebs, pomadis ordenis kavalers rom brZola, uTuod, mivuZRvna qalbatons. avkenkav margalits, rac mimoifanta, mTvarec rom ekidos zecaze mzesaviT, yovel kurtizanSi vipovi infantas, romc momwvdes iafi sunamo meZavis da Tundac hospitals vebaro saveles da meddas ebaros majac da imedic… sicocxlis dasasruls, simRera mavalebs, rom mZime wertili Semcvalo mZimeTi.

…mivyvebi papaCems, sad xalxi mileTis ireva da ukravs orkestri sasule, bavSvobis baqanze memoris bileTiT Tavidan vacocxleb imqveynad wasulebs. rom ar davabrZane mCxibavi saxates, amitom momCxavis, marTla ro, amis me… _ gmadlob, Sen, ufalo, rom bevrjer gamxade orkestrirebuli Rvarcofis samizne. vin axlad mirTmeuls ayolebs alaxols TavisiT, ramdenjer trolebic moyares, me CV-i ki ara, cxovreba mkarnaxobs da gnaTlavT axali sityviT „mtver-moyvared~

ver mSvelis fizika, Sevexo rom ciur sxeulebs, Tundac sul uaxles mignebiT, _ bodiSi, trendul da elitur sociums, politkoreqtuli dRes Tu ver viqnebi. mtreds vatan poemas, _ simbolos safostos, romc mohyves Seumdgar kolegis qiliki… uxmobs postmoZRvari, misken postapostols, wylis nacvlad sasaxlis xaverdis bilikiT. postbeWeds Tu dawers postrixard vagneri da postsiyvaruli ielvebs postcaSi, postpoets ipovis mere postmTargmneli, da postleqss gariTmavs sxvadasxva pozaSi.

viski da vitrina, _ madloba, Mariot-s!…

Camivlis pirquSi, mRelvare sadroSo, magonebs goias umZimes periods, _ mTvlemare goneba urCxuls rom warmoSobs. wuxel, rom mTel Rames wvimda da elavda, im elvis nafoti rveulSi SevuSvi, rom iqneb sityvaSic ganaTdes elada, rogorc gonaSvilis madlian xveulSi. … bardeba poeti saxalxo samsjavros, yulfSi Tavgayrili sakuTar halstuxis, rogorc upasuxo SekiTxva sajaro, Tu gnebavT, dausmel kiTxvaze pasuxi.

dRes yvela medroves Tu Tanamedrove hqvia da saxotbo postic Tu iqvea… vityvi, Tu wamyvanma rodisme madrova, rom aris Masterpiece estlundis „The sqoure“ mSvidobiT evropav!

Tu mamis Palacco-s, _

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3 (33) 2023

The Carnival of the Word Whisky and a shop window – Thanks, Marriott!

The gloomy, excited crowd passes by and recalls to me Goya’s blackest period and the lethargic mind that begot a monster.

They are acclaiming the name of one whom they recognize as the Chieftain and wish to erect a statue to him in Carrara marble.

They besieged Hellas, their furious monobrows left no place for the poet within.

I believe that these monobrows’ wiry hairs inspired me to sing the song to freedom because nothing is designed in this country to resemble hermits’ chaste cells.

I believe that the song of freedom rouses me – the poor esquire – to give away all my property and as a knight vowed to rosy lips, dedicate my battle to the lady.

I’ll peck grains of scattered pearls, though the moon hangs in the sky as the sun and I’ll seek the infanta within every courtesan despite the embrace of the harlot’s cheap scent.

Even if I lie in the Field Hospital, and a nun lays hold of my wrist and my hopes, at the end of my life, this song would inspire me to turn heavy full stops into commas.

Physics can’t help me, with its latest findings on how to reach celestial bodies, a sorry, trendy, and elite society -I will not be politically correct tonight.

I am entrusting this poem to a pigeon, the symbol of the post office, ignoring my immature colleague’s mockery…

The Post Priest is calling a Post Apostille to approach not by water, but along the Palace’s velvet path.

If the Post Richard Wagner composed the Post Ring and the Post Charity alighted in Post Heaven, the Post Translator would find the Post Poem and rhyme it in different postures.

Today when every opportunist is considered stylish, and the posts praising them are right there if the show presenter ever lets me I would say, that Östlund created a masterpiece with “The Square”.

If exhausted Ulysses did not kneel before his father’s palace, the biblical scene, the dusty stage and Rembrandt’s grand masterpiece

well then, Farewell Europe!

If Eve doesn’t wander freely in the poet’s Eden, how would the poem’s lines ever bloom?

The old religion of seeking for novelty made me a partaker of the carnival of words.

The stripped December blueberry pricked an ear to Mozart’s Requiem, rimed on the pillow…

While new laws are brought in to question whether you are male or female dead or living… out of the bottle comes the djinn of wisdom itself, holding lengthy scientific sessions and fooling the passengers of Bosch’s ship to gather around Nikala’s samovar.

I put on an awkward smile when a bitch keeps talking about an unblemished past and it’s Marriott’s again!

I’m dying for the bartender, wanting to call out – A double, please, on the rocks!

I am following my grandfather to where a myriad of people meets and orchestral music is performed.

On the stage of childhood, with a memory ticket I restore life to those who have gone to the other world.

I did not put soothsayers in holy places, and that’s why she cawed at me harshly, – Thank you, Lord, that often you let me be the target of orchestrated mud-slingers.

Those who take charcoal after dining richly tend to surround me with trolls but life and not my CV leads me to baptize you with a new name “Dust Lover ”.

Whisky and a shop window, – thanks, Marriot!

The gloomy, excited crowd passes by and reminds me of Goya’s blackest period the lethargic mind that begot a monster.

It was raining and lightning flashed all night yesterday I let lightning flare into my notebook so that Hellas may shine in a word just as Gonashvili’s melodious voice did in the world.

The poet is taken to the People’s Court, his head hung down on his tie he stands there in public for an unanswered question, rather, please, answer the unasked question.

Translated by Gabriel Griffin

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3 (33) 2023

WeSmariteba samSobloze metiao mamardaSvilma brZana maSin, roca mxolod samSoblo unda yofiliyo WeSmariteba da araferi samSoblos garda, WeSmariteba samSoblos gulisxmobs yovelTvis, magram yovelTvis gulisxmobs Tu ara samSoblo WeSmaritebas?.. barabas da qristes gza Cvens sazogadoebaSi meCveneba, rom mkafiod ar aris gaazrebuli. barabas gza romisgan ganTavisuflebis gzaa. qristes gza ki codvisgan ganTavisuflebisa. ra Tqma unda, Tuki erovnuli Tavmoyvareoba gagaCnia ibrZoleb Seni qveynis damoukideblobisTvis, magram RmerTs dautove Tavisi sivrce Sens gulSi, radgan is kidev mets geubneba vidre, mxolod damoukideblobaa... erovnuli damoukidebloba da RvTis didebis Tanaarsebobis saukeTeso magaliTia ilia WavWavaZe. me piradad rafiel erisTavis formulas vemxrobi: `rogorc ufali samSoblo erTia qveyanazeda~... evropa-aziis sazRvarze, aRmosavlur-dasavluri kulturis sinTezi... kiplingi, rom wers: dasavleTi dasavleTia, aRmosavleTi aRmosavleTi da verasdros Sexvdebian erTmaneTs, amis sapirwoned TbilisSi aRmosavleTi Sexvda dasavleTs da Zalian sainteresodac... vefxistyaosani~ ukve orive kulturis Tanxvedra da mkafiod gaSlili sivrcea, sadac antikuri kulturac iseTive mimzidveli da axlobelia, rogorc aRmosavluri. rusTavelisTvis _ platonic da firdousic _ mSobliuria. baraTaSvili, rom wers `napoleonma gadmoavlo Tvali francias~, imavdroulad maiko orbeliansac wers ganjidan, baiaTisa da muRamis Semsruleblebze msjelobs_ `maqauri saTira advilad gagiwiravT, imitom rom axali varskvlavi gamoCndao...~ vaxtang kotetiSvils SesaniSnavi werili gamaxsenda: frakiani kaci, rom modis da xaliCebs xsnis kedlidan. xval... xvalindeli dRe unda aSeno dRes. xval _ uflis nebaa.

Seni saqmea _ dRes... ratom gviWirs erTmaneTTan Tanacxovreba? saqarTvelo Tanacxovrebis kulturiT yovelTvis iyo gamorCeuli. marto aRmaSeneblis magaliTi rad Rirs: Roris dakvla xom akrZala iq, sadac muslimebi cxovrobdnen, sinagogaSi dadioda, meCeTSi Sedioda _ magaliTebiT gvaswavlida Tanacxovrebas. Tbilisi marTla iyo is qalaqi, romlisTvisac yvela mkvidri iyo, magram dRes CvenSi TiTqos tradiciad damkvidrda, _ nebismieri tendencia `papze meti kaTolikes~ xarisxSi adis da ukidures formas iZens. ase gamoiyureba liberalurkonservatiuli dapirispirebac: erTni sakuTar `upiratesobaSi~ eZeben bednierebas, meoreni qristes Ziebis nacvlad qristes mtrebs eZeben... da vinc vis eZebs mTeli cxovreba, mas poulobs...

CvenSi zogma konservatoris mundiri moirgo, zogma

the best example of the coexistence of national independence and the praise of God. Personally, I believe in Rafiel Eristavi’s formula: “Just as God, there is only one homeland in this world…”

At the crossroads between Europe and Asia, a synthesis of oriental and western cultures…

When Kipling writes that “the West is the West, the East is the East, and they will never be able to meet”, in contrast to that, the East met the West in Tbilisi, and in a very interesting way too… “The Knight in the Panther’s Skin” itself is a blend of the two cultures, and is an open space where the western antique culture seems as charming and close as the eastern. To Rustaveli, Platon and Ferdowsi are both his.

When Baratashvili writes that “looked at France”, at the same time, he writes to Maiko Orbeliani about bayat and mugham music performers in Ganja – “you have stopped satirizing easily, because a new star was born…”. I am reminded of Vakhtang Kotetishvili’s wonderful letter: when a man in a tailcoat comes and takes rugs from the wall.

“Tomorrow… You have to build tomorrow today. Tomorrow – that’s God’s will. Your job is today…”

Why is it difficult to live with each other?

Georgia was always notable in terms of cultural cohabitation. The example of Aghmashenebeli alone is enough: he forbade to kill pigs where Muslims were living; he was going to both the synagogue and the mosque – he was teaching us cohabitation through examples.

Tbilisi really was the city in which everybody was a local, but today, it seems that this has become an old tradition, and any tendency usually takes a “more Catholic than the Pope” character and is exaggerated. This is how the liberal-conservative opposition looks too: one side is looking for happiness in their own “superiority”, while the other side is looking

foto: badri vadaWkoria

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3 (33) 2023

liberalis. magram es kiTxvac arsad wasula: Tavisufleba iqneb umundirobaSia? Caketil konservatizms aklia axlis Ziebis survili da CaketilobaSi eZebs bednierebas, Tumca, axlis Zieba ufro tradiciaa, vidre gaSeSebuli kadris Tayvaniscema. ra Tqma unda, Zveli moZvelebuls ar niSnavs da avangardis sayrdens warmoadgens, magram avangardis gareSe ariergardi SeSdeba da Tanamedroveoba masTan kontaqts kargavs. ariergardi da avangardi erTi didi harmoniaa da kulturis mqone sazogadoebaSi samoqalaqo dapirispirebis sagani ver iqneba. `yazbegis quCa #14~ monatrebaa Tu warsuli... ra Tqma unda, pirvel rigSi monatreba. monatreba Seni bavSvobis da gancda maradisobis. roca aseTi wami dgeba, grZnob rom awmyo, warsuli, momavali es mxolod pirobiTobaa da… maradisobac am gancdaSi ibadeba, romelic arc erTi drois kuTvnileba ar aris... baraTaSvilma, roca `merani~ dawera erTdroulad gaxda yvela drois kuTvnileba. `merans~ rom vkiTxulob, maqvs gancda, rom didi qveynis Svilis dawerilia. uamravi naweria, romelic amis gancdas ar giCens, is ar aris didi qveynis Svilis dawerili. baraTaSvilis saqarTvelo didi qveyanaa, viRacis saqarTvelo ki, ar aris didi qveyana, radgan provincializmi ebrZvis kulturas. gamarjvebuli saboloo jamSi kultura gamodis. imitom, rom kulturac maradiulia _ samive droSi arsebobs. provincializmi ki, awmyos mkvidria, provincializmSi vgulisxmob ukulturobas. ukulturobas, romelic ar ginda rom Seni bediswera iyos...

for Christ’s enemies instead of looking for Christ… And whoever is looking for someone for their whole life finds them…

Some are wearing the uniform of a conservative person, and others are wearing the uniform of a liberal. But the question remains: maybe freedom doesn’t wear a uniform?

Rigorous conservatism lacks the wish to discover something new and looks for happiness in the quality of being closed, even though looking for something new is actually more of a tradition than idolizing a still frame. Naturally, old doesn’t mean too old, and the old is the foundation for the avant-garde, but without an avant-garde, the rearguard stands still, and contemporaneity loses contact with it. The rearguard and avant-garde are in harmony and couldn’t become a source of civil conflict in a cultured society.

Kazbegi Street #14 – is it something you miss or a place of the past?

Of course, I miss it. It is a longing for my childhood and a feeling of eternity. When such moments happen, you feel that the present, past and future are only conditional, and… Eternity is born in a feeling that doesn’t belong in any division of time…

When Baratashvili wrote ‘Pegasus’, it became a thing of the three divisions of time right away. When I read ‘Pegasus’, I have the feeling that it was written by the child of a great country. There are many works that don’t give this feeling, that aren’t written by the child of a great country. Baratashvili’s Georgia is a great country, while some other person’s Georgia can be a not-so-great one, because provincialism antagonizes culture. In the end, culture is the winner. Because culture is eternal too – it exists in the three divisions of time. As for provincialism, it is only there in the present. By provincialism, I mean a lack of culture.

A lack of culture that one wouldn’t want as their fate…

*** dRes, RirebulebiTi krizis dros, poetis misia ufro metia, vidre es iyo XIX saukuneSi. rogorc markus avreliusze iTqva: `imperatori da moqalaqe~… moqalaqis Camoyalibebas saukuneebi dasWirda, raTa Semdgariyo... da dRes, moqalaqeSi adamiania gadasarCeni. poeziis misiac vfiqrob es aris: moqalaqeSi adamianis gadarCena. gadasarCenia wamSi _ maradisoba, wveTSi _ okeane, moqalaqeSi _ adamiani.

*** Today, during a crisis of values, the mission of a poet is much bigger than it was in the 19th century. As was said about Marcus Aurelius: “An emperor and a citizen”… The creation of citizens took centuries…

And today, it is the human in the citizen that needs to be saved. The mission of poetry is precisely that: to save the human in the citizen. In a second, we need to save eternity, in a drop of water – the ocean, in citizens – the humans that are inside of them.

“The shackles of time – even if I throw my wristwatch, the epoch won’t change no, I will remain in Babylon as a firefighter, I’ll save at least one child from the burning fire of godlessness, so that he might dream a sweet dream of us, citizens of Babylon Flee Babylon!”

`drois borkili _ majis saaTic rom movisrolo, epoqa xom ar Seicvleba ara, me vrCebi babilonSi rogorc mexanZre, erT bavSvs xom mainc gavarideb uRmerTobis elvare xanZars, rom mere iqneb babilonis moqalaqeni davesizmroT keTil sizmarSi _ gaiqeci babilonidan!~. esaubra mariam gabedava

- 15 -

Interview by Mariam Gabedava

3 (33) 2023

nu geSinia!

Don’t be afraid!

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3 (33) 2023

EKA TALAKHADZE

eka talaxaZe

ramdenime welia saqarTvelos radios dilis programaSi `pikis saaTi~ saavtoro rubrikas vamzadeb, romelsac `fragmentebi“ davarqvi. am qveyniT, am qalaqiT, adamianebiTa Tu wamiT gaelvebuli STabeWdilebebiT STagonebuli vxsni xolme mikrofons sxvaTaTvis gasaziareblad. es werili did pasuxismgeblobasTan pirispir dgomis mokrZalebis daZleva ufroa, Torem, rogorc gaga naxucriSvilma SemaSvela sityva, nino ramiSvilis dari adamianebis Rvawlsa da damsaxurebas wignebic ver gaswvdeboda, albaT. am werilSi mexsierebaSi SemorCenil im fragmentebs unda gavuyve, rac 2023 wlis 17 ivnisis Semdeg dRiTidRe ufro Zvirfasi da fasdaudebeli xdeba.

For several years, I’ve been preparing a rubric that I named ‘Fragments’ for Sakartvelos Radio’s morning program ‘Rush Hour’.

Inspired by this country, this city, these people, or impressions that flash for a microsecond, I put on the microphone in the morning and want to share this inspiration with others. This article is more an act to get over the self-consciousness of standing in front of a great responsibility; otherwise, as Gaga Nakhutsrishvili once told me, even books would probably not be enough to describe Nino Ramishvili’s achievements and deeds to humans. In this letter, I would like to follow the fragments that remain in memory and that have become more and more precious with each passing day since June 17, 2023.

17th of June

17 ivnisi qaSueTidan saburTalos sasaflaomde mimaval gzaze meeqvse saavtoro skolis ramdenime pedagogsa da qalbatoni ninos bavSvobis megobrebs davemgzavre. garkveuli manZili sruli siCumiT gaviareT. siCumiT, romelic fiqris traeqtoriiTa da siswrafiT namdvilad gadawonida yvela im ambavs, rac axla ukve Cems xmis Camwer mowyobilobaSi inaxeba. Cemi yuradReba marina kvaracxelias frazam miiqcia, erTxel, skolis banketze rom uTqvams pakos dedisTvis _ nino, Sen saukeTeso seleqcioneri xaro. `ninos gverdiT ukeTuri adamiani adgils ver ipovida.

Cvenc sulze rujiviT gvedo misi keTilSobileba da didbunebovnoba. yovelTvis vcdilobdiT im simaRleze vyofiliyaviT, ra simaRlezec Tavad avyavdiT. ara imitom, rom Cven viyaviT gamorCeulebi, nino iyo gamorCeuli da Cvenc ukeTesebi vxdebodiT. es misi gansakuTrebuli niWi iyo! ninos gareSe gaCndeba vakuumi, romelsac veravin amoavsebs~ _ marina kvaracxelia. cotac da es erTi patara mikroavtobusi im mikrosamyarod iqca, sadac mogoneba mogonebas enacvleboda da rac ufro ukan ixevda qronologia, miT ufro laRobda bavSvobisdroindeli sixaruli. gansakuTrebiT, roca jeri pionerTa sasaxlis (axla erovnuli sasaxlis) „norC SemoqmedTa studiasa“ da deida faciaze (ligia paiWaZis) midga. `nino vaxuSti kotetiSvilTan dakavSirebiT mTa-TuSeTSi mowyobil eqspediciaSi gavicani. udidesi STabeWdileba moaxdina. is erT-erTi saukeTeso adamiania, visac odesme Sevxvedrilvar. aRmosavleTmcodneebis Zalian viwro wrem vicodiT, rom Cum-Cumad werda. erTxans Targmnida. nayofierad muSaobda `vefxistyaosnis~ akademiuri teqstis damdgen komisiaSi. marTalia, sicocxleSi ver gavubede, magram misi mowafeobis droindeli xeliT naweri ramdenime

I traveled from the Kashueti Church to the Saburtalo cemetery with several teachers from the School #6 and childhood friends of Ms. Nino Ramishvili. For some distance, there was complete silence. A silence that was more meaningful than anything I will be recording on this device. My attention switched to the words Marina Kvaratskhelia once said to Pako’s mother at the school banquet – “Nino, you are the best selector”.

“A bad person couldn’t have found their place next to Nino. Her generosity and magnanimity were illuminating our souls too. We would always try to maintain the height at which she would elevate us. Not because we were special, it was Nino who was special, and she was making us better. This was her special talent! Without Nino, a vacuum that nobody will be able to fill will appear.” – Marina Kvaratskhelia.

Right then, this one small minibus became a microcosm in which one memory would follow another, and the farther the chronology, the more a childish joy was making itself felt. Particularly when the memories reached the Pioneer Palace (today’s National Palace) and aunt Patsia (Ligia Paitchadze).

“I met Nino during an expedition in Mta-Tusheti related to Vakhushti Kotetishvili. She made an enormous impression on me. She is one of the best people I have ever met. A very small number of our fellow orientalists knew that she would secretly write. At some point, she was translating. She was working diligently in the commission determining the academic text of ‘The Knight in the Panther’s Skin’.

Although I never dared to do this while she was alive, I have kept a few manuscripts of hers from the time we were students, and I want to publish them. I will share one fragment with you: “…And when the soul is ready to disappear, and to stop aimlessly wandering in the dark, That spring comes to mind, and I stand still, like broken in two…” – Marika Jikia.

“I also met her at the Pioneer Palace. In aunt Patsia’s studio, which

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leqsi maqvs da survilic maqvs, rom gamovce. erT fragments gagiziarebT: `...da roca suli mzadaa gaqres, da morCes amod xetials bnelSi, momagondeba is gazafxuli da uZluriviT movtydebi welSi...~ _ marika jiqia. `mec pionerTa sasaxleSi gavicani. deida facias studiaSi, romelic sabWouri swavlebis sistemaSi marTlac naTeli wertili iyo. mere studentobis wlebi, naTelmironi da cxovrebis bolomde Zalian axlo megobari.

Cem garSemo Zalian bevri kargi adamiania, erTmaneTze ukeTesebi, magram nino sruliad gamorCeuli iyo erudiciiT, inteleqtiT, uSualobiT...~ _ manana kvaWaZe `nino ramiSvili, laSa TabukaSvili, ramaz sayvareliZe... isini Cemze ufrosebi iyvnen da mgonia, rom sxva adamiani viqnebodi maTTvis rom ar mesmina, maTi standartebi ar gameziarebina. deida faciac gvzrdida, erTmaneTsac vzrdidiT da ufro is Tavisufleba gvzrdida, rac ase

was a real oasis in the Soviet education system. Then there were our student years, baptisms between our families, and she became a very close friend for life. There are many good people around me, they are all better than one another, but Nino stood completely apart with her erudition, intellect, simplicity…” – Manana Kvatchadze.

“Nino Ramishvili, Lasha Tabukashvili, Ramaz Sakvarelidze… They were older than me and I think that I would be a completely different person if I hadn’t listened to them and shared their standards. Aunt Patsia was raising us, we were raising ourselves, and in a freedom that was unimaginable for 1980 Soviet children. We were often going on expeditions. Nino could, for example, talk in poems from Tbilisi to Tusheti. I was always amazed at how many poems she knew by heart.

We would sometimes also create amusing sentences out of the blue.”

– Nino Khoperia

“You’re a real whacko!”

Lately, I have paid particular attention to the everyday lives of the people for whom Nino Ramishvili’s absence is a subconscious

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warmoudgeneli iyo 80-iani wlebis sabWoTa bavSvebisTvis. eqspediciebSi davdiodiT xSirad. ninos SeeZlo, magaliTad, Tbilisidan TuSeTamde leqsebiT esaubra. sul mikvirda, amdeni ram zepirad rogor icoda? zogjer eqspromtadac SevTxzavdiT xolme saxaliso frazebs: qari qris, qari qris, qari qris, im sulels jinsebi acvia, amden giJs, amden giJs, amden giJs gauZleb deida facia?!~ _ nino xoferia.

`ara, Sen namdvili giJi xar!~ bolo dros gamorCeulad vakvirdebi im adamianebis yoveldRiurobas, visTvisac nino ramiSvilis aryofna jer kidev gaucnobierebeli dauSvebloba, magram gacnobierebuli monatrebaa. gansakuTrebiT skolaSi. iq, sadac zogi maswavlebelia, zogi _ moswavle, zogi _ mSobeli, zogic _ gulSematkivari, magram uklebliv yvela „meeqvseli“, romlebic rusudan megreliSvilis msgavsad nino ramiSvilze verafriT weren sityvas „iyo“. `dResac, roca ramdenime Tvea is aRar aris, iseve cocxlad vgrZnob mis siaxloves, Tbil xelebs, mzeras, aRtacebul Rimils da yvelaze did kompliments: `ara, Sen namdvili giJi xar!“. es maSin, roca rames Zalian kargad gavakeTebdi an vityodi. axlac, rame kargad rom gamomiva, am deficits ase vivseb: `me namdvilad giJi var!~ _ ninos magivrad veubnebi Cems Tavs.

Cven mesame-meoTxe Taobis naTesavebi viyaviT. magram Tu arsebobs sulieri nayofiereba, es Cemsa da ninos Soris iyo. yvelaze kargad `saerTo leqsebi“ maxsendeba, or xmaSi rom vkiTxulobdiT. magaliTad, daTo weredianis `lazares.~ mec da ninosac maRali xmis tembri gvqonda da kidev ufro vuwevdiT xmas, erTmaneTi rom gadagvefara. me leqsis dasawyisi momwonda: `aRmdgara yvela lazare, Cemi lazare _ ara“, ninos _ finali: `ar gaqre mwvave tkivilo, macocxlebelo dardo.“ amas ise mgrZnobiared ambobda, gansakuTrebiT _ pakos Semdeg. `macocxlebelo dardo.~ es maRali inteleqtis adamiani gansakuTrebuli RirsebiT atarebda `macocxlebel dards!“ nino didi masStabis, didbunebovani qali gaxldaT. pakos Semdeg or-samjer Tu minaxavs misi cremli, didroni, daSvebuli, lamazi Tvalebi (oRond es aravis unda scodnoda). TurqeTSi, roca pakos uvlida, zustad icoda, ra sWirdeboda mis vaJs. pako xom inteleqtuali gaxldaT. sicocxlis bolo dRemde muSaobda, werda, Targmnida. erT dResac ninom (aseT mdgomareobaSi) aiRo da Targmna iraneli poeti qalis leqsi. Targmna brwyinvaled. gaxarebuli iyo pako: ra masterklasi Camitarao ninomo. es saocari diapazonis uniWieresi qali, uaRresad adamianuri bunebisa gaxldaT. ninos mTavari Tviseba iyo zrunva adamianebze. yovelTvis mikvirda aseTi aristokratizmi da aseTi demokratiuli buneba. rogor

impossibility, but a conscious longing. Especially at school, where some are teachers, some – pupils, some – parents, some – supporters, but all “Sixth schoolers”, who, like Rusudan Megrelishvili, cannot write the word “was” when talking about Nino Ramishvili.

“To this day, after a few months since she left us, I can feel her close to me, her warm hands, her gaze, her fascinating smile, and her compliment: “You’re a real whacko!”. She would tell me this when I would do or say something really well. Now too, when I manage something well, I fill the emptiness by saying “I’m a real whacko!” to myself instead of Nino.

We had a common ancestor from three or four generations ago.

But if such a thing as a connection between souls exists, then Nino and myself would be the best examples. My best memory is when we were reading poems in two voices. For instance, Dato Tserediani’s ‘Lazarus’. Nino and myself both had very high-pitched voices, and would speak in an even higher voice to be better heard than the other. I liked the start of the poem: “All Lazaruses were resuscitated, except for mine”. Nino liked the ending: “Don’t disappear, harsh pain, life-giving sorrow.” She would say this part with particular emotion, especially after Pako. “Life-giving sorrow”. This individual of high intellect was carrying this “life-giving sorrow” with remarkable dignity! Nino was a great, very generous woman. After Pako, I have only seen tears a couple of times in her large, beautiful eyes (but nobody had to know when she was crying). In Turkey, when she was looking after Pako, she knew exactly what her son needed. Pako was an intellectual. He was working, writing, and translating until the last day of his life. One day, Nino (in this situation) took a poem by an Iranian woman and translated it. She translated it wonderfully. Pako was on the moon: “What a masterclass Nino gave me!”.

This multi-talented woman was also utterly humane. Nino’s foremost trait was to care about others. I was always astonished by such aristocracy and such a democratic nature. How she could involve everybody when someone needed something. She wouldn’t neglect any detail. “I didn’t like your eyes today”, she would tell you, and you would forget about your problems. This is how the wonderful years

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SeeZlo fexze daeyenebina mTeli qveyana adamianisTvis, visac rame uWirda. patara niuansic ar gamoepareboda. `dRes Seni Tvalebi ar momewona,“ getyoda da uceb gaviwydeboda problema. ase gaiara im saocarma wlebma, romlebmac epoqa Seqmna _ nino ramiSvilis epoqa. xandaxan, roca miWirs (bevri problemaa ganaTlebis sistemaSi), ninos xma maxsendeba: `Cven Cveni saqme vakeToT, ruso, rogorc vakeTebT, is sworia, morCa!“ marTali iyo didi qalbatoni, rogorc yovelTvis. igi Cemi da, saerTod, Cveni cxovrebis mTavari qali iyo... aris da iqneba. yvelaze romantikuli, yvelaze saqmiani, yovlis momcveli, yvelaze mzrunveli da yvelas patroni. Zalian qarTveli, Zalian tradiciuli da Zalian Tanamedrove.“

„Temis marcvali“ 2015 wlis 15 Tebervals amiran (pako) svimoniSvilze sasaubrod misi megobrebi, beqa qurxuli da gaga naxucriSvili miviwvie studiaSi. cxadia, es Sexvedra meeqvse germanuli skolis ideasa da Rirsebebze saubris gareSe ver Caivlida da saukeTeso gzamkvlevad meqca eldar mdinaraZis dokumenturi filmi `Temis marcvali.“ ismis telefonis zari. _ gismenT. _ profesor ramiSvilis binaa? _ gaxlavT. _ batoni gurami brZandebiT? _ diax. _ kinostudiidan gawuxebT. Tqvens kaTedraze ramdenime SekiTxva davtoveT skolis Taobaze da Tqveni azri gvainteresebda... filmi TbilisSi axali skolis modelis ideis avtorsa da sulis CamdgmelTan, profesor guram ramiSvilTan saubriT iwyeba. `mTavari mosagvarebeli skolis viTarebaSi gaxlavT maswavleblisa da mowafis urTierToba. marTlac mZime

that made up the Nino Ramishvili era passed. Sometimes, when I am in a bad situation (there are many problems in the field of education), I remember Nino’s voice: “Let us do our job, Ruso, let’s do it correctly, that’s it!”. The great woman was right, as always.

She was the main woman in my life, and more generally, in our lives. She was, and she still is. The most romantic, the most professional, all-encompassing, the most thoughtful, and everybody’s caretaker. Very Georgian, very traditional and very contemporary.”

“Heart of the matter” On February 15, 2015, I invited Amiran (Pako) Svimonishvili’s friends Beka Kurkhuli and Gaga Nakhutsrishvili in the studio to talk about him. Naturally, this meeting couldn’t have taken place without talking about the idea and values of the sixth German school, and Eldar Mdinaradze’s documentary film “Heart of the matter” was the perfect introduction for that.

We hear the sound of a telephone.

Allo.

Is this professor Ramishvili’s apartment?

Yes. Are you Mr. Guram?

Yes. I am calling from the film studio. We left you some questions about your school, and we were interested in what you thought…

The film starts with a telephone conversation with Professor Guram Ramishvili, the author of the idea behind a new school model in Tbilisi.

“The most important aspect to improve is the relationship between students and teachers. A very difficult situation develops when pupils don’t like their teacher anymore. Wouldn’t it be better to say it like this? – Pupils should love their teacher! In our school, there are signs that normal relationships are being established between pupils and teachers. It is true that we will encounter many obstacles in the life of the school, it happens when schools get bigger, but the relationship between teachers and their pupils remains the most important. That’s the heart of the matter.” – Guram Ramishvili.

There is another story I would like to share with you. It was precisely during a live session in the morning program I mentioned above that Nona Ghambashidze, the author of the film’s script, told us this story: after finishing filming ‘The Heart of the Matter’ in 1985, it was presented to the Soviet Cinema Committee in Moscow, as was the rule, to obtain the authorization to be broadcast in the Soviet Union; and the answer didn’t take long – “Is this a school for normal children or for crazy people?”

They allowed the film to be broadcast!

Interestingly, the creation of the German school in Tbilisi was preceded by several discussions with the republic’s minister of education, Otar Kinkladze. Soon enough, the first instruction was written: to make children master the German language without

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viTareba iqmneba, rodesac moswavleebs aRar moswonT maswavlebeli. ase xom ar ajobebda gveTqva? _ moswavles unda uyvardes maswavlebeli! Cvens skolaSi aris, TiTqos, pirveli niSnebi imisa, rom normaluri urTierToba myardeba mowafeebsa da maswavleblebs Soris. marTalia, skolis cxovrebaSi bevri siZnele dagvxvdeba win, skolis zrdas axlavs es, magram pedagogisa da mowafis urTierToba mainc TavidaTavia. Temis marcvali, mgoni, mainc aq aris~ _ guram ramiSvili. erTi ambavic unda gagiziaroT. zemoT rom gadacema vaxsene, swored iq, pirdapir eTerSi gaixsenebs filmis scenaris avtori nona RambaSiZe. 1985 wels gadaRebuli `Temis marcvali“ moskovSi, sakavSiro kinokomitetSi, wesisamebr, sakavSiro Cvenebis nebarTvisTvis waradgines da `verdiqtmac“ ar daayovna _ es normaluri bavSvebis skolaa, Tu giJebiso? filmi dauSves! sainteresoa, rom TbilisSi germanuli skolis Seqmnas respublikis ganaTlebis ministr oTar qinqlaZesTan ramdenime saubari uZRoda win. male pirveli brZanebac daiwera, sadac aseTi fraza Caiwera: germanuli enis daufleba dedaenis Seuferxeblad swavlebis pirobebSi. saqme isaa, rom saqarTveloSi manamde arsebul germanul skolebSi warmoSobiT germaneli pedagogebi aswavlidnen. guram ramiSvilma ki, ienisa da berlinis universitetebSi ganaTlebamiRebuli qarTveli maswavleblebi miiwvia.

1985 wels, ukve meeqvseklaseli beqa qurxuli sakmaod prestiJuli, pirveli gimnaziidan meeqvse germanul skolaSi, pakos klasSi gadaiyvanes. pirveli Soki maSin miiRo, rodesac kibeze mimaval maswavlebel, miSa mindaZes moswavle kiserze Seaxta. mere iyo Tavisufali samosi, mere momRerali moswavle-maswavlebeli Sua gakveTilze, mere kidev bevri sxva, rac sabWoTa moswavlisaTvis erT frazaSi gamTlianda _ `es iyo oazisi!“

hindering the learning process of their mother tongue. The thing is that the German schools existing in Georgia before that were teachers of German origin. As for Guram Ramishvili, he invited Georgian teachers who had gotten their education at universities in Jena and Berlin.

In 1985, the sixth-grader Beka Kurkhuli moved from the quite prestigious School #1 to the German school in Pako’s class. His first shock was when a pupil jumped on the neck of teacher Misha Mindadze while the latter was walking up the stairs. Then it was the unrestricted clothing, then pupils and teachers singing in the middle of a lesson, then many other things that were summarized in one sentence by Soviet pupils: “This was an oasis!”. “Our principle is as follows: classic pedagogy on a contemporary stage. Any other modernist approach wouldn’t be favorable for us. We need to know what is most important in this relationship. We want individuals to be connected to each other.” – Guram Ramishvili.

Today, when I look at my “Sixth-schooler” child’s graduation commemorative note signed by Nino Ramishvili, I read, with particular warmth, the part of the text that the school, created to transform the impossible into the possible in the deserted 1990s Tbilisi, has been handing to its graduates for almost four decades as a vade-mecum: “A school is not only a place where one gains knowledge, intellect, and culture, but a place where one learns the art of human relations! This is how we know you, you who harmonize, in yourselves, contemporaneity and traditional values, national mentality, and our world’s road towards the future.”

“It was precisely Nino who was creating an atmosphere of peaceful debate, mutual respect, and support in a school that found itself in the middle of political passions – a professional, cheerful, and creative atmosphere. Power cuts, gas cuts, the lack of water or the lack of transport means couldn’t hinder the learning process: we have sometimes walked to school by foot from the Saburtalo or Nakhalovka neighborhoods, we have held classes with headlamps on our heads, and walked children back home; we have filled the class diary with freezing fingers, eaten stale bread, and given our last pennies to each other. What the country was lacking, what wasn’t there outside, was to be found in us, inside of us – in classes, teacher offices, corridors, the yard. This was what made us get through this period and what gave us hope for the future.

When they were mentioning Ramishvili’s school, they weren’t meaning exclusively Guram Ramishvili, the founder, but also Nino Ramishvili, who was acting as a director diligently for many years, and was providing, without any hesitation, anything people around her – old and young – needed, be it spiritual or material. She remained the same until the end, even after Pako’s passing…

Nino had the amazing talent to discover people’s fundamental nature and hidden skills or aptitudes (the existence of which was often unknown even to those who had them), and she was fully trusting anybody who was ready to selflessly put aside their own lives in order to educate the next generation and share their knowledge

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`Cveni principi aseTia _ klasikuri pedagogika Tanamedrove etapze. araviTari sxva modernistuli mimarTuleba CvenTvis saxarbielo ar aris. Cven unda vicodeT ra aris mTavari am urTierTobaSi. aq igulisxmeba, rom pirovnebas pirovnebasTan aqvs kavSiri~ _ guram ramiSvili. dRes, rodesac Cemi „meeqvseli“ Svilis gamosaSveb samaxsovro baraTs gadavSli nino ramiSvilis xelmoweriT, gansakuTrebuli siTboTi vkiTxulob teqstis im monakveTs, sadac jer kidev 90-iani wlebis gaTiTokacebul TbilisSi SeuZleblis SesaZleblad gardasaxvisTvis Seqmnili skola TiTqmis oTxi aTeuli welia kursdamTavrebulebs am sityvebs atans sagzlad: `skola ara marto codnis, inteleqtis, kulturis miRebaa, aramed erT-erTi mTavari azri saskolo cxovrebisa adamianur urTierTobaTa xelovnebaa! aseTebad gicnobT Tqven, romlebic sakuTar TavSi aerTianebT Tanamedroveobas da tradiciul Rirebulebas, erovnul mentalitets da momavlis samyaros orientirebs.“ `politikur vnebaTa epicentrSi moxvedril skolaSi swored nino qmnida gansxvavebul azrTa mSvidobiani dapirispirebis, urTierTpativiscemisa da Tanadgomis atmosferos _ saqmians, xalisiansa da SemoqmedebiTs.

and experience with them.

Nino’s social skills and the values that she exhibited in her relationships with people were really extraordinary. She was born a leader, one who wasn’t giving us orders, but offering some sort of collaboration to us, so that we could face challenges together, decide how to overcome issues together, and march towards our common goals at the same pace.

These words cleverly describe Nino: “Among men, only a few reach the other shore, the rest are roaming around aimlessly on this side” – Tatia Eliozishvili.

Silver Lilies Our story started in 2014. She summoned me and expressed her gratitude. When I realized what she was thanking me for, I got unusually embarrassed, one that didn’t vanish to this day. The thing is that I recorded an interview with Pako in 2007, which turned out to be the only one in Georgian media. After that, she took me by the hand, and as she usually does, she made me walk on the road to discovering my own capabilities. The literary prize ‘Amirani’ was founded that same year; it has already taken place three times (in 2015, 2018, and 2021), and has become an unprecedented method to discover and encourage pupils endowed with creative talent.

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uSuqoba, ugazoba, uwyloba, utransportoba ver aferxebda saswavlo process: saburTalodan Tu `naxalovkidan“ fexiT gvivlia skolamde, meore cvlaSi meSaxtis farnebiT Cagvitarebia gakveTilebi da mere saxlis karamde migvicilebia bavSvebi, gayinuli TiTebiT Segvivsia saklaso Jurnalis gverdebi, xmeli puriTa da murabiT wagvixemsia da ukanaskneli groSebi gagviyvia erTmaneTisTvis. rac aklda qveyanas, rac ar iyo gareT, is CvenTan iyo, SigniT _ klasebSi, samaswavlebloSi, derefnebSi, ezoSi. es gvaZlebinebda da gvaZlevda ukeTesi momavlis imeds. roca ramiSvilis skolas axsenebdnen, mxolod baton guram ramiSvils ki ar gulisxmobdnen, am skolis damaarsebelsa da mesveurs, aramed nino ramiSvilsac, erTgulad rom eweoda direqtoris Wapans mravali wlis ganmavlobaSi da uSurvelad gascemda, gaiRebda yvelafers _ suliersa Tu materialurs _ rac mis irgvliv myof adamianebs, didebsac da patarebsac, sWirdebodaT. bolomde ninoobda, pakos wasvlis Semdegac ki... ninos hqonda saocari talanti adamianis bunebis Secnobisa, im dafaruli niWisa Tu unarebis aRmoCenisa (romelTa arseboba xSirad maTma mflobelmac ar uwyoda) da ganusazRvrel ndobas ucxadebda yvelas, vinc avlenda mzaobas uangarod gadaedo Tavi momavali Taobis aRsazrdelad, Tavisi codnisa da gamocdilebis gasaziareblad. marTlac, saocari iyo ninos socialuri unarebi, adamianebTan urTierTobaSi gamovlenili Rirsebebi. is iyo mowodebiT lideri, romelic ki ar mbrZaneblobda Cvenze, aramed gvTavazobda TanamSromlobas, raTa erTad gavmklavebodiT gamowvevebs, erTad gadagveWra amocanebi da fexawyobilebs gvelo saerTo miznisken. ninos pirovnebas es sityvebi Tu Seafasebs srulyofilad: `kacTa Soris mciredni aRweven gaRma napirs, danarCenni amaod fusfuseben mdinaris gamoRma~ _ TaTia elioziSvili.

vercxlis SroSani Cveni ambavi 2014 wels daiwyo. mixmo da madloba gadamixada. madlierebis sagani rom gacxadda, uCveulo uxerxulobam amitana, rac dRemde ar ganelebula. saqme isaa, rom 2007 wels pakosTan radiointerviu Cavwere, rac erTaderTi aRmoCnda qarTul mediaSi. mas Semdeg Camkida xeli da, rogorc sCveoda, ise matara sakuTari SesaZleblobebis mignebis gzaze. imave wels gaCnda saymawvilo literaturuli premia `amirani~, romelic ukve samjer Catarda (2015, 2018, 2021 wlebSi) da romelic uprecedento SesaZleblobad iqca SemoqmedebiTi niWiT dajildoebuli moswavleebis aRmoCenisa da waxalisebis gzaze. sakonkurso weli axlovdeba _ 2024. erTi mxriv, TiTqmis warmoudgenlad meCveneba am masStabis, am siRrmis, am xarisxis konkursis organizeba qalbatoni

The next edition will be in 2024. On the one hand, it seems unimaginable to organize a competition of this scale, depth, and quality without Ms. Nino’s intellect, perseverance, loyalty, and simplicity, but when I hear the ‘Shepherd Song’ with Pako’s voice – “Lily, your scent would stop even someone who is on a long journey…” – I see the same image before me, when I was handing the special prize created for the competition, the ‘Silver Lily’, with tears in my eyes, to the person selected by jury member Gaga Nakhutsrishvili in 2014.

“I befriended Nino in my childhood. She had a special talent for befriending children. Perhaps this was the reason why her school was so special, even though I never studied at Nino Ramishvili’s school.

Our families were friends. She was Amiran (Pako) Svimonishvili’s mother. My adventures with Pako deserve a separate book, or a separate life. Now I understand that this book could not have been written without Nino Ramishvili.

She herself offered to correct my last anthology of poems. When she noticed that I was pleased with her offer, she laughed and told me that we should correct them together, but that I shouldn’t get angry at her like Pako, who, it turns out, was always quarreling with her when she would correct his writings. Then we remembered some past events and laughed a lot. The anthology’s title, “Old mistakes” was suggested by Nino, and I accepted it without hesitation. It was very exact, just like Nino’s approach to life and young people, which blended great love with fair strictness. Unfortunately, she didn’t live to see the book published.

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ninos inteleqtis, Seupovrobis, loialobis, sisadavis gareSe, magram `mwyemsis simRera“ rom Camesmis pakos xmiT _ `SroSano, Seni surneleba Sori gziT mavals SeaCerebs...“ _ isev is bednieri warmosaxva midgas Tvalwin, konkursisTvis Seqmnil specialur prizs, `vercxlis SroSans“ ideis uwyvetobis sixaruliT Tvalcremliani rom gadavcem, Tundac, 2014 wlidan Jiuris ucvleli wevris, gaga naxucriSvilis rCeuls. `ninosTan bavSvobidanve davmegobrdi. bavSvebTan megobrobis gamorCeuli niWi hqonda. albaT, amitomac iyo misi skola gamorCeuli, Tumc nino ramiSvilis skolaSi arasdros miswavlia. Cven ojaxebiT vmegobrobdiT. amiran (pako) svimoniSvilis deda iyo. pakos da Cemi Tavgadasavali calke wignia, calke cxovreba. axla vxvdebi, rom es wignic nino ramiSvilis gareSe ver daiwereboda.

Cemi bolo leqsebis krebulis redaqtoroba Tavad SemomTavaza, roca gamixarda, gaecina da mTxova, erTad gavasworoT, oRond pakosaviT ar gamibrazdeo, sul mibrazdeboda, roca rames vusworebdio. mere mogonebebma gagvitaca da bevri vicineT. krebulis saTauric, `Zveli miqarvebi“ ninom SemomTavaza, rasac uyoymanod davTanxmdi.

Zalian zusti iyo, rogorc ninos damokidebuleba cxovrebisadmi, axalgazrdebisadmi, romelsac did siyvarulTan erTad samarTliani simkacre axlda. samwuxarod, am wignis gamocemas veRar moeswro. gava dro da isev gamiWirdeba nino ramiSvilze warsulSi laparaki. arseboben adamianebi, romlebsac warsulSi verafriT datoveb. wasvlamde lamis erTi weli ebrZoda aRsasruls, riTac Seupovrobis da Rirseuli sicocxlis magaliTi mogvca. ra gasakviria? misi mTeli cxovreba xom aseTi iyo“ _ gaga naxucriSvili.

Time will pass, and it will again become difficult to speak of Nino Ramishvili in the past tense. There are some people that we simply cannot leave in the past. She battled for a year before leaving, giving us an example of perseverance and a dignified life.

But it isn’t surprising, as this is how she lived her whole life”. – Gaga Nakhutsrishvili

Mikho If you choose to take Shalva Dadiani Street to go from Freedom Square to School #6, this short and narrow road will finish with a beautiful and astonishing monument done in the gothic architectural style. This is the school’s building, which directly makes you want to open its doors. This was always the case, and July 2023 was no exception. At the top of the wide and high marble stairs, I saw the familiar silhouette of a tall man. He asked me where I was going… In the past, I would smilingly answer him, “To Ms. Nino’s office, Mr. Mikho!”. But this time, I just made him remember who I was, and he turned in silence. I caught up with him. We exchanged a few words. He mentioned the time when they were going together to Patsia Paitchadze’s studio. He told me that his book had also been redacted by Nino. When he became ill, he was receiving the medication he needed without knowing where it was coming from. It was only after her death that they

mixo Tu Tavisuflebis moednidan meeqvse saavtoro skolisken mimavali arCevans Salva dadianis quCaze SeaCereb, es mokle da viwro gza didi da lamazi goTikuri stilis arqiteqturuli saocrebiT dasruldeba. esaa skolis Senoba, romelic imTaviTve gangawyobs, rom meti damajereblobiT SeaRo kari. ase iyo yovelTvis da ase iyo 2023 wlis ivlisSic. marmarilos farTo da maRali kibis TavSi kontraJurSi davlande tanmaRali kacis nacnobi silueti. visTan mibrZandebiTo... sxva dros RimiliT vupasuxebdi _ qalbaton ninosTan, batono mixo! axla ubralod Tavi gavaxsene da isic usityvod gabrunda. wamovewie. oriode sityva gavcvaleT. is dro gaixsena, facia paiWaZis studiaSi rom dadiodnen erTad. 60 weli auTvlia mweral mixo morCilaZisa da nino ramiSvilis megobrobas. Cemi wignis redaqtorobac ninom gaswiao. avad rom gavxdi, ver vxvdebodi saidan Cndeboda ase uceb CemTvis saWiro medikamentebio. axlaRa gamimxiles, nino zrunavda da ar geubnebodao.

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_ axla ras akeTebT, batono mixo? _ axla? axla yvelaze mTavars _ skolis usafrTxoebaze vzrunav!

P.S. am werilis saTaurad is fraza vamjobine, rasac qalbatoni nino Cveuli simsubuqiTa da imediT SegaSvelebda, Tuki daeWvebul mzeras SegniSnavda. vici, misi xmiTa da maneriT xSirad vetyvi sakuTar Tavs `nu geSinia!“ magram...

Cveni gacnobisa da daaxloebis ganmapirobebel detalebs rom vixseneb, upatiebel SecdomaSi vamxel Tavs. rogor SeiZleboda, rom im dReebis simyudroveSi erTxel mainc ar meTxova _ qalbatono nino, CavrTav, ra, diqtofons! axla Tavs mxolod imiT Tu `gavimarTleb~, rasac cxra weli sakuTari TvaliT vuyure _ dedebi Svilebis mzeebs usasrulod darajoben _ aqac da iqac! `gardaval mSvidi, viT Semodgoma, mzeo, sikvdils nu SeuSindebi~. (pako)

told him that Nino was sending them without wanting him to know it was her.

What are you up to now, Mr. Mikho?

Now? Now I am looking after the most important thing – the school’s security!

P.S. As the title of this article, I chose a sentence that Ms. Nino would say with her usual lightness and hopefulness, if she saw doubt in your eyes. I know that I will often tell myself “Don’t be afraid” with her voice and manner, but…

When I remember the details of our encounter and friendship, I always feel bad for an unforgivable mistake I made. How could I have spent all this time with her without asking her even once – “Ms. Nino, I will start the recording device!”.

Now, I can only “justify” myself with what I have seen with my own eyes for nine years – mothers keep watch of their children’s suns forever – both here and there!

“I will transform calmly, like the Autumn, Sun, don’t fear death”. (Pako)

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niniko morbedaZe NINIKO MORBEDADZE

sibilebi, tilo, akrili, tuSi. 110x199sm. 2023

grafikosis specialobiT Tbilisis saxelmwifo samxatvro akademiis dasrulebis Semdgom, niniko morbedaZe aqtiurad muSaobda kinematografiis ganxriT, iseT cnobil reJisorebTan, rogorebic arian mixeil kobaxiZe, besarion giorgobiani da nodar managaZe. sul axlaxan man iTanamSromla gigi aglaZesTan filmze „sxva me~, romlis aRmasrulebeli prodiuseri deivid linCi gaxlavT. es gamocdileba mis SemoqmedebaSi dRemde igrZnoba. misi namuSevrebi kadrebia, alternatiuli samyaros qronikebi, calkeuli, Tumca usasrulod dakavSirebuli nawilebi erTi uwyveti mTlianisa. niniko ZiriTadad akrilis saRebaviT, tuSiT, fanqriT asrulebs namuSevrebs qaRaldsa da tiloze. mis namuSevrebSi didi yuradReba eqceva kompozicias. namuSevris wina da ukana plani erTnairad mniSvnelovania, rac mkafiod ikveTeba Rrmad detalizirebul fonebSi. Crdils gansakuTrebuli adgili eniWeba da xSirad mis sakmaod mkafio gamosaxulebebs, mkveTr kontrastebsa da sqel, gamokveTil xazebs vxedavT. niniko morbedaZis SemoqmedebiTi procesi misi

THE SIBYLS, ACRYLIC AND INDIAN INK ON CANVAS. 110 X 199CM. 2023

After graduating from the Tbilisi State Academy of Art Faculty of Graphic Art, Niniko Morbedadze worked extensively as a film production designer with such notable Georgian film directors as Mikeil Kobakhidze, Besarion Giorgobiani and Nodar Managadze.

Most recently, she collaborated with film director Giga Agladze on “The Other Me” with David Lynch as the executive producer. Her experience in film is evident in her work. Her pieces are snapshots, distinct but infinitely connected parts of a single continuous whole, chronicling an existence on a plane conjured up from her subconscious, intractable and in permanent flux.

Niniko works in acrylic, Indian ink, and pencil on paper and canvas. She is meticulous about composition and gives equal weight to the foreground and background of her pieces. Shadows are important in her work. She often creates dramatic contrasts and uses bold, defined lines.

Niniko Morbedadze’s creative process is one fuelled by the subconscious. In her own words, she describes how her brain creates while her hand brings to life that which exists beyond her conscious self. Niniko Is not one to define her work. She considers this to be restrictive and counterproductive. To Niniko, art

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bolo mcdeloba, qaRaldi, akrili, tuSi. 68x82sm. 2019

LAST ATTEMPT, ACRYLIC, INDIAN INK ON PAPER. 68 X 82CM. 2019

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qvecnobieriT ikvebeba. mxatvari ganmartavs, rom misi tvini qmnis, xolo xeli gamtaria, romelsac am samyaroSi Semoaqvs is, rac mis miRma, qvecnobierebaSi arsebobs. igi Tavs ikavebs misi Semoqmedebis axsnisgan, radgan

miaCnia, rom rogorc ki namuSevars ganmartav, CarCoSi aqcev da xelovnebis nimuSis Tvisebebs ukargav... ninikos miaCnia, rom gamoxatvis da interpretaciis Tavisufleba aucilebelia. misi namuSevrebi ar Seicaven filosofiur

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sxva realoba #1, tilo, akrili, Sereuli teqnika. 100x201sm. 2022 ANOTHER REALITY #1, ACRYLIC AND MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS. 100 X 201CM. 2022

azrs da ar arian datvirTulni raime saxis simbolikiT. niniko morbedaZis namuSevrebi msoflios masStabiT rogorc kerZo, ise sajaro koleqciebSi inaxeba. misi karieris dasawyisSi Seqmnili qaRaldze Sesrulebuli aTi

explained is no longer art but literature. Freedom of interpretation is essential. There is no philosophy and certainly no symbolism in her work.

Niniko Morbedadze’s works are kept in both private and public

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yvelaferi kargad aris, tilo, akrili, tuSi, 118x159sm. 2023

namuSevari, norton da nensi dojis koleqciaSi, zimerlis xelovnebis muzeumSi, niu jersiSi inaxeba. mas miRebuli aqvs monawileoba ara erT jgufur da solo gamofenaSi saqarTveloSi da sazRvargareT. 2020 wlis zafxulSi, niniko morbedaZis saerTaSoriso saauqciono debiuti Sedga londonSi, filipsis Tanamedrove xelovnebis auqcionze misi namuSevari warmatebiT gaiyida. 2023 wlis 15 seqtembridan 15 oqtombris CaTvliT dimitri SevardnaZis saxelobis erovnul galereaSi niniko morbedaZis Sua karieruli mimoxilva mimdinareobs. gamofenaze warmodgenilia mxatvris 1989 wlidan dRemde Seqmnili 100-ze meti namuSevari. calke aRniSvnis Rirsia niniko morbedaZisa da sieiC64 galereis TanamSromloba, romelic misi warmomadgenelia aq da mTels msoflioSi. es urTierToba 2018 wels daiwyo da dRemde grZeldeba.

ALL IS WELL, ACRYLIC AND INDIAN INK ON CANVAS. 118 X 159CM. 2023

collections all around the world. Pieces on paper created at the outset of her career are in the Norton and Nancy Dodge Collection at the Zimmerli Art Museum in New Jersey. She has extensively exhibited in group and solo shows in Georgia and internationally.

Niniko made her international auction debut in the summer of 2020 when her work was successfully sold at the Phillips auction in London. Her works were again sold at Phillips in 2021 and 2023 after her initial success at auction. The Dimitri Shevardnadze National Gallery of Georgia hosts Niniko Morbedadze’s mid-career review show until October 15, 2023. Visitors can view more than 100 works created by the artist between 1989 and 2023.

Particularly worth noting is the collaboration between Niniko Morbedadze and the gallery CH64, which is her representative here and in the world. This relationship started in 2018 and continues to this day.

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ganwyoba, qaRaldi, akrili, tuSi, 88x62sm. 2022

MOOD, ACRYLIC, INDIAN INK ON PAPER. 88 X 62CM. 2022

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axali sivrce-axali saSiSroeba, qaRaldi, akrili, tuSi. 85 X 137 sm. 2021 NEW PLACE, NEW DANGER, ACRYLIC AND INDIAN INK ON PAPER. 85 X 137CM. 2021

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ira WeliZe

sadRac, samyaroTa mijnaze anu struqturirebuli mistika IRA CHELIDZE

SOMEWHERE BETWEEN WORLDS, OR STRUCTURALIZED MYSTICISM

wvimiani ganwyoba, qaRaldi, akrili, tuSi. 80 x 130sm. 2018

sadRac ginaxavs... sizmarSi ara, ufro Zil-RviZilis mijnis buranSi. rodesac ici rom ar gZinavs, Tumca cxadic araa, magram rogori realuria. xelSesaxebic. am dros TiTqos ixsneba portali im usasrulo samyaroebTan, romelTa arsebobas verc uaryof da verc adastureb. mxolod gumaniT grZnob rom aqaa. niniko morbedaZe win mizis _ Savi, swori, grZeli TmiT da maxvili, muqi Tvalebis elvarebiT. im Tavlebis, romelic miRmeTs xedaven. romelTaTvisac fizikuri samyaros sazRvari iseTi efemerulia, rom iqiT gaxedva da sxva realobebis suraTxatebis gamotaceba yoveldRiuri rutinaa. misi naxatebis axnas ar vTxov... rogor unda kiTxo mxatvars ras gulisxmobda? es xom igivea Semoqmeds

RAINY MOOD, ACRYLIC, INDIAN INK ON PAPER. 80 X 130CM. 2018

You’ve seen it somewhere… Not in a dream, more during the foggy moment between sleep and wakefulness. When you know that you are not sleeping, but nothing is clear either, though it seems very real.

Even touchable. At that time, it seems that some portal is opening to infinite worlds, the existence of which you cannot deny but cannot prove either. You just suspect that it’s there.

Niniko Morbedadze is sitting before me – with her long, straight black hair, and the sparkle of her dark eyes. The same eyes that can see beyond, and for which the border of the physical world is so ephemeral, that looking on the other side and stealing visions of another realm is a daily routine.

I won’t ask her to explain her paintings… How could one ask a painter what they meant? It would be the same as asking God what he meant by creating the world.

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– Yes, I don’t like when they ask me the essence and meaning of my paintings. I even struggle finding titles for them.

What title should one give to a blue panther that is lying before the Hubble telescope and looking at us? This antenna records the sounds of outer worlds, they are real, and their operators periodically tell us that somewhere far in the cosmos, they recorded some harmonious

hkiTxo, samyaros rom qmnida ra azrs xedavda. _ diax, ar miyvars rom mekiTxebian Cemi naxatebis Sinaarss da mniSvnelobas. dasaTaurebac ki miWirs maTi. anda rogor unda daasaTauro lurji pantera, romelic hablis radiolokaciuri TefSis win wamowolila da gviyurebs? es antena gare samyaroebis xmebs iwers,

kunZulis moqalaqe, qaRaldi, akrili, tuSi. 99 X 90sm. 2011

CITIZEN OF AN ISLAND, ACRYLIC, INDIAN INK ON PAPER. 99 X 90CM. 2011

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music notes. These are perhaps the notes that started the world.

One good author wrote that we were created by music. Then this harmony was derailed by the creator’s first presumptuous son, and we fell. Could this blue panther be precisely that? It’s looking at our prototypes, who are bustling through the flowers or sitting, tired. I don’t know.

It turned out that Niniko doesn’t know herself.

– I’ve often been told that these characters must be living on

realuria da periodulad misi operatorebi gvamcnoben, rom ukidures kosmosSi musikaluri harmoniis hangebi Caweres. albaT, es is hangebia, samyaros dasabami rom misca. aki erTi kargi mwerali ambobs, rom musikisgan SeviqmeniT. mere ki es harmonia, Semoqmedis ampartavanma pirmSom daarRvia da daveciT. hoda es lurji pantera eg xom araa, ise umzers yvavilebSi mofusfuse da daRlilad wamomjdar Cvens prototipebs. ar vici.

moseirne wyvili, qaRaldi, akrili, tuSi. 82 X 90sm. 2017

STROLLING COUPLE, ACRYLIC, INDIAN INK ON PAPER. 82 X 90CM. 2017

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gzaze kaci midioda, qaRaldi, akrili, tuSi, 80X130sm. 2015

aRmoCnda, rom arc ninikom icis dadasturebiT. _ xSirad uTqvamT CemTvis rom es personaJebi sadRac kunZulze unda cxovrobdnen. erT qalaqSi. zRviT garSemortymulebi. amas rom meubnebian, mec miyalibdeba rom ki. iq zRvacaa, tbebia, mTebia. Tanamedroveobacaa da Sua saukuneebic. multikulturaa. _ gamodis rom ukve Seqmnili suraTis dasanaxad sxvisi miniSnebebia saWiro? _ xandaxan ki. me gaucnobierebeli fobiebi gadmomaqvs tiloze. da gasacnobiereblad dro mWirdeba xolme. _ sul ase iyo? _ ara, sxvaTa Soris, akademiamde Zalian konkretul raRaceebs vxatavdi. gogoebs, musikosebs, magaliTad. mere raRac moxda Cems cxovrebaSi. ucnauri ram, romelmac sruliad amiyirava xelwera. _ maSin moxda ucxo samyaroebis gadmotana? rogor? cdis da bolomde miyvanis gziT Tu egreve, suraTxati gqondaT da mTlianad gadmoitaneT? _ axla vcdilob gavixseno... erTi adamianis kalmiT Sesrulebuli naxatebi maCvenes da mivxvdi rom kalmiT unda mexata. da kalamma wamoiRo es samyaroebi. _ teqnikam wamoiRo? _ ki, ase gamodis. teqnikam da im ucnaurma SemTxvevam.

MAN WAS WALKING ON THE ROAD, ACRYLIC, INDIAN INK ON PAPER, 80X130CM. 2015

some island. In a city. Surrounded by the sea. When they tell me this, I start seeing it myself. The sea is there, there are lakes, mountains. There is both contemporaneity and the Middle Ages. It’s multicultural.

– So this means that in order to understand an already finished painting, we need someone else’s comments?

– Sometimes, yes. I put my subconscious phobias on canvas. And I need some time to make them conscious.

– Was it always the case?

– No, I was actually painting very definite things until the academy. Girls, musicians, for instance. Then something happened in my life. Something strange, that completely changed my style.

– That’s when you started drawing other worlds? How? Was it a process of trial and error, or did you have the full image in mind and transfer it directly to canvas?

– I’m trying to remember… They showed me the drawings of someone who drew with a pen, and I understood that I had to draw with a pen too. And the pen brought these worlds.

– So the technique brought them?

– Yes, it looks like. Technique and that strange occurrence.

– Did you see these faces and draw them, or did you reach them through trial and error?

– Faces? I don’t know… During my first year at the academy,

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_ es saxeebi dainaxeT da CaxateT Tu cdis da daxvewis meTodiT mixvediT maTTan? _ saxeebi? ar vici... pirvel kursze ori didi furceli maqvs daxatuli, mxolod saxeebi. maSin, ufro groteskulebi gamomdioda... _ ese igi cdis da daxvewis gza gaiareT? _ ara, iciT rogoraa? bavSvobaSi rom vxedavdi sxva samyaros, personaJebs, maTTan yofna mindoda, warmosaxvas

I’ve only drawn two works, both faces. At the time, they were more grotesque…

– So it was trial and error?

– No, you know what it was, actually? When I was a child, I would see another world and characters, I wanted to be with them, and I was training my imagination to get there. That’s why I see them and paint them.

– I think that your wish became a reality, and you crossed the

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viziti ucxo sofelSi, (triptixi) muyao, zeTi, akrili. 100 X 210sm. 2019 VISIT TO UNKNOWN VILLAGE, (TRIPTYCH) OIL AND ACRYLIC ON CARDBOARD. 100 X 210CM. 2019

vavarjiSebdi, rom iq gadavsuliyavi. amitom ufro vxedav da vxatav. _ vfiqrob, agisruldaT ocneba da gadaxvediT. Tavisuflad moZraobT samyaroebs Soris. _ ki, rom vxatav ase gamodis. _ ra musika JRers iq? an aq rodesac xatavT? rame fsiqodeliuri? _ art roki. umTavresad jgufi Yes, Weather Report,

border. You can travel freely between the two worlds.

– Yes, when I paint, that’s the case.

– What is the music that they play there? Or when you paint here?

Something psychedelic?

– Art rock. Mainly Yes, Weather Report, McLaughlin…

– Mahavishnu Orchestra?

– Mahavishnu? Yes, them too.

– What I see on the paintings, to me, is more like a blend of Bruegel,

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maisis bolo kvira, qaRaldi, akrili, tuSi. 95 X 139sm. 2017

McLaughlin... _ mahaviSnu orkestri? _ mahaviSnu? ki, egec. _ arada rac gadmotanilia, is CemTvis breigelis, Sua saukuneebis miniaturebis da veneciis karnavalebis nazavis anareklia _ Tumca Cemze ufro naklebad cnobilma mxatvrebma iqonies gavlena. magaliTad fialkovskim. _ axla mivxvdi rom aRorZinebis xanis germanelebsac vgrZnob... _ ki, kranaxi, diureri. ninikos moCvenebiT idiliur suraTebSi gaxveuli SfoTva didi germanelebis nerviulobas maxsenebs. wiTlebSi gaxveuli ori monumenturi, sadRac mimavali figuris samosis dekoratiuli arabeskebi lukas kranaxis personaJebis farCa-xaverdebis ornamentebs exmianeba da gulis fskerze miCumebul SiSs aRviZebs. sad midian da ra undaT? ratom gviyureben? da irgvliv ganfenili didroni yvavilebi sulac araa yvavilebi. ufro adamianebis sulebs hgavs, wvril Reroebze rom konwialoben, romlebic esaa da gawydeba...

LAST WEEK OF MAY, ACRYLIC, INDIAN INK ON PAPER. 95 X 139CM. 2017

miniatures from the Middle Ages, and Venetian carnivals.

– But artists who were less famous than me have had an influence too. For instance, Stanisław Fijałkowski.

– Now I understand that I also feel Germans from the Renaissance…

– Yes, Cranach, Durer.

The anxiety found in the seemingly idyllic paintings reminds me of the nervousness of the great Germans. The decorative arabesques on the red clothing worn by two monumental figures going somewhere echo the ornaments on the brocades and velvets of Lucas Cranach’s characters, and rouse a silenced fear at the surface of our hearts.

Where are they going, and what do they want? Why are they looking at us? And the large flowers around them aren’t flowers at all. They look more like human souls, barely attached to narrow stems, almost falling from them…

Perhaps the painting is telling us something about the transit of souls, where an open-handed girl is saluting a boat in the water, on which there are some defined and some blurry figures, and it is clear that this girl is not waving goodbye to someone but welcoming them, and this shore will be kind or not so kind, depending on who will put their feet on it.

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SesaZloa, sulTa gadayvanaze gviyveba suraTi, sadac xelgaSlili gogo wyalSi Securebul navs egebeba, romelzec zogi mkafio da zogic mqrqali figuraa da aSkaraa rom es gogo vinmes ki ar acilebs, aramed xvdeba da es aqeTa napiri an keTili iqneba an arc ise, gaaCnia vin gadmoabijebs.

Tumca, marto Sua saukuneebi rodia. gamofenaze erT suraTTan SevCerdi isev im gancdiT, sad minaxavs es Zalian nacnobi siuJeti, ras maxsenebs. Zalian axlaxan nanaxs hgavda da ucbad gamicxadda. es wmindanebis nimbiani sami

antikuri istoriebi #1 qaRaldi, akrili, tuSi 99 x 109sm

But it’s not only about the Middle Ages. At the exhibition, I stopped in front of one painting, asking myself where I had seen this very familiar subject, what it was reminding me of. I had the impression of having seen it very recently, and suddenly it hit me. These three saint figures with nimbi and scary rabbit figures, on the front of the painting, who are holding balloons that seem to have been teleported from a painting by Miro, were taken from a scene from a very good TV show, Preacher, in which a priest understands that God was lost, and starts looking for him everywhere, only to find him in Louisiana, under the guise of a Dalmatian dog. Niniko’s canvas

ANCIENT HISTORIES #1, ACRYLIC AND INDIAN INK ON PAPER, 99 X 109CM, 2022

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sxva realoba #1, tilo, akrili, tuSi. 100 x 201 sm. 2022

ANOTHER REALITY #1, ACRYLIC AND INDIAN INK ON CANVAS. 100 X 201 CM. 2022

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Turquli abanos saidumloebebi, qaRaldi, akrili, tuSi. 80 X 130sm. 2017

figura, saSiSi kurdRlisebri figurebiT wina planze, romlebsac miros naxatebidan gadmoskupebuli RerZiani buStebi ukaviaT, erT-erTi saukeTeso serialis Pritcheris kadria, romelSic mRvdeli RmerTis dakargvis Sesaxeb Seityobs, mis saZebnelad aRma-daRma ixetialebs da bolos luizianaSi, dalmatinelis niRabSi gamoxveuli ipovis. ninikos tilo am filmis naxviT gamowveul sasowarkveTisa da xmamaRla gacinebis SeuTavsebel erTobliobas warmoSobs. _ ferebze minda gkiTxoT. es warmoudgeneli wiTeli, romelic ase hgavs Cvenebur adiSis wiTels, es lurji Tu cisferi, saidan movida? ferebi scadeT? Tu esec dainaxeT erTianad. _ yvelafers bundovnad vxedav. Semdeg vakeTeb eskizebs da gadmomaqvs tiloze. Sav-TeTri Zalian miyvars da Znelad davTme. Tumca movida dro da ferSic mominda muSaoba...

MYSTERIES OF A TURKISH BATH, ACRYLIC, INDIAN INK ON PAPER. 80 X 130CM. 2017

produces the same strange mix of despair and loud laughing as watching this film.

– I would like to ask you about the colors. This wonderful red that looks so much like our Adishi red, this blue or light blue, where did they come from? Did you add the colors, or did you also see them in this other world?

– I see everything bluntly. Then I make a sketch and put it on canvas. I love black and white, and it was difficult to switch to colors. But at some point, I started wanting to work with colors…

– Did you know right away that acrylic would be your main tool?

- Yes, on canvas, I only work with acrylic. Painting is something else. There are fewer lines there, and shapes are created through lights, shadows, and colors…

– The world that you have been putting on canvas for so many years, is it finite? Did you see it, get to know it, and will you go into

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_ Tavidanve mixvdiT, rom akrilia Tqveni mTavari iaraRi? _ ki, tiloze mxolod akriliT vmuSaob., ferwera mainc sxvaa. iq xazi naklebad aris, forma Suq-CrdiliT da feriT iZerweba… _ is samyaro, romelic amdeni welia gadmogaqvT aqeT, sasrulia? naxeT, SeicaniT da amieridan sxva gagicxaddebaT Tu iq darCebiT da Cvenc TqvenTan erTad iq vitrialebT? _ radganac me varsebob am qveyanaze da me var me, sxvagan ver gadavinacvleb. ase ar xdeba rom es davcale da sxvagan wavedi. es aris is warmosaxviTi SemoqmedebiTi sivrce, sadac var da viqnebi sul. iciT ra minda giTxraT? bevrisTvis Zalian ucxod ki Canan Cemi personaJebi, magram realurad quCaSi Tu gavixedebiT, isini dadian... _ SiSze ras metyviT? bevrisgan gamigia, rom ninikos namuSevrebi maSineben.

sentimentaluri dRe, qaRaldi, akrili, tuSi. 79 x 129sm. 2021

another one, or will you stay there and will we stay there with you too?

– Because I exist in this world and I am me, I cannot go somewhere else. It doesn’t work like that – to simply finish this world and go somewhere else. This is the imagined creative space where I am and will always remain. Do you know what I would like to tell you? To many, my characters seem strange, but in reality, if we look on the streets, it is they who are walking…

– What would you tell me about fear? Many people have told me that your paintings scare them.

– I don’t know, I don’t think that they are only scary. They are indeed ambivalent. Like life. We live, we are doing well, but in the back of your head, there is always some fear – the fear of dying, of losing a close one, or simple, untraceable nervousness… When painting, I try to balance the work so that it isn’t too heavy or too sweet… I try to make it approximately as life is in reality…

A SENTIMENTAL DAY, ACRYLIC AND INDIA INK ON PAPER. 79 X 129CM. 2021

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dasawyisi, qaRaldi, akrili, tuSi. 90 X 136sm. 2020 INCEPTION, ACRYLIC, INDIAN INK ON PAPER. 90 X 136CM. 2020

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minda giTxra, qaRaldi, akrili, tuSi, 62X60sm. 2018

_ ar vici, ar mimaCnia rom erTmniSvnelovnad saSiSia. ambivalenturi kia. cxovrebasaviT. ai, xom vcxovrobT, kargad varT, Tumca mudmivad fonad gagvdevs raRacis SiSi _ sikvdilis, axloblis dakargvis, da usagno

I WANT TO TELL YOU, ACRYLIC, INDIAN INK ON PAPER, 62X60CM. 2018

nerviulobebi... xatvisas vabalanseb, zedmetad mZime an zedmetad tkbili rom ar gamomivides namuSevari.., daaxloebiT iseTive, rogoric zogadad cxovrebiseuli sinamdvilea…

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lali avaliani

sixaruli da imedgacrueba (galaktionis pirveli wignis gamo)

aRiarebuli TvalsazrisiT, olia okujava iyo galaktionis pirveli da ukanaskneli `ukidegano siyvaruli~. ritorikuli SekiTxvis darad _ `vin aris es qali aseTi cisferi~ _ poetis pirveli meuRlis konkretuli xateba TiTqosda efemeruli gaxldaT. olia okujavas saxeli mravali wlis manZilze CrdilSi iyo, misi saxeba ki _ burusiT moculi.

XX saukunis upirveles qarTvel poets bedma mZime xvedri arguna: igi orgzis daaSores sasurvel meuRles, 1929 wels _ droebiT, 1937 wels samudamod... legenda galaktionze mis sicocxleSive daibada, amas, uwinares yovlisa, poetis sidiade, misi genialuroba ganapirobebda. es legenda dResac arsebobs da albaT, marad iarsebebs. legendis aTinaTSi galaktionis bedkruli meuRlec inakvTeba. vis gauziarebda galaktioni pirveli wignis gamocemiT gamowveul ambivalentur (didi sixaruli da imedgacrueba) grZnobas Tu ara Tavis sacoles?

1915 wlis 8 ianvaria.

23 wlis Wabuki galaktioni quTaisidan wers werils WiaTuraSi myof sacoles _ olia okujavas; wers mxiaruli, erTgvarad atacebuli toniT, iSviaTi enawylianobiT, TviTironiiT (cota ar iyos `Savi~ iumoriTac), saboloo jamSi ki _ sakmaod aforiaqebulad da nerviuladac: `ololo! lo icode, la mSvenieri dRe alis dRes! pirdapir ar ginda kacs saxlSi ijde, ginda gainavardo sadme, wahyve vismes sadme iseT adgilas, sadac mudmivi sixaruli da bednierebaa. dRes Zalian adre gamomeRviZa, gavixede fanjaraSi da mSvenieri gazafxulis dila momagonda. cota sicivea, magram ca ise iyo mowmendili, rom uneburad romaSoviviT lermontovis sityvebi gavimeore [...] saCqarod Cemi kakao davlie. movixure palto, Camovifxate qudi da trostiT xelSi `vaJnoT~ gavswie qalaqgareT. unda giTxra, rom Zalian mxiarul gunebaze viyavi, aba, Sen warmoidgine, aseTi mSvenieri dRea, 8

ianvars, Sua zamTarSi, rom es ambavi meTormete saukunis qronikaSi wamekiTxa, ar davijerebdi. magram Cemi TvaliT vxedavdi yvelafers. mivdiodi im quCaze, sadac giJebs amwyvdeven da sadac ramdenjerme gulwrfelad gadavwyvite Seni iq Camwyvdeva, Cemo ololi! iq erTi giJi gadmomdgariyo fanjaraSi da Cems Sexedvaze gulianad gaicina. magram me yuradReba ar mivaqcie da amayi RimiliT Caviare, Tan Cems Tavze gavifiqre: `И он усмехнулся горьким, презрительным смехом~. gzam sofel qvitirSi mimiyvana. Turme sul axlo yofila da me ar vicodi. gzaze bevr mSvenier fiqrs vfiqrobdi da Zalianac ar momgonebia, Tu sad mivdiodi.

Sevedi eklesiis ezoSi da didxans viweqi qvaze, Semdeg warwerebs vaTvalierebdi, gavicani bevri mkvdrebi, romlebic siamovnebiT momegebnen da miTxres: mobrZandiT, mobrZandiT! magre rigad nu geSinia Cveni. erTdros axlobeli megobrebi viqnebiT an jojoxeTSi an samoTxeSi, ufro ki jojoxeTSio. Tan isic miambes, rom umetesi nawili qvitirlebisa, da, sazogadod, mTeli qveynis mcxovreblebis, jojoxeTSi midian, radgan samoTxeSi yvelas ar uSveben cecxlisxmliani angelozebi. gavige isic, rom jojoxeTSi Sesvla arc iseTi saSinelebaa, rogorc bevr cocxalsa gonia. Turme kupris zRvaSi da cecxlis morevSi curaoba jobnebia im aTasnair damcirebagaWirvebebs, romelTac qveyanaze ganicdian cocxali adamianebi. risi cocxali! mkvdrebi daJinebiT mimtkiceben, rom maTSi bevri moipoveba iseTi, romlebic cocxlebs sjobnian yvelaferSi. ai Tundac Seno! _ miTxra erTma mkvdarma, _ nu gewyineba da exlac Tu me Sen ar gjobde, damimtvrie eg Zvlebio. ra Tqma unda, me im mkvdrisTvis sul ar damimtvrevia ybebi, radgan sruli simarTle sTqva. meore mkvdarma Tavisi leqsebi amoiRo da paTosiT kiTxva daiwyo... Zalian kargi deklamatori yofila. miTxra: aba, Seadare Sens leqsebs, romeli sjobiao? Turme is kaci mkvdrebis sazogadoebaSi genios poetad iTvleba... sazogadod, Cemo ololi, cota cudi STabeWdileba moaxdina Cemze dRes sasaflaom. im poetma trabaxiT amiklo, sul Zvlebs aCxarunebda da ise gaiZaxoda: CemisTana ar iqnebao! mec veRar moviTmine da Tavis qeba

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daviwye, magram mkvdarma poetma dacinviT gaiRima da jibidan gazeTi `Sadrevani~ amoiRo, sadac mix. wulukiZis werilia moTavsebuli. me sircxviliT gavwiTldi da xma gavikminde. xumrobis gareSe, marTlac bevr sisuleles vfiqrobdi, roca am saflavis qvaze viyav wamowolili. mere Cemi fiqrebis meve Semrcxva, radgan Cems Tavze gavifiqre: Он лежал на плите бледный, неподвижный da sxvebi... uceb wamovxti, erTi gulianad gadavixarxare da isev ukan davbrundi~... werili aq ar wydeba, magram momdevno frazebsa da minawerebSic Cveulebrivi, yofiTi xasiaTis ambebia gadmocemuli, rasac CvenTvis amjerad ara aqvs arsebiTi mniSvneloba. galaktionis imJamindel sulier mdgomareobaSi gasarkvevad postskriptumis mxolod erTi winadadeba Tu gamogvadgeba; saxeldobr _ `me exla arsad ar davdivar da, madloba RmerTs, arc CemTan dadian~. albaT, Zneli ar iqneba imis mixvedra, Tu ratom aris Wabuki poeti suliT xorcamde SeZruli, erTianad

awrialebuli (Tumca amaod lamobs mxiaruli niRbis morgebas); mSvenieri amindisa da qalaqgareT Soreuli gaseirnebis (quTaisidan sofel qvitiramde, sul cota 7-8 kilometri mainc iqneba) miuxedavad _ gunebaamRvreuli da daZagruli. saqme isaa, rom Tbilisis gazeT `SadrevanSi~ gamoqveynda mixeil wulukiZis sakmaod susxiani recenzia galaktionis leqsebis pirvel wignze (`leqsebi~, tomi I, quTaisi, 1914 w.) _ saTauriT _ `g. tabiZis leqsebi~ (1915 wlis 5 ianvari, #3). rogorc vxedavT, galaktionis es werili (8 ianvriT daTariRebuli) cxel gulzea dawerili. rogori iqneboda axalgazrda poetisaTvis Tavisi pirmSos _ pirveli poeturi krebulis amgvari Sefaseba: galaktion tabiZe `daSorda im niadags _ namdvil xalxis suliskveTebas, gancdas, miswrafebas, romelsac SeeZlo garkveuli, farTo gza mieca mis SemoqmedebisaTvis. ...uimedoba, pesimisturi godeba axasiaTebs Cvens axalgazrda mwerals... ...g. tabiZe srul uvicobaSi imyofeba imis Sesaxeb, Tu ra qnas, vis an ris Sesamkoblad, sasimRerod momarTos Tavisi `mowyenili~ qnari, an saWiroa ki is vinmesTvis. ...aseTi daskvna, aseTi mimarTuleba qnarisa ar Sehferis axalgazrda mgosans _ g. tabiZes, romelsac Tavi xalxis Svilad miaCnia~... da misTanani. amrigad, yvelaferi naTeli gaxda da galaktionis amRvreul gunebasac gamoeZebna axsna. tragikomikuri is gaxlavT, rom galaktionis cnobil mecenat raJden daTeSiZis dafinansebuli leqsTa pirveli krebulis gamosvlamde poetis megobars da keTilismdomels, wignis gamomcemel tutku gvaramias Tavisi ganzraxva Seutyobinebia kritikos m. wulukiZisaTvis da recenziis dawera uTxovia misTvis.

1914 wlis 26 TebervliT daTariRebul baraTSi (wigni gamoica 1914 wlis ivnisis bolos) kritikosi tutku gvaramias werda: `...simpatiuri saqme gagizraxavT _ axalgazrda mgosnis g. tabiZis nawerebis gamocema. siamovnebiT veTanxmebi Tqvens winadadebas _ kritikuli ganxilvis daweraze. momawvdineT misi nawerebi rac SeiZleba male. vecdebi SeZlebisdagvarad Sevasrulo Tqveni Txovnac~ (l. nucubiZe, `galaktioni da quTaisi~, gaz. `quTaisi~, 1973 weli, #37). Cans, tutku gvaramias, misdauneburad, daTvuri samsaxuri gauwevia megobrisaTvis. galaktionis mTeli Semoqmedebis gaTvaliswinebam misca ufleba revaz TvaraZes SeeniSna _ 1908-1914 wlebi poetisaTvis umTavresad literaturuli Segirdobis wlebi iyoo, Tumca, misive samarTliani daskvniT, `1914 wels gamocemul leqsTa krebulSi ukve SeiniSneba axali formis Canasaxebi, gamosaxvis axal, manamde sruliad ucnob saSualebaTa mikvlevis cdebi~. amitomac iyo,

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rom qarTuli poeziis imdroindeli krizisis fonze, pirvelive wignis wyalobiT, `galaktion tabiZe erTbaSad rCeulTa Soris urCeulesad iqna aRiarebuli~ (r. TvaraZe, `werilebi. legenda galaktionis cxovrebisa~, Tbilisi, 1979). rac mTavaria, axalgazrda poetis pirvel wigns imTaviTve didi aRtacebiT gamoexmaura ramdenime poeti da kritikosi. sayovelTao aRiarebis fonze mxolod mixeil wulukiZis werili gaJRerda disonansad. am werilis gamoqveynebidan oriode kviris Tavze imave `SadrevanSi~ (#5, 19 ianvari) daistamba aleqsandre abaSelis `yviTeli foToli~: `namdvil poetTa ricxvi ki, miuxedavad moleqseTa saSinel gamravlebisa, Zlier cotaa, TiTqmis TiTebze CamosaTvleli. `mravalni arian wveul, xolo mciredni rCeul...~ da am rCeulTa Soris pirveli adgili unda daiWiros Cvenma axalgazrda mgosanma g. tabiZem~. aq ki davubrundeT galaktionis baraTs, romelic

pirvelad gamoqveynda poetis TormettomeulSi (`Txzulebani Tormet tomad~, t. XII, Tbilisi, 1975 weli).

XII tomis `SeniSvnebisa da komentarebis~ avtori ioseb lorTqifaniZe mas sam ganmartebas urTavda: `qvitiri _ sofeli quTaisis maxloblad. `Sadrevani~ _ saliteraturo da politikuri gazeTi (1915 w.). gamovida sul 5 nomeri. #3-Si daibeWda mixeil wulukiZis recenzia g. tabiZis leqsebis I tomze (`Sadrevani~ gamodioda 1914-15 ww., gamovida 13 nomeri _ l. a.). romaSovi sergei _ rusi msaxiobi, dramaturg boris romaSovis (1895-1958) mama, lermontovis nawarmoebis erTerTi saukeTeso mkiTxveli~ (gv. 728). `SadrevanSi~ gamoqveynebuli kritikuli werilis Taobaze _ yvelaferi rigzea; mxolod sasurveli iqneboda i. lorTqifaniZes isic mieTiTebina, Tu rodis gamoqveynda `Sadrevanis~ mesame nomeri. barem aqve davZinoT: galaktion tabiZis lorTqifaniZiseul `bibliografiaSi~ (1910-1973 ww., dastambulia 1973) 1915 wlis `Sadrevanis~ mecamete

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(?!) nomeria miTiTebuli (gv. 35), xolo `bibliografiis~ meore, Sevsebul gamocemaSi (1910-1984 ww., gamocemis weli 1986), m. wulukiZis werilis publikaciis `ganaxlebuli~ variantia SemoTavazebuli _ 1915 wlis 16 marti. gazeTis nomeri (#3, #13 an sxva) ki aRar Cans... mkiTxvelis yuradRebas uTuod miipyrobda galaktionis werilis erTi gaugebari kupiura: `...ca ise iyo mowmendili, rom uneburad romaSoviviT lermontovis sityvebi gavimeore [...]~ romaSovis Taobaze komentatori TiTqosda amomwurav cnobebs gvawvdis _ `rusi msaxiobi, dramaturg boris romaSovis (1895-1958) mama, lermontovis nawarmoebebis erT-erTi saukeTeso mkiTxveli~. wvrilmanebs gamodevnebuli mkiTxveli albaT iucxovebda, raRa msaxiobis dramaturgi Svilis dabadebagardacvalebis wlebs gvawvdis komentatori, egeb mamiT dainteresebuliyoo.

Sevecade romaSovis vinaobis mikvlevas sacnobaro literaturis meSveobiT. marTali giTxraT, am kacis asaval-dasavalsac ki ver mivageni. msaxiobi romaSovi ar moixsenieba arc universalur, arc Teatralur rusul enciklopediebSi; da, rac mTavaria, romaSovs

_ `lermontovis nawarmoebebis erT-erT saukeTeso mkiTxvels~ _ ar icnobs 1981 wels gamocemuli `lermontovis enciklopedia~, romelSic mecnierTa uzarmazari jgufis TiTqmis ocwliani gamowvlilviTi muSaobis Sedegia Tavmoyrili. isRa dagvrCenia davuSvaT, rom `lermontovis enciklopedia~, _ dRemde erTaderTi amgvari enciklopedia rusul enaze _ ar aris srulyofili da mas gamorCa rusi poetis TxzulebaTa `saukeTeso mkiTxveli~. qarTveli komentatoris wvlils egebis gaemdidrebina kidec `lermontovis enciklopedia~. erTob advili misagnebi rom ar iyos mis mier mopovebuli cnobebis wyaro: biografiuli werili dramaturg boris sergeis Ze romaSovze (1895-1958), romelic msaxiobis ojaxSia dabadebuli (ix. `Teatraluri enciklopedia~, `didi sabWoTa enciklopedia~). ra Tqma unda, es cnoba ar kmara imisaTvis, rom dramaturgis mama galaktionis werilSi moxseniebul romaSovTan gaaigivo da igi, xelaRebiT, lermontovis TxzulebaTa erT-erT saukeTeso mkiTxvelad gamoacxado. amjerad ki `saidumlo~ da amouxsnel kupiuras, galaktionis TqmiT, `lermontovis sityvebs~ davubrundeT. cnobisaTvis: krebulSi `olia okujavas dRiurebi da mimowera galaktionTan~ (Semdgenel-komentatorebi leila sanaZe da lamara megreliSvili, Tbilisi, 1987) galaktionis zemoxsenebuli werili komentarebiTurT ucvlelad aris gadmotanili, mxolod kupiuris miniSneba aRar Cans (gv. 181): `...ca ise iyo mowmendili, rom uneburad romaSoviviT lermontovis sityvebi gavimeore~. kupiuris gaqrobam axali uxerxuloba Seqmna, winadadeba uadgilo adgilas gawyvita. `saidumlo~ kupiuriT dainteresebulma g. leoniZis saxelobis literaturul muzeumSi dacul galaktionis xelnawerTa fonds mivaSure. yvelaferi naTeli gaxda: mSvenieri dila, mowmendili ca galaktions lermontovis `mwiris~ fragments axsenebs: `...В то утро был небесный свод Так чист, что ангела полет Прилежный взор следить бы мог~. es sityvebi werilSi mSvenivrad ikiTxeba; marTalia, odnav saxecvlilia, gadmocemulia Zveli orTografiiT, aris Secdomac _ `И небо было так сине, что ангела полет прилежный взор следить бы мог~ _ magram mis nacvlad kupiuris gaCena yovlad gaumarTlebelia. galaktionis Semoqmedebis mkvlevarT SeniSnuli aqvT, rom lermontovis poemis swored zemoxsenebuli fragmenti Rrmad aRibeWda Wabuki poetis cnobierebaSi da mis erT-erT adrindel leqsSic iCina Tavi. me Tu mkiTxavT, lermontovis am sityvebis amotivtiveba poetis kerZo baraTSi 1915 wlis dasawyisisaTvis uaRresad mniSvnelovani faqtia da migviTiTebs galaktionis erT

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Taviseburebaze _ ise `gaiTavisos~, sakuTar poetur quraSi ise gadaadnos sxva poeturi samyarodan damaxsovrebuli xati, rom daiviwyos kidevac misi warmomavloba. Cemi Rrma rwmeniT, ase rom ar yofiliyo, galaktions umal 1914 wels gamoqveynebuli `guriis mTebis~ striqonebi unda gaxseneboda da ara maTi rusuli pirvelwyaro: `ca isea mowmendili, ca isea SeumkrTali, rom angelozs dainaxavs modaraje kacis Tvali~.

Semoqmedebis fsiqologiis mkvlevarni da saerTod fsiqologebi poetis (zogadad poetis da ara mxolod galaktionis) am Tvisebas iolad mouZebnian axsnas. galaktionis akademiuri gamocemis komentatorebs zemoxsenebuli damTxveva ar aRuniSnavT. komentatorTa yuradReba ver miipyro werilis orma rusulma frazam: arada, swored am moulodnel CanarTSi warmoCnda meore (Tu erTaderTi?) romaSovi. gavixsenoT: swrafi nabijiT, `vaJnoT~ mimavalma galaktionma giJis dacinvas yuradReba ar miaqcia, amayi RimiliT Caiara, Tavis Tavze ki gaifiqra: `И он усмехнулся горьким, презрительным смехом~. meoregan, qvitiris sasaflaoze, saflavis qvaze wamowolilma poetma ra ar gaifiqra („...bevr sisuleleze vfiqrobdi~...), mere ki, `mere Cemi fiqrebisa meve Semrcxva, radgan Cems Tavze gavifiqre: Он лежал на плите, бледный, неподвижный da sxvebi~... udavoa am frazebSi Cabudebuli TviTironia, romelic arsebulisa da warmosaxulis kontrastzea dafuZnebuli. zemoxsenebuli rusuli frazebi TiTqosda mecnaura, magram, werilis dasawyisSi naxsenebi romaSovi rom ara, albaT ase iolad ver gavixsenebdi maT pirvelwyaros _ aleqsandr kuprinis Zalze popularul romans `orTabrZolas~ (pirvelad gamoqveynda 1905 wels, 1915 wlisaTvis ukve bevrjer iyo calke wignad gamocemuli, qarTulad iTargmna 1958 wels) da romanis mTavar gmirs giorgi romaSovs. podporuCiki romaSovi _ naRvliani meocnebe, sufTa, gulmowyale, mimndobi axalgazrda kaci _ gamonaklisia ruseTis armiaSi. mas awvalebs gansxvaveba ocnebasa da sinamdviles, sasurvelsa da realobas Soris; awvalebs sakuTari morcxvoba, sibece, dabneuloba, mouxerxebloba; irgvliv gamefebuli sisastike da sibriyve, loToba da uzneoba. amasTan, Wabuki podporuCiki Zalze did yuradRebas aqcevs imas, Tu rogor gamoiyureba is sxvaTa TvalSi: Tavis garegnobasa da qcevas afasebs `garedan~, `Soridan~; afasebs subieqturad da mudam mcdarad. sasurvelisa da arsebulis mkveTri sxvaoba qmnis komikur situacias. kuprini pirdapir miuTiTebs romaSovis am ucnaur, sasacilo maneraze: `У Ромашова была немножко смешная, немножко наивная привычка, часто свойственная очень

молодым людям, думать о самом себе в третьем лице, словами шаблонных романов...~ ai, es sasacilo `Sefasebanic~: talaxiT moTxvrili kaloSebiT, moZvelebuli SineliT mosili romaSovi gasarTobad rkinigzis sadgurs miaSurebs, sakuriero matareblis fanjarasTan mdgom lamazmans miaCerdeba, romelic aseve yuradRebiT SeaTvalierebs mas, imedmocemuli vaJi gaifiqrebs Tavis Tavze _ „Глаза прекрасной незнакомки с удовольствием остановились на стройной, худощавой фигуре молодого офицера“ _ Tumca male, gausaZlisi sircxviliT gaixsenebs am lamaz frazas, radgan mSvenieri qalbatoni sicils daayris. romaSovi raRac mniSvnelovan gadawyvetilebas miiRebs da TavisTvis dasZens _ „Его выразительные черные глаза сверкали решимостью и презрением!“ Хотя глаза у него были вовсе не черние, а самые обыкновенные – желтоватые с зеленым ободком“. magram davubrundeT galaktions (sulieri SeWirvebis Jams, roca kuprinis gmirs sircxvili, brazi da zizRi dauflebia, _ („И все-таки Ромашов в эту секунду успел по своей привычке подумать картинно в третьем лице: И он рассмеялся горьким, презрительным смехом“) da gavixsenoT miseuli fraza: „И он усмехнулся горьким, презрительным смехом“. qvitiris sasaflaos qvaze wamowolili galaktioni Tavis Tavze gaifiqrebs: „Он лежал на плите, бледный,

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неподвижный...“ SevadaroT romaSovis warmosaxuls: „Ромашов лежит в гробу, неподвижный, холодный...“ vgoneb ueWvelia, rom es damTxvevebi SemTxveviTi xasiaTisa ar gaxlavT. ueWvelia isic, rom Tavisi rusuli frazebiT galaktions gamoyenebuli da `gaTamaSebuli~ aqvs romaSovis es bavSvurad gulubryvilo da imavdroulad komikuri manera. is garemoebac aRsaniSnavia, rom sxvas galaktioni amgvari maneriT ar miswerda _ rusulad aRzrdili olia okujava ki, zedmiwevniT mcodne rusuli mwerlobisa (samwuxarod, igive ar iTqmis qarTul poeziaze, rac poetis colis dRiurebiTa da piradi werilebiTac dasturdeba) uTuod miuxvdeboda TviTironias da mis warmomavlobasac.

Cven xSirad `qrestomaTiuli pewis~ gareSe ver aRviqvamT did mwerals, gvaviwydeba, rom ama Tu im leqsisa Tu werilis miRma Cveulebrivi adamiania. galaktionis asakis gaTvaliswinebam, olia okujavasadmi miwerili am baraTis safuZvelze, amgvari suraTi warmogviCina: poeti Tavisi sulieri mdgomareobis Tanaziarobas mxolod Tanatol literaturul gmirebSi eZiebs (gavixsenoT minawerSi Tqmuli _ `me axla arsad ar davdivar da, madloba RmerTs, arc CemTan dadian~), 23 wlis poeti Tavis gulisnadebs Wabuk personaJTa sityvebis pirdapiri Tu arapirdapiri moSveliebiTac acxadebs. esenia _ lermontovis mwiri da kuprinis 21 wlis gmiri _ romaSovi. SemTxveviTi ar unda iyos galaktionis werilSi lermontovisa da kuprinis `Tanaarseboba~. saqme isaa, rom kuprinis `orTabrZola~ uTuod davalebulia lermontovis `Cveni drois gmirisagan~. Wabuki galaktioni intuiciurad, sruliad Zaldautanebeli (iqneb qvecnobieri) asociaciis meSveobiT, raRacnairad amyarebs kavSirs lermontovsa da kuprins Soris. am rTulma asociaciam SemamCnevina is, rac ara aqvT mignebuli lermontovisa da kuprinis rus mkvlevrebs! yovel SemTxvevaSi, uaxles da uzustes wyaroebSi _ monografiebSi, akademiur gamocemaTa komentarebSi da TviT `lermontovis enciklopediaSic~ romaSovis peCorinTan mimarTebis raime kvali ar Cans. am ukanasknel gamocemaSi zogadad aris moniSnuli lermontovis zegavlena XIX saukunis II naxevris rus prozaikosebze, maT Soris kuprinze; amas garda kuprins calke werilic eZRvneba. sxvaTa Soris, danaxulia kuprinis personaJis vasili akinTieviCis (moTxroba `armieli praporSCiki~) siaxlove `Cveni drois gmiris~ maqsim maqsimoviCis saxesTan, magram `orTabrZolis~ mimarTebaze `Cveni drois gmirTan~ krintic ar aris daZruli. romaSovi peCorinis antiTezaa, magram Tu davukvirdebiT, `Cveni drois gmiri~ misi idealia; ara imdenad Sinagani samyaroTi, Sinagani arsiT, aramed misi pirovnebis zedapiruli, garegnuli gamoxatulebiT. swored amiT aris romaSovisaTvis lermontovis gmiri

saocnebo. romaSovis komikuri manerac _ gauTavebeli TviTdaxasiaTebani _ `demonur~ peCorins ufro miesadageba, vidre uaRresad miamit, keTil da susti nebisyofis romaSovs: ...„Мрачное раздумье бороздило его чело...“ „Ироническая горькая улыбка показалась на его тонких губах...“ „Лицо его стало непроницаемо, как маска...“ „На его лице лежала несокрушимая решимость...“ erTxel, duelis win, peCorini sarkeSi Caixedavs da kmayofili darCeba: „...Глаза блестали гордо и неумолимо“. kuprinis romaSovs lermontovis meore gmirTan, mis Tanatol 21 wlis gruSnickisTanac moeZebneba paraleli, mis TviTdaxasiaTebebs, mis santimentalizms bevri saerTo aqvs gruSnickis poziorobasTan, arabunebriv qcevasTan. gruSnicki _ peCorinis TvalTaxedviT: „Говорил он скоро и вычурно: он из тех людей, которые на все случай жизни имеют готовые пышные фразы...“ kuprini _ romaSovze _ „Мелькает у него в голове пышная фраза“, „...Которые важно драпируются в необыкновенные чувства, возвышенные страсти и исключительные страдания. Производить эффект – их наслаждение...“ gruSnickisTan aaxloebs romaSovs amgvari `efeqturi~ frazebi: „Его сердце было жестоко разбито...“ „Его красивое лицо было подернуто облаком скорби...“ romaSovi Tavis Tavze: _ „Его мысли были серы, как солдатское сукно“... ...peCorini _ gruSnickize (dacinviT): „...Под этой толстой серой шинелью билось сердце страстное и благородное...“ romaSovi Tavis Tavze _ „Его добрые, выразительные глаза подернулись облаком грусти...“ peCorini _ gruSnickize: „Выразительное лицо его и в самом деле изображало страдание...“ sityva gamigrZelda, magram Tu zemoTqmuls davumatebT imasac, rom `Cveni drois gmirSi~ siyvaruli da sikvdili xSirad ganuyrelia da asevea es `orTabrZolaSic~; Tu zemoTqmuls davumatebT peCorin-gruSnickisa da romaSovnikolaevis duelebis ueWvel paralelizmsac, cxadi gaxdeba kavSiri am or romans Soris. galaktionis Wabukur werilSi gamomJRavnebuli intuiciuri migneba rom ara, am ori rusuli romanis dakavSirebiT arasodes davinteresdebodi. literaturaTmcodneoba `zusti~ mecniereba ar aris, magram zusti komentireba xom aucilebelia!

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`me arasodes vyofilvar angelozi, magram yovelTvis vcdilobdi adamiani vyofiliyavi, ecade Senc!“ es aris Carli Caplinis saocari sityvebi, romelic man Tavis qaliSvils miwera da xSirad vaxseneb bavSvebs, icodnen, Tu gavleniani adamianebi gaxdebian, adamianad darCnen.

“I’ve never been an angel, but I’ve always tried to be a human being, please try too!” – these are Charlie Chaplin’s wonderful words, which he wrote to his daughter, and I often remind them to children, so they know that if they become influential people, they should remain human beings.

interviu pionerfilmis xelmZRvanelTan, grigol CigogiZesTan INTERVIEW WITH THE HEAD OF PIONEERFILM, GRIGOL CHIGOGIDZE yovelTvis mekiTxebian, ratom `pionerfilmi~? da Zalian advili gamosavali gvaqvs, `pioneri~ franguli sityvaa da niSnavs pirvels. rodesac pionerfilmi davaarseT, me maSin meeqvse klasSi viyavi, rasakvirvelia pionerebi viyaviT, zogi komkavSirelic iyo, pionerfilmSi iseTi xalxi aRizarda, romlebic mere sazogadoebisTvis kargi da gamosadegi adamianebi gaxdnen. es iyo zezva RuRuniSvili, jemal ninua _ SemdgomSi Jurnalisti, gazeTis redaqtori, Tamaz xuciSvili _ mxatvari, akademiis profesori, manana abramiSvili _ Tbilisis sapatio moqalaqe da rusudan fetviaSvilis deda, griSa malania _ Tbilisis mTavari arqiteqtori, kompozitori merab odiSaria, Tina yaliCava, meri cercvaZe, ai pirveli jgufi es iyo. rogorc ki

People always ask me – why “Pioneerfilm”? And there is a very simple explanation – Pioneer is a French word that means “first”. When we created Pioneerfilm, I was in the sixth grade. We were of course all pioneers, and some of us were also members of the Komsomol.

Several youngsters from Pioneerfilm grew up to become good and useful members of the society, such as Zezva Ghughunishvili, Jemal Ninua – who became a journalist and newspaper editor, Tamaz Khutsishvili – painter and academician, Manana Abramishvili – Tbilisi’s honorable citizen and Rusudan Petiashvili’s mother, Grisha Malania – Tbilisi’s main architect, composer Merab Odisharia, Tina Kalichava, Meri Tsertsvadze – this was the first group. As soon as our studio was founded, the Documentary Films Studio filmed a great report for the film-journal ‘Pioneer’.

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daarsda Cveni studia, dokumenturi filmebis studiam kargi siuJeti gadaiRo kino-Jurnal `pionerisTvis~. daaxloebiT 1955 welia, me davdiodi sasaxleSi norC kinomeqanikosTa wreze, romelsac xelmZRvanelobda Zalian kargi adamiani karlo koWlamaziSvili, TviTon istorikosi iyo, magram gvaswavlida filmis gaSvebas. warmoidgineT, ar gvqonda kinoaparati da diagramebze vswavlobdiT. is diagramebi axlac Senaxuli maqvs, Tumca araviTari kavSiri ar hqonda amas pionerfilmTan. erTxel davinaxe, derefanSi kino filmis yuTebi ewyo, davinteresdi, ixsneba kinostudiao. amas safuZveli Cauyara sasaxlis maSindelma direqtorma, saocrad Wkvianma, gamWriaxma da bavSvebis didma megobarma Salva berianiZem, romelmac moiwvia universitetidan axalgazrda Jurnalisti, gulbaaT abeliSvili, gulbaaTs universitetSi hqonda studia, sadac gadaiRes filmi `24 saaTi TbilisSi~ da `galaktioni~. mere me gavxdi Teatraluri institutis studenti (var Teatrmcodne), skolis damTavrebis Semdeg, daviwye saqarTvelos televiziaSi moambes korespondentad muSaoba. Zalian vawyobdi moambes, radgan myavda Cemi manqana, mqonda kamera, magnitofoni da iyo siuJetebi, mogzaurobebi, Sexvedrebi saintereso adamianebTan. sasaxleSi aparatiT viRebdiT 35 mm-ian firze, romliTac Turme gadaRebuli yofila siko doliZis `dariko~. aparati iyo Zalian didi, albaT 20 kilograms iwonida, plus Stativi 8 kilo da akumulatori. is mxolod zezva RuRuniSvils dahqonda, zezva iyo Cvenze didi, Cvenze mZime da Cvenze janiani. daiwyo Cveni pirveli filmis gadaReba. gadaviReT sergo zaqariaZe, mixeil mamulaSvili. filmi Zalian primitiuli iyo, TiTqos biWi dadis, modis sasaxleSi, ar icis sad, yvelgan sadac ki Seixedavs dainaxavs sxvadasxva saintereso raRaceebs da rasakvirvelia, gaxdeba sasaxleli. es filmi romelsac `Cven megobrebi varT~ davarqviT im periodSi raRacas

It was approximately 1955, and I was attending cinema classes at the Youth Palace. The group was led by Karlo Kochlamazishvili, a great human being – he was a historian, but he would teach us how to project films. Just imagine: we didn’t have cinema equipment, and we were learning from diagrams. I still keep these diagrams to this day, but this has nothing to do with Pioneerfilm.

I once saw some films lying in boxes in the corridor. I got interested and was told that a cinema studio was opening. The man who was heading the Youth Palace at the time, the utterly smart, sagacious Shalva Berianidze, a great friend of children, was behind this project.

He invited young journalist Gulbaat Abelishvili from the university.

The latter had a studio at the university, where they had filmed ’24 hours in Tbilisi’ as well as ‘Galaktioni’. Then I became a student of the Theater Institute (I am a theater specialist), and after graduating from it, I started working as a correspondent at the news broadcast on Georgian television. I was a good catch for the news broadcast, as I had my own car, my own camera, and a sound recorder – and could do reports, journeys, and encounters with interesting individuals.

At the Palace, we were using a camera with a 35-millimeter film, and it turned out that it was the same that was used to shoot Siko Dolidze’s ‘Dariko’. The camera was very large, it was about 20kg, without its eight-kg tripod and engine generator. Zezva Ghughunishvili was the only one who could move it around – he was taller, heavier, and in better shape than us. We started filming our first movie. We filmed Sergo Zakariadze, Mikheil Mamulashvili.

The film was very primitive – a boy is walking on the street, enters the Palace without knowing where he is; he sees interesting things everywhere he looks, and becomes a member in the end of the film. At that time, this film, which we called ‘We are friends’, meant something. By the way, in 1956, ‘Pioneerfilm’ started its activities on television two or three months before that. If not for television, we couldn’t have done anything. As soon as I came here, I said that 35-millimeter films were not for children. This is a very heavy and expensive equipment, so we started filming on 16-millimeter films. Do you know what this means? At the time, there were no laboratories to develop the films, and we were doing everything at home. We had to roll these 16-millimeter films into a basin, pour the appropriate chemicals, and fill it with cold water… But all that was nothing compared to the hanging and drying of the film – my grandmother would walk by and move the film a bit, which would result in my grandmother’s fingerprints appearing all over the screen. This is how we started. Later, Gulbaat left us and Tengiz Malania became our director, then someone else, and finally, I took this post. We started and never stopped. The first thing we did is to hold the film festival ‘Tbilisuri Aisi’ (‘Tbilisian Dawn’). Back then, there were no amateur children film festivals, and it was very well received. A bit later, we got a call from Moscow, and the journal ‘Pionerskaya Pravda’ wrote a large article about it. After some time, the soviet cinematographers’ union asked us if they could bring foreigners to the festival. Five busses arrived from Finland, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and even Argentina. The minister of

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niSnavda. sxvaTa Soris, 1956 wels, televiziaze ori-sami TviT adre daiwyo `pionerfilmma~ moRvaweoba, televizia rom ar yofiliyo, Cven verafers gavakeTebdiT. rogorc ki movedi me aq, maSinve vTqvi, rom 35 mm-iani firi ar aris bavSvebis saqme. es aris Zalian mZime da Zviriani teqnika, daviwyeT 16 mm-firze gadaReba. iciT es ras niSnavs? maSin ar iyo laboratoria, sadac unda gagvemJRavnebina firi, saxlSi vamJRavnebdiT, `baCokebSi~ unda Cagexvia es 16 mm-iani firi, unda Cagesxa Sesabamisi wamlebi, civi wyali, magram eg araferi, firis gakideba da gaSroba iyo mTeli ambavi, bebiaCemi gaivlida, mokidebda xels gadawevda da ekranze gamodioda sul bebias an dedas TiTebi. ai ase daviwyeT, mere gulbaaTma dagvtova da Tengiz malania gaxda xelmZRvaneli, mere sxva da mere me movedi aq. daviwyeT da daviwyeT. pirveli rac gavakeTeT, 1979 wels CavatareT kinofestivali „Tbilisuri aisi“. im periodSi saqarTveloSi bavSvebis samoyvarulo filmebis festivali ar tardeboda da Zalian kargi gamoZaxili hqonda. cota xnis mere darekes moskovidan da gazeTma “Пионерская правда”-m dawera didi statia. gavida cota xani da sakavSiro kinematografistTa kavSiridan

the time was Mrs. Natela Vasadze. They emptied the shared sleeping rooms of the Komarov school and we brought our soviet guests there. As for the foreigners, they let them sleep at the Iveria hotel.

Our first film was named ‘The Can’ and was filmed by Giorgi ‘Gogi’ Aleksishvili. He was a small boy when he brought the script: a boy and a girl are sitting on a bench in a park. A tin can rolls near them and will be their connection point.

A children’s film festival was held in Moscow afterwards, where we sent ‘The Can’. After two months, we got a letter asking for the author and director to come to Moscow. We arrived at the closing ceremony of the festival, where they announced: “Third prize – ‘Love’, second prize – ‘Cherkess’, first prize – ‘City of Leningrad’, and the grand prize of the festival is awarded to ‘Can’. Something happened to me, I couldn’t say that I cried, but it was a very strong emotion. We went on the stage, received the award, and were interviewed by the Soviet news agency ‘Vremya’. All this was very unexpected and brought us a lot of joy. We returned to Tbilisi with much pride. Do you know what made this film with the grand prize? It didn’t contain lyricism, but was full of childish emotions, while the other films presented at the festival were mainly in the ranks of ‘My summer camp’, ‘My school’ – and this brought us great success. A week later, we received an invitation

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_ `Можна иностранцев привидём~-o. xuTi avtobusiT fineTidan, Cexoslovakiidan, gdr-idan da, warmoidgineT, argentinidanac ki Camovidnen. maSin ministri iyo qalbatoni naTela vasaZe. dacales komarovis skolis saerTo sacxovrebeli da iq miviyvaneT sabWoTa stumrebi. ucxoelebi ki `iveriaSi~ daabinaves. Cvens pirvel films erqva `qila”, am filmis avtori iyo giorgi aleqsiSvili, gogi, patara biWi iyo, moitana es scenari: biWi da gogo sxedan baRSi, merxze. Semogordeba erTi konservis qila da es qila gaxdeba maTi damakavSirebeli.

Cvens mere moskovma Caatara sabavSvo festivali da gavagzavneT `qila~. gavida erTi Tve, ori Tve da mere mogvivida Setyobineba, avtori da xelmZRvaneli CamodiTo, CavediT, festivalis daxurvaa da acxadeben: _ третий приз „любовь“, второй приз „черкез“ Tu raRac, первый приз „город Ленинград“, Главный приз фестиваля присуждается фильму „банка“ da raRaca momivida ici, ver getyvi rom vitire, magram yovel SemTxvevaSi Zalian didi gancda gvqonda.

from Czechoslovakia, where I traveled as a jury member. Then we got invited everywhere.

We never made propaganda films. We once filmed a movie about cowboys. Imagine: we brought 20 children to the Pioneer camp in Tskhvarichamia, and I was telling them the whole day to think that they were on horses and to pretend that they were fighting each other. Then they had to go to sleep and behave normally. I almost went crazy. We sent this movie to Moscow too. In Tbilisi, they were telling me that I couldn’t present this movie there, that they were fighting and shooting each other. We sent it to Moscow anyway, they sent it abroad, and it got awarded a prize too. We also shoot another film: a boy dreams of becoming a pioneer for the whole night. The next day, they receive him with great pomp among pioneers. He comes outside, where a woman is selling chewing gums. At the time, this was very rare. The boy didn’t have any money, so he exchanged his scarf for a chewing gum. Then the camera turns to his friends.

They are all coming in white shirts, and none of them is wearing a scarf. Here, they scolded me for this, saying that children shouldn’t be

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avediT, aviReT filmis prizi, sakavSiro sainformacio `vremiaSi~ interviu aiRes Cvengan. Zalian sazeimod da moulodnelad moxda es yvelaferi, ramac Zalian gagvaxara. CamovediT TbilisSi amayebi. ram gamoiwvia am filmisadmi interesi da ratom aiRo pirveli prizi? imitom, rom aq iyo lirika, aq iyo sxvanairi bavSvobis grZnoba, arada im dros, festivalze warmodgenili iyo ZiriTadSi filmebi „мой лагер“, „моя школа“, aman Zalian didi rezonansi gamoiwvia. erT kviraSi movida mowveva Cexoslovakiidan da wavedi ukve rogorc Jiuris wevri. amis Semdeg ukve yvelgan gviwvevdnen. arasdros gvqonia Cven propagandistuli filmebi, erTxel gadaviReT kovboebze filmi “Capanebis beladi da misi megobrebi~, warmoidgineT, oci bavSvi waviyvaneT cxvariWamiis pionerTa banakSi da mTeli dRe veubnebodi, viTom cxenebze xarT, viTom erTmaneTs urtyamTTqo. amis mere mkvdar saaTze unda daeZinaT, Wkvianad yofiliyvnen. kinaRam gamagiJes. es filmic gavuSviT moskovSi. TbilisSi meubnebodnen ara, rogor SeiZleba amis gaSvebao, erTmaneTs xocaveno, Tofebs esvriano. mainc gavuSviT es filmi moskovSi, moskovma gauSva ucxoeTSi da iqac priziT aRiniSna. gadaviReT aseTi filmic: biWi mTeli Rame ocnebobs pionerobaze. meore dRes sazeimod miiReben pionerTa rigebSi _ auxdeba ocneba. gamodis gareT, boSa qali yidis saReWs. es maSin Zalian iSviaTi iyo, biWs fuli ar hqonda da yelsaxvevSi gaucvlis, mere kadri gadadis mis megobrebze, yvelani modian TeTri perangebiT, arc erTs yelsaxvevi ar ukeTia. aq miTxres, ras laparakob, bavSvma eg rogor unda gaakeToso. moskovSi rom Cavida, miiRes, „Смотри, какие пионеры бывают“, xedav rogori pionerebi arian, romlebic yelsaxvevs cvlian kevSio. daZraxes, aseT bavSvebs unda vebrZoloTo. Cven kino kameriT dagvajildoves. bavSvebi modian da midian, Zalian uyvarT `pionerfilmi“. imdeni kargi bavSvia gazrdili aq, romlebmac mere gaagrZeles kinoSi, magaliTad, SemiZlia vTqva, rom ori kulturis ministri iyo pionerfilmeli. deputatebic da Zalian bevri reJisoria. televiziaSi bevri muSaobs wamyvanad, redaqtorad, reJisorad. yoveli wlis bolos virCevT studiis prezidents. xSirad meubnebian, rom bavSvebis saqme ar aris politika. rasakvirvelia ar aris. ai, magaliTad, 2008 wlis omi gavakeTeT animaciaSi: zeimia afxazeTSi da cekvaven simindebi afxazur cekvas. osebi cekvaven lobioebiT, qarTvelebi yurZnebiT da am dros bombebi cviva, ingreva yvelaferi da Semodian aryis boTlebi warweriT `Русский размер~. ismis simRera „eto den pobedi“ bolos rCeba warwera `odesme didi yofila saqarTvelo~. rac Seexeba, Cvens sazogadoebriv saqmianobas. yovel weliwads davdivarT saqarTvelos sxvadasxva qalaqSi.

doing that. When the film arrived in Moscow, they accepted it – “Look at these pioneers, they exchange their scarves for a chewing-gum”.

Some said that such children should be reprimanded. But others awarded us with a camera.

Children come and go, they love Pioneerfilm. Many good kids have grown up here, some of them continuing their careers in cinema. Two ministers of culture were even Pioneerfilm members.

Members of Parliament too, as well as many film directors. Many work as TV broadcasters, editors, and directors. At the end of each year, we choose the studio’s president. They often tell me that children shouldn’t have anything to do with politics. Of course they don’t.

For instance, we made an animation out of the 2008 war: there is a celebration in Abkhazia, and corncobs are dancing an Abkhazian dance. Ossetians are dancing with beans, Georgians with grapes, and at that moment, bombs start falling from the sky, everything is destroyed, and enter vodka bottles with the inscription “Russki Razmer” (a vodka brand). We hear the song “Victory Day”, and the inscription “Georgia was once great” ends the film.

For our social activities, we visit a different city in Georgia each year. We’ve been in Kharagauli, Terjola, Shuakhevi, and many other regions. We befriend local children and shoot films together. This is a very good process. We go there with our own means, and organize a grandiose closing ceremony in the end. I mentioned Shuakhevi – we were there 40 years ago. The Tcharalidze family had sent me a script – “We are eight children in the family, eight girls, please make a film about us”. Until we arrived, their little brother was born, and guess what we called the film? ‘David the IXth”. Years passed, and two years ago, we visited all nine families. We were astonished, as some had four children, some had three… And we made an interesting film out of it. I don’t know if it’s interesting or not, but the fact that we did it is good in itself. At the end of the festival, we brought them all on

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viyaviT, xaragaulSi, TerjolaSi, Suaxevsa da bevr raionSi. iqaur bavSvebTan vmegobrobT da erTad viRebT filmebs. es Zalian kargi meTodia. Cveni saxsrebiT mivdivarT da bolos vakeTebT grandiozul daxurvas.

Suaxevi vaxsene da 40 wlis winaT viyaviT SuaxevSi. gamomigzavnes scenari WaRaliZeebis ojaxidan, ojaxSi varT 8 bavSvi, 8 gogona da gadaiReT Cvenze filmio. sanam Cven CavediT, maT Zma SeeZinaT da ra davarqviT films? `daviT mecxre~. gavida wlebi da SarSanwin am cxrave ojaxs CamovuareT. gadaviReT, zogs oTxi Svili hyavs, zogs sami da gavakeTeT saintereso filmi. ar vici sainteresoa Tu ara, faqtia kargi. festivalis daxurvaze, yvela scenaze aviyvaneT, msoflio kinomoyvarulTa federacia `unikas“ prezidentma devi vatersonma gaocebulma miTxra, es ra xdebao, egeTi rame ver warmomidgeniao. scenaze 9 da-Zma ojaxebiT, sul 70 wevri idga. kidev is, rom amerikaSi waviyvane bavSvebi eqvsjer. rodesac 9 aprilis ambebi moxda, Cven maSinac amerikaSi viyaviT. aRmoCnda, rom sasaxlis ori bavSvi daiRupa 9 aprilis dros. CamovediT Tu ara, gavakeTeT filmi `bolo zari~ da wavediT poloneTSi yovelwliur saerTaSoriso festivalze, romelic eZRvneboda bavSvTa saerTaSoriso dRes. mivdivarT, moskovidan da grodnoSi, sadac didi

stage, and Dave Waterson, the president of the World Amateur Film Federation ‘UNICA’, told me in awe – “What’s happening? I have never seen anything like this”. All nine siblings were on the stage, for a total of 70 individuals.

I have also traveled with Pioneerfilm children to America six times.

When the events of the April 9 took place, we were in the United States. Two children from the Youth Palace perished during the tragedy. As soon as we arrived in Tbilisi, we shot the film ‘The Last Bell’ and flew to Poland for a yearly international festival dedicated to the International Children’s Day. On our way from Moscow, in Grodno, where there is a large checkpoint, they stopped us and asked – “What are you taking there?”. We proudly answered that we were taking a film to a festival. “And do you have a permit for that?” – they asked. They told us to show it to them, and I presented them the permit that was given to us by the Youth Palace and the Georgian Film Union. They said that it wasn’t enough, and that we needed a permit from Moscow. We couldn’t have had such a permit.

Then, they said, we should either all stay or go without the film.

I thought that leaving the film would be better than leaving 15 children in Grodno. The border guard went out and brought some kind of bag for us to put the film in it, and told me that he would go out to bring some documents. We took a large round cornbread that we were planning to eat on our journey, put it in the bag, and

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sasazRvro gamSvebi punqtia, gagvaCeres da gvekiTxebian `а что вы визёте?~, Cven siamayiT vuTxariT, filmi migvaqvs, mivdivarT festivalzeTqo. „а разришение есть?, rasakvirvelia gvaqvsTqo, aba, manaxeTo da warvadgineT sasaxlisa da saqarTvelos kino kavSiris nebarTva. es ar yofniso. unda gqondeT moskovidano. aba sad gveqneboda moskovidan. maSin, an yvela CamodiT da filmic daitoveT, an wadiT filmis gareSeo. vifiqreT, 15 bavSvis datovebas grodnoSi, firs davtovebTTqo. gavida es mesazRvre oficeri da Semoitana raRac tomara da miTxra, me axla gaval da dokumentebs movitano. aviReT sagzlad gamotanebuli kai didi mWadi, CavagdeT am tomaraSi da Tavi movukariT TokiT. „о, малацы, ребята, малацы“-o gviTxra mesazRvrem da es tomara daluqa, Cvenc xeli mogvawerina aqtze da waiRo. vsxedvarT da vkankalebT, vaiTu mWadis sunma gagvces, magram daiZra matarebeli da wavediT. bavSvebi iyvnen cxvirCamoSvebulebi, maS risTvis mivdivarT griSa maswo, poloneTis sasazRvro zoli rom gadaviareT mere vuTxari yvelaferi da unda genaxaT ra Jriamuli da sixaruli iyo. ai, aseTi patara, magram Zalian saintereso kuriozi gadagvxvda Tavs. sabWoTa kavSirSi oTxi aTasamde kinomoyvarulTa studia iyo da marto Cven miviReT sakavSiro komkavSiris

fastened the latter with a rope. “Well done, people, well done” – the border guard told us; he put a seal on the bag, made us sign a document, and took the bag and document away. We were shaking, hoping that they wouldn’t smell the cornbread, but the train departed. The children were sad, they asked me why we were going to the festival if we couldn’t show the film there. I waited for us to pass the Polish border, and then explained them everything – you should have seen how happy they were.

There were up to 4000 amateur film studios in the Soviet Union, and we were the only studio to get the Soviet Komsomol award.

Perhaps it isn’t so prestigious now, but at the time, very few had this recognition in Georgia – Nino Ananiashvili, Jansugh Charkviani, Nodar Dumbadze, Mikheil Tumanishvili, Eldar Shengelaia, and a few others.

So it was a very distinguished award to have. Jansugh Charkviani even wrote us: “What’s better than being with you, Pioneerfilm, cheers to you!”.

In 1912, Vasil Amashukeli shot the film ‘Akaki’s journey in RachaLechkhumi’. A hundred years later, in 2012, on a Saturday, we met at exactly 8:00 in the ‘Metropolitan’ hotel, precisely when and where Akaki started his journey. We followed his tracks. We visited the Ishkhneli Sisters’ monument, and played songs with lyrics taken from Akaki’s poems. We traveled a lot, but this particular trip was especially memorable.

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premia. albaT, komkavSiruli dRes sasaciloa, magram maSin, saqarTveloSi cotas hqonda, nino ananiaSvils, jansuR Carkvians, nodar dumbaZes, mixeil TumaniSvils, eldar Sengelaias da kidev ramdenimes. ase, rom Zalian, Zalian didi da prestiJuli premia gaxldaT. ai, jansuR Carkvianis minaweric: `TqvenTan yofnas ra sjobs, pionerfilms gaumarjos~.

1912 wels vasil amaSukelma gadaiRo filmi `akakis mogzauroba raWa-leCxumSi~ Cvenc, asi wlis Semdeg, 2012 wels, zustad SabaT dRes, zustad 8 saaTze SevikribeT sastumro `metropolitenSi~, im adgilze, saidanac aiRo akakim gezi. Cvenc viareT akakis nakvalevze. debi iSxnelebis ZeglTan mivediT da akakis leqsebze dawerili simRerebi CavrTeT. bevri mogzauroba gvqonia, magram es Zalian dagvamaxsovrda yvelas.

Carli Caplinis 90 wlis iubileze gadavwyvite mogvewyo grandiozuli zeimi. Cem Zmas, moqandake givi mizandars vTxove, gaekeTebina Caplinis qandakeba. didi siyvaruliT da foierverkiT CavatareT qandakebis gaxsna, imis mere, roca sapatio stumrebi Camodian, yovelTvis vxsniT xolme am Zegls. bolos Camosuli iyo samxreT afrikis delegaciis xelmZRvaneli, gvarad Caplini. aba am variants xelidan gavuSvebdi? da gavaxsnevine es Zegli. Caplinis Svils jeraldinas mivwere, gvaqvs aseTi qandakebaTqo da Zalian gauxarda. xom iciT, werili rom miwera Caplinma jeraldinas? `me angelozi arasodes vyofilvar, magram yovelTvis vcdilobdi adamiani vyofiliyavi, ecade Senc!“ es aris saocari sityvebi da xSirad vaxseneb bavSvebs, icodnen, Tu gavleniani adamianebi gaxdebian, adamianad darCnen. unda uyvardeT Tavisi qveyana, unda uyvardes Tavisi saqme da mSoblebi. me yovelTvis ase veubnebi saxlSi rom mixval, mamas mokiTxva, dedas akoce. yovelTvis ician bavSvebma `mamas mokiTxva, dedas akoce~. mSoblebTan kargi urTierToba gvaqvs, gvexmarebian. aseve minda aRvniSno sasaxlis direqciis mxardaWera, Zalian gvexmarebian. ar arsebobs, rom rameze uari gviTxran.

I decided to organize a glorious celebration for Charlie Chaplin’s 90th birthday. I asked my brother, Givi Mizandari, to prepare a statue of Chaplin. We uncovered the statue with much warmth and fireworks.

After that, each time honorable guests visit us, we uncover this statue again. Recently, the head of the South African delegation came as a guest, and his last name was Chaplin. I couldn’t have neglected this opportunity! I made him uncover the statue. I wrote to Chaplin’s daughter Geraldine and told her that we had such a statue, and she was very happy about it. Did you know that Chaplin once wrote such a letter to his daughter: “I’ve never been an angel, but I’ve always tried to be a human being, please try too!”. These are wonderful words, and I often remind them to children, so they know that if they become influential people, they should remain human beings. They have to love their country, their work, and their parents. I always tell them to say hello to their father, and to give their mother a kiss when they go home. The children know it by heart – “Hello to daddy, a kiss to mummy”. We have very good relations with parents, they help us a lot. I would also like to mention the unwavering support we receive from the administration of the Youth Palace. They have never refused

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pionerfilmis erT-erTi didi miRwevaa sasaxlis ambavi. 2005 wels sasaxles garkveuli problemebi Seeqmna. undodaT, rom Cven gadaveyvaneT sxva SenobaSi. rasakvirvelia, es arafriT ar ivargebda, imitom, rom sasaxles sami didi rame aqvs: misi bavSvebi, maswavleblebi da Senoba. Tu Senobas gamovicvlidiT, Zalian bevri daakldeboda. yvelani SvebulebaSi viyaviT, rodesac Cvenma direqtorma gia SalamberiZem dagvireka da gviTxra, CamodiT seriozuli saqmeao. me maSinve gadavureke televiziebs, yvela televiziaSi Cveni bavSvebi arian da Tamriko RvinianiZe movida Tavisi mikrofoniT da Caiwera pirveli interviu. patara biWi iyo, meeqvse klasSi, giorgi muxaZe, romelmac aseTi ram Tqva, me Tu sasaxles wamarTmeven, gavizrdebi da am mTavrobas movTxovo, cremlebi wamouvida da ai aman gamoiwvia didi ambavi. meore dResve daiwyo mitingebi. maxsovs neli WankvetaZem Tqva, nuTu Rirs rame am bavSvis cremlad, rom aseTi rame moxdeso? da sasaxle gadaarCina sazogadoebam. mTeli Tbilisi maSin, Tu gaxsovT, CvenTan iyo.

2009 wlis 1 ivniss sasaxlis win gaixsna varskvlavi, romelsac didi asoebiT aweria „pionerfilmi“. es aris pirveli varskvlavi, romelic sabavSvo koleqtivma miiRo.

to lend us a helping hand.

One of the greatest achievements of Pioneerfilm is related to the Youth Palace. In 2005, the palace was experiencing problems. They wanted to move us to another building. Of course, this would have been a disaster, as the palace has three great assets: its children, teachers, and building. If we were to change buildings, both us and the palace would have lost a lot. We were all on holiday when our director, Gia Shalamberidze, called us and told us to come to the palace, saying that he wanted to discuss something serious. I called TV stations right away, as Pioneerfilm children were working in each TV station, and Tamriko Ghvinianidze arrived with her microphone and recorded the first interview. There was a small boy from the sixth grade, Giorgi Mukhadze, who said – “If they take the palace away from me, I will grow up and demand justice from this government”.

His eyes were full of tears, and this led to a lot of emotions from the public. The next day, there were protests. I remember that Neli Chankvetadze said – “Is it worth making a child cry like that?”. And society saved the palace. If you remember, the whole city was with us at that moment.

On the 1st of June 2009, a star was introduced before the palace, reading, in large letters, ‘Pioneerfilm’. This is the first ever star received by a collective of children.

esaubra levan mizandari

Interview by Levan Mizandari

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anano mirianaSvili

Tbiliseli mavri egvipteSi, anu... „otelos~ warmateba kairos eqsperimentuli Teatrebis 30-e saerTaSoriso festivalze

ANANO MIRIANASHVILI

TBILISIAN MOOR IN EGYPT OR ‘OTHELLO’S’ SUCCESS AT THE 30TH CAIRO INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL FOR EXPERIMENTAL THEATRE

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T

bilisis mozard mayurebelTa Teatri kairos saerTaSoriso festivalze wels pirvelad warsdga, Tumca es ar iyo qarTuli Teatris pirveli gasvla egvipteSi, sxvadasxva dros swored am festivalSi monawileobdnen: axmetelis Teatri speqtakliT „labirinTi“ (reJisori al. qanTaria), TiTebis Teatri beso kupreiSvilis xelmZRvanelobiT, avTo varsimaSvili, Temur CxeiZe marjaniSvilis Teatris speqtakliT „sasiyvarulo baraTebi“. aseTi saxelovani winamorbedebis Semdeg, mozard mayurebelTa TeatrisaTvis, cxadia, ormagad ufro sapasuxismgeblo iyo kairoSi warmodgenebis gamarTva. kairos eqsperimentuli Teatrebis saerTaSoriso festivali 1988 wels dafuZnda, kulturis imJamindeli ministris, faruk hosnis iniciativiT, romelsac undoda, rom egviptes msoflios Teatralur rukaze Tavisi adgili daekavebina. festivali egviptis dedaqalaqSi TiTqmis yovelwliurad imarTeba; iyo 5 wliani pauza 2011 wlis ianvris revoluciis Semdeg da xanmokle Seferxeba kovid-19-is pandemiis gamo. wels gansakuTrebuli pompezurobiT aRiniSneboda festivalis 30-e saiubileo weli.

T

his year, Tbilisi’s State Youth Theatre took part in the Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre for the first time, though this wasn’t the first occurrence of Georgian theatre in Egypt: at various moments, the Akhmeteli Theatre with the play ‘Labyrinth’ (director A. Kantaria), the Fingers Theatre under the supervision of Beso Kupreishvili, Avto Varsimashvili, and Temur Chkheidze with the Marjanishvili Theatre’s play ‘Love Letters’, have participated precisely in this festival.

After such renowned predecessors, it goes without saying that the Youth Theatre bore twice as much responsibility when performing in Cairo.

The Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre was founded in 1988 on the initiative of Farouk Hosny, the Minister of Culture of the time, who wanted Egypt to make itself known on the world theatre scene. The festival takes place almost yearly in the Egyptian capital; there was a five-year pause after the 2011 January revolution, and a shorter one because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This year, the 30th edition of the festival was celebrated with great pomp.

Up to 22 million people live in Cairo and its surroundings, and accordingly, everything is done on a larger scale here: houses and hotels, theatres and museums, freeways and the unimaginable amount of motion in the streets – both in terms of pedestrians and

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uSualod kairoSi da mis mimdebared 22 milionamde adamiani cxovrobs, Sesabamisad, aq yvelaferi did masStabebSia warmodgenili: saxlebi da sastumroebi, Teatraluri nagebobebi da muzeumebi, gzatkecilebi da warmoudgeneli moZraoba quCebSi _ fexiT Tu transportiT (Tbilisuri sagzao sacobebi kairoSi namdvilad sasacilod mogeCvenebaT), sacxovrebeli ubnebi _ didia zRvari ukidures siRaribesa da simdidres Soris... aseve didia interesi da siyvaruli Teatraluri xelovnebis da sxva qveynebis kulturis mimarT. amas adasturebs wlevandeli festivalis sakonkurso programac da miwveuli qveynebis CamonaTvali: alJiri, saqarTvelo, siria, germania, safrangeTi, somxeTi, italia, saberZneTi, erayi, tunisi, palestina, kongo, litva, bahreini da sxva.

vehicles (Tbilisi’s traffic jams are laughable compared to Cairo’s), residential neighborhoods – there is a great gap between utter poverty and wealth… Also great is the interest in and love for theatre art and other countries’ cultures. The list of countries invited to the competition program of this year’s festival can attest to this: Algeria, Georgia, Syria, Germany, France, Armenia, Italy, Greece, Iraq, Tunisia, Palestine, Congo, Lithuania, Bahrein, and others.

The Youth Theatre took part in the Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre’s competition program with William Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy ‘Othello’. The directors of the play are Gia Marghania and Dimitri Khvthisiashvili, who assembled the adapted version of the play – a one-hour performance blending puppets and actors in one act. ‘Othello’s’ premiere in Tbilisi took place in October 2022 and was dedicated to Kote Marjanishvili’s 150th and Petre Otskheli’s 115th birthdays. Both the puppets and set

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mozard mayurebelTa Teatri kairos saerTaSoriso Teatraluri festivalis sakonkurso programaSi uiliam Seqspiris ukvdavi tragediiT, „oteloTi“ monawileobda. speqtaklis damdgmeli reJisorebi gia marRania da dimitri xvTisiaSvili arian, maTve ekuTvniT piesis adaptirebuli versiac _ Tojinuri da cocxali planis sinTezSi gadawyvetili warmodgena erT moqmedebad TamaSdeba

were designed according to Petre Otskheli’s sketches created by the painter almost a century ago for Kote Marjanishvili’s ‘Othello’.

The Cairo State Puppet Theatre traditionally plays the national hymn before each play, but before ‘Othello’, the festival’s spectators listened to the Georgian hymn after the Egyptian one. This unexpected occurrence seemed to have provided the Georgian troupe with remarkable vivacity, and the first performance was a great success, although that of the next day, on the 7th of September, turned out even more important, as international jury members were in attendance. At the end of the play, the troupe received a thundering ovation from the crowded hall; as for the Puppet Theatre administration, through Dr. Osama Mohamed Ali, it awarded the play’s directors with a certificate of appreciation. The next day, several reports were written on social media platforms: “Apart from the fact that every actor remarkably plays his or her role, they show the audience what emotions can be achieved on stage through the use of puppets or objects. It is precisely the emotion of these “miniature” actors that is utterly contagious. They sharply underline the metaphorical foundations of Shakespeare’s play. Performed with puppets, ‘Othello’ sheds new light on the dramatic characters of the play and its fateful theme… Despite the language barrier, theatre still has the power to greatly impact the audience. This was an enchanting surprise.

The puppet itself was an actor! The ‘Othello’ presented by the Georgian theatre troupe was breathtaking, creative, bold, and staged with a clever vision.” – Egyptian dramaturge Isra Mahboobi “Every actor and every item of this play is in its right place, and the lion’s share in this achievement goes to the directors, who built the

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(xangrZlivoba 60 wuTi). „otelos~ Tbilisuri premiera 2022 wlis oqtomberSi Sedga, speqtakli mieZRvna kote marjaniSvilis 150-e da petre ocxelis 115-e wlisTavs.

Tojinebica da dekoraciac petre ocxelis eskizebis mixedviT aris damzadebuli, romelic mxatvarma kote marjaniSvilis „otelosTvis“ TiTqmis erTi saukunis win Seqmna. kairos Tojinebis saxelmwifo Teatrs tradiciad hqonia yoveli speqtaklis win qveynis himnis CarTva, TbiliselTa warmodgenamde ki festivalis mayurebelma, egviptis himnis Semdeg, saqarTvelos himnic moismina. am moulodnelma epizodma TiTqos kidev raRac gansakuTrebuli muxti misca qarTul dass da pirvelma speqtaklma didi warmatebiT Caiara, Tumca kidev ufro mniSvnelovani aRmoCnda meore dRes, 7 seqtembers gamarTuli warmodgena, romelsac saerTaSoriso Jiuris wevrebic eswrebodnen. speqtaklis bolos, gadaWedil darbazSi ar wydeboda ovacia, Tojinebis Teatris xelmZRvanelobam ki, doqtor osama mohamed alis xelmZRvanelobiT, speqtaklis reJisorebi daajildova da sapatio sigeli gadasca. meore dResve socialur qselSi daiwera araerTi gamoxmaureba: „...yvela msaxiobi STambeWdavad asrulebs Tavis rols, garda amisa, mayurebels warmoudgenen, Tu ra emociurobis

miRweva SeiZleba scenaze Tojinebisa Tu sagnebis gamoyenebiT. swored am `miniatiuruli~ msaxiobebis emociaa uzomod gadamdebi. isini kidev ufro mkafiod warmoaCenen Seqspiris piesis metaforul safuZvlebs.

TojinebiT Seqmnili `otelo~ axal Suqs hfens am piesis dramatul personaJebsa da sabediswero siuJets...

Teatrs jer kidev Seswevs Zala, enobrivi barieris miuxedavad, didi STabeWdileba moaxdinos mayurebelze. es iyo zRapruli siurprizi, Tojinebi da msaxiobebi harmoniulad erwymodnen erTmaneTs. Tavad Tojina iyo msaxiobi! qarTvelebis mier warmodgenili „otelo“ gasaocari, SemoqmedebiTi, Zalzed Tamami da Wkvianuri xedviT dadgmuli speqtaklia~ _ egvipteli dramaturgi isra mahbubi. „am speqtaklSi yvela da yvelaferi Tavis adgilzea da es, pirvel rigSi, reJisorebis damsaxurebaa, romlebic tragediis siuJets adamianur sisusteze, Ralatze da mis Sedegebze ageben da xelovnebis moyvarul mayurebels am yvelaferze daafiqreben. STambeWdavia TojinaTa forma, garegnoba da samosi; msaxiobebi maT ise ostaturad acocxleben, ise gamoxataven emocias, rom verc ki grZnob gansxvavebas cocxal adamianebsa da usulo Tojinebs Soris; cocxali planisa da Tojinas cvlileba xdeba

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rbili, TiTqmis SeumCneveli gadasvliT, mxatvrul saxeebSi ki mayurebeli Rrma, filosofiur metaforebs amoikiTxavs. am SesaniSnav warmodgenaze saubari usasrulod SeiZleba. qarTulma dasma Tavisi speqtakliT festivalis mayurebels saocari siamovneba mianiWa da aCuqa dauviwyari sanaxaoba, romelic Cvens mexsierebaSi samudamod CaibeWdeba da yovelTvis gvemaxsovreba. didi madloba mTels gunds. Tqven xarT saukeTeso magaliTi imisa, Tu rogor unda giyvardes Teatri da erTgulad emsaxurebode mas _ xelovnebis mamas!“ msaxiobi da kritikosi somaira slemi. festivalis Jiuris gadawyvetilebiT, mozard mayurebelTa Teatris „otelo“ sam nominaciaSi, saukeTeso sameulSi gavida: saukeTeso mxatvroba, saukeTeso reJisura da granpri, rac TavisTavad ukve didi gamarjvebaa mTeli dasisTvis, xolo gia marRaniam da dimitri xvTisiaSvilma aiRes festivalis prizi saukeTeso reJisurisTvis!

tragedy’s argument around human weakness, unfaithfulness, and its outcome, and made the art-loving audience think about these subjects. The shapes, appearance, and costumes of the puppets are stunning; actors instill life into them with such mastery that one cannot even distinguish between actual individuals and soulless puppets; the transition between scenes played by actual actors and puppets happens smoothly, almost indistinctively; and the audience can read deep, philosophical metaphors in both kinds of faces. One could talk endlessly about this wonderful performance. The Georgian troupe provided the festival’s audience with utter pleasure and presented them with an unforgettable spectacle that will be engraved in our memories forever. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the whole team. You are the best example of how one should love and serve theatre – the lord of the arts!” – actress and critic Somaira Sleem The festival’s jury nominated the Youth Theatre’s ‘Othello’ among the three best plays in three categories: best set decoration, best direction, and the grand prix, which is naturally a great achievement in itself for the whole troupe. As for Gia Marghania and Dimitri Khvthisiashvili, they won the festival’s prize for best direction!

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THEA MUKERIA

Tea muqeria

„saqarTvelos sinfonietas“ msoflio premiera da unikaluri kompaqtdiski

THE GEORGIAN SINFONIETTA’S WORLD PREMIERE AND EXCEPTIONAL CD On September 20, the Georgian State Chamber Orchestra ‘Georgian

Tbilisis saxelmwifo kamerulma orkestrma _ „saqarTvelos sinfonieta“, 20 seqtembers, Tbilisis

Sinfonietta’ held a true celebration of Italian baroque music in the

saxelmwifo konservatoriis did darbazSi italiuri

Tbilisi State Conservatoire’s main hall. Together with the Georgian

barokos musikis namdvili dResaswauli moawyo.

Sinfonietta, Italian and Polish celebrities were taking part in the

„saqarTvelos sinfonietasTan“ erTad, koncertSi

concert: Sergio Azzolini (bassoon, Italy), Francesco Galligioni (cello,

italieli da poloneli varskvlavebi monawileobdnen:

Italy), Diego Cantalupi (archlute, Italy), and Alina Ratkovska (clavecin/

serjo acolini (fagoti, italia), franCesko galijoni

organ, Poland).

The concert was important for both amateurs of baroque music

(Celo, italia), diego kantalupi (arqluTna, italia) da alina ratkovska (klavesini / organi, poloneTi). koncerti erTnairad mniSvnelovani iyo rogorc

and professional musicians and musicologists. The evening saw the world premiere of two concerts for bassoon by Benedetto Marcello

barokos musikis moyvarulebisTvis, aseve profesionali

discovered by Italian bassoonist and world-famous performer Sergio

musikosebisa da musikologebisaTvis. am saRamos Sedga

Azzolini.

“Musicologist Václav Kapsa notified me that he had found two

msoflio premiera benedeto marCelos fagotis ori

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koncertisa, romelic italielma fagotistma, msoflioSi

unsigned manuscript scores for bassoon at the Prague library. He told

aRiarebulma varskvlavma serjo acolinim aRmoaCina.

me to come and see them, and that they might turn out interesting.

„musikologma vaclav kapsam Sematyobina, rom praRis

We bassoonists aren’t spoiled with concerts, so naturally, I got very

biblioTekaSi naxa fagotis ori nawarmoebis xelnaweri,

interested and visited Prague to see the manuscripts. There was

romelsac avtori ar ewera. Camodi da naxe, iqneb

no author’s name to be found indeed, but despite the fact that I

saintereso iyoso. fagotistebi ar varT koncertebiT

noticed some influence from German music, one could feel from the

ganebivrebuli, ra Tqma unda davinteresdi da praRaSi

style that the author had to be Italian; I started a thorough research

Cavedi xelnawerebis sanaxavad. kompozitoris gvari

process to determine who the composer was. And a few months ago,

marTlac ar ewera, Tumca miuxedavad imisa, rom germanuli

my friend and cellist Francesco Galligioni told me to visit the Venice

musikis gavlenac SevamCnie, musikaluri stiliT Tavidanve

Library, where he had found the unfinished manuscript score of a

Canda, rom avtori namdvilad italieli unda yofiliyo da

sonata for cello by Benedetto Marcello. I visited the national library

kompozitoris dasazusteblad Zirfesviani kvleva daviwye.

of Venice (Biblioteca Marciana), saw this manuscript, and although

ramdenime Tvis win ki, Cemma megobarma, Celistma franCesko

it was incomplete, the front page contained the following words:

galijonim miTxra wavsuliyavi veneciis biblioTekaSi,

“Benedetto Marcello, representative of the renowned Venetian family”

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sadac man benedeto marCelos Celos daumTavrebeli

– from which one can obviously deduce that this sonata did belong

sonatis xelnaweri ipova. ra Tqma unda vewvie veneciis

to Marcello. When studying the sonata, I found a phrase that was

nacionalur biblioTekas _ „marCana“ (Biblioteca Marciana),

identical to a musical phrase from the bassoon concert manuscript

vnaxe es xelnaweri da marTalia nawarmoebi dausrulebeli

found in the library of Prague. Then I compared the whole scores, and

iyo, magram notis Tavfurcelze ewera: „venecieli

this is how I got convinced that the manuscript in Prague was also the

warCinebuli ojaxis warmomadgeneli benedeto marCelo“,

work of Benedetto Marcello.” – Sergio Azzolini recounts.

This project was of great importance for the Georgian Sinfonietta –

amitomac danamdvilebiT viciT, rom es sonata namdvilad marCelos ekuTvnis. am sonatis Seswavlisas aRmovaCine

“Despite the fact that we have performed premieres of musical pieces

erTi fraza, romelic praRis biblioTekaSi nanaxi fagotis

written expressly for us several times, performing the world premiere

koncertis erTi musikaluri frazis identuri iyo, Semdeg

of a score written more than 300 years ago with world-renowned

ukve mTliani musikaluri masala Sevadare erTmaneTs

musicians is of a different significance and produces stronger

da ase davrwmundi, rom praRis biblioTekaSi benedeto

feelings.” – shared Giorgi Kerelashvili, the art director of the Georgian

marCelos fagotis koncertebis xelnawerebia“ _ gviyveba

Sinfonietta.

It is worth noting that Sergio Accolini specifically chose Georgia

serjo acolini. es proeqti marTlac umniSvnelovanesi iyo „saqarTvelos

and a Georgian orchestra to take part in this historic event. As the

sinfonietasTvis“ _ „miuxedavad imisa, rom araerTxel

Italian musician stated himself – “Georgia is the country of songs, and

dagvikravs specialurad CvenTvis dawerili nawarmoebis

Italian music is equal to singing, so nobody could have performed this

premiera, sul sxva mniSvneloba da gansakuTrebuli

singing music with as much emotion as Georgians.”

It was also his decision to create the audio recording of this unique

SegrZneba iyo, msoflio varskvlavebTan erTad 300 welze meti xnis win dawerili musikis Sesruleba pirvelad

program in Georgia. In the recording studio of ‘Georgian Film’, sound

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msoflioSi“ _ sakuTar emociebs gviziarebs giorgi

director Davit Khositashvili and his producer Nino Zhanzhghava

qerelaSvili, „saqarTvelos sinfonietas“ samxatvro

have spent four very difficult, hectic, but also very interesting days

xelmZRvaneli.

with the Georgian Sinfonietta and invited musicians. The Georgian

mniSvnelovania aseve im faqtis aRniSvna, rom serjo

Sinfonietta will present the audience of the ‘Tbilisi Baroque Festival’

acolinim swored saqarTvelo da qarTuli orkestri

the recording’s compact disc in November. Because this CD is the

SearCia am istoriuli movlenisTvis, rogorc Tavad

first audio recording of the first performance of the newly discovered

italielma musikosma aRniSna _ „saqarTvelo simReris

scores by Benedetto Marcello, it will be of great significance for the

qveyanaa, italiuri musika ki simReraa, amitom qarTvelebze

world’s musical society, music performers and scholars, and we are

ukeT am mRerad musikas ase emociurad veravin

confident that it has a great future on the international stage.

Apart from Benedetto Marcello’s concerts for bassoon, Antonio

Seasrulebda“. aseve misi gadawyvetilebiT, am unikaluri programis audioCanaweric saqarTveloSi gakeTda. „qarTuli filmis“

Vivaldi, Francesco Geminiani, and Giovanni Benedetto Plati’s music was performed at the concert.

Camwer studiaSi, xmis reJisorma daviT xositaSvilma

The program of the concert was created with a very interesting

da misma prodiuserma nino janjRavam, „saqarTvelos

concept: Venetian Antonio Vivaldi and Benedetto Marcello, together

sinfonietasTan“ da mowveul musikosebTan erTad oTxi

with Paduan Giovanni Benedetto Plati, who studied in Venice. Cello

Zalian rTuli, Sromatevadi da amave dros Zalian

and bassoon were the two leading instruments, and therefore,

saintereso dReebi gaiares. Canaweris kompaqt-disks,

playing Concerto Grosso N6, op. 7 by Luca-born Francesco Geminiani

„saqarTvelos sinfonieta“ ukve noemberSi warudgens

at end of the evening was decided specifically according to these

„Tbilisis baroko festivalis“ msmenels. ramdenadac,

instruments. This Concerto Grosso is the only one among Geminiani’s

es kompaqt-diski benedeto marCelos axladaRmoCenili

42 Concerto Grossos in which the group of soloists (concertino), two

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nawarmoebebis pirveli Sesrulebis pirveli audioCanaweria,

violins, alto and cello are joined by a bassoon performing a solo part.

igi msoflios musikaluri sazogadoebisTvis, musikos-

The baroque music evening was designed with the same

SemsruleblebisTvisa da musikis mkvlevrebisTvis metad

dramaturgy: Antonio Vivaldi’s concert RV 128, two cello concerts

mniSvnelovani iqneba da darwmunebuli varT, saerTaSoriso

by Giovanni Benedetto Plati, two bassoon concerts by Benedetto

asparezze didi daintereseba elis.

Marcelo, and Francesco Geminiani’s Concerto Grosso for two violins, alto, bassoon, string instruments and a basso continuo.

benedeto marCelos fagotis koncertebis garda,

The concert took place on September 20 in the crowded main hall

koncertze antonio vivaldis, franCesko jeminianisa da

of the Tbilisi State Conservatoire. The amazed audience stood up and

jovani benedeto platis musika Sesrulda.

wouldn’t let the musicians leave the stage, acclaiming them with a

musikaluri programa Zalian saintereso koncefciiT iyo SerCeuli: venecieli antonio vivaldi da benedeto

lengthy ovation. And the reasons for this great success were the world

marCelo, maTTan erTad ki padueli jovani benedeto

premiere of the newly discovered scores by Benedetto Marcello, the

plati, romelic veneciaSi swavlobda. Celo da fagoti

interesting concept with which the concert was created, the flawless

ki koncertis ori wamyvani instrumenti iyo, amitomac am

performance by world-renowned musicians and the Georgian

saRamos dasasruls, qalaq lukaSi dabadebuli franCesko

Sinfonietta, and of course, the magic notes of Italian baroque music

jeminianis Concerto Grosso N 6, op. 7-s Sesruleba, swored

themselves. Most importantly, the heightened emotions and the

nawarmoebis instrumentulma Semadgenlobam gansazRvra. es

effect resulting from this evening will remain in the memories of the

Concerto Grosso, erTaderTia jeminianis 42 Concerto Grosso-s

spectators and performers alike for a long time.

This historic project was carried out in the framework of the Tbilisi

Soris, sadac solistebis jgufSi (concertino), 2 violinos,

Baroque Festival with the support of the Ministry of Culture, Sports,

altsa da CelosTan erTad fagots aqvs solo partia.

and Youth, the Tbilisi City Hall and the Embassy of Italy.

barokos musikis saRamoc logikuri dramaturgiiT iyo awyobili: antonio vivaldis koncerti RV 128,

The Tbilisi Baroque Festival was created in 2015 with the support

joveni benedeto platis Celos ori koncerti, benedeto

of the Ministry of Culture of Georgia, and it has been held each year

marCelos fagotis ori koncerti da franCesko jeminianis

since then. The festival is visited by world-renowned performers and

Concerto Grosso 2 violinos, altis, Celos, fagotis, simebiani sakravebisa da baso kontinuosaTvis (B.C.).

20 seqtembers, Tbilisis saxelmwifo konservatoriis did darbazSi, koncerti sruli anSlagiT Catarda, aRfrTovanebuli auditoria fexze wamoudga musikosebs da xangrZlivi ovaciebiT didxans ar uSvebda scenidan. am didi warmatebis safuZveli ki gaxldaT: benedeto marCelos axladaRmoCenili nawarmoebebis msoflio premiera, koncertis saintereso koncefcia, msoflio varskvlavebis da „saqarTvelos sinfonietas~ ubadlo Sesruleba da ra Tqma unda Tavad italiuri barokos musikis jadosnuri hangebi. rac yvelaze mniSvnelovania, am saRamos amaRlebuli emociebi da STabeWdilebebi xangrZlivad darCeba rogorc msmenelis, aseve musikosebis mexsierebaSi. es istoriuli proeqti, „Tbilisis baroko festivalis~ farglebSi, saqarTvelos kulturis, sportisa da axalgazrdobis saministros, Tbilisis meriisa da italiis saelCos mxardaWeriT ganxorcielda. „Tbilisis baroko festivali~ 2015 wels, saqarTvelos kulturis saministro mxardaWeriT daarsda da mas Semdeg yovelwliurad tardeba. festivals stumroben msoflioSi aRiarebuli Zveleburi musikis Semsruleblebi da specialistebi. am 9 wlis ganmavlobaSi, festivalis farglebSi ukve araerTma msoflio varskvlavma da ansamblma gamarTa koncerti, maT Soris aris: Jordi savali,

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qristina buSi, davide amadio, Jan rondo, orkestri „Zveli

specialists in ancient music. In these nine years, several world stars

musikis akademia“ (AKAMUS), ansambli ZEFIRO da sxva.

and ensembles have played concerts here, including: Zhordi Savali, Christina Bush, Davide Amadio, Jean Rondeau, the orchestra ‘Old

20 seqtembris Semdeg, „Tbilisis baroko festivali

Music Academy’ (AKAMUS), the ensemble ‘Zefiro’, and others.

10 noembridan rusTavelis erovnul TeatrSi gagrZeldeba da 30 noembris CaTvliT araerT musikalur

After September 20, the Tbilisi Baroque Festival will continue in

dResaswauls gvpirdeba. „Tbilisis baroko festivalis~

the National Theater on Rustaveli Avenue from the 10th until the 30th

mxardamWerebi arian: saqarTvelos kulturis, sportisa

of November, and will contain many celebrations of music. The Tbilisi

da axalgazrdobis saministro, Tbilisis meria, italiis

Baroque Festival is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and

saelCo saqarTveloSi da germaniis saelCo saqarTveloSi.

Youth, the Tbilisi City Hall, the Embassy of Italy in Georgia, and the Embassy of Germany in Georgia.

festivalis programa, tradiciulad mravalferovani

As always, the festival’s program will be varied, and include both

iqneba, Sesruldeba rogorc saorkestro da sagundo, aseve qarTuli da evropuli saeklesio musika, aseve unda

orchestra and ensemble, as well as as Georgian and European

aRvniSnoT, rom wels pirvelad Catardeba koncerti

religious music. It is also worth noting that this year will introduce a

specialurad bavSvebisTvis. saintereso koncertebis

special concert for children. Apart from interesting concerts, public

garda, festivalis farglebSi sajaro leqciebi da

lessons and masterclasses will be held within the framework of the

masterklasebi gaimarTeba.

festival.

The Georgian Sinfonietta promises magical music days from the

10 noembridan 30 noembris CaTvliT, „saqarTvelos sinfonieta~ barokos musikis jadosnur dReebs gvpirdeba!

10th until the 30th of November!

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MARIAM TSIKLAURI

mariam wiklauri

cocxali wignebi New

LIVING BOOKS politikur formaciaTa, saukuneTa Tu aTaswleulTa cvlis mijnaze, roca icvleba msoflio, Cvennair qveyanas, didi sirTuleebis gamklaveba uwevs. nawilobriv okupirebul qveyanas kidev ufro naklebi resursi moepoveba saimisod, rom sazogadoebam Tavi daculad igrZnos. gamonaklis arc saxelovnebo sfero da arc mweralia. mweralic axalma drom marginalad aqcia. is da misi saqme sazogadoebam gainapira. bevrma ramem moindoma mwerlis adgilis Canacvleba. saxe icvala mediam, Jurnalistikam, teqnologiebma, saganmanaTleblo meTodikebma da politikam, ekonomikam. SemoqmedebiTobaze da sityvaze mniSvnelovani gaxda komercia _ kerZo sagamomcemlo seqtoris ganviTarebis ganmapirobebeli berketi. mwerali sul ufro metad tovebda „gavlenebis sferos“, Tavisufldeboda e.w. oqros borkilebisganac. Tumca kargi iyo es yvelaferi Tu cudi, mzad iyo Tu ara Semoqmedi Tavisufali saqmianobisa da Ria konkurenciisTvis, zustad aravin uwyoda...

On the verge of political change, when centuries or millennia pass and the world changes, countries like ours have to face great challenges. A partially occupied country has even fewer resources for its society to feel safe. Artists or writers are no exception. As of lately, writers are more and more considered fringe elements of society. Society has put them and their work on the sidelines.

Many things have contributed to this change of status for authors.

Media, journalism, technology, education methods, politics, and the economy – all have changed. Commercial gain, the lever for the development of private publishing houses, has become more important than creativity and words.

Writers were more and more leaving the “spheres of influence”, they were freeing themselves from the so-called golden handcuffs.

But nobody knew exactly if all this was a good or bad thing, and if they were ready or not for free creative work and open competition…

We would often hear the words “clique”, “clan”, “face”, “side”, and the post-soviet or neoliberal ideology was establishing the rules of its games and a new order…

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xSirad gaismoda sityvebi „kutoki“, „klani“, „feisi“, „mxare“ da amis fonze postsabWouri Tu neoliberaluri ideologia Tavis TamaSis wesebs da wesrigs amkvidrebda... magram adamianebi, Semoqmedebi, mwerlebi, romlebsac elementaruli arsebobisTvis uwevdaT brZola, mainc daucvelebi da martoni aRmoCndnen... saxelmwifom bevri ram ubralod mtveriviT moiSora, CamoiferTxa... aRarc „socialuri paketis“, SemoqmedebiTi kavSirebis qolgebi, dotaciebi, avansebi, literaturuli periodikis da gamocemebis honorarebi, aranairi privilegiebi.

SemoqmedebiTi stipendiebis sistema aq ar muSaobda, honorarebic mizeruli, bevri iyo xandazmuli, asakovani, ltolvili, SSm piri, yvelas sWirdeboda daxmareba. arqetipuli saxe gaWirvebuli, mSieri, mwerlisa nela dakanonda da vin icis, imitomac, rom arasdros yofiliyo is saSiSi, Zlieri, cnobili da avtoritetuli...

Zalian patara jgufs, mxolod ramdenime adamians eZleoda saSualeba sulis moTqmisa: gamocemis, Targmnis, proeqtebSi CarTvis... diax, viRacis alRo da SesaZlebloba meti iyo, viRacisa _ naklebi... konkurencia ukonkurencioa!

But people, artists, writers, who needed to struggle to have basic conditions of life, remained vulnerable and alone… The state simply dusted them off…

No “social package”, protection from artists’ unions, endowments, advance payments, literary periodicals, and publishing fees – no privilege at all. There was no creative stipend system here, and salaries were very low; there were many old people, refugees, internally displaced persons, disabled people, and everybody else who needed help. A needy, hungry writer’s face gradually became archetypical, and who knows, perhaps it was for them to never become powerful, famous, and authoritative…

A very small group, only a couple of people, were given the possibility to “breathe”: to publish, to translate, to get involved in projects… Yes, some people had better intuition and capabilities than others…

Competition has no competitors!

And survival mechanisms started appearing. We were looking for new ways of establishing ourselves. Our main goal was to force the government and state to consider the work of writers as actual work.

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da daiwyo gadarCenis meqanizmebis amuSaveba.

TviTdamkvidrebis moZebnis axali gzebi. Cveni mizani gaxda, mTavrobisa da xelisuflebis iZuleba, saqmed CaTvliliyo mwerlis Sroma. pirveli mimarTva Tbilisis meriis, sakrebulos, saqarTvelos parlamentisa da kulturis saministros saxelze Sevadgine da Cemive wignis prezentaciaze „mweralTa saxlSi“ mosul adamianebs gavacani da xelmowerebi vTxove, asze metma mweralma moawera xeli iqve da ara mxolod mwerlebma. mere ki SevikribeT ramdenime mwerali da am xelmowerili mimarTviT kulturis saministros axal mrCevels, qeTevan dumbaZes mivadeqiT saministroSi. mas piradad ar vicnobdiT, magram mwerlis Svili iyo da gvegona, aucileblad dagvidgeboda gverdiT. asec moxda. imedi gagvimarTlda. daiwyo fiqri imaze, rogor SeiZleboda kanonierebis farglebSi saxelmwifo socialurad daxmareboda avtorebs. rogorc aRmoCnda aranairi pensiebis an daxmarebis damatebiT daniSvna saministros ar SeeZlo! erTaderTi isini daafinansebdnen proeqts, romlis farglebSi avtorebi imuSavebdnen mTels saqarTveloSi da popularizacias gauwevdnen wigns, literaturas da mwerlebs! problemebi ki sakmaod bevri da masStaburi iyo. im wlebSi ukve ganadgurebuli iyo Zveli biblioTekebis umravlesoba da maTi wignadi fondebi, ar xdeboda saTanadodo Sevseba axali gamocemebiT saskolo da aqaiq SemorCenili biblioTekebisa. rigi mizezebis gamo wignTan gaucxoebuli xalxi ranair interess ar avlenda

I made a first letter addressed to the Tbilisi City Hall, the city council, the Parliament of Georgia and the Ministry of Culture, and I presented it to the audience that came to my book presentation in the Writers’ House, asking them to sign it too. More than a hundred writers and representatives of other professions have signed the letter. Then some of us gathered, and we brought this signed letter to the new Deputy Minister of Culture, Ketevan Dumbadze. We didn’t know her personally, but she was a writer’s daughter, and we thought that she would support us.

And that is precisely what happened. Our hopes were wellfounded.

We started thinking about legal ways for the state to socially help authors. It turned out that the ministry didn’t have the right to create additional pensions or financial support! They would only finance a project in the framework of which authors would work all over Georgia for the popularization of books, literature, and writers!

There were many difficult problems to face: the majority of old libraries and their books were already ruined, and they were not replenished with new books. For various reasons, people got estranged from books, and didn’t show interest in literature anymore. They didn’t know who the new authors were, what they were writing and publishing. Without any exaggeration, there was a large gap between writers and readers. Add to this several years of deficient education and very low salaries in schools and libraries. Less or no more literary programs on the TV, nonsensical reformsm and “ideologized” processes, which were getting young people even further from real values. To say it shortly: there was a lot to do in terms of the strategic policies around culture, books, and literature.

Literary life was only alive in Tbilisi. Writers wouldn’t visit the various regions of Georgia, there were no book festivals or regional literary competitions… All this is happening now, but we started changing this situation in 2013-14, and the project

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itself began in 2015. But the project, which then transformed into a large industry, needed the right vision, a thorough study of the situation, the right planning or resource management, and setting the right goals. At the time, it was very difficult to even communicate with regional municipalities; they didn’t have proper sites or e-mails where one could have reached them. It is difficult to imagine from today’s perspective, but that’s how it was.

Everything you start from scratch is difficult, but we were so moved by the idea of doing a good thing and helping writers, that we still managed to find a way.

Keti Dumbadze was behind the character and essence of our project, she was our supporter from the start and she even chose its name, ‘Living Books’. She managed to convince the Minister of the importance of this project. Writers would work, bring literary news, books, journals and magazines to people; they would also get acquainted with the problems in the regions, find talented people there, and together with the joy of meeting people, they would spark interest throughout Georgia about books, authors, and literary processes, and start good initiatives… They would get young people acquainted with good literature. At the time, young people didn’t know anything else than the so-called “Youtube authors”. We would also start translating the authors’ works, publishing almanacs, being able to participate in various

literaturisadmi. arc icodnen, vin iyvnen axali avtorebi, ras werdnen, ras gamoscemdnen. Rrma ufskruli iyo mweralsa da mkiTxvels Soris, gadaumeteblad rom vTqvaT. amas emateboda wina wlebis CaSlili, arasrulfasovani saswavlo wlebi da procesebi, amas emateboda mizeruli xelfasebi skolebsa da biblioTekebSi. teleekranebidan gamqrali literaturuli gadacemebi, uazro reformebi da ideologizebuli procesebi, romlebic kidev metad aSorebdnen namdvil RirebulebebTan axalgazrdebs. es yvelaferi mokled ase gamoiTqmis: kulturisa da wignis strategiul politikaze bevri iyo sazrunavi. literaturuli cxovreba mxolod TbilisSi mimdinareobda. saqarTvelos kuTxeebSi ar Cadiodnen mwerlebi, ar imarTeboda wignis festivalebi, arc regionuli literaturuli konkursebi... es yvelaferi axla ki tardeba, magram Cven am situaciis Secvla daviwyeT 2013-14 wlebidan, xolo Tavad proeqti 2015 wels amuSavda. magram proeqtsac romelic Semdeg did industriad gadaiqca, sWirdeboda swori gaazreba, situaciis zusti Seswavla, resursebis sworad gamoyenebis dagegmareba, miznebis sworad dasaxva. im xanad urTulesi iyo ubralo komunikaciac ki regionebSi

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municipalitetebTan, elementarulad ar arsebobda municipalitetebis mowesrigebuli saitebi, interneti, eleqtrofosta, samsaxurebis xelmZRvanelebTan dasakavSireblad. axla amis warmodgena rTulia, magram ase iyo. yvelaferi rTulia, rasac pirvelad iwyeb, Tumca imdenad mogvicva ideam, Zalian mniSvnelovani saqme gagvekeTebina mwerlebis dasaxmareblad, mainc gavkvaleT gza. qeTi dumbaZe iyo Cveni proeqtis xasiaTis da saqmianobis, anu Sinaarsis ganmsazRvreli, saxelwodebis damrqmevi da gulSematkivari. es man uwoda proeqts „cocxali wignebi“, man SeZlo ministris darwmuneba, rom mwerlebi saqmes gaakeTebdnen, xalxTan Caitandnen literaturul siaxleebs, wignebs, Jurnal-gazeTebs, imuSavebdnen, regionis problemebsac warmoaCendnen, niWier adamianebsac miakvlevdnen da cocxali Sexvedrebis sixarulTan erTad interess aRZravdnen mTels saqarTveloSi wignisadmi, mwerlisadmi, literaturuli procesisadmi, karg iniciativebs Cauyridnen safuZvels... moswavleaxalgazrdebs gemovnebian literaturas gaacnobdnen. imxanad arsebobdnen e.w iuTub avtorebi, romelTa garda aravin da araferi ar icodnen axalgazrdebma. aseve daviwyebdiT avtorTa nawarmoebebis Targmnas, almanaxebis gamocemas, ucxoeTSi sxvadasxva literaturul festivalebSi monawileobas SevZlebdiT da rac mTavaria SevxvdebodiT qarTul diasporebs, qarTvel emigrantebs, maTac CavutandiT wignebs, gavacnobdiT Tanamedrove avtorebs. magram am yvelaferSi ki mwerlebi aiRebdnen xelfass anu honorars. „cocxali wignebi“ socialuri proeqtic gaxdeboda! es iyo im xanad xsna da erTgvarad novatoruli nabijic. SeiZleba evropis an Tundac postsabWour ramdenime qveyanaSi es xdeboda, magram saqarTveloSi es warmoudgeneli iyo, Tan ara erTi da ori `feisavtorisTvis~, aramed proeqti yovelwliurad 60-70 mwerals uzrunvelyofda honorariT skolaSi

literary festivals abroad, and most importantly, we would meet the Georgian diaspora, Georgian emigrants, and bring them books and get them to know contemporary authors too.

And for all this, authors would receive salaries. ‘Living Books’ would become a social project too! At the time, this would have been a salvation and an innovative step at the same time. Maybe this was happening in Europe or even in several post-Soviet countries, but in Georgia, it was unimaginable. We were not talking about one or two “face” authors – the project had to pay salaries to 60-70 writers each year for meetings in schools, literary evenings, or readings in libraries. This was Europe! This was the road we were taking! This is what we wanted, and it was of vital importance for our authors!

After only one year, the Ministry of Culture signed a memorandum with the Ministry of Defense, and a bit later with the Probation Ministry. This gave writers the opportunity to meet military personnel, military academy students, cadets, soldiers…

We also entered several penitentiary buildings, and we have held meetings in the libraries of the social houses of the Ministry of Justice, because the number of structures that saw our activities and deemed it necessary to use our writers’ resources in their field was increasing. Everywhere, it was about books, reading, and discussions about unknown or loved literary works… Emotions, impressions…

Local television channels and media were broadcasting these meetings… The participating authors were wearing branded t-shirts, and had literary accessories with the inscription “Living Books – 2015”, “Living Books – 2016”, and so on, 2017, 2018. Each year, the t-shirts are of a different color, and they are sometimes offered to active participants in the regions as a gift… But before

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Catarebul SexvedraSi, literaturul saRamoebSi, biblioTekebSi Catarebul kiTxvaSi. es iyo evropa! aqeTken mivemarTebodiT! es gvsurda da es iyo sasicocxlod mniSvnelovani Cveni avtorebisTvis! gaivlis sul raRac erTi weli da kulturis saministrosa da Tavdacvis saministroebs Soris daideba memorandumi, aseTive memorandumi gaformdeba saqarTvelos sasjelaRsrulebisa da probaciis saministrosTan. es yvelafero saSualebas gvaZlevda, mwerlebi Sexvedrodnen sajariso nawilebs, samxedro akademiis studentebs, kadetebs, jariskacebs, samxedro kadrebs, SevediT penitenciaruli sistemis araerTi dawesebulebebSi. aseve iusticiis saministros sazogadoebriv saxlebis biblioTekebSi vatarebdiT Sexvedrebs... radgan gafarTovda im struqturaTa ricxvic, romlebmac dainaxes Cveni aqtivoba da saWirod CaTvales mwerlebis resursis gamoyeneba maT struqturebSic, yvelgan Sexvedrebi, wignebi, kiTxva, saubari ucnob Tu sayvarel nawarmoebebze... emociebi, STabeWdilebebi... am Sexvedrebs aSuqebs xan adgilobrivi televiziebi, media... monawile mwerlebs acviaT brendirebuli maisurebi, aqvT literaturuli aqsesuarebi warwerebiT „cocxali wignebi -2015“, „cocxali wignebi-2016“ da a.S 2017, 2018, yvela wels sxvadasxva ferisaa es maisurebi, romlebic regionebSi zogjer saCuqradac rCeba Sexvedrebis aqtiur monawileebTan... magram sanam kovidis msoflio pandemias vaxseneb, isev ukan vbrundebi, rogor daiwyo es yvelaferi? saministrom Tavis Tavze aiRo samTavrobo fostiT mTeli „cocxali wignebis“ wliuri gegmis dagzavna municipalitetebSi. saministrom izruna imaze, rom Seferxeba ar yofiliyo adgilze da adgilobriv the Alluring Call of the Sea” 71 kulturis samsaxurebs uzrunveleyoT Casuli mwerlebisTvis garkveuli lokaciebis momzadeba da msmenelTa informireba.

mentioning the Covid pandemic, I will go further back – how did it all start?

The Ministry took the responsibility to send everything ‘Living Books’ would need in the regions by governmental post. They also guaranteed that there would be no difficulties in the regions, and involved local culture offices to prepare places of residence for the visiting writers and to inform the local audiences about the event.

The Ministry and the project jointly covered the travel, hotel, and food for the writers. At the time, the business of guesthouses was new in Georgia, and there was not much choice in villages.

We were going to ordinary guesthouses, and we were looking more like actual guests of these families than tourists. Our meeting places were culture centers, libraries, theaters, schools, and home museums. We have also held meetings in the open air, and we would always make writers visit the historic monuments, museums, and interesting places in the regions. It was very important to give the writers themselves the opportunity to get to know Georgia, to meet and speak to people. For the majority of them, it was a new and interesting experience.

Each year, the project would start on the 14th of April, on the Georgian language day, and the first expedition was always symbolically held near the occupation line, in the village of

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saministrom da proeqtma iTava Tavis Tavze mwerlis mgzavroba, Ramis gasaTevi, kveba. imxanad saojaxo sastumroebis biznesi axali xili iyo saqarTveloSi, ar iyo didi arCevani soflebSi. Cven viRebdiT Cveulebriv saojaxo sastumroebs da ufro xSirad vgavdiT ojaxebis stumrebs, vidre turistebs. Cveni Sexvedris adgilebi iyo kulturis centrebi, biblioTekebi, Teatrebi, skola-gimnaziebi, saxl-muzeumebi. Senobis gareT, Ria cis qveSac gagvimarTavs Sexvedrebi. aseve vaTvalierebinebdiT mwerlebs am kuTxeebis istoriul Zeglebs, mxareTmcodneobis muzeumebs da saintereso adgilebs. Zalian mniSvnelovani iyo, rom Tavad mwerlebs miecaT saSualeba saqarTvelos naxvisa, gacnobisa, xalxTan Sexvedris, dalaparakebis. didi da axali gamocdileba iyo es umravlesobisTvis. yovelwliurad proeqti iwyeboda 14 aprils, qarTuli enis dRes da simbolurad pirveli gasvla yovelTvis gvqonda saokupacio xazTan, sofel niqozSi. proeqti meore welsve dajildovda, rogorc wlis saukeTeso literaturul-SemecnebiTi proeqti „sazogadoebrivi arxis „mier Catarebuli gamokiTxviT da es jildo iyo Tanabrad sasixarulo da saamayo yvela monawilisTvis. axla am yvelaferze iolad vsaubrob, magram urTulesi iyo Tbilisidan samTavrobo fostis da ministris daxmarebis miuxedavad, dagegma Sexvedrebi dRis ganmavlobaSi 3 da 4 lokaciazec ki. es iTxovda mudmiv komunikaciebs, mudmiv kontrols, sul xazze yofnas, da werilobiT SeTanxmebul dagegmil ambebs aTasi niuansi axlda, romelic arasdros ar unda gadazrdiliyo xarvezSi. midixar Tbilisidan da erTi dRis ganmavlobaSi unda Sexvde jer awyuris kulturis saxlSi mosaxleobas, mere valeSi gaiqce, iq Caataro Sexvedra,mere wamoxvide aspinZaSi da bolos axalcixeSi _ axla rom warmovidgen ra energias vxarjavdiT amaSi... magram saqmes vakeTebdiT

Nikozi. The project was awarded a prize in the second year of its existence as the best educational and literary project according to a questionnaire by the national broadcaster, and this prize was a source of great pride for every participant.

I am now speaking with ease about all this, but it was very difficult, despite the support from the governmental post and the help of the minister, to organize meetings in three or four locations during the day. This demanded constant communication, control, to be ready at all times, and the planned events would always contain many nuances, which should never have evolved into problems.

You leave Tbilisi, and in one day, you have to first meet the locals at the Atskhuri Culture House, then run to Vale, where you have to hold a meeting, then go to Aspindza, and finally in Akhaltsikhe – now I realize the amount of energy we were spending… But we were always doing everything with a high sense of responsibility.

Then in the morning, we would go to Ninotsminda, where there is a Georgian school. We had to bring the journals, magazines, and books and albums financed by the Ministry of Culture everywhere we could.

Keti Dumbadze would prepare all this herself at the ministry, she would pack the books and add the right amount of presents according to the number of meetings we had planned. We were so happy to bring these publications (‘Arili’, ‘Akhali Saunje’, ‘Literaturuli Gazeti’) and so many books to villages, towns, and cities, and to leave them there as precious treasures, to fill the reading halls of libraries, schools, and universities with them…

And during the meetings, apart from our own, we would also read the works of our colleagues…

We met many talented individuals, teachers, creative people, pupils, writers living in various cities and villages, and interesting individuals – too many to list them all. We also published a book in the framework of the project – diaries about the impressions left by our expeditions during ‘Living Books’.

The first year, we discovered that nobody knew the new authors

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mTeli pasuxismgeblobiT. mere dilas ninowmindisken gaveSurebodiT, iq erTi qarTuli skolaa, unda Cagvetana yvelgan im wlebSi kulturis saministros mier dafinansebuli Jurnal gazeTebi, wignebi, albomebi. am yvelafers winaswar iwerda qeTi dumbaZe saministrodan da Tavisi xeliT kravda gegmis Sesabamisad, amzadebda saCuqars imden cal Sekvras, ramdeni Sexvedrac ama Tu im turSi igegmeboda. ra bednierebi viyaviT rom es gamocemebi, es Jurnal-gazeTebi: „arili“, „axali saunje“, „literaturuli gazeTi“ da amdeni wignebi migvqonda soflebSi, dabebSi, qalaqebSi da vtovebdiT rogorc Zvirfas ganZs, vavsebdiT amiT biblioTekebs, skolebs, universitetebis samkiTxvelo darbazebs... Sexvedrebze ki sakuTris garda vkiTxulobdiT Cveni kolegebis nawarmoebebsac... ramdeni niWieri adamiani gavicaniT, ramdeni pedagogi, Semoqmedi adamiani, moswavleebi, ubralod sxvadasxva qalaqSi an soflad mcxovrebi avtorebi da saintereso adamianebi, vin CamoTvlis amas. proeqtis farglebSi gamoveciT wigni- dRiurebi „cocxali wignebis“ mogzaurobebis STabeWdilebebze. pirvel wels aRmovaCineT, rom aravin ar icnobs axali Taobis lamis aTi-oci wlis win mosul axal avtorebs, arsad, arsadaa maTi wignebi. im xanad arc kompiuteris da sainterneto qseli iyo xelmisawvdomi, ramden biblioTekaSi, ramden skolaSi pirdapir vawerinebdiT am avtorebis gvarebs, saxelebs, wignebis saTaurebs, gamomcemlobebs... vurCevdiT, ra wignebi waekiTxaT. qeTi dumbaZem proeqtis meore wels 2016-Si proeqtis farglebSi gamosca orwignedi „cocxali wignebi _ proza da poezia, romelmac gaaerTiana monawile avtorebis SemoqmedebiTi nimuSebi. am wignebis wardgenac moewyo saministroSi da plus varigebdiT Sexvedrebze...

Sexvedrebi ki araokupirebul teritoriaze yvelgan CavatareT: ar dagvitovebia maRal mTiani aWara, raWa, leCxumi, svaneTi, javaxeTi, xevsureTi, fSavi, xevi, gudamayari, aRarafers vambob qvemo qarTlze _ walka, marneuli, bolnisi, dmanisi, TavisTavad samegrelo, zemoqvemo imereTi, mTeli kaxeTi, TuSeTi... gansakuTrebuli

that had arrived on the literary scene, say, ten to twenty years before – because their books were nowhere to be found. At the time, there were neither computers nor internet access available in many places, and in most libraries and schools, they were writing down, by hand, the first and last names, titles, and publishing houses of the books we were advising them to read.

In 2016, the project’s second year, Keti Dumbadze published a two-tome book called ‘Living books – prose and poetry’ in the framework of the project, uniting the creative works of all participating authors. A presentation of these books was organized in the Ministry, and in parallel to that, we would hand them out during our meetings in the regions… And we held these meetings everywhere on non-occupied territory: mountainous Adjara, Racha, Lechkhumi, Svaneti, Javakheti, Khevsureti, Pshavi, Khevi, Gudamakari, Kvemo Kartli, Tsalka, Marneuli, Bolnisi, Dmanisi, Samegrelo, Zemo and Kvemo Imereti, the whole region of Kakheti, Tusheti… Our expeditions in Guria were somewhat special, as Keti Dumbadze wanted ‘Living Books’ to visit Guria each year in the summer, on the 14th of July, for Nodar Dumbadze’s birthday, which we celebrated there.

The project united authors of all political views, ages, and qualifications, as well as forcibly displaced and disabled persons from Tbilisi and various regions of Georgia.

The project managed to translate prose and poetry works by up to a hundred authors, and two thick almanacs of contemporary Georgian authors in the English language were published – ‘Contemporary Georgia – Prose’ and ‘Contemporary Georgia – Poetry’. The project has arranged several translating workshops and hosted foreign writers. It sent Georgian authors to Sweden, Israel, Italy, Germany, and Turkey to participate in events dedicated to literature. The project also translated their works. It published several anthologies abroad with financial support from the Writers’ House. Sometimes, these books were only published by foreign publishing houses, without any financing from the Georgian side.

Many presentations of Georgian authors were arranged abroad, in

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iyo xolme guriis turi, radgan qeTi dumbaZis survili iyo cocxali wignebi yovel wels yofiliyo guriis stumari zafxulobiT, 14 ivliss nodar dumbaZis dabadebis dRes Cveni proeqti swored guriaSi aRniSnavda. proeqti aerTianebda yvelanairi politikuri Sexedulebis, asakis, cenzis, aseve ltolvil da SSm avtorebs Tbilisidan da saqarTvelos sxvadasxva kuTxidan. proeqtma SeZlo eTargmna asamde avtoris prozisa da poeziis nimuSebi da gamoeca inglisur enaze Targmnili qarTveli Tanamedrove avtorebis 2 sqeltaniani almanaxi „Tanamedrove saqarTvelo. proza“ da Tanamedrove saqarTvelo. poezia“. proeqtma ramdenime mTargmnelobiTi vorqSopi moawyo da umaspinZla ucxoel mwerlebs. miavlina mwerlebi SvedeTSi, israelSi, italiaSi, germaniaSi, TurqeTSi literaturuli Sexvedrebis gasamarTad. asve Targmna maTi nawarmoebebi. ucxoeTSi araerTi krebuli gamosca TanadafinansebiT „mweralTa saxlTan“ erTad. zogjer es wignebi mxolod ucxoeli gamomcemlebis mier gamoicemoda Tanadafinansebis gareSec qarTuli mxridan. ucxoeTSi araerTi wardgena Catarebula qarTveli avtorebis monawileobiT: israelis, SvedeTis, italiis, safrangeTis, germaniis, TurqeTis sxvadasxva qalaqebSi. mravalmxrivad nayofieri gamodga mTargmnelobiTi da SemoqmedebiTi saqmianobis TvalsazrisiT italiaSi mcxovrebi qarTveli mTargmnelis, nunu gelaZesTan TanamSromloba. italiaSi Cveni proeqtis mier gakeTebul saqmeebs calke statiasac mivuZRvnidi, radgan bevria salaparako im saqmeebze, rac qalbatonma nunum saqarTvelosTvis, qarTuli literaturisTvis

various cities in Israel, Sweden, Italy, France, Germany, and Turkey.

Working with Italian-based Georgian translator Nunu Geladze turned out to be fruitful in many ways regarding translation and creative work. I would even dedicate a separate letter about the things our project has achieved in Italy, as there are many things to say about everything Ms. Nunu has done for Georgia, Georgian literature, and authors. It was also very fruitful to work with translators Bachana Chabradze, Irma Shiolashvili, Dali Iashvili, and others. Unfortunately, one article is not enough to contain everything about our project, but there are many things to say.

During the pandemic, the project started filming video portraits of contemporary authors, and today, we have more than 120 video recordings of authors or literary evenings in our fund. It was also in the framework of our project that the idea of a ‘Writers’ Theater’ was born. Authors were presenting their mono-spectacles, ‘Writers without makeup’, in the ‘Basement’ and ‘Attic’ scenes of the Marjanishvili Academic Theater for three years, and for the last two years, ‘Living Books’ has been hosted by the Tumanishvili Cinema Actors Theatre. Interesting evenings are organized – monospectacles by writers, which we also record and publish as videos on our Youtube channel, where a whole gallery of videos related to Georgian writers has been uploaded.

Of course, the theater evenings, video films, meetings in the schools of Tbilisi and in the regions – everything is financed by the project’s budget, which is itself fully financed by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth of Georgia.

‘Living Books’ has already been active for eight years, and in many ways. During those years, the names, structures, and logos were changing at the ministry, but the essence of the project ‘Living Books’ started in 2015 never changed: to work towards the popularization of contemporary authors, young creative individuals, contemporary books, literary journals and magazines, and literature in general!

Today, ‘Living Books’ is already a part of the living history of Georgian contemporary literature. One of the outstanding projects among the wonderful projects done by Ketevan Dumbadze! You will easily find the Facebook page of this project. Thousands of pictures and videos attest to the fact that “All this really did take place”…

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da avtorebisTvis gaakeTa. aseTive nayofieri aRmoCnda mTargmnelebTan baCana CabraZesTan, irma SiolaSvilTan, dali iaSvilTan da sxvebTan muSaoba. erTi statia yvelafers verc daitevs, Torem saTqmeli bevria. pandemiis periodSi ki proeqtma daiwyo Tanamedrove avtorebis video-portretebis gadaReba da dRes ukve 120-ze meti mwerlis videofilmi Tu literaturuli saRamos Canaweria Cvens fondSi. Cvenive proeqtis wiaRSi Caisaxa „mwerlis Teatri“ idea. avtorebi sami wlis ganmavlobaSi marjaniSvilis akademiuri Teatris „sardafisa“ da „sxvenis“ scenebze waradgendnen TavianT mono-speqtaklebs „mwerlebi ugrimod“, xolo bolo ori welia TumaniSvilis kinomsaxiobTa Teatri maspinZlobs „cocxal wignebs“. imarTeba saintereso saRamoebi _ mwerlebis monospeqtaklebi, romlebsac aseve viwerT da videoebis saxiT vavrcelebT iuTubarxze „cocxali wignebi“, sadac atvirTulia mweralTa videofilmebis mTeli galerea.

ra Tqma unda, Teatraluri saRamoebic, videofilmebic, Sexvedrebi Tbilisis skolebSi da municipalitetebSi mogzaurobac, yvelaferi ufinansdeba mwerlebs proeqtis biujetiT, romelsac srulad afinansebs saqarTvelos kulturis, sportisa da axalgazrdobis saministro. „cocxali wignebi“ ukve 8 welia muSaobs, mravalmxrivia misi saqmianoba. am wlebis ganmavlobaSi icvleboda saministros saxelebi, struqturebi, logoebi magram ar icvleboda „cocxali wignebis“, 2015 wels amuSavebuli proeqtis arsi _ popularizacia gasweodaT Tanamedrove avtorebs, axalgazrda Semoqmedebs, Tanamedrove wignebs, literaturul periodikas da literaturas! „cocxali wignebi“ dRes ukve qarTuli Tanamedrove literaturis cocxali istoriaa. qeTevan dumbaZis proeqtebs Soris erT-erTi gamorCeuli proeqti! feisbuqze am proeqtis gverdsac iolad miakvlevT. aTasobiT foto da video imis dasturia, rom „es yvelaferi namdvilad iyo“...

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VAKHTANG SHATBERASHVILI

vaxtang SatberaSvili

cis natexi da koxis qva SKY SHARD AND HAIL STONE ocdameerTe saukuneSi, miuxedavad kacobriobis zvavis efeqtiseburi teqnologiuri ganviTarebisa, mravali iseTi pasuxgaucemeli kiTxva rCeba, cnobismoyvare adamians rom aiZulebs, sakuTar fantazias mimarTos da ase upasuxos am „auxsnel~ sakiTxebs. kacobriobis arcTu xangrZlivi istoriis ganmavlobaSi, uamravi iseTi ramaa Seqmnili, rom Cveni Tanamedroveebis Tvalsawieridan xSirad SeuZlebelia imis gageba, aTaswleulebis win, „Zveli, CamorCenili, ganuviTarebeli“ adamianis xeliT, msoflios

In the 21st century, despite humanity’s colossal technological advancements, there remain many unanswered questions that force curious individuals to summon their own fantasy and provide an answer to these unexplainable phenomena. In humanity’s relatively short period of existence, there are numerous creations that raise questions from our contemporary perspective, mainly as to how thousands of years ago, with their “ancient, obsolete, undeveloped” human hands, most difficult constructions in terms of engineering or refined artifacts were being created in various

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sxvadasxva kuTxeSi rogor iqmneboda urTulesi sainJinro konstruqciebi, Tu daxvewili artefaqtebi (Sors rom ar wavideT, egviptis piramidebis gaxsenebac sakmarisia). aseTi, „fantaziuri“ midgomis produqtia is, rom uZvelesi civilizaciebis SemorCenili nimuSebi, zogierTis azriT, adamianis ki ara, sxva arsebebis (ucxoplanetelebisa Tu RvTaebebis) naxelavi unda iyoso. warsulis adamianebis SesaZleblobebisadmi skeptikuri damokidebuleba kacobriobas mTeli istoriis ganmavlobaSi mosdevda, radgan Zneli iyo imis gaazreba, rom xandaxan, `Zvelebma“ raRac-raRaca „axlebze“ ukeT icodnen. arada, yvelaferi maSin daiwyo, rodesac pirvelyofilma adamianma qvis natexi aiRo da iaraRad gamoiyena. Semdeg, asi aTaswleulebis ganmavlobaSi, mecnierebis mier paleoliTad wodebul, kacobriobis arsebobis yvelaze adreul da xangrZliv epoqaSi, adamianma TandaTan iswavla martivi, qvisagan uxeSad gamoTlili iaraRis _ xelculis damzadeba da misi sanadirod, sabrZolod, cxovelebisagan Tavdasacavad Tu sameurneo daniSnulebiT gamoyeneba. qvis damuSavebis teqnika aTaswleulebis ganmavlobaSi viTardeboda, Cndeboda axali, sxvadasxva daniSnulebis sameurneo da sanadiro iaraRi _ wvetanebi, saxokebi, safxekebi, saWrelebi, isrispirebi da sxv. iaraRi keTdeboda ufro advilad dasamuSavebeli masalisaganac _ xisa da Zvlisagan. daaxloebiT 10 aTasi wlis win kacobriobis istoriaSi didi cvlilebebi daiwyo, romelsac neoliTur revolucias uwodeben: adamianma mesaqonleobasa da miwaTmoqmedebas mihyo xeli. qvisagan iaraRis damzadebis axali teqnologiebi ganviTarda da daxvewili formis funqciurad mravalferovani iaraRi gaCnda. brinjaos xanaSi, rodesac adamianma liTonis damuSaveba daiwyo, iaraRis dasamzadeblad qvis masalis gamoyeneba uZvelesi tradiciis inerciiT gagrZelda. adrebrinjaos

parts of our planet (the Egyptian pyramids would be enough as an example).

This kind of imaginative approach can lead some individuals to think that the relics left by ancient civilizations haven’t been made by humans, but rather by other beings (aliens or deities).

A skeptical outlook on the capabilities of our ancestors is a feature common to the whole history of humanity, as it was difficult to admit that sometimes, the “old” knew some things better than the “new”.

Nevertheless, everything started when early humans took a stone flake and used it as a tool. Afterwards, for hundreds of thousands of years, in the oldest and longest epoch of humanity’s existence, known scientifically as the Paleolithic, humans have gradually learned to prepare simple, roughly hewn weapons from stone – hand axes, and to use them for hunting, battle, defense from animals, or agriculture.

The technique of working on stone was developing, and new agricultural and hunting tools of various purposes were appearing – points, side-scrapers, end-scrapers, cutting tools, аrrowheads and others. Other tools were also prepared more easily with wood and bone.

About ten thousand years ago, great changes known as the Neolithic Revolution began in our species: humans started domesticating cattle and delving into agriculture. New technologies for preparing tools from stone were developed, and tools of various functions and refined shapes appeared.

During the Bronze Age, when humans started working on metal,

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xaniT daTariRebul arqeologiur Zeglebze mikvleulia qvis gaxexili da gaprialebuli, savaraudod saritualo daniSnulebis culispirebi, obsidianisa da kaJis daxvewili isrispirebi da sxv. daaxloebiT meore aTaswleulis Suaxanebidan qvis iaraRs aRar amzadebdnen da mas mxolod xelsafqvavebis, dolabebis, sxva sameurneo xelsawyoebisaTvis dasamzadeblad da samSeneblo Tu saxelovnebo miznebisaTvisRa iyenebdnen. antikuri xanidan, rodesac qvis iaraRis damzadebis tradicia ukve srul daviwyebas mieca, sxvadasxva sameurneo samuSaoebis dros, adamiani xSirad awydeboda ucnaur nivTebs, romelTa warmomavlobas igi ver xsnida.

Zlieri wvimisa an wyaldidobisas, niadagis gamorecxvis Sedegad, xSirad aTaswleulebis win miwiT dafaruli nagebobebi, samarxebi da nivTebi gamomzeurdeba xolme. liTonis nivTebi, Tixis WurWeli da sxva msgavsi nakeTobebi aRmomCenebisaTvis ucxo ar iyo da TiTqos maT povnas didi gakvirveba ar unda gamoewvia, magram adamiani amasac uZebnida Tavisebur axsnas: maTi Seqmna RvTaebebs,

the use of stone material in tool preparation remained through the force of inertia. In archaeological monuments dating from the Early Bronze Age, scientists have found stone axe heads that were brushed and polished and were probably used for a ritual function, as well as obsidian, flint arrowheads and others. Approximately from the second half of the 2nd millennium, stone weapons weren’t prepared anymore, and only used for the preparation of quern stones or other agricultural tools and for construction or art works.

From antique times, after the use of stones in the preparation of weapons was completely halted, when doing various jobs in the field, humans have often encountered strange objects, the use of which they couldn’t explain.

During heavy rains or floods, as a result of the ground being washed out by water, some millennia-old monuments, graves, or artifacts can often come to the surface. Metal tools, terra cotta kitchenware, and other such objects were not unfamiliar to humans, and therefore, discovering them shouldn’t provoke great surprise, but even for those, they would find their own explanation for them: they would have been created by deities, demons, giants, dwarfs, or

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demonebs, gigantebs, jujebsa da sxvebs miewereboda. aseTi warmodgenebi mTel msoflioSi iyo gavrcelebuli da gamonaklisi arc saqarTveloa: uzarmazari qvebiT nageb, brinjaos xanis ciklopur nagebobebs CvenSi „gmirTnakveTs“ (gigantebis naSenebs) uwodebdnen. vaxuSti bagrationi erT aseT nagebobas ase aRwerda: „didrovaniTa lodiTa Seni, romeli kacTagan ara SesaZlebel ars misi qmna“. miTumetes ucnaurad gamoiyureboda neoliTis droindeli iaraRi _ daxvewili formis, gaxexili da gaprialebuli, xSirad gansakuTrebuli qanebisgan da mineralebisgan (obsidiani, nefriti, steatiti, aqati, kaJi da sxva) damzadebuli isrispirebi da culebi, romlebic mTeli evraziis teritoriaze Cndeboda. am iaraRs bevrgan „Weqa-quxilis isrebis da culebis Tu zeciuri qvebis“ saxeli daerqva, radgan maTi gamoCena Zlier avdarsa da Weqa-quxils emTxveoda. Suasaukuneebis xalxuri warmodgeniT, romelic meCvidmete saukuneSia Cawerili, Weqa-quxilisa da Zlieri wvimis Semdeg zecidan qvis iaraRi cviva, romlis aRmoCena maSinve SeuZlebelia, radgan Rrmad Cadis miwaSi da 7 wlis Semdeg zedapirze amodis. radgan Weqa-quxilis qvebi cidan Camocvenilad iTvleboda, RvTaebebs ukavSirdeboda, amitom maT saswaulmoqmedi Zala miewereboda. uZvelesi religiebis Tanaxmad, mexTamtyorcneli RvTaebebi iyvnen xeTebis Taru, berZnuli zevsi, romaelTa iupiteri, arielebis indra, qarTuli vobi, germanuli Tori, slavebis peruni da sxv.

Weqa-quxilis qvebs magiasa da medicinaSic iyenebdnen. aseT nivTad iTvleba steatitis dana egviptidan, romelic Zv. w. VII _ VI saukuneebSi dasakrZalavi ritualis xelmZRvanels, vinme sams ekuTvnoda. etruskul oqros samkaulze gvxvdeba amuletebad gamoyenebuli qvis neoliTuri isrispirebi; berZnebi da romaelebi qvis culebs nagebobebis avi Tvalisagan dasacavad iyenebdnen; cnobilia neoliTuri culi, romelzec romaul xanaSi lomisa da arwivis gamosaxulebebia amokawruli. aseTi magaliTebis moyvana usasrulod SeiZleba gagrZeldes. sainteresoa pirveli-meore saukunis saxelganTqmuli romaeli mwerlis svetoniusis cnoba, romlis mixedviT kantabrielebis qveyanaSi mexi daeca da am adgilze qvis

some other species. This kind of interpretation was spread all over the world, and Georgia is no exception: here, the cyclopean monuments built in gigantic stones and dating back to the Bronze Age are called “giant’s doings”. Vakhushti Bagrationi described these monuments in the following way: “Ancient stone blocks that are impossible to have been created by man”.

Because thunderstorm stones were thought to be coming from the sky, they were associated with deities, and therefore, they were also thought to have magical powers. According to ancient religions, thunder gods were the Hittites’ Tarhunna, the Greek Zeus, the Roman Jupiter, the Aryan Indra, the Georgian Vobi, the German Thor, the Slav Perun, and others.

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People would use thunderstorm stones for magical and medical purposes too. A steatite knife from Egypt, dated VII-VI centuries BC and belonging to some “Sam” who was the head of funerary rituals, falls into this category. We see stone arrowheads from the Neolithic used as amulets on Etruscan gold jewelry; the Greeks and Romans used stone axes to defend monuments against the evil eye; there is a famous Neolithic axe on which the symbols of a lion and eagle were added during the Roman period. We could go forever with examples like these. There is an interesting note by 1st-2nd century renowned Roman writer Svetonius, according to whom twelve stone axes were found after thunder struck Cantabria, which pointed to a supreme power.

In 839 and 885, Japanese chroniclers described a shore crowded with stone tools after a heavy rain. The same kind of thing is reported in a Chinese encyclopedia of 1662. The Xth-XIth Persian scientist Avicenna (Ibn Sina) was underlining the healing properties of such stones.

Tormeti culi ipoves, rac uzenaes Zalaze miuTiTebso. iaponelma mematianeebma 839 da 885 wlebSi aRweres Zlieri wvimis Sedegad qvis iaraRiT mofenili sanapiro, aseTive suraTia aRwerili 1662 wlis Cinur enciklopediaSic. meaTe-meTerTmete saukunis sparsi mecnieri avicena (ibn sina) aseTi qvebis samkurnalo Tvisebebze amaxvilebda yuradRebas. evropul SuasaukuneebSi qristianulma eklesiam warmarTuli RvTaebebi demonebad gamoacxada, xalxur rwmena-warmodgenaSi Weqa-quxilis Zveli RvTaebebis Tayvaniscemamac TandaTanobiT transformireba ganicada da maT droTa ganmavlobaSi wmindanebi an demonebi Caenacvlnen.

Sua saukuneebis zogierTi RvTismetyveli „Weqa-quxilis qvebs“ aRiqvamda rogorc iaraRs, romlebic „zecaSi omis“ dros angelozebi iyenebdnen satanisa da misi laSqris winaaRmdeg. cnobilia, rom 1081 wels, bizantiis imperatorma aleqsi komnenosma germanel imperator hainrix meoTxes gaugzavna saCuqrebi, romelTa Soris oqroSi Casmuli „zeciuri culic“ iyo. ase Semkuli neoliTuri culebi da isrispirebi mTeli evropidanaa

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cnobili. meTormete saukuneSi renis episkoposma ganacxada, rom „Weqa-quxilis qvebi“ RvTiuri daniSnulebis saSualebaa brZolaSi gamarjvebis, zRvaze usafrTxoebis, aseve Weqa-quxilisa da cudi sizmrebisgan Tavis dasacavad. meCvidmete saukuneSi, safrangeTis elCma verdenis mTavarepiskoposs saCuqrad miarTva qvis culi, romelic misi janmrTelobis sawindari unda yofiliyo. radgan am qvebis magiuri Tvisebebi warmarTuli tradiciebidan iRebda saTaves, gvianSuasaukuneebis marTlmadidebluri eklesia maT RvTisgan saZulvel nivTebad moixseniebda da acxadebda, rom miuxedavad imisa, rom maTi daxmarebiT sneulebisagan gankurnebac kia SesaZlebeli, igi mainc uwmindurisaganaa movlenili da maTi momxmarebeli wariwymidebao. axali drois xalxur tradiciaSi jer kidev SemorCenili iyo Weqa-quxilis qvebis Tayvaniscema: skandinaviaSi miaCndaT, rom isini ojaxs boroti Zalisagan icavdnen da Sesawiris saxiT luds asxamdnen da karaqiT poxavdnen. italiaSi, avadmyofobisa da avi Tvalisgan dasacavad bavSvebs maT kiserze hkidebdnen; SotlandiaSi kaJis isrispirebs elfebisa feriebis moRvaweobas ukavSirebdnen; safrangeTis alpebis mosaxleobis azriT maT cxvris faris dacva SeeZloT; safrangeTis barSi ki mSobiarobis Semsubuqebis Zalas miawerdnen. birmaSi maT iyeneben apendicitis samkurnalod, xolo iaponiaSi wylulisa da muclis Seberilobisas. slavebs miaCndaT, rom maTi saSualebiT ikurneboda meWeWebi, vnebis kviris ganmavlobaSi ki maTi daxmarebiT ganZis povna SeiZleboda. uZvelesi qarTuli warmarTuli panTeonis erT-erTi mniSvnelovani RvTaeba, ivane javaxiSvilisa da eqvTime TayaiSvilis kvlevebis mixedviT, iyo amindis gamgebeli

During the European Middle Ages, the Christian church declared pagan deities to be demonic, which led to the gradual transformation of thunder deities in people’s faith and imagination into saints or demons.

Some medieval theologians considered “thunderstorm stones” to be weapons used by angels during the “war in the heavens” against Satan and his army. In 1081, emperor Alexios Komnenos of Byzantium sent presents to German emperor Heinrich IV, among which was a “heavenly axe” put in gold. Neolithic axes and arrowheads decorated like that have been found all over Europe.

In the 12th century, the Bishop of Rennes declared that “thunderstorm stones” were divine weapons that guaranteed victory in battle, safety on the sea, as well as protection from thunderstorms and bad dreams. In the 17th century, a French ambassador brought the Archbishop of Verdun a stone axe with the aim of guaranteeing his health.

Because the magic properties of these stones were coming from pagan traditions, the late Middle Ages orthodox church was referring to them as impure objects, declaring that despite the fact that they could help cure illnesses, they were still of unholy origin and the souls of those using them would be lost.

The worship of thunderstorm stones still existed in more recent folk traditions: in Scandinavia, they considered that the stones were protecting families from evil forces, and they would pour beer and spread butter on them as offerings. In Italy, they would hang them around children’s necks to protect them from illness and the evil eye. In Scotland, flint arrowheads were connected to elves and fairies. In the French Alps, they believed that the stones could protect sheep herds, and in the plains, they believed that they could provide assistance in the process of childbirth. In Burma, they used them to heal appendicitis, while in Japan, it was thought to relieve ulcers and bloating. Slavs believed that

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vobi. mas mogvianebiT Caenacvla elia da lazare, xevsureTSi ki setyvisa da ca-Rrublis gamgeblad pirimze miaCndaT. rogorc zemoT vTqviT, amindis gamge RvTaebebs, mTel msoflioSi miewereboda saswaulmoqmedi qvebis gamoCena da saqarTveloSiac aseve unda yofiliyo. qarTul werilobiT wyaroebSi da zepirmetyvelebaSi amis Sesaxeb mxolod iribi miniSnebebia SemorCenili. saqarTvelos teritoriaze mcxovrebi adamianebi paleoliTis xanidan iaraRis dasamzadeblad iyenebdnen vulkanuri warmoSobis obsidians. am mineralis Zveli qarTuli saxeli _ cis-natexi, cis natexara, cis natexa _ sulxan-sabas leqsikonSia SemorCenili da ganmartebulia, rogorc qva Savi, Wiqis msgavsi. dasaxelebidan Cans, rom obsidiani qarTvelTaTvis zeciuri warmoSobis qvad ganixileboda. sayuradReboa arqeologiuri monacemebic: obsidianis, rogorc msxverplSesawiri iaraRis gamoyeneba dadasturebulia brinjaos xanis samarxebSi, sadac Sewiruli cxovelebis yelis midamoebSi aRmoCenilia obsidianisagan damzadebuli danebi (am droisaTvis qvis iaraRs sabrZolo Tu sxva daniSnulebisaTvis aRar iyenebdnen da rogorc Cans, mas saritualo funqciebiRa hqonda SemorCenili). saqarTveloSi aRmoCenilia brinjaos xanis Tixis sasmisebi, romelTa Zirze obsidianis natexia Casmuli. SesaZloa warmovidginoT, rom siTxis miRebisas, WurWlis daclisas adamians zemoT unda aexeda da gamWvirvale obsidianidan cisaTvis unda Seexeda. dasavleT saqarTveloSi setyvas koxs eZaxian da mis asacileblad saweso dReoba _ koxinjroba aRiniSneboda. amave dros, koxs meore mniSvnelobac aqvs: puris salewi iaraRis, kevris Zirze damagrebul magar, cecxlgamZle qvas koxis qva ewodeba. aqac, qvisa da meteorologiuri movlenebis saxelis ubralo damTxvevasTan ar unda gvqondes saqme.

they could heal warts and help find treasures during the Holy Week.

According to the studies done by Ivane Javakhishvili and Ekvtime Takaishvili, one of the most important deities in the ancient Georgian pagan pantheon was Vobi, who had control over the weather. Later, he would be replaced by Elia and Lazarus, as for the Khevsurs, their hail and sky deity was Pirimze.

As we have written above, the appearance of miracle-making stones was attributed to weather deities all over the world, and thus it should have been the case in Georgia too. In written and oral Georgian sources, unfortunately, there remains only indirect accounts about this subject.

The people living on the territory of Georgia have been using obsidian (a volcanic gas) to prepare tools since the Paleolithic period. This mineral’s old Georgian name (tsis natekhi – sky shard) is referenced in Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani’s dictionary as a black stone similar to glass. From this name, one can see that Georgians considered obsidian to be of diving origin.

Archaeological findings are also worth noting: the use of obsidian as a sacrificial weapon has been confirmed in bronze age graves, where knives made of obsidian have been found in the area of sacrificed animals’ throats (at that time, stone tools were not used as weapons anymore, and it seems that it only kept its function as a ritual tool). Clay drinking recipients from the Bronze Age period were discovered in Georgia, on the bases of which were obsidian chips. One could imagine that when drinking liquids and emptying the recipient, drinkers had to look above and observe the sky through the transparent obsidian.

In western Georgia, they call hail (kokhi), and there was a special day (kokhindzhoba) celebrated in order to avoid it. At the same time, the word “kokhi” also referred to the strong, fire-resistant stone put at the base of threshing boards. Here too, it shouldn’t be a simple coincidence that the name of the stone and the meteorological occurrence are the same.

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