კულტურა პლუს 3 (21)

3 (21) 2020 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 patara samSoblo

2

A SMALL HOMELAND

mxatvrobis fufuneba, anu Sesveneba...

4

THE LUXURY OF PAINTING

dagordnen gayinul mamulzed mamais naxvevi xinklebi...

20

DOWN THE FROZEN LAND ROLLED THE DUMPLINGS THAT FATHER HAD MADE...

`cidan Camoesma reka~

28

METAL MELTED INTO PRAYERS

wignis klubiT moniWebuli bedniereba

40

HAPPINESS PRODUCED BY THE BOOK CLUB

sinaTle didi dedis fanjridan

48

LIGHT FROM MOTHER’S LARGE WINDOW

mimarTva qarTuli emigraciisadmi

66

ADDRESS TO THE GEORGIAN EMIGRATION

kadrs miRma

72

BEYOND THE FRAME

rigoleto igebs jekpots

80

RIGOLETTO WINS THE JACKPOT

griver farulava

92

GRIVER PARULAVA

saredaqcio jgufi EDITORIAL STAFF xaTuna kereseliZe KHATUNA KERESELIDZE aleqsandre ServaSiZe ALEKSANDRE SHERVASHIDZE ekaterine CulaSvili EKATERINE CHULASHVILI ioseb feiqriSvili IOSEB PEIKRISHVILI revaz iukuriZe REVAZ IUKURIDZE

dizaineri DESIGNER nikoloz bagrationi NIKOLOZ BAGRATIONI

el-fosta: kulturaplusm@gmail.com facebook.com/kulturaplusm beWdva: Sps „sezani“ / Print: LTD Cezanne

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

ISSN 2346-8165

garekanze: qeTi davlianiZe _ „wisqvili da Sapito“ Cover: Keti Davlianidze – 'Mill and tent'

3 (21) 2020

geronti qiqoZe

T

patara samSoblo

amamad SeiZleba iTqvas, rom dRes yovel TviTcnobier mamuliSvilSi solomon lioniZis suli feTqs da gancalkevebuli arsebobis azrs dRes saqarTveloSi meti gavlena aqvs, vidre odesme hqonia. dRes erovnuli Tavisuflebis ideas iseTive stiqionuri Zala aqvs, rogorc XIX saukunis dasawyisSi demokratiul ideas hqonda da Tanamedrove Zlevamosili sardlebi xSirad iZulebuli arian qedi moixaron uflebaayrili erebis winaSe, rogorc napoleon pirvelma asi wlis winaT sankiulotebis winaSe moixara qedi. marTalia, patara samSoblos bevri ram aklia dRevandel pirobebSi: qonebrivi morWmuloba, mravalricxovani spa, mWreli maxvili Tavis dasacavad, magram samagierod mas zogierTi maRalxarisxovani zneobrivi Tvisebebi aqvs. patriotuli grZnoba Cveulebriv, patara xalxSi ufro cxovelia, vidre didSi. es, albaT, imiT aixsneba, rom siyvarulis sagani yovelTvis axlobeli da xelSesaxebi unda iyos, didi saxelmwifoebi ki xSirad usazRvro da Tvaluwvdeneli teritoriis saxes Rebuloben. aseT teritoriaze patriotizmis adgils imperializmi iWers, samoqalaqo Segnebis adgils _ qveSevrdomis Segneba. TiToeuli moqalaqis Wiri da lxini naklebad aris dakavSirebuli saerTo lxinTan da WirTan da didi saxelmwifo sxeulis erTi aso xSirad wyluldeba da nadgurdeba ise, rom meore aso verc ki grZnobs safrTxis moaxloebas. zogierTi didi imperia ufro xelovnurad Sekowiwebul manqanas waagavs, vidre organul arsebas da xSirad erTi patara mavTulis gawyvetaa sakmarisi, rom mTeli uzarmazari meqanizmi daiSalos. piriqiT, rarig cxovelmyofelia patara samSoblo. mamuliSvili ar ikargeba usazRvro da upirovno masaSi. Temis Wir-varami misi Wir-varamic aris, erovnuli saqmeebi mis sakuTar saqmeebSia gadaxlarTuli. mtris Semoseva safrTxes uqadis mis saxl-karsa da col-Svils, samSoblos gamarjveba keTildReobas hpirdeba mis arsebobas. samSoblo mas mets sTxovs da mets hpirdeba. es garemoeba yovel adamianur niWs amoZravebs da uxvad asazrdoebs adamianur Taosnobas da Semoqmedebas. amiT aixsneba, rom patara qveynis mefeebi xSirad ufro didi adamianebi arian, vidre didi qveynis moqalaqeebi da patara erebi xSirad geniosobisa da TviTmoqmedebis saswauls aaSkaraveben. aTenma perikle, sokrate da platoni warmoSva, roca is oci aTas moqalaqes Seicavda da didi sparseTis mefe daamarcxa erovnul brZolaSi. qalaqma romma ramdenime Taobis ganmavlobaSi mTeli xmelTaSua zRvis auzi daipyro. patara florenciam italiuri aRorZinebis niadagi Seqmna da xelovnebis saukeTeso yvavilebi warmoSva. patara veneciam ramdenjerme osmalebi, bizantielebi, dalmacielebi da ungrelebi ukuaqcia, konstantinopoli, peloponesi, kviprosi da kritosi daimorCila da Savi zRvidan CrdiloeTis zRvamde msoflio aReb-micemoba gaaCaRa. Cvens patara samSoblosac hqonia didi wuTebi. mis mxedrebs Zlevamosili sulTanebi daumarcxebia, mis ostatebs gmirTnakveTi taZrebi augia. amitom aris, rom drouli bedSavoba guls ar utexs da misi Tvalebi ase imedianad icqirebian momavlisaken. cxovrebis brZolaSi ar arsebobs dasasvenebeli pauzebi. gansakuTrebulad qarTveli xalxis darajebs ara aqvT ufleba Tvali daxuWon, imitom, rom saqarTvelo yovelTvis alyaSemortymul cixes warmoadgenda da dResac aseT cixes warmoadgens.

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2 (20) 2020

Geronti Kikodze

I

A small homeland

t could be straightforwardly stated that today every true patriot shares the spirit of Solomon Lionidze, and the idea of independent existence has become much more predominant in our time than it has ever been before.

Today, the idea of national freedom has the same overwhelming power as the idea of democracy had at the beginning of the XIX century. And contemporary, almighty commanders-in-chief are often obliged to take their hats off before the oppressed nations, just as Napoleon I did one hundred years ago when he bowed down before the sansquilottes.

It is true that, under the present circumstances, a small homeland lacks many things, such as the possession of wealth, a numerous army, a sharp sword to defend the country, but it does enjoy a number of high moral features.

Patriotic feelings are usually more ardent in a small nation than in a large one. This can probably be explained by the fact that the object of love should always be close and tangible, whereas large states often acquire the shape of an infinite, boundless and immense area. On such territories patriotism is replaced by imperialism and civil consciousness by the consciousness of a subordinate. In a huge state the joys and sorrows of every citizen are to a much lesser degree bound up with common joys and sorrows and very often if one part of the body of a large state becomes sore and is consequently destroyed, its second part cannot even feel the jeopardy of the approaching threat. Certain big empires resemble an artificially concocted machine rather than an organic creature and merely breaking a small wire frequently becomes sufficient to make this huge mechanism collapse.

A small homeland is quite the contrary - it is life-giving and vivifying. A patriot does not get lost in a boundless and featureless mass. Misfortunes of the community are his misfortunes as well and national affairs become intertwined with his own activities. The aggression of an enemy puts his family and household at risk, whereas victory gained by his homeland promises well-being to his existence. This circumstance drives human talent and amply nourishes human undertakings and creative endeavour. Perhaps this is the reason that the kings of a small country often turn out to be greater personalities than the citizens of a large country, whereas small nations frequently manifest the miracle of genius and initiative.

Athens gave birth to Pericles, Socrates and Plato when there were twenty thousand citizens living there who defeated a great Persian king in a national struggle. In the course of several generations, the city of Rome conquered the entire Mediterranean Basin. Small Florence laid the foundation for the Italian Renaissance and created the best masterpieces of art. Several times little Venice put to flight the Ottomans, the Byzantines, the Dalmatians and the Hungarians, overrode Constantinople, Peloponness, Cyprus and Crete and expanded worldwide trade from the Black Sea to the North Sea. Our small homeland has also experienced its moments of greatness. Its warriors have defeated mighty sultans and its craftsmen have erected grand monuments. That is why temporary misfortunes cannot make it lose heart and, therefore, it faces the future with ever hopeful eyes.

In the struggle for life there are no intervals for relaxation. The guardians of the Georgian people, in particular, have no right to shut their eyes because Georgia has always been a fortress under siege and it remains as such today.

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3 (21) 2020

mxatvrobis fufuneba, anu Sesveneba... „amitom viyide isev saRebavebis yuTi da feradi fanqrebi...“ „patara princi“ antuan de sent ekziuperi

mxatvroba misTvis profesia ki ara, cxovrebis wesia... wesi, romelsac Tavisi “SemoqmedebiTi uwesrigobiT”, siamovnebiT da xalisiT emorCileba. rogorc xelovani, mudmivad icvleba. emocia, siaxle, mravalferovneba, eqsperimenti esaa misi stilic, xelwerac. roca mas usmen, xvdebi rom aucilebeli araa asteroid B612-ze daibado, raTa iseT samyaroSi moxvde, sadac warmosaxvas sxva Zala aqvs. daibada da gaizarda mecnierebis, mxatvrebis, moqandakeebis garemocvaSi. Sesabamisad, xelovnebis samyaro misTvis cxovrebis Tanamgzavri iyo. am ambidan daviwyeT qeTi davlianiZesTan saubari saxelosnoSi, sadac yvela kuTxe-kunWulidan misi dasrulebuli da dausrulebeli naxatebi gviyurebdnen da gvismendnen.

THE LUXURY OF PAINTING “It is for that purpose, again, that I have bought a box of paints and some pencils.”

‘The Little Prince’, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

To her, painting is not a profession, but a way of life… A way of life that she follows with her creative disorderliness and utmost enthusiasm. As an artist, she constantly changes. Emotions, novelties, diversity, experiments – this is her style.

When you listen to her, you understand that you don’t need to be born on asteroid B612 to live in a world where imagination has more power than we know.

She was born and raised among scientists, painters, and sculptors. Accordingly, art has been her life’s travelling companion.

We started our conversation with Keti Davlianidze from this perspective. We were in her studio, in which her finished and unfinished paintings were looking to and listening at us from all around the room. Each of them is so alive that if you touch them, you will feel their pulse, and if you listen carefully, you might even hear them breathing…

Jangbadis burTebi, 150X120, tilo, akrili OXYGEN BALLS, 150X120, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

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2 (20) 2020

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3 (21) 2020

yvela maTgani imdenad cocxalia, xeli rom Seaxo, pulsaciasac SeigrZnob da Tu smenas daZabav, sunTqvasac gaigoneb... _ bavSvobidan vxatav. momwonda da mainteresebda kinos samyaro. amitom, Cavabare Tbilisis samxatvro akademiaSi kinos mxatvris specialobiT. vswavlobdi dimitri TayaiSvilis klasSi. Semdeg dazguri grafikis fakultetze Seviswavle oforti, liTografia, lino-graviura. teqnikuri nawilis arcodna mxatvrisTvis naklia, magram arc teqnikam unda gagitacos zedmetad... _ ferweraSi muSaoba dRes fufunebaao... _ asea, magram, minimaluridan maqsimumi unda gamoiyvano da piriqiT, SeiZleba bevri saRebavic gqondes, didi

I’ve been painting since childhood. I always liked and was interested by cinema. Therefore, I studied cinematography under Dimitri Takaishvili at the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts. Afterwards, at the Easel Graphics Faculty, I learned etching, lithography, linocut.

Not knowing technique is a shortcoming for an artist, but technique shouldn’t take too much importance either…

– They say that it is a luxury to paint today...

– That’s true, but you also have to achieve as much as possible from as little as possible, you might have a lot of paint, a large studio, but no inspiration. Paintings do not need expensive paint, they need to be injected with the artist’s soul.

– I remember that Avto Varazi wrote that when painters aren’t agitated by anything and empty inside, they start looking

da me levitacia, 300X320, tilo, akrili

ME AND LEVITATION, 300X320, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

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2 (20) 2020

babuawvera, 60X50, tilo, akrili

saxelosnoc, magram iyo muzebis gareSe. naxats Zvirfasi saRebaviT datvirTva ki ara, sulis STaberva unda. _ avTo varazis Canawerebidan maxsovs _ roca mxatvars araferi aRelvebs da Sinaganad dacarielebulia, igi mayureblamde Zlieri zemoqmedebis surviliT iwyebs, garegnuli `xrikebis~ Ziebaso. Seni azriT, Sinaganad carielma adamianma, Tundac „xrikebiT“, SeiZleba rame Rirebuli Seqmnas? _ ar vici, rTulia. adamians, xelovans cxovrebis ganmavlobaSi krizisuli periodic SeiZleba daudges. amas imedgacrueba, omebi, arahumanuri zegavlena iwvevs. pirovnuli Ziebis procesebi, tragedia, imis SegrZneba, rom raRacas veRar Secvli. dacarielebidan gamosasvlelad saWiroa muxti, romelic damokidebulia adamianis Sinagan bunebaze, ramdenad SeiZleba masSi gaiRviZos interesma da siyvarulma. muxti yvelaferSia, gaaCnia romel sixSires virCevT.

DANDELION, 60X50. ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

for external, visual tricks to leave the spectator with strong impressions. According to you, can someone who is empty inside create a valuable work of art, be it through the use of tricks?

– I don’t know, it’s difficult. People, artists can undergo periods of crisis in their lives. This occurs due to disillusionment, wars, or something from above. Personal research processes, tragedies, the feeling that you cannot change anything. In order to get out of this process of getting empty, one needs a source of energy, which depends on people’s nature, on the extent to which it is possible for interest and love to wake up in them. This energy can be found in anything, it depends on which wavelength we choose.

What are we loyal about?! We meet inner crises and emptiness with the same love and new life energy. It is important to get children interested in the world around them as soon as possible. The closest someone is to nature, the sooner they overcome fear and transform it into love, in loyalty towards oneself, the sooner they will fill their

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3 (21) 2020

risi erTguli vrCebiT?! Sinagan kriziss da sicarieles isev siyvaruliT da axali sicocxliT vupirispirdebiT. mniSvnelovania pataraobidanve davainteresoT bavSvebi samyaros mimarT. rac ufro axlosaa adamiani bunebasTan, rac ufro swrafad daZlevs SiSs da gadaitans mas siyvarulSi, sakuTari Tavis erTgulebaSi, miT ufro male aivseba da ar gamoifiteba. sityva „dacarielebuls“ _ `zedapiruliT~ Sevcvlidi. gzebi sxvadasxvagvaria miznis misaRwevad, iqacaa ganStoebebi. efeqti bevrnairad SeiZleba moaxdino. gaaCnia arCevans da TviTgamoxatvas. _ Tu patara ufliswulis cxovrebiseul gakveTilebs mivyvebiT, gvemaxsovreba, rom mizani gegmis gareSe, mxolod survilia...

kibe, 70X70, tilo, akrili

emptiness and not get exhausted. Actually, I would change the word “emptied” by “superficial”. There are different ways to reach one’s goal, and different ramifications in those ways too. You can produce an effect in many ways. It depends on the choice you make and the means of self-expression.

– If we follow the life lessons taught by the Little Prince, we will remember that “a goal without a plan is just a wish”…

– I was loyal to painting, I like discipline, planning, and then messing up the plan. I am a regular human being, I value and am grateful for each second. Artists are very important for the country.

It is a necessity for people to always, constantly be receiving spiritual “food”. At the same time, we also need to stay in the physical world, which is important for happiness.

LADDER, 70X70, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

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2 (20) 2020

Sokoladi naRebiT, 120X220, tilo, akrili

CHOCOLATE WITH CREAM, 120X220, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

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3 (21) 2020

siyvaruli zRvispiras, 50X70, tilo, akrili

_ me vuerTgule xatvas, miyvars disciplina, dagegmva da mere am yvelafris areva. Cveulebrivi adamiani var, madlieri da vafaseb yovel wams. qveynisTvis xelovani Zalian mniSvnelovania. aucilebelia adamianebma sul, ganuwyvetliv miiRon sulieri sazrdo. amave dros, saWiroa paralelurad davrCeT materiaSi, rac bednierebisTvis mniSvnelovania. _ amboben, mxatvris da zogadad Semoqmedis cxovrebaSi raRac unda moxdes tragikuli da amis mere iwyeba ganaxleba... ra dros aRmoaCen xolme, rom SenSi ufro meti mxatvaria, vidre Tavad Sen? _ me bavSvobidan mxatvari var. Cemi didi ojaxidan me, deda da elene davrCiT. elene 17 wlisaa da zustad

LOVE AT THE SEASHORE, 50X70, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

– They say that something tragic must happen in the lives of painters and artists in general, and that it is after this occurrence that a new period begins… When do you usually notice that there are more painters in you than yourself alone?

– I’ve been a painter since childhood. From my large family, only myself, my mother, and Elene are left. Elene is 17 years old, and she’s exactly like the child I would have dreamed of. She’s the one to whom I usually ask her opinion. The most important is to come to terms with oneself – to work daily, to think, to have the wish to improve professionally. I think that laziness is the precondition of everything negative. I don’t mean the case of Natsarkekia [‘Ash-raker’, famous Georgian tale], because he wasn’t lazy to think. This is also “visual tricks”, laziness is no good, especially when one is thinking.

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2 (20) 2020

lurji ocneba, 25X30, tilo, akrili

BLUE DREAM, 25X30, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

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3 (21) 2020

iseTia, rogor Svilzec vocnebobdi. azrs ZiriTadad mas vekiTxebi. pirovnuli amocanaa yvelaze mniSvnelovani _ yoveldRiuri Sroma, fiqri, profesionalizmis amaRlebis survili. vfiqrob, sizarmace yvelaferi uaryofiTis sawindaria. nacarqeqias SemTxvevas ar vgulisxmob, mas fiqri namdvilad ar ezareboda. esec „garegnuli xrikebia“, sizarmace ar varga, gansakuTrebiT, azrovnebis dros. _ rogorc patara ufliswuli ambobs _ megobris daviwyeba Zalian cudia. yvelas ara hyavs megobari da Tu me igi daviviwye, maSin im didebs davemsgavsebi, romlebsac cifrebis garda aRaraferi ainteresebT... _ zustad asea, es didebisTvis `sazepiro zRaparia~.

CemTvis megobroba Zalian-Zalian mniSvnelovania da nebismieri Cemi gamofena, pirvel rigSi, megobrebiT iZens xolme dResaswaulis iers. am saxelosnoSic megobrebis mxardaWeriT var dRes. xom xedavT, Cvens pirdapir CarCoebis salonia da galerea „vere“ _ megobrebis garemocvaSi var da... zogadad, megobroba dResaswaulia.

– As the Little Prince said – “To forget a friend is sad. Not everyone has had a friend. And if I forget him, I may become like the grown-ups who are no longer interested in anything but figures…”

– It’s exactly like that, every adult should know this story by heart.

To me, friendship is very, very important, and it is mainly thanks to my friends if any of my exhibitions becomes a celebration. It is also thanks to the support of some friends that I am in this studio today.

Right in front of us, you might have noticed the gallery ‘Vere’ – I am surrounded by friends, and... in general, friendship is a celebration.

– Do you feel sadness when one of your paintings sold ?

– Paintings have their own paths. There are so many things to be sad about in this world… I don’t feel sad when my paintings change owners. This probably shapes the character too. My paintings aren’t hanging at my home either. Because I’m always changing. For instance, this painting doesn’t satisfy me anymore. I cannot wait to see it find its owner. Each of them is waiting for its owner, whom I don’t know yet, but for whom I have painted that work. I don’t like to be extravagant, if I did, I could have told you very interesting stories…

alaznis veli, 50X60, tilo, akrili

ALAZANI VALLEY, 50X60, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

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2 (20) 2020

yviTeli neironebi, 60X90, tilo, akrili

YELLOW NEURONS, 60X90, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

– Do you have a painting from which you could not separate?

– I kept only one painting at home, following my father’s wish; it’s an etching I have done during my student years, a mill, from which I could not and won’t separate. It’s like my business card. Elene and my mother love my paintings, and they are sad when I sell them.

_ guliswyveta gaqvs, roca naxati iyideba? _ naxatebi TavianT gzebze dadian. imdeni ramea cxovrebaSi guldasawyveti... naxatis gasxvisebisas amgvari emocia ar meufleba. albaT, esec xasiaTs Zerwavs. Cemi naxatebi saxlSic ar mikidia. imitom rom, sul vicvlebi. magaliTad es namuSevari ukve ar makmayofilebs. erTi suli maqvs, rodis gavuSveb Tavis gzaze. yvela maTgani elodeba zustad im mflobels, visac jer arc vicnob da misTvis davxate. epataJuri rameebi ar miyvars, Torem marTla saintereso ambebs mogiyvebodiT...

– Tonino Guerra said that “optimism is the scent of life”.

– I try to be optimistic. It is very important. For instance, I sometimes say that I have a house in Abkhazia, in Gulripshi. Recently,

_ gaqvs naxati romelsac ar da ver Seelevi? _ mamaCemis TxovniT saxlSi davtove erTaderTi naxati _ studentobis droindeli „oforti“, wisqvili, romelsac arc da verc Sevelevi. Cemi savizito baraTiviTaa. elenes da dedas uyvarT Cemi naxatebi da guli wydebaT roca vyidi. _ tonino gueras aqvs naTqvami _ optimizmi, upirvelesad, cxovrebis surneliao!. _ vcdilob, viyo optimisti. es Zalian mniSvnelovania. magaliTad, vambob xolme, rom maqvs saxli afxazeTSi, gulrifSSi. amaswinaT afxazeTis davxate, gamofenac mqonda, rac meamayeba. didi monatrebis da am Temis popularizaciis mizniT, gamofenis paralelurad, meliqiSvilisa da rusTavelis gamzirze daigegma ferweruli tiloebis „gaseirneba“. es frTxilad dagegmili aqti iyo, romelic

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Satili, 100X80, tilo, akrili

SHATILI, 100X80, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

3 (21) 2020

soxumi, 400X350, tilo, akrili

SOKHUMI, 400X350, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

ganxorcielda quCaSi gamvlelebis monawileobiT. maTma nawilma ver amoicno afxazeTis peizaJebi. msvleloba gadaviReT, gakeTda samwuTiani dokumenturi filmi, romlis mizania, ar davrCeT gulgrilni da SevaxsenoT Cvens Tavs is, rac yvelaze mZimea _ aunazRaurebeli adamianuri danakargi. kidev erTxel da xSirad gavixsenoT peizaJebi, romlis naxvis uflebac dRes samwuxarod ar gvaqvs. rom sul gvaxsovdes is, rac ar unda daviviwyoT... _ imedgacrueba mxatvrobisgan ar gqonia?. aRar davxatav! _ gqonda es momenti? _ ara, arasodes, ubralod, Tu fizikurad Zalian gadaviRale, visveneb. xatva rom gavaprotesto, maSin Cemi Tavic unda uarvyo. me ki asakis matebasTan erTad met harmonias vgrZnob Tavs sakuTar TavTan. _ yvela naxatSi raRac ambavs yvebi... _ siuJetebi kinos gamoa, albaT. radgan kinos mxatvroba mindoda, ufro raRac ferweruli grafika gamomdis an grafikuli ferwera... Cemi fantaziiT, Tundac _ yofiTi kompoziciebi, figurebi... yvela naxatSi raRac samyaroa. bevrisTvisaa nacnobi, misaRebi da saintereso. mnaxveli unda monawileobdes Cemi naxatis siuJetis gacocxlebaSi, amocnobaSi da dasrulebaSi. mxatvari Tavis simboloebs qmnis.

gagrifSis saaTi, 100X160, tilo, akrili GAGRIPSHI'S CLOCK, 100X160, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

_ SenTvis es am etapze wamyvani wertilebi da xazebia... simboloebi cvalebadia? Seni azriT, xelweriT gcnobs xalxi? _ xelweriT cnoba, SeiZleba vinmesTvis mniSvnelovania, magram me sakuTari TavisTvis aseTi davaleba ar mimicia. meubnebian rom

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2 (20) 2020

sul sxvadasxvanairad vxatav. vTvli, rom asec unda iyos.

Cven, adamianebi xom yoveldRiurad vicvlebiT, viZerwebiT, ukeTesebi vxdebiT naxatebic asea... mgonia rom, mxatvars stili, mimdinareoba da xelwera zRudavs. es Cemi xazebi mogagonebT laqebs romelic SegxvdebaT mSeneblobaze, quCaSi kedlebze yvelgan naxavT SemTxveviT msgavs wertilebs... babuawverebs, sxva mcenareebs, Jangbadis burTulebs, neironebis formiT... es yvelaferi Zalian momwons. neironebis meSveobiT inaxeba garkveuli drois ganmavlobaSi informacia da saWiro dros, moTxovnis Sesabamisad gamoiyeneba. indielebi am punqtirebiT, wveTebiT xatavdnen qviSaze.

Semdeg, amerikaSi jeqson polaki mimarTavda am xerxs da sxva bevr mxatvarsac ucdia. es CamoRvenTili saRebavis teqnika CemTvis aqtualuria. matricaSi rogorc aris daaxloebiT isea CemTvis es xazebi _ monacemTa baza, svetebsa da striqonebSia moTavsebuli da maTi elementebi qmnis kompoziciis mTlianobas. vxatav qalaqebs, romlebic mikrosqemebs gavs. eleqtronuli samyaro, cifruli teqnika gaxda

navi, 60X50, tilo, akrili

I painted Abkhazia, I even had an exhibition of these paintings, I am quite proud of that. Because I really miss it and with the aim of popularizing this subject, a “walking tour” of paintings was organized in parallel to the exhibition on the Melikishvili and Rustaveli avenues. This was a carefully planned act that was carried out with the participation of passers-by. Part of them couldn’t recognize Abkhazian landscapes. We filmed that walk and made a three-minute documentary film out of it, with the objective of not being indifferent and of reminding ourselves our heaviest burden – unrecoverable human losses. Of reminding us once more the landscapes that unfortunately, we are currently forbidden to see. Of always remembering what we should never forget…

– Were you ever disappointed by the government? Did you ever decide that you wouldn’t paint because of it?

– No, never, it’s just that if I am very tired physically, I rest. For me to protest painting, I should negate myself. And I feel more and more in harmony with myself as the years go by.

– You tell a story in each of your paintings…

– The subjects probably come from cinema. Because I wanted

BOAT, 60X50, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

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3 (21) 2020

raWa, 100X70, tilo, akrili

RACHA, 100X70, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

to be an art director in cinema, I am good at pictorial graphics or graphical paintings… at least in my fantasy, there is some world in every painting, be it in simple compositions or figures. Many know them, accept them, and deem them interesting. Spectators should participate in bringing my paintings to life, in guessing their meaning and finishing them. Painters create their own symbols.

Tanamedroveobis mniSvnelovani, ganuyofeli nawili, isini TiTqos, radiosignalebi, gadacemis sixSireebia da siyvaruls, sikeTes gadascemen. es erTi mTlianobaa...

Cems naxatebSi xSiradaa siyvarulis, Caxutebis Tema, amitomac, energetikulad Tbili namuSevrebi gamomdis.

Tavisuflad xatvis unari maqvs, amas mivyvebi da xelic momyveba. vfiqrob, mniSvnelovani iyo swavlis procesi da yovelTvis saintereso xalxis garemocva. myavda da myavs Zalian Zvirfasi megobrebi da pedagogebi. _ Sinagani cenzura Tu gaqvs? _ Cemi naxati iSviaTadaa sarkiseburi. yovelTvis vcdilob dadebiTi energia Cavdo. rogorc gamtari, ise var. muSaobis dros vicvlebi da sxva samyaroSi gadavdivar. yoveldRiuri cxovreba mniSvnelovania. ukve Semdeg, roca xatvas asruleb da „gamofxizldebi“, Sexedav da, xandaxan isic ar ggonia rom, Sen daxate! adamianebi varT... Cveni maxsovroba garesamyaros interpretaciisa da cxovrebiseuli dilemis dros, racionaluri gadawyvetilebis miRebis saSualebas gvaZlevs. rogorc

– Lines and points are important to you at this stage… Do these symbols change? And do you think that people can recognize your works thanks to distinctive features?

– Perhaps some people deem it important for their works to be recognizable, but I never thought that it should be a thing for me.

People tell me that I always paint differently. And I think that it’s the way it should be. Because humans change every day, we are sculpting ourselves, we develop, and the same goes with paintings…

I think that style, movement, and distinctive features limit painters.

These lines of mine are remindful of stains that one can find on buildings, you will notice such “points” everywhere on the walls in the streets… Dandelions, other plants, oxygen bubbles with the shape of neurons… I like all this a lot. It is thanks to neurons that information

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2 (20) 2020

is stored for a certain amount of time, and then, when it is necessary, that it is used.

Amerindians used to draw on sand with the same kind of points and lines. Then, Jason Pollock used this technique, and many other painters have tried it. This dripping paint technique is topical to me.

In my paintings, these lines are more or less like in ‘The Matrix’ – a database located in columns and lines, and their elements create the wholeness of the composition.

I paint cities that look like computer chips. The electronic and digital world have become an important, intrinsic part of our times, they are like radio waves, transmission frequencies that transmit love and kindness. It’s a whole…

My works often include love and hugging, and therefore, they often come out warm in atmosphere. I can paint freely, I follow my hand, and my hand follows me. I think that the studying process was important, as was the fact of always being surrounded by interesting people. I had and still have precious friends and teachers.

iciT, Semecneba is gamocdileba, romelic gansxvavdeba emociebTan dakavSirebuli gamocdilebisgan. Zalian miyvars miTologia. sainteresoa rom, mexsierebis qalRmerTi berZnul miTologiaSi mnemozinaa, romelsac xelovnebisa da mecnierebis cxra muzis dedas uwodeben. mexsiereba iTvleboda yvelaze Zvel da pativsacem gonebriv unarad, saidanac yvela sxva unari ganviTarda. _ mravalferovneba Seni stilia. eqsperimentebic gaxasiaTebs. naxatebis garda, bolo dros raze imuSave iseTze, ramac SemoqmedebiTi nayrovaneba moggvara? _ sastumro movxate, interieris dizaineri Cemi megobaria _ profesionali da Tamami. mec sruli Tavisufleba momca. Cemi „noe~ wiTel sarTulzea _ „kaci mxsneli“, romelic SiSvel gulebs dasdevs. ZiriTadad gamoviyene musikaluri notifikaciebi. erT Zvel ubanSi axla skolis fasadze vmuSaob, „amurebi~ davaxate, romlebic fanjrebidan iWyitebian. Cemi bavSvobis siyvarulis _ rafaelis angelozebis STagonebiT.

– Do you censor yourself?

noe, 60X80, tilo, akrili

NOAH, 60X80, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

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3 (21) 2020

– My paintings are rarely reflections of myself. I always try to put positive energy in them. I am like a conductor. When I work, I change and enter another world. Everyday life is important. After you finish painting and “wake up”, and you look at the painting, sometimes you cannot even believe that you are the one who painted it! We are humans… Our memory gives us the opportunity to make rational decisions when interpreting the outer world and when being faced with a difficult dilemma. As you know, cognition is an experience that differs from the experiences linked with emotion. I love mythology.

It is interesting that in Greek mythology, the goddess of memory is Mnemosyne, who is the mother of the nine muses of arts and sciences. Memory was considered the oldest and most honorable cognitive ability, from which all other abilities developed.

– Diversity is your style. You are also characterized by conducting a lot of experiments. Apart from paintings, what have you worked on lately that has quenched your creative thirst?

– I decorated a hotel. The interior designer is a friend of mine – a very professional and bold one. I was given complete freedom. My ‘Noah’ is on the red floor – a “savior” running after naked hearts. I am currently working on the façade of a school in an old neighborhood, I painted cupids that are looking out the window; I was inspired by my childhood love for Raphael’s angels.

It was interesting to work in Abanotubani [Bath district], where I decorated a floor with acrylic paint, making it look like an old Tushetian carpet.

During the pandemic, I recorded a series of entertaining videos for children. They are still on ‘YouTube’, in the form of ten-minute videos about art.

diyi, 200X90, tilo, akrili HOGWEED, 200X90, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

saintereso iyo muSaoba abanoTubanSi, sadac iataki movxate akriliT, Zvel TuSur fardags mivamsgavse. pandemiis dros gasarTobi videoebis seria Cavwere bavSvebisTvis. axlacaa ganTavsebuli „iuTubze“ aTwuTiani saxaliso Canawerebi xelovnebaze. oTaxSi gogo da galia, 40X30, tilo, akrili GIRL AND CAGE IN ROOM, 40X30, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

_ gamofenebi 1995 wlidan moyolebuli bevri iyo da

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2 (20) 2020

diriJabli, 150X120, tilo, akrili

gansxvavebuli. Seni namuSevrebi vaSingtonis, niu-iorkis, atlantas, barselonas, diuseldorfis, berlinis, moskovis, romis kerZo koleqciebSia... _ magram, yvelaze meti saqarTveloSia da es gansakuTrebiT maxarebs. ucxoeTSi SemoTavazebul gamofenebze zogjer uaric miTqvams. es swori ar iyo, magram yvelaferi erTad ar gamodis. Cemi misamarTiT xSirad msmenia: „qeTi, wadi sazRvargareT! aq ra ginda?“ me ki sul aq mindoda da aq minda! sazRvrebs miRma mqonia gamofenebic, magram, ZiriTadad, samogzaurod davdivar. mogzauroba Zalian miyvars. ar vapireb trabaxs, magram arc erTi ucxoeli ar darCenila gulgrili Cemi naxatebis mimarT, magram CemTvis mniSvnelovania qarTveli myidveli da me am energias, siTbos da siyvaruls Cems garemoSi vanawileb, ramdenadac gamomdis. vcdilob, yovelTvis yvelasTvis gamovnaxo dro. xatvas Cemi drois umetesi nawili miaqvs. dro uZvirfasesi ramaa arasdros myofnis, sul meti minda. adamianma unda SeZlo, es ganZi guliT, imavdroulad racionalurad gadaanawilo, Torem TvalisdaxamxamebaSi icvleba yvelaferi... esaubra ana obolaSvili

AIRSHIP, 150X120, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS

– There have been many different exhibitions since 1995. Your works can be found in private collections in Washington, New York, Atlanta, Barcelona, Dusseldorf, Berlin, Moscow, and Rome…

– But the large majority are in Georgia, and I am very happy about that. I sometimes even refused exhibitions abroad. It was not right, but you cannot do everything at once. People have told me many times: “Keti, go live abroad! What are you doing here?”. But I always wanted to be here, and still do! I also had exhibitions abroad, but I mostly go abroad to travel, I love traveling. I don’t want to brag, but foreigners weren’t indifferent to my paintings – but to me, the most important is the reaction of Georgian customers, and I try to disseminate this energy, warmth and love in my environment, as much as I can. I try to always find some time for everybody. But I still spend most of my time painting.

Time is priceless, and I never have enough time. One should be able to organize this treasure both according to one’s heart and rationally, because everything can change in an instant…

“As for me,” said the little prince to himself, “if I had fifty-three minutes to spend as I liked, I should walk at my leisure toward a spring of fresh water.”

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Interview by Ana Obolashvili

3 (21) 2020

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2 (20) 2020

gulqan razikaSvili da eTer TaTaraiZe...

dagordnen gayinul mamulzed mamais naxvevi xinklebi...

Down the frozen land rolled the dumplings that father had made...

Gulkan Razikashvili and Eter Tataraidze...

am qveynad adamiani cota xansaa, didi gzasavali samzeos Semdeg iwyeba. aravin meguleba cocxalTa Soris, visac saaqao cxovreba fiqrSi mainc sxvaze gaecvalos... gangeba vis ar Segaxvedrebs, ra Tavgadasavlebs aRar gamogatarebs, ramden dar-Rrublian sarkmels gagixsnis... am mxriv, ar merideba amis Tqma, iRblian adamianTa rigs vekuTvni: mSvelelad da megobrad rCeulT damamgzavrebs xolme... sxvas rom Tvalismokvra aqvs nanatri, iseTebTan wlobiT maaxloebs da sulis nawilebad gadamiqcevs... miTiviT msubuq saburvelian am ambavsac gangebam gadamyara, amis xmamaRla gacxadebisa axla aRar merideba. mokle samzeoze Semaxvedra da damamegobra vaJa-fSavelas SvilTan, gulqan razikaSvilTan. me masTan TveobiT viwerdi... vsaubrobdi, vekiTxebodi, veferebodi.

TiTqmis sami wlis manZilze aravin da aRaraferi maxsovda. Tval-guli Carglisken gamirboda. rogorc ki wasvlis saSveli gamiCndeboda gulanaCqari gavrbodi. bevri ram mqonda SesakiTxi. misgan monasmeni yoveli bgera zepirad vicodi... `men da mamasa erT kalapotSi gvidga fexebi da erTnairad davberdiTo~, _ miTxra saubris dasawyisSive... siTamamed meCvena misi sityvebi. bolos mivxvdi, rom iotistolac ar iyo mis TqmaSi naTamamar-nayalbevisa da is namdvili memkvidrea Tavisi ganumeorebeli mamisa. amas gulqanis gulidan amonaSuqi yvela bgera da winadadeba adasturebs. `mamaze amboben eTero, msoflioSi egeTi bunebis mgosani aravis xyavo~ _ eWvnarevi siamayiT gamendo erTxel... folkloristi gaxlavarT da ramdennair cxovrebagamovlil moxucs aRar gadavyrivar saqarTvelos mTa-barSi; rogori sulis simebs aRar Sevxebivar, magram pirvelad Sevxvdi adamians, romelic sikvdils dascinoda,

Fleeting are man’s days on earth. The great road starts thereafter.

Among the living there is scarcely anyone who would exchange this world for anything, even in one’s remotest thoughts. Destiny is such that we meet all sorts of people, encounter adventures, experience ups and downs...

In this respect, I count myself among the luckiest - befriended as I am by the chosen... If others often only dream of catching a glimpse of them, I have been fortunate to be bounded to many by years of friendship and each has become part of my soul.

It was the work of destinys, now I wouldn’t hesitate to say it aloud, that this story enveloped in a mythical shroud occured in my life.

In this temporary world I met and befriended her: the daughter of Vazha-Pshavela, Gulkan Razikashvili.

I wrote down her narratives for months, conversed with her, adored her... For three years she was constantly on my mind.

I felt my heart was drawn to Chargali and I gravitated there if only I had time.

I had so much to ask her, and my memory was so alive to every single sound uttered by her.

My father’s feet are in the same riverbed as mine. And we also traversed the years in the same way†, she told me from the very beginning.

To me her words had a touch of haughtiness at first, but then I understood there was no room for haughtiness or falsifiaction in them.

Gulkan was the rightful heiress of her incomparable father, attested by every sound and word streaming brilliantly out of her.

They say there is no other bard of nature in the world as my father, she confessed to me with a sense of doubt-inflected pride.

I am a student of folklore and in the hills and dales of Georgia have crossed paths with too many people advanced in their years. Their life-stories have been as diverse as the heart-strings I came to strike.

Meeting Gulkan, however, was something different. It was my first

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3 (21) 2020

arad agdebda. es gulqani iyo... `ar maSinebs sikvdilai araa... ai, sibere maSinebso~ _ miTxra. vaJas saxlSi daibada gulqani da misi wyalobiT vaJas vxedavT, misi sulis mimoxvras veswrebiT, maT WerqveS vxvdebiT aTasgvar rituals. im wes-Cveulebebs Soris, rasac gulqani ixsenebs, CemTvis ganumeorebelia axali weli CargalSi da gulqanis mekvleoba... gilocavT axali wlis SemobrZanebas Cemo Zvirad saRiralo qveyanav da usamanod sayvarelo xalxo... gTxovT, yvelam erTad gavixedoT vaJa-fSavelas karmidamosken da vnaxoT, ra xdeboda iq TiTqmis saukunis win am bednier dReebSi... mekvle ro movidoda, gamomcxvari iyo xarTgogai. meore kveri iyo kideva, mekvles karebSi ro miagebebdnen. mekvle samjer gamaagorebda keraTake. waRme Tu dadgeboda, ojaxs yvelaSi xeli emarTeboda im welsa,

encounter with one who held death in derision and could not care less.

I don’t dread the approach of death. It is old age of which I fear†, she said.

Gulkan was born in Vazha’s house. Thanks to her we see Vazha’s image, are admitted to the presence of his soul and attend myriad rituals.

Among the customs and rites, which Gulkan narrates, the memories of New Year in Chargali and her acting as first-footer seem particularly timeless.

Congratulations on the advent of New Year to you, my dearly cherished country and boundlessly beloved people.

Let us for a fraction of second look back to the homestead of Vazha Pshavela and see what was going on there a century back in those blissful days.

For the first-footer’s arrival a cake was baked Khartgoga. Another cake met the first-footer in the doorway. Three times the first-footer

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2 (20) 2020

- 23 -

3 (21) 2020

waRma wazdiodis saqme, samjer Tu dadgeboda waRme, Zaan gauxardeboda ojaxsa... baCanas vaJi, pavle iyvis Cveni mekvle. karga gvqondis imis kvali dacdili...

Taviseburad geniosebi iyvnen winandeli xalxi. nacars Sinjavdnen axal welsa: saqonlis Cliqi Tu etyoba, sawleulod Cveni saqonlis saqme kargad wavao. axal wels nacarSi Caicqirebodnen da mosavalsac iq Sinjavdnen... erTxel Zaluam miTxra: `modio, dahkvlie nacarSio~. mive da vnaxe _ marTla etyoboda Cliqis wveri... Semovidoda mekvle: `Semovdgi fexi, gwyalobdeT RmerTio, fexi Cemi, kvali angelozisio, mogcesT madl-baraqa naxnav-naTesSio, nayol-naqonSio, saqonSio~... axali wlis wina Rames litanias eZaxdnen. ehe-he-he!.. mama metyoda: _ aba, gulqano, Svilo, exla saRamoze focxaobaao, Txil-kakali unda momitanoT blomada, me gadmogiSliT da iluWikentaveTo. romenic ajobebT,

would roll it to the hearth. If the cake landed upright, things would go well that year. But if the cake landed upright three times, a wave of happiness would then flood the house...

Our first-footer was Bachana’s son, Pavle, and good luck his foot bore us...

Our grandparents had a stroke of genius: on New Year’s Day they would searchingly peer through the ashes: the sign of a hoof meant the cattle would thrive. The harvest too was read in these ashes...

Once my aunt told me: Come, see the ashes. I went and looked and there it was the tip of a hoof.... Then the first-footer would come and say: In with my foot and in with God’s blessing. May my foot be the footprint of an angel, may your fields flow with riches, as well as everything you grow and beget...

New Year’s Eve was called Litania.

Father would tell me: “Gulkan, my dear girl, this evening is time for a nut game. Bring me nuts and walnuts, as many as you can, I’ll spread them out for you and you’ll play. For the winner I’ll bake two fortune

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2 (20) 2020

- 25 -

3 (21) 2020

cakes. Then we’ll fill a bowl with honey and butter and start our meatdumplings. Dear girl, New Year is dawning, pray play the accordion and let the children dance”...

And, indeed, my father would scatter walnuts for the children...

The accordion...the accordion... overflowing as it was with music!..

“We do this so that joy and cheer will always be with you, dear girl”, he would say.

Then he would assemble us on the threshing floor, accordion in hand and dancing in full flow. Himself he had to write and dared not keep us in – we would have blown up the place!...

“Don’t use your fists today or you’ll quarrel all year”.

Our neighbours’ children kept flooding into our home, because of the accordion...

Thus I advanced through the years... cawing foolishly every now and then:

or bediskveras gamogicxobTo. Tafl-erboiani jamic movamzadoT da mere xinkals unda SeudgeT Sviloo, axali weliao. Cem motanili garmoni daukar da aTamaSe balRebio... gadmogviSalis mamama Txil-kakali balRebsa... garmoni... garmoni...ar damaklebda garmonsa!.. _ egao imitomao, Sviloo, ro sul lxini da mxiaruleba dagebedebaTo. gagvrekda kalozeda. xelSi garmoni da gaimarTeboda TamaSoba. Tavad saweri eqneboda da su aviRebdiT iqaurobasa, Sin ras gagvaCerebda!.. _ dRes erTmaneTs xeli ar dahkraT, Toro Cxubi dagebedebaTo. mezoblis balRebi su CvenTan maixvetebodnen, gulqans garmoni aqvo... su egre davberdi... vCxaodiT wara-ugonTa: Cvenis batonis karzeda xe alvad amosulao wverSi dasxmia yurZenio, saWmelad Samosulao, CamasCvevian qalebi, qalebi bagratisao...

In our master’s courtyard A tree sprang up into a poplar, Grapes blaze on its top branch Beckon women, Bagrat’s women Often they come to the poplar...

But more often I would sing... What did I like most?

ufro xSirad is vicodi... ra miyvarda? _ biWo, Sen gaxarebasao, ZaRlebs ar damaglejinoo. _ mainc ar gagaSvebineb, ro gglejden, pirSic eWiroo...

– God bless you, dear fellow, Don’t let dogs tear me to bits!

– Undo I won’t dog’s mouth, If be you therein...

kidev amas vmRerodiT axalwlis Ramesa qalebi: _ ra xar, ra daiarebi, laRo, ma laRis cxeniTao, Tavs rad ar Samaibruneb, yanas rad mamkev cremliTao. _ ais ar xara, qalao, guSin ro medidebodio, ise gagixdi saqmesao, nemss yunwad eegebodeo. virevi menaca, virevi...

And another song, which we sang on New Year’s night: – Full-hearted you are And astride a hearty roan you ride, Why don’t you throw me a glance Why should my eyes weep at fields!.

– Can that be you, dear maid, Who to me goddess did play, Beware, lest I have you

yidulaanT bzakais qalis (xoSia eqvivna, bzakas eZaxdnen) Svili ninai movidoda: `vaime, gogoo, Seni kvali davcadeT kargao, gadmaiarode dilasao~. mamaCemi arsad ara mgzavnida... `Cemo biZao, _ exvewa _ gamogzavne, Cemo lukao, emag qalais kvali davcadeT kargao...~ daicade, rogo gadaviare, imasac giambob. meore dilisTvi gamamzada mamama. erTi didi jami hqondis kaklisa, mxvivnurai, is gamivso xinkliTa. ar vici, TxuTmeti Cadioda... axla rogori xinkali icodis mamama! es pilpilio, es mwvanilio.

Wriggling through needle’s eye.

And blowing did my cool go...

Then Nina would come, daughter of Kidulaant Bzaka (his name was Khoshia actually, but he was called Bzaka): O’ girl, good your foot was as fine as gold to us. Do come round in the morning.

But father would send me nowhere...

My dear uncle she would beg him My dear Luca, pray let her come to our place, her foot was as fine as gold to us...

I’ll tell you about another trip as well.

My father equipped me with a walnut bowl for the next morning

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2 (20) 2020

poxili unda gadmodeniliyo... kamfetebic mamca, jibeebic gamivso, Rvinoc gamatana boTliTa... es mSiera mglisai, ra dReSi Camagdo imaT ZaRlma!.. saxlTavSi ro gadavCndi, dauwye Zaxili: `ninoo!~ gamamivarda ZaRli. jer Rviniani boTla vesrole. verc movartyi i boTla tiali!.. memre xinkliani jami vesrole. i mglis gasaglejma arc ki mixeda xinklebsa... dagordnen gayinul mamulzed mamais naxvevi xinklebi... su mglis SesaWmeli ZaRlebi hyvandis imaTa... gamovarda ninai: `vaime, dao, vaime, dao, xo ar mogwvdao?!~ ara, dao, arao, ras mamwvdeboda, xel-fexs viqnevdio... `didi gimatebia, didi gimatos RmerTma. axalma welma, axlis wlis gamocvlamao...~ vkocnidiT erTmaneTsa, ra vici, vmasxaraobdiT... gamivso bzakama xinkliTa mamais xvivnurai. wavedi Sina kai kvlis mekvlei...

– Mkhvivnura. He filled it with meat-dumplings fifteen of them.

Father’s dumplings were something else, juicy and full of pepper and greens. He filled my pockets with sweets too and gave me a bottle of wine...

Theirs was the dog from hell!

Approaching the homestead I cried out: Ninooo!

The dog ran at me in a frenzy. I threw the wine bottle first but missed the devilish mark. Then I flung the dumpling bowl. Accursed was the dog, did not care a damn for it... Down the frozen land rolled the dumplings that father had made...

Nina rushed out: “O sister, O sister, did it try to get you?”

Like hell it did, sister, I kept it shaking off...

May the Father of Lights bless your luck and the New Year give a boost to your life...

Then we would kiss each other and fool around...

Bzaka filled my father’s bowl with meat-dumplings. And I retraced my steps homeward.

I was a first-footer with feet of gold....

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3 (21) 2020

Jurnalis `kultura plus~ redaqcia kompozitors, mecniers, gamomgonebels, akustikoss da moazrovnes, xelovnebis damsaxurebul moRvawes baton nodar mamisaSvilis ulocavs 90 wlis iubiles!

`cidan Camoesma reka~ METAL MELTED INTO PRAYERS

saocar xmebs gamoscems zari, zogjer sulSi Camwvdoms, zogjer guls aforiaqebs... JReren, guguneben, wkrialeben da mainc idumalni arian, TiTqos, maTSi sulierebisa da yofierebis harmonia gamTlianebula. maTi Camosxmis wesic ki miTebiviT miswvdomia Tanamedroveobas.

Bells can produce unusual sounds: those striking the deepest chords in a heart and those penetrating through the recesses of a soul.

Pealing, tolling and clanging, they still can be mysterious, providing a harmonious combination of the real and the ethereal. The rules of their manufacture come as near mythical to the present generation.

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Italians used to offer up special singing prayers in order to avoid church bells cracking during casting and to make sure that they produced impressive sounds. According to Byzantines, the more uproarious their dance, the more thunderously a bell would ring.

Russians used to spread rumours long before the birth of a bell that its sound was as resonant as to reach well beyond tens of kilometres. Such early praise, they believed, would help a bell emerge sounding loud and free of cracks. Due to this tradition, bell became a descriptive word for those inclined to tell lies and invent unbelievable stories. Low-pitched bells assumed a new name: Bells of Rumours.

Georgians too had their own inspiring ritual of casting bells. They used to fill up mould-pits with wheat or barleycorn - symbols of abundance and fertility - thus trying to render those mould-pits just as rewarding and prolific. Then the mould-pits were packed with sand. To ‘ennoble’ boiling metal, three soul-soothing minerals were added, which bore cosmological qualities as well. Arsenopyrite was believed to radiate moonlight and energy; realgar was symbolic of cosmic illumination and daybreak and auripigment was likened to sunshine. Such cosmic awareness underlies perhaps this line of an

Turme italielebi specialur simRera-locvas asrulebdnen, rom Camosxmis dros saeklesio zari ar gabzaruliyo da kargi xmovaneba hqonoda. bizantielebis rwmeniT, ferxulis mZlavri xmovaneba `uzrunvelyofda~ Camosxmuli zaris Zlier JReradobas. ruseTSi winaswar avrcelebdnen Wors, TiTqos, zari ukve Camosxmuli iyo da misi xma aTeul kilometrebis miRmac vrceldeboda. rusebi fiqrobdnen, rom amgvarad gavrcelebuli qeba xels Seuwyobda xmovani zaris dabadebas bzaris gareSe. sainteresoa, rom am tipis ritualma ori yofiTi gamoTqmac Seqmna: Cumi xmovanebis zars Woris zars uwodebdnen da, Tu vinme sayofacxovrebo sakiTxebSi daujerebel ambebs an tyuilebs avrcelebda, masze ironiulad mianiSnebdnen _ zars hgavs da льет как колокол-o.

zaris Camosxmis saintereso rituali qarTvelebsac gvqonda. Camosasxmel ormoSi siuxvisa da baraqis simbolos _ xorbals an qers _ Cayridnen, rom marcvleulis madli ormosac moscxeboda, Semdeg, xorblis nacvlad _ yalibis saforme qviSas. mduRare liTons `marils~ moayridnen, risTvisac sulis damamSvidebel sam minerals xmarobdnen. am mineralebs kosmologiuri mniSvnelobac hqonda: arsenopiriti mTvaris naTebas da mis energias ganasaxierebda, realgari _ kosmosur naTebas da gariJraJs, xolo auripigmenti oqrosferi mzis naTebis simbolo iyo. albaT, am kosmiurma warmodgenebma ganapirobes xalxuri Tqma: `vaxtang mefe RmerTs uyvarda, cidan Camoesma reka~. ase rom, zari RvTiuri samyaros harmoniis nawiladac moiazreboda. rvalis (spilenZisa da kalis Senadnobi) Camosxmis rituals amTavrebda kidev erTi mistikuri moqmedeba:

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maradmwvane soWis patara xes fesvebianad iRebdnen da mduRare liTonis bolo moreva misi meSveobiT xdeboda. dRes bevrs SeiZleba amgvari ram uazrobad eCvenos, magram unda gvaxsovdes, rom simboloebi uazrobasa da xelovnurobaSi ar ibadebian. maTi gaCenis safuZveli adamianis fsiqikisa da samyaros Rrma codnas emyareboda.

CineTSi, egvipteSi, saqarTvelosa da, saerTod, bevr qveyanaSi mwvane feri maradiulobisa da siuxvis simbolo iyo. druidebis horoskopis mixedviTac, or ianvars soWiT bedobis dRe aRiniSneboda. saqarTveloSi ki maradmwvane soWi zaris mudmivobis simbolo gaxldaT. amgvarad, saeklesio zaris Camosxmis ritualSi erTiandeboda sami survili: 1. maradJams daereka zars mTeli samyaros erTian harmoniaSi; 2. marad miewvdina RvTiuri xma mrevlisaTvis da miexmo im gzaze, romelic uflis saxlisken, taZrisken midis; 3. `saxlo salxinod naSeno~ ar darCeniliyo baraqis gareSe, xolo xorcieli simSvide _ sulierebis gareSe, radgan `ara puriTa erTiTa~ ganizomeba azri sicocxlisa. zogjer amboben, zari zariao. qarTuli zari, berZnuli, rusuli, italiuri Tu sxva qveynebis zarebi... yvelani erTnairad gamoscemen xmaso. sinamdvileSi ki, zars imdeni saidumlo aqvs, rom erTi yalibiTac ki ori erTnairi

old Georgian verse: King Vakhtang was God’s chosen; bells rang for him from the sky. It appears a bell was thought to be part of divine harmony as well.

The melting of pewter (an alloy of tin and copper) was brought to completion through one mystical procedure: a small pine-tree would be uprooted and used for the final stirring of the boiling metal. Today this may seem absurd to many, but symbols are never born out of nonsense or artificialness. They derive their roots from the human psyche and an insightful knowledge of the universe.

The colour green used to be a symbol of eternity and plentitude in China, Egypt, Georgia and many other countries. According to the druid horoscope, the pine tree was at the centre of Fortune Day celebrations on January 2, while in Georgia it was believed to symbolize the permanence of a bell. Thus, the ritual of casting church bells was meant to offer a subtle blend of three desires: 1) to make a bell’s pealing eternal in the seamless harmony of the entire world; 2) to extend a heavenly voice to church folk and set them on the road leading to the house of our Lord and 3) not to banish fortune from a house built for rejoicing nor let calmness settle in a body where a soul has no presence, since not only in bread lies the meaning of life.

A bell is a bell - it is argued sometimes - and be it Georgian, Greek, Russian, Italian or of some other origin, the sounds it issues are

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ver Camoisxmeba da tonis simaRle an zaris wona ver ganapirobebs maT igiveobas. saeklesio zarebis saidumloebani saTaves iReben im warmodgenebidan, romlebic yofierebisa da mistikis samyaroSi ibadebian.

Zneli warmosadgenia, romelime eris yofierebaSi sityva zars imdeni mniSvneloba movuZebnoT, ramdenic qarTulSia: zari _ beReli, dawnuli sasiminde _ siuxvisa da baraqis simbolo; zari _ samgloviaro rituali, datireba, usityvo galoba; zari _ mwyobri, xalxi, gundi; zari _ oqro, oqroqsovili, oqromkerdi; zari _ rvali, spilenZisa da kalis Senadnobi, lini _ didi zari; zari _ elda, Tavzaris dacema; zari _ glova; zari _ mxiaruleba; zari _ yvirili, yiJina; zar-zeimi _ didi mxiaruleba; zareba _ dazareba; zarazini _ zarazoni _ JRaruna da a.

S. (es ganmartebebi qarTuli leqsikonebidanaa Sekrebili, kerZod, gamoyenebulia avTandil sixaruliZis qarTuli enis omonimTa leqsikoni, aleqsandre neimanis qarTul sinonimTa leqsikoni, niko CubinaSvilis leqsikoni da sulxan-saba orbelianis `sityvis kona~). qarTul zars funqciuri mniSvnelobis saxelebic aqvs, romelTa analogi msoflioSi ar moiZieba. yvelaze

always identical. But the truth on bells is that they are wrapped in mystery and no two bells are identical, even when cast from the same mould. Neither the weight of bells nor the pitch of their tone can be a determiner of their likeness.

The secrets of church bells originate from beliefs, which are born in both earthly and mystical worlds.

In no other language are bell meanings as numerous as in Georgian: Bell - garner, wicker granary - symbol of wealth and opulence; Bell - mourning ritual, lamentation, wordless hymn; Bell - line, people, team; Bell - gold, golden tissue, golden brocade; Bell - pewter (alloy of tin and copper); Bell - shock, striking terror; Bell - grieving; Bell - rejoicing; Bell - screaming, roaring; Bell - great jubilation; Bell - lazing about; Bell - rattle. (All these meanings were gleaned from Georgian dictionaries, namely, the Dictionary of Georgian Homonyms by Avtandil Sikharulidze, Dictionary of Georgian Synonyms by Alexander Nayman, Niko Chubinishvili’s Dictionary and Sulkhan Saba Orbeliani’s Bouquet of Words).

A Georgian bell has its functional names of which there is no analogy in the world. The smallest bell is called a Tone Bell and the biggest one - Mother Bell. The latter is uniquely important in the system of proportions, which is a peculiarly Georgian phenomenon and is not observed to exist anywhere else. Mother Bell displays a golden section ratio (varying from the most to the least). Mother Bell weighs 100 kilograms, the maximum weight range of its first child (second bell) is between 60-63 kg and the minimum weight range - between 40-43 kg. The variance between other bells is relatively small: 100 kg, 60 kg, 50 kg, 45 kg, 35 kg and 25 kg.

Acoustics-wise, the distance between the Mother Bell and the second bell is 900 cents and between other bells - 500-100 cents. Such measurement is typically Georgian and is based on a harmonious system of Georgian hymn tones.

European church bells are more uniform and are arranged in line with a major chord.

Also of interest is the Georgian form of a bell. In Greece (and in Byzantium as well), the shape of a bell was that of a helmet underlining the mightiness of the church. In Italy, a coneshaped bell with an arched apex embodied the human striving for ascension. In Germany, the diameter of a bell’s base was harmoniously

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patara zars tonis zars uwodebdnen, yvelaze dids ki _ dedo zars, magram dedo zaris mniSvneloba proporciaTa sistemaSi unikaluria, romlis gageba mxolod saqarTveloSi gvxvdeba. dedo zaris woniTi Sefardeba, daaxloebiT, oqros kveTis farglebSia (umetesidan umciresamde). mag: 100 kg. dedo zaris `pirveli Svili~ (anu meore zari) maqsimum 60-63 kg. farglebSia, minimumi 40-43 kg-ia. danarCen zarebs Soris gansxvaveba ukve SedarebiT mcirea, mag: 100 kg, 60 kg, 50 kg, 45 kg, 35 kg, 25 kg... dedo zarsa da meore zars Soris, akustikuri TvalsazrisiT, manZili 900 centia, danarCen zarebs Soris _ ki 500-dan 100 centamde. amgvari Sefardebebi mxolod qarTulia da igi qarTul samgaloblo tonTa harmoniuli sistemidan momdinareobs. evropuli samrekloebis zarebi erTgvarovania, isini maJoruli akordis principiT ewyobian. aseve sainteresoa zaris korpusis qarTuli gadawyveta. saberZneTSi (bizantiaSic) zaris garegnuli monaxazi muzarads waagavda. amiT eklesiis Zlierebis simbolo iyo xazgasmuli, italiaSi konusis forma SemaRlebulmomrgvalebuli gaxldaT, esec amaRlebisken adamianis ltolvas gvaxsenebda, germaniaSi zaris Ziris diametri

in proportion with its height, thus giving a feel of perfect balance.

Conical dynamism is a characteristic feature of the Russian bell. Its top is curvy and rounded and its base is like a wide-brimmed hat as if the sound it emits has to carry across the endlessly far-flung steppes.

Such shape of bells, in terms of the richness of their resonance, is particularly effective with gigantic proportions. This explains naturally the 30, 40 and 50-ton-weight of Russian church bells and over 204-ton-weight of the King’s bell. In eastern countries, bells sometimes had the roundness of the sun or were eclipse-shaped.

A Georgian bell is domical in shape, the uniqueness of which is threefold: 1) the dome of a bell matches comfortably with the dome of a church; 2) a dome is credited with excellent acoustical qualities sending off deep, soft and sonorous sounds; 3) vibrations generated by the movements of a dome demonstrate a deepness of timbre, cause a stir of good emotions, relieve nervous strains and imbue listeners with kindness.

There are different ways of making bells ring. In eastern countries bells are struck with a beam to produce a sound. In other countries there are special foot devices to set off bell ringing. In Orthodox Church towers a bell is brought into animation with the help of its clapper, which hits the sides and makes a sound. In Catholic churches, the same result is achieved by the movement of a bell body.

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korpusis simaRlis Sesabamisi iyo da harmoniul gawonasworebas ganasaxierebda. rusuli zari konusiseburi dinamizmiT gamoirCeva. misi wvero Serbilebuli da momrgvalebulia, Ziri ki farfliani qudiviT aqvs gaSlili, TiTqos, misi xma ukidegano stepebs unda gaswvdeso. aseTi forma, xmovanebis TvalsazrisiT, gansakuTrebiT efeqturia gigantur masStabebSi, amitom, sruliad bunebrivia, rom cnobili rusuli samreklo zarebi 30, 40, 50, xolo mefe zari 204 tonaze metsac iwonis. aRmosavleTis qveynebSi, zogan, SeWrili mzis simrgvalisa da SeWrili elifsis formis zarebic isxmeboda. qarTuli zari gumbaTiseburi formisaa. es gasaocari mignebaa sami TvalsazrisiT: 1. zaris gumbaTi taZris gumbaTTan SesaniSnav gadaZaxilSia; 2. gumbaTs SesaniSnavi akustikuri Tvisebebi aqvs, igi Rrma, rbil da wkriala xmas gamoscems; 3. gumbaTis korpusidan aRmocenebuli vibraciebi gamoirCevian tembruli simdidriT, msmenelSi iwveven dadebiT emociebs, xsnian nervul daZabulobas, unergaven sikeTis gancdas. zarebis rekva sxvadasxvagvarad xorcieldeba. aRmosavleTSi mors urtyamen, zogan fexis specialur sareks xmaroben, marTlmadidebelTa samrekloebSi zarebi liTonis eniT irekeba, kaTolikeTa samrekloebSi ki, nawili zarebisa, korpusis moZraobiT.

Traditionally, a Georgian bell has an iron clapper, which is based on an innermost understanding of metal - a clapper of ‘gentle’ iron clanging against a body of brittle bronze fills the air with a graceful sound.

The Georgian bell restored by us echoes every underlying aspect of Georgian metal melting. As Catholicos Patriarch of All Georgia, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II noted, life never remains static and it sets fresh challenges to humankind. The challenge we faced was three-faceted: to restore the tradition of providing an indispensable basis, to seek a new element in the bell’s sonorous system and to link it into the harmony of Georgian hymnody. The latter necessitates a combination of nine bells since the Georgian hymnal system consists of nine tones.

Searching for a new element threw open other new secrets of acoustics as well. The first secret lies in determining the weight. By our account, the Mother Bell would sound most beautifully if its weight was to vary from 8250 kg to 8500 kg. The famous German acoustician Herr Shultz, who is a consummate master of casting bells in Europe, suggested manufacturing a 6000-kilogram bell, which, in his belief, would produce the same sound for less cost. We categorically rejected this suggestion and asked him to leave our calculations as they were. And when the Georgian Mother Bell rang out in Heilbronn, Herr Schultz willingly admitted the soundness of our insistence on the weight. He said our calculations had translated

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qarTuli tradiciiT, qarTul zars ena rkinisa aqvs da aq liTonis SesaniSnavi codnaa gamoyenebuli _ brinjaos myife korpusze `rbili~ rkina lamaz xmovanebas gamoscems.

Cven mier aRdgenil qarTul zarSi qarTuli liTonis Camosxmis wesis yvela Zireuli Tavisebureba gaviTvaliswineT. rogorc sruliad saqarTvelos patriarqma, uwmindesma da unetaresma ilia II-m brZana, cxovreba erT adgilze ar aris gayinuli da igi adamianebis winaSe axal moTxovnebsac ayenebs. amgvarad, Cven winaSe sami tipis amocana dadga: tradiciis aRdgena, rac aucilebel baziss warmoadgenda, zaris xmovanebis sferoSi axlis Zieba da misi dakavSireba qarTul samgaloblo harmoniasTan. es ukanaskneli ki 9 zaris kompozicias moiTxovs, radgan qarTuli samgaloblo harmoniuli sistema 9 tonisagan Sedgeba. axlis ZiebaSi zaris akustikas axali saidumloebanic aRmoaCnda. winamdebare werilSi mxolod sam saintereso magaliTze SevCerdebiT: pirveli saidumlo korpusis formis da sididis Sefardebaa wonasTan, Cveni angariSiT, dedo zari lamazi xmovanebiT iJRerebda, Tu

into the sound of incredible beauty indeed. Another joy was to see the fondness of German workmen for this bell. Treating it as a human they even wished the bell goodbye before it left for Georgia.

The secret of bell weight is that when too light it makes a tinny sound or something of an irritating and high-pitched quality. But when too heavy, it rings in a subdued tone like that produced when striking a rail. There is a ‘gold weight’ of a kind hidden somewhere in the structure of a bell or the metal from which it is made. And only a bell of such weight can deliver a beautiful song. But it takes intuition, insight and God’s will to get your hands on it. A clue to the second secret is the clapper. Its size, weight, form and position inside a bell combine to provide richness of sonority. The third secret is to seek hymn-like tones in the chanting of a bell. The array of bells in a bell tower is also responsible for their noble sounding.

Any fault in this array, may taint the harmony.

Fortunately, Holy Trinity Church bells are arranged perfectly in line with the principle of acoustical consonance. Most importantly, the set of tones in this church is such as to allow the emergence of

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xmovanebaSi galobis mimsgavsebuli bgerebis Ziebaa. zarebis keTilSobil xmovanebaze gavlenas axdens maTi samrekloSi ganlagebac. zarebis gadaZaxilis darRvevam SeiZleba falSic ki warmoSvas. sabednierod, wminda samebis mSvenier samrekloSi zarebi srulyofilad aris ganlagebuli da, rac mTavaria, zarebis xmovanebaTa TanmimdevrobiT Seiqmna gansxvavebuli kompoziciebi. isini SeiZleba aJRerdnen yoveli locvisaTvis da saeklesio dResaswaulebisTvis, rogorc musikaluri nawarmoebebi.

Cven mier qarTul akustikur sistemaSi gaTvlili zarebi Camoisxa germaniis qalaq hailbronSi (wminda samebis sakaTedro taZris samreklo) da cnobili moqandakis _ gia jafariZis saxelosnoSi (saqarTvelos sxvadasxva eklesiebSi). amboben, zarebis Camosxma yovelTvis raRac mniSvnelovans ukavSirdeba adamianTa yofierebaSio. ase iyo baton giasTan Camosxmuli zarebis SemTxvevaSic. pirveli sami zaris kompozicia aJRerda saburTalos panTeonSi, saqarTvelos mTlianobisTvis mebrZol vaJkacTa sulis mosaxsenieblad. meore, xuTi zaris kompozicia _ bodbeSi, wminda ninos taZris samrekloSi da mesame, cxra zaris kompozicia _ wminda samebis sakaTedro taZris samrekloSi, romelTa rezonansi da tonTa sixSire kompozitor nodar mamisaSvilis akustikuri sistemiTaa gaTvlili da Camosxmulia hailbronSi (germania). pirvelad msoflioSi: a) zarebi Camosxmulia `qristianuli akustikis~ misi wona 8250 kg-dan 8500 kg-mde iqneboda. cnobilma germanelma akustikosma, her Sulcma, romelic evropaSi zarebis Camosxmis didostatia, gvirCia, rom igive xmovaneba 6000 kg. zaris korpusidanac miiReboda da misi damzadeba ufro iafic dajdeboda. Cven kategoriulad uarvyaviT es winadadeba da vTxoveT, rom Cveneuli gamoTvla ar Seesworebina. roca hailbronSi qarTulma dedo zarma dareka, her Sulcma gviTxra _ axla mivxvdi, ratom gindodaT am wonis zaris Camosxma, Tqveni gamoTvliT ulamazesi tembris xmovaneba miviReTo. sasixarulo iyo isic, rom germanel muSebsac Zalian uyvardaT es zari da saqarTveloSi gamogzavnis win, rogorc adamians, ise gamoeTxovnen. zaris wonis saidumlo imaSi mdgomareobs, rom msubuqs cota Tunuqis xma dahyveba an zedmetad mWaxe. `zedmetad~ mZime ki yru xmovanebisaa da relsze dartymis xmis asociacias badebs. korpuss, liTonsa da simZimes Soris `oqros wonaa~ dafaruli, mxolod is JRers lamazad, magram mis povnas intuicia, codna da RvTis neba sWirdeba. meore saidumlo zaris enaa. misi sidide, wona, forma, is, Tu ra manZilzea dakiduli Sida korpusSi, xmovanebis silamazesac ganapirobebs. mesame saidumlo zaris

principiT _ dabali mZimdeba, TiTqos miwas exmianeba da adamianis rwmenas simyariT avsebs da maRali msubuqdeba, TiTqos liTonic, xmovanebasTan erTad, iltvis sivrcisken, cisken; b) zarebi awyobilia samgaloblo harmoniaSi; g) RvTis sadidebeli ganefineba zarebis kompoziciaSi; d) qarTuli galobis cxrabgeriani wyoba gadatanilia cxra zaris bgeraTa TanafardobaSi da aRdgenilia: a) qarTuli `marTlmadidebluri zaris~ tonTa wyoba da rezonansi; b) liTonis Semadgenlobis `mistikuri~ receptura; g) qarTuli galobis `saeklesio~ sada kanonika; d) cxra zaris funqciuri mniSvnelobebis gamoyofa. da kidev erTi detalis Sesaxeb. am zarebs amSvenebs jvrebi, warwerebi, dekoratiuli morTulobaSemkulobani, magram es ar aris Cveulebrivi dizaini. zarebi reken da jvris madli, sityvis Zala efineba garemos, mrevls. ismen zarebis rekvas da fiqrob _ ufalo, Seni madli nu moeSalos saqarTvelos. dae, samrekloSi amRerebulma soWis maradmwvane nergidan gadmosulma maradiulobam daifaros JamTa mrisxanebisgan Cveni qveyana.

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varying ensembles through a successive ringing of bells. They may be performed at every prayer as well as during church festivals.

The bells, which we adjusted to the Georgian acoustical system, were cast in Heilbronn (for the Bell Tower of the Holy Trinity Cathedral Church) and in the studio of the famous sculptor Gia Japaridze (bells for various Georgian churches).

It is believed that bells are cast to mark a special occasion in life.

The same is true for bells worked in Gia Japaridze’s studio. A set of the first three bells came to chime in the Saburtalo pantheon to commemorate the soldiers fallen for the integrity of Georgia.

Another five bells rang out at St. Nino’s church in Bodbe. A nine-bell composition at Holy Trinity Cathedral, which was cast in Heilbronn, Germany, owes its resonance and tone frequency to composer Nodar Mamisashvili’s acoustical calculations. It is a first for the world: a) bells designed according to the principle of ‘Christian Acoustics’ (low-sounding bells tend to be heavy, as if echoing with the earth and lending its firmness to human faith. In contrast, the weight of high-tone bells is relatively light, symbolizing sublime elevation

into the sky), b) bells arranged in a hymnal harmony, c) paean to God offered up to the accomplishment of bells and d) a nine-sound structure of Georgian hymns in absolute ratio with a nine-tone system of bells.

In evidence is the restoration of: a) tone system and resonance of the Georgian ‘orthodox bell’, b) mystic recipe for metal making, c) pure and simple canonics of Georgian hymns and d) differentiation of functional meanings of nine bells. *** And one more detail; these bells are overlaid with crosses, inscriptions, decorative ornaments and adornments. But they somehow differ from ordinary designs. The bells continue to ring and the grace of the cross and the power of the word seem to envelop the area and permeate people. Their pealing begets a prayer: May the Almighty bestow His blessing on Georgia. May eternity pouring from the evergreen pine-tree singing in the bell-tower save our country from the remorselessness of time.

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wignis klubiT moniWebuli bedniereba HAPPINESS PRODUCED BY THE BOOK CLUB

wignis originalSi kiTxvis kultura aseTi fraza erTi SexedviT ucnaurad JRers, Tumca saocari fenomenia, romelic saSualebas gaZlevs avtoriseuli xedva sakuTari interpretaciiT gaaanalizo. roca originalSi vkiTxulob, am dros, ufro vuRrmavdebi da iolad varkvev, ra igulisxmeba konkretul, Tundac CemTvis ucxo sityvasa da winadadebaSi. Tavis mxriv, amas damatebiTi sargebelic moaqvs _ enas ukeT vecnobi, viReb axal codnas metaforebis, epiTetebis, sxvadasxva gamonaTqvamis meSveobiT. aris kidev erTi detali _ kulturaTaSorisi sxvaobiT realobis aRqmis Tavisebureba, romelic gexmareba gaigo rogor azrovneben, rogor weren gansxvavebuli kulturuli mentalobisa da tradiciebis mqone pirovnebebi. mokled, mravalmxriv sasargeblo da nayofieria am midgomis kulturad danergva da gaTaviseba.

Tavad kultura, farTo gagebiT, SemoqmedebiTi procesia, romelic samyarosadmi universalur damokidebulebas giyalibebs sakuTari Tavisa da `axali samyaros~ aRmosaCenad. es gacilebiT saintereso sxvadasxva Janris literaturis gacnobisas xdeba. „roca raimes wavikiTxav, iqneba es nawarmoebi mTlianad Tu erTi patara epiTeti an Sedareba, vimeoreb, Tu marTla kargi da Rirebulia, maSin marcxena xelze majidan idayvamde aucileblad damburZglavs...“ (g. doCanaSvili, „kaci, romelsac literatura uyvarda“). da gana marto wakiTxvaa mniSvnelovani?! masze dafiqrebac unda SegeZlos _ gamaxsenda esec, radgan...

The culture of reading books in their original language.

At first, this kind of sentence could seem strange, but it represents the wonderful possibility to analyze an author’s vision from one’s own interpretation. When I read a book in its original language, I can go deeper and understand more easily what a specific word or sentence means, be they unfamiliar. It also bears many advantages in itself – you train in a foreign language, you acquire a new knowledge through words, metaphors, and expressions. There is another important detail: the intricacies of perceiving reality through the lens of cultural differences, which helps you understand how people with different cultural mentalities and traditions think. In short, implementing and adopting this approach brings many benefits.

Culture itself, in its broader definition, is a creative process that sets up a universal approach towards existence, in order to discover oneself and one’s new, own world. This happens in an even more interesting way in literature of various genres.

“When I read something, be it a full book or a small epithet or comparison, I repeat it, and if it is really good and valuable, then my left forearm will definitely experience goosebumps, from my wrist to my elbow…” (G. Dochanashvili, ‘A man who loved literature’). But is reading the only important thing?! You should also be able to think about what you read – I remembered this, because…

Books are guides in life.

While looking back, I got convinced that books do play the role of a compass to travel in the enigmatic world around you. It is just like opening a window on any stage of life, a window from which an energy – pure air filled with life – enters in you.

I am saying this in all honesty: the process of reading provides me great pleasure, and I love talking about what I’ve read even more.

It enchants me to note some extracts, to mark important parts, to underline passages or to attach bookmarks. I study specific sentences and heighten my intellect. I make at least as many discoveries as I find interesting authors, and I share my passion with those around me.

I read, pause, think, contemplate, ponder, return to the book, and I feel that I am spiritually soothing, mentally improving, and liberating inside.

I’ve loved working on books since childhood. It is with them that I managed to strengthen my self-confidence, critical thinking, and creative approach. Little by little, I learned to perceive deeper meanings between the lines and to think in

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2 (20) 2020

wigni cxovrebis megzuria ganvlili gzis Sefasebisas davrwmundi, rom wigns marTlac kompasis daniSnuleba aqvs Sen winaSe gadaSlil amoucnob samyaroSi samogzaurod; da cxovrebis nebismier etapze fanjris SeRebas hgavs, saidanac macocxlebeli sufTa haeriviT axali energia Semodis SenSi. gulwrfelad vambob, udides siamovnebas maniWebs kiTxvis procesi da gacilebiT ufro miyvars, wakiTxulis garSemo saubari. mxiblavs amonaridebis Cawera, wignSi mniSvnelovani adgilebis moniSvna, gaxazva an iqve saniSnis mimagreba. vimaxsovreb konkretul frazebs da vimdidreb inteleqts. ramden saintereso avtorsac vpoulob, imden aRmoCenas vakeTeb da aRtacebas garSemomyofebs vuziareb. vkiTxulob, vCerdebi, vfiqrob, vakvirdebi, isev vubrundebi da vgrZnob sulierad vmSviddebi, gonebrivad vmaRldebi, Sinaganad vTavisufldebi. wignze muSaoba bavSvobidan mitacebda. ase gaviZliere TviTrwmena, kritikuli azrovneba, SemoqmedebiTi midgomebi. TandaTan viswavle frazebs Soris meti siRrmis danaxva. wakiTxulis detalurad gaazreba. „davimegobre“ uamravi wigni, maTTan erTad gavizarde da Tvalsawieri gavifarTove. adre mxatvruli literatura iyo CemTvis gonebis sazrdo, axla samecnieroSemoqmedebiTi, fsiqologiuri, TviTSecnobaSi damxmare saxelmZRvaneloebi gaxdnen Cemi Tanamgzavrni. uxsovari droidan asea dRemde... wigniT miRebuli STabeWdilebis gaaanalizebaSi didi roli eniWeba diskusiis meTodis gamoyenebas. es gonebis ganaTebisa da swori azrovnebisken svlis saukeTeso saSualebaa. erTia, ra wavikiTxeT da meore, rogor gavigeT. amitom wakiTxulis gaazreba _ masze msjelobiTa da saRi azris formirebiT xdeba. wignis kiTxva jer kidev antikur xanaSi iyo popularuli. platoni Tvlida, rom codnis miRebagadacemisTvis mniSvnelovania wignTan wvdoma. sokrates seminarebi SekiTxvis dasmis xelovnebas emyareboda da msjelobis, urTierTmosmenisa da azrTa gacvla-gamocvliT gamocdilebis SeZenis unarebs amyarebda. mas Semdeg, swavlebisa da diskusiis am meTods, civilizebul msoflioSi

more detail about what I was reading. Numerous books have become my “friends”, as I grew up and widened my horizon with them. If fiction used to be my main intellectual nourishment back then, now, scientific, creative, and psychological textbooks aimed at getting to know oneself have become my traveling companions.

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3 (21) 2020

mravalsaukunovani gamoyeneba aqvs. sokrates skola, rogorc filosofiis platforma, axalgazrda TaobisTvis ganaTlebis miRebisa da xedvis gafarToebis saSualebas warmoadgenda. istorias Tu gadavxedavT, sakmaod sainteresoa benJamin franklinis sajaro Sexvedrebis seriac, romlebic struqturirebuli iyo ramdenime SekiTxvis garSemo _ ra gaiges mosmenili axali istoriidan, ram moaxdina gavlena saubris procesSi an mis Semdeg, ramdenad STambeWdavia da sxv. franklinma da literaturis moyvarulma misma megobrebma 1727 wels Camoayalibes wignis klubi, romlis wevrebi siamovnebiT mimoixilavdnen moralis, politikisa da filosofiis sakvanZo sakiTxebs. wignis moyvarulTa klubebi XX saukuneSi ZiriTadad mxatvruli literaturiT dainteresebul pirTaTvis yalibdeboda, Tumca TandaTan

From time immemorial, to this day‌ The use of a method of discussion plays an important role in the analysis of the feelings provided by a book. This is the best way to clear our thoughts and lead the way to the right thinking pattern.

What we have read is one thing, and what we have understood from it is another. Therefore, understanding what we have read happens through discussing it and forming a correct perspective to it. Back in antiquity, reading books was a very popular activity. Plato believed that the availability of books was necessary to receive and transmit knowledge, which is why they were spread through copies made on Egyptian papyri. The seminars of Socrates, which were based on the art of asking questions, were developing critical thinking, listening skills, and the ability and experience to exchange opinions.

This method of teaching and discussion has been used for centuries

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2 (20) 2020

e. w. praqtikuli unarebis gamomuSavebaze orientirebuli wasakiTxi saxelmZRvaneloebiT dainteresebuli mkiTxveliTac Seivso. dRes ki opra uinferis cota xnis win daarsebulma kluba wignis moyvarul sazogadoebaSi udidesi popularoba moixveWa da cnobil Jurnalistsa da telewamyvans uamravi axali Tayvanismcemeli gamouCnda, is vinc endoba mis rekomendacias ama Tu im wignis SeZenisas da, rac mTavaria, Semdeg, wakiTxulis gansaxilvelad erTad ikribeba...

STambeWdavi rituali, gulisnadils rom exmianeba uiliamsburgi, virjiniis Statis patara, myudro sauniversiteto qalaqi-muzeumia, amerikis kolonialuri

around the world. As a platform for philosophy, the school of Socrates represented an opportunity for the young generation to receive education and broaden horizons. If we take a look at history, the series of Benjamin Franklin’s public meetings is quite interesting. Each meeting was structured around several questions, including what they had learned from new stories they had heard, what played a role during the discussion process or afterwards, how impressive and/ or significant it is to discuss a specific theme. In 1727, Franklin and a friend of his who was fond of literature have established a book club, the members of which took pleasure in discussing topical questions about morals, politics, and philosophy. Book clubs were being created in the 20th century mostly for amateurs of fiction literature, but fiction was gradually replaced by textbooks dedicated to the acquisition of practical skills.

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3 (21) 2020

epoqis modelirebuli iersaxiT, sadac ZiriTadad cxovroben Sua xnis asaks gadacilebuli ojaxuri wyvilebi da universitetis studenti-axalgazrdoba. marTalia, iq namyofi ar var, Tumca Cemi erTi megobrisgan, romelic amerikel meuRlesTan erTad ukve mravali welia am qalaqSi dabinavda, msmenia rogori mSvidi, akademiuri garemoa SenarCunebuli XXI saukunisTvis saxasiaTo teqnokratiisa da cxovrebis aCqarebuli tempis miuxedavad. erTxel vkiTxe, rogor moaxerxa aseT uCveulod wynar sivrcesTan Segueba, Tan damainteresa, riTi erTobodnen da ivsebdnen Tavisufal dros da ai, ra miambo: mosawyenad dro praqtikulad ar gvrCeba, imitom rom qalaqSi uamravi sxvadasxva tipis klubi moqmedebs, sadac gawevrianebis Semdeg SegiZlia wignis moyvarulTa klubSi Seiaro da axal wignze isaubro, kinos moyvarulebTan axal filmze da Rvinis TayvanismcemlebTan, WiqiT xelSi, sxvadasxva qveynis ama Tu im Rvinis Rirsebebi ganixilo. cxovrebis amgvari niriTa da RirebulebaTa Tanaziarobis msgavsi midgomiT Zalian movixible da... wignis mkiTxvelTa klubis idea yvelaze metad Camivarda gulSi. Sinaganad sul damyveba gancda, rom salonuri saRamoebi, megobrul garemoSi aqtualur Temebze dialogi, SemecnebiTi xasiaTis Sexvedrebi Zalian Cemeulia.

More recently, Oprah Winfrey’s club has become one of the most influential ones in the publishing sector. Numerous book amateurs from the army of Oprah’s fans turn to her recommendations to purchase this or that book, and most importantly, there are many who gather to discuss those books after reading them.

An impressive ritual echoing our secret thoughts Williamsburg, a small, cozy university city in the State of Virginia – it looks like a museum, and is considered as a center for the preservation and interpretation of American colonial history. It is mainly inhabited by elder people, successful couples, and university students. It is true that I haven’t been there, but I have heard, from a friend who has been living there with his American husband for already many years, how its serene, academic atmosphere has been preserved, despite the technocracy and rhythm of life characteristic of the 21st century. I once asked how she could accommodate oneself to such a calm environment, and I was also interested in what they did to entertain themselves. She told me that they have practically no time to be bored, because there are numerous types of clubs in the city, in which you can become a member: you can go to a book club and discuss books, speak about a new film with amateurs of cinema, and discuss how wines of various countries taste in the framework of a wine club. I was enchanted at this way of life and this kind of

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2 (20) 2020

da mainc, sad Cndeba mizidulobis wertili?! upirveles yovlisa, wignisadmi gansakuTrebul, saTuT damokidebulebaSi. amasTanave, gulRia saubrebSi, sakuTari Tavis ukeT Secnobis mcdelobaSi da SensaviT gulanTebuli adamianebis ukeT gacnobis survilSi. naTqvamia, roca raime guliT gwadia, aucileblad agisruldebao da ase Semaxvedra gangebam Cemnairad mofiqrali, Tavisi saqmis profesionalebi da Zalian bunebrivad daibada idea Cvens dedaqalaqSi bookshop.ge-book club anu originalSi wignis mkiTxvelTa klubi Seqmniliyo. me sadiskusio formatSi Sexvedrebis moderatoroba SemomTavazes. siamovnebiT davTanxmdi. wevrebi Zalian male SemovikribeT: sxvadasxva asakis, miswrafebis, ganaTlebis, socialuri mdgomareobis adamianebi, romlebsac surT wakiTxulis mimoxilviTa da sakuTari fiqrebis gaziarebiT meti codna da gamocdileba SeiZinon. faqtobrivad, TviTganaTlebasa da motivaciaSi Cadebuli aseTi investicia sanacnobo wris gafarToebasa da saintereso aRmoCenebis gakeTebaSi gexmareba. Cvens STagonebis muxts aZlierebs: wignis `siRrmeSi CayvinTvis~ SesaZlebloba; avtoris mier aRqmuli realobis gaanalizeba; diskusiisas wamoWril SekiTxvvebze msjeloba; mniSvnelovani „samaxsovroebis“ gamoyeneba.

approach to share values with each other. The idea of a book club was the one that felt the most natural to me. I have always felt that salon gatherings, the discussion of topical themes in a friendly atmosphere, and educational gatherings were something that resonated with me.

But still, where does this attraction come from?!

First of all, from a special, delicate approach to books. Secondly, from the wish to better get acquainted with both oneself and other passionate people through unconstrained discussions. As the saying goes, “When you want something from the bottom of your heart, it will definitely happen”. This is how providence made me meet likeminded people who were professional at what they did, and the idea to establish the book club ‘bookshop.ge’ in our capital, or in other words, a book club for people who read books in their original language, came to us very naturally. They offered me to be the moderator of the discussions, and I gladly accepted.

We gathered members very quickly: people of various ages, aspirations, educational backgrounds, or social situations, who wish to receive more knowledge and experience from the discussion and exchange of opinions about what they read. This kind of investment in self-education and motivation practically opens the door to the broadening of one’s circle of acquaintances and to making

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3 (21) 2020

ras gvaniWebs klubis wevroba?! am etapze wignis klubSi gawevriandnen e.w. „nonfiqSenis“ JanriT dainteresebuli mkiTxvelebi. maTi miswrafebaa gaecnon biznesis, TviTmotivaciis, pirovnuli gaumjobesebis Temebze Seqmnil literaturas. Sesabamisad, profesiuli unarebisa da pirovnul zrda-ganviTarebaze orientirebuli wignebis wakiTxva prioritetuli aRmoCnda. yovel Tve virCevT TiTo wigns da misi wakiTxvis Semdeg vikribebiT saintereso debatebisa da msjelobisaTvis: sakuTari resursebis mosaZebnad, inteleqtualuri cnobismoyvareobis dasakmayofileblad, erTmaneTisadmi pativiscemis gamosaxatad da rac mTavaria, mniSvnelovani mignebebis gasakeTeblad.

Sexvedrebi metwilad wignis maRaziaSi _ (misamarTi: Tbilisi, WavWavaZis gamz. #14) xdeba, Tumca regulaciebidan gamomdinare, onlainac vikribebiT. procesi orive SemTxvevaSi sakmaod interaqtiulia. vusmenT erTmaneTis azrebs, vigebT STabeWdilebas avtoris xedvis Sesaxeb da mravali sxv. kidev erTi mimzidveli detali: klubis wevrebi maSinac eswrebian Sexvedras, roca jer srulad ar aqvT wakiTxuli wigni, magram ainteresebT garSemo myofTa Sefasebebi, mosazrebebi, mignebebi. mTavari mamoZravebeli Zala mainc TviTSecnobisa da erTmaneTis ukeT gacnobiT, gamocdilebis gaziarebiT da wignidan miRebuli aqtualuri sakiTxebiT, sakvanZo momentebiT cxovrebiseuli movlenebis danaxvaa axlebur WrilSi. amitomac yvela siamovnebiT verTvebiT diskusiaSi, nayofierad vatarebT dros da wignis samyaroSi mogzaurobiT viRebT siamovnebas. „usasrulo TamaSi“ _ yvelaferi amiT daiwyo da grZeldeba... „Cven ra Tqma unda, aqamde ar vicnobdiT erTmaneTs, Tumca gvakavSirebs erTi saerTo Rirebuleba _ wignis originalSi wakiTxvis survili da Semdeg misi analizi. amas gacilebiT meti wona aqvs“ _ ase mivmarTe pirvel Sexvedraze wignis klubSi gawevrianebul CemTvis ucnob da mainc Zalian axlobel adamianebs, roca erTad gadavwyviteT, rom wigni, romliTac Cveni klubi arsebobas iwyebs, saimon sinekis bestseleri „usasrulo TamaSi“ yofiliyo. am wignidan me piradad viswavle raoden arsebiTia: gunduri erTobisTvis ndobis gamyareba, liderobis gansaviTareblad „usasrulo azrovneba“, procesebis marTvaSi uSreti SemarTeba da bolos, usasrulo TamaSis wesebiT cxovreba. wignis garSemo msjelobisas yvelam Cveni Just Cause anu is yvelaze Rirebuli vipoveT, ramac realurad klubSi gagvaerTiana.

interesting new discoveries. It also strengthens our inspiration: one can dive in the depths of the book; analyze the world laid out by the author; discuss the questions that rose from the reading during conversations, and use important reminders.

What does becoming a member of the book club bring you?!

At this stage, members of the book club are mainly readers interested in non-fiction genres. Their interests include literature around the themes of business, self-motivation, and selfimprovement. Accordingly, the reading of books about professional skills and personal development has become a priority. Each month, we choose one book, and after reading it, we gather for interesting debates and discussions: to discover one’s own resources, to satisfy one’s intellectual curiosity, to get to know one another, and most importantly, to make interesting discoveries.

The meetings mainly take place in a bookshop (address: Tbilisi, Chavchavadze Avenue #14), but because of the current regulations, we gather online. In both cases, it is a quite interactive process. We listen to each other’s thoughts and to the impressions of various readers about the author’s views.

Another interesting detail: club members can also attend meetings when they haven’t finished a book, but are interested in the assessment, thoughts, and discoveries of their peers. The guiding principle remains to see the events arising in our lives from a different perspective through the knowledge of oneself and each other, the sharing of experiences and thoughts about the topical themes and twists found in the book. This is why we are all happy to take part in the discussions, to spend quality time and to take pleasure in traveling in the world of books.

‘The Infinite game’ – Everything has started and is continuing with this…

“Naturally, we didn’t know each other until now, but we are tied by a common value – the reading of books in their original language and their analysis. This means much more.” – This is how I addressed the unknown, yet very close people present at the first meeting of our book club, when together, we decided that the book with which our club should start its existence was Simon Sinek’s best-seller ‘The Infinite Game’. Personally, I have learned several important skills from this book: strengthening trust to enhance team cohesion, infinite thinking to develop leadership, inexhaustible boldness in the management of processes, and finally, living with the rules of the infinite game. When discussing the book, each of us has discovered their own “just cause”, or the most important thing that has brought us together in the club.

mako jaoSvili

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Author Mako Jaoshvili

bookshop.ge

3 (21) 2020

giorgi lobJaniZe

sinaTle didi dedis fanjridan LIGHT FROM MOTHER’S LARGE WINDOW Giorgi Lobzhanidze

erTxel naira gelaSvils dedam, qalbatonma nino nozaZem uTxra: Sen iseTi megobrebi gyavs, rom mokvdebi, nekrologsac ver dagiwereno. qalbaton ninos Svilis mimarT enis moCleqiT laparaki arasdros sCveoda. respublikis damsaxurebuli eqimi, Zveli Terapevti, rogorc Cans, Rrmad iyo darwmunebuli, rom jansaRi sxeuli da jansaRi suli erTmaneTiT sazrdoobs, da SvilisaTvis mware `wamals~ _ pirdapir da kategoriul rCevebs arasdros iSurebda.

Once, Naira Gelashvili’s mother, Mrs. Nino Nozadze, told her: “You have such friends that when you die, they won’t even be able to write you an obituary.”

Mrs. Nino was never biting her lips towards her daughter.

Apparently, the honored doctor of the Republic and experienced practitioner was deeply convinced that a healthy mind and a healthy body nurture each other, and she would never keep bitter “medicines” – straightforward and categorical pieces of advices – from her.

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2 (20) 2020

magram aseTi ram mainc arasodes uTqvams. Zneli gasarkvevia, vis exeboda am SemTxvevaSi dedis ironia: Svils, romelmac megobrebis SerCeva ar icis, Tu megobrebs, romelTac misi Svilis yadri ar ician. yovelSemTxvevaSi, naira gelaSvilze wera rom Zalian rTulia, amaSi dasarwmuneblad nekrologi, iqamc iyos, sulac ar mWirdeba. erTi RmerTma icis, vis visze mouwevs nekrologis wera da sikvdilisgan, sulac, oTxkuTxiv jvari gvweria, magram qalbatoni ninos am mravalmniSvnelovani ironiis erT-erTi aspeqti albaT imasac gulisxmobda, rom Zveli droisagan gansxvavebiT, roca adamians sikvdilis Semdeg mainc afasebdnen, axla droeba Seicvala da arc sicocxleSi da arc sikvdilSi swor Sefasebas aRaravisgan unda elodo. miTumetes, roca qali xar, cxovrob saqarTveloSi da yvela _ upirvelesad ki, Seni uaxloesi adamianebis garemocva _ cdilobs, Sens SemoqmedebiT aRmaferenas anu `ucnaurobas~ frTebi Seakvecos. mTel am mcdelobaTa miuxedavad, naira gelaSvilma SeZlo, XX saukunis qarTul sinamdvileSi TiTqmis erTaderTi mwerali qali yofiliyo. vici, am sityvebze bevri Semomedaveba da iqneb ramdenime sakmaod warmatebuli saxeli da gvaric Semaxsenon, magram saqme saqmeze rom midgeba anu saxelTan da gvarTan erTad Cems warmosaxviT oponentebs TavianTi proteJe mwerali qalebis TxzulebaTa dasaxelebasac rom movTxov, damisaxelon Tund `ambrni, umbrni da arabnis~, Tund `dedis oTaxis~, Tund `mivemgzavrebi madrids~, `sersos~ anda `sarkis natexebis~ msgavsi ramdenime roman-moTxroba da me, CemdaTavad, xelebi maRlamc amiwevia!

Cemi sityvebi ki sulac ar gulisxmobs naira gelaSvilis dapirispirebis uxeS provocirebas Tanamedrove kolega mwerlebTan. dRevandel saqarTveloSi Tu vinmesa aqvs ganviTarebuli da gamZafrebuli qaluri solidarobis grZnoba, es albaT, nairaa, romelsac bevrisagan gansxvavebiT, gulwrfelad axarebs sxvisi kargi nawarmoebi da cdilobs, yvela Rirseuls (gansakuTrebiT ki Tu am Rirseuls kidev erTi `Rirsebaca~ aqvs, anu qalicaa) mxarSi amoudges. problemebi ki, ZiriTadad, maSin iwyeba Tu nairam Tavisianad migiRo, Tavis Sinagan sivrceSi SegiSva da Senze zrunva, Senze Tavisdauneburi dardi wamoiwyo.

CvenSi gavrcelebuli megobrobis im sazizRari gamovlinebis sapirispirod, roca keTilganwyobas ZiriTadad pirferobas anda laqucs eZaxian, naira mudam `agresiulad gulwrfelia~. pirdapir getyvis Tavis azrs, formaze ki SesaZloa maincdamainc ar izrunos, radganac motivacia, risTvisac is rames geubneba, yvelafers amarTlebs. es motivacia axlobelTa mimarT uangaro, pasuxis armomlodine siyvarulia da Sesabamisad, rogorc am araerTgvarovan da mravalsaxovan grZnobas xSirad

But still, she had never told her something like that. It is hard to determine who was supposed to be the recipient of Naira’s mother’s irony: her daughter, who cannot choose good friends, or her friends, who don’t know the value of her daughter.

In any case, to convince me that it is very difficult to write about Naira Gelashvili, I don’t need any obituarist — may God keep them far. Only God knows who will have to write an obituary for whom, and may God keep us from death, but one of the aspects of Mrs. Nino’s polysemic irony probably also meant that unlike old times, when people were still valued after their death, now, times have changed, and one shouldn’t expect to be valued by anyone, be it during their lifetime or after their death. Especially when you are a woman, when you live in Georgia, and when everyone – and in the first place, your close friends – try to hinder your inspiration, or your “peculiarity”.

Despite all this, Naira Gelashvili managed to become almost the only female writer of 20th century Georgia.

I know that many people will disagree with these words, and they might remind me of several successful names, but if something similar does happen, and I ask my imaginary opponents to name the works of their protégées, if they can name any novel or work such as ‘The Ambri, The Umbri and the Arab’, ‘Mother’s Room’, ‘I’m going to Madrid’, ‘Serso’, or ‘Pieces of Mirror’, I will be happy to admit my mistake!

With these words, I don’t mean at all that to confront Naira Gelashvili to her contemporary colleagues. Mrs. Naira is probably the person who boasts the most developed and intense sense of solidarity towards her fellow women; unlike many, other writers’ good works make her genuinely happy, and she tries to support any worthy person (and even more so if they have the additional “worthiness” of being a woman).

As for problems, they mainly start if Naira accepts you as one her own, if she lets you enter her personal space and starts looking after you, when she unexpectedly takes you very seriously. In contrast with the usual repulsive manifestations of friendship in which hypocrisy or servility pass as benevolence, Naira is always “aggressively honest”. She will tell you what she thinks right away, sometimes without thinking much about the form, because the motivation behind the reason why she is telling you something justifies everything. This motivation is a disinterested love for the people that she deems close to her, a love that doesn’t expect anything in return, and therefore, as it is often the case with this multifarious feeling, it can come to you like a natural disaster.

By the way, the main reason behind Naira Gelashvili’s behavior is precisely to be found in her intense and difficult love stories.

Love became the main incentive for the career choice of the 13-year-old girl she was. At that time, she was enamored with a boy older than him, one she didn’t know personally – once, she met him by chance and told him that she knew German very well.

After that, in order for her words not to become a lie, she started studying diligently: she would learn more than 60 words per day,

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3 (21) 2020

axasiaTebs, SeiZleba Tavs stiqiur ubedurebasaviTac dagatydes. sxvaTa Soris, naira gelaSvilis saqcielis Tavi da Tavi umetesad swored stiqiur siyvarulebSia saZiebeli. siyvaruli gaxda 13 wlis gogonasaTvis profesiuli arCevanis mTavari stimuli. maSin Tavisze ufros biWze gamijnurebulma, romelsac, sxvaTa Soris, piradad ar icnobda, erTxel, SemTxveviT Sexvedrisas, uTxra, germanuli Zalian kargad vicio. mere ki, naTqvami tyuili rom ar gamosvloda, TavauReblad mecadineobda, dReSi samocze met axal sityvas swavlobda da es ena ise Seiswavla, rom germanelebi xSirad uqeben xolme `namdvil~, daxvewil germanuls. is biWi nairaze sul 7 wliT ufrosi iyo. givi margvelaSivili ki, visac 23 wlisa colad gahyva, oci wliT ufrosi. etyoba, Tavis Tanatoli kacebi arasainteresoni eCveneboda, radgan mogvianebiT, roca `ambrni umbrni da arabni~ gamoaqveyna, XX saukunis II naxevris qarTveli kacis zusti fsiqologiuri portreti daxata. `ambrni, umbrni da arabnis~ mTavari gmiri, vinc romanSi datrialebul ambebs pirvel pirSi hyveba, erTi SexedviT, simpatiuri adamiania. cxovrobs, muSaobs, col-Svils arCens, wesieri kacis saxeli aqvs, magram Camqralia, sakuTar inertulobas danebebuli, Zalagamoclili, da misi gulisaTvis maincdamainc viRac unda mokvdes, rom Tvali gaaxilos. oRond es Tvalis axelac albaT wuTieri iqneba, myife, bundovani, raTa am Cvenma mamakacma, didididi, erTi amoioxros da mere isev Cveul Tvlemas misces Tavi. es iseTi diagnozi iyo, romelic avadmyofs sneulebaze ki ara, eqimze aavebs. amitomac wamovida mamapapuri agresiis niaRvari da erTma momwerlo elementma, vinc etyoba `ambrni umbrni da arabnis~ gmirSi sakuTari Tvisebebi (an ufro ukeT: uTviseboba) amoicno, sabWoTa saqarTvelos televiziis (rogorc maSin uwodebdnen) `cisferi ekranidan~ naira gelaSvils `saqarTveloSi pornografiuli literaturis fuZemdebeli~ uwoda. es maSin sikvdilis ganaCenis tolfasi iyo. magram merciebi sinamdvileSi sulac ar kvdebian, maTi sikvdili imas niSnavs, rom qali axal registrSi gadadis, sadac Seurigebeli brZola iwyeba sakuTari siyvarulisa Tu simarTlis dasacavad. yofaSi es axlobel adamianebze Tavgadakluli zrunviT gamoixateba. nairam SesaniSnavad icoda givi margvelaSvilis fasi, amitomac cdilobda, arafriT daetvirTa, saojaxo wvrilmanebis mogvareba TavisTavze aeRo da vTqvaT, lursmanis miWedebaze anda santeqnikis mowesrigebaze ar daexarja kaci, romelic uzarmazari sulieri samyaros epicentrSi idga da es samyaro ufro enamdvileboda, vidre yvelaferi, rac irgvliv xdeboda.

and learned the language so well that Germans themselves often praise her “authentic”, refined German.

This boy was only seven years older than Naira. As for Givi Margvelashvili, whom she married when she was 23 years old, he was 20 years her senior. It seems she didn’t deem men her age to be interesting, as later, when she published ‘The Ambri, the Umbri and the Arab’, she depicted a precise psychological portrait of the Georgian man of the second half of the 20th century.

The main character in ‘The Ambri, the Umbri and the Arab’, the one who provides a first-person account of the events occurring in the novel, seems agreeable at first sight. He lives, works, supports his family, has a good reputation, but he is “switched off”, he gave up and lives inertly, without energy, and his heart only wakes up when someone dies. But this eye opening is probably only temporary, fragile, vague, only for our protagonist to sigh once, before returning to his usual somnolence.

This was a diagnosis that arouses the patient’s hostility towards the doctor, and not towards the illness itself. This is why a torrent of traditionalist aggression started flowing, and a writerish man, who had apparently recognized his own qualities (or more precisely: the lack thereof ) in ‘The Ambri, the Umbri and the Arab’s’ protagonist, called Naira Gelashvili “the founder of pornographic literature in Georgia” from the screen of the soviet Georgian television (as it was called back then).

Back then, this was like being sentenced to death. But Mercias (name of a female character in the book) do not really die, their death means that they enter another realm, where an unappeasable battle to defend one’s love or truth begins.

In our existence, this is illustrated by a self-sacrificing care for the ones we love.

Naira knew Givi Margvelashvili’s value very well, and this is why she was trying to free him from everything superficial, to take care of every family detail, and, for instance, to not bother her man for putting a nail in the wall or arranging the plumbing, as he was standing at the epicenter of an enormous spiritual world, and this world was more substantial to him than all the rest around him.

Therefore, Naira had to go to the market, to prepare meals, to educate the children, to wash clothes, to clean the house. And in the morning, to wake up at four or five, and sit at her writing table, return to her world, which she was only cheating with her most beloved people. Despite all this, the couple still divorced, and they probably divorced in order to preserve each other as much as possible.

After several years, when Givi Margvelashvili returned to his second homeland Germany, Naira would often visit him, and one of her visits completely stupefied the Germans she met.

At that time, Givi Margvelashvili had to undergo a surgery, and he needed to remain confined to bed. Naira flew to Germany, and following Georgian practice, she looked after Givi for almost a month. The German medical personnel witnessing such attention couldn’t hide their surprise, and they were even blaming

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2 (20) 2020

amitomac, nairas unda evlo bazarSi, ekeTebina sadili, ezarda bavSvi, erecxa, exexa. dilas ki oTxze an xuTze amdgariyo, misjdomoda sawer magidas, mibruneboda Tavis samyaros, romelsac sayvarel adamianebTan Ralatobda. amis miuxedavad, col-qmari mainc daSorda da da daSorda albaT imitom, rom bolomde SeenarCunebina erTmaneTi. wlebis Semdeg, roca givi margvelaSvili isev Tavis meore samSoblos, germanias daubrunda, naira xSirad Cadioda masTan da erT-erTma aseTma stumrobam germanelebi sruliad gaaogna. givi margvelaSvili maSin raRac operacias ikeTebda da saavadmyofoSi dawola mouxda. naira germaniaSi gadafrinda da, qarTuli adaT-wesis mixedviT, avadmyofs lamis erTi Tve Tavze daadga. aseTi mzrunvelobis Semyure germaneli medpersonali gakvirvebas ver malavda da Tanac cota ar iyos, Tavsac imunaTebda: erTi SexedeT, aRmosavleTma rogor SeinarCuna adamianuri TanagrZnoba da siyvaruli, CvenTan mamas ase romeli Svili mouvlis, avadmyofi ki ara, saR-salamaTi mSoblebisTvisac ki veRar icliano. xolo roca Seityves, rom naira maTi pacientis madlieri Svili ki ara, yofili coli iyo, am saocrebas saerTod veRaraferi gauges da mgoni, rediard kiplingis sityvebic gaixsenes, rom aRmosavleTi aRmosavleTia, dasavleTi dasavleTi da isini erTmaneTs verasdros gaugeben. sinamdvileSi aRmosavleT-dasavleTis cnobili dapirispireba aq arafer SuaSia. ubralod, nairasTvis cneba `yofili~ ar arsebobs. is cocxali nerviviTaa da am nervs Tanabrad aTrTolebs warsulic, awmyoc da momavalic. xolo Tu erTxel mainc Seni gzebi vinmesTan seriozulad gadaikveTa, mere is vinme mudam SenTan rCeba: mniSvneloba aRara aqvs, ramdeni weli, kilometri an Tundac saukune gaSorebT. am simaRlidan sicocxlec adamianis maradiul RirebulebebTan mimarTebiT izomeba da ara _ yofierebisaTvis fusfusiT. amitomac ilia WavWavaZe misTvis ufro cocxalia, vidre Tavisi droisa da Taobis mravali mamakaci, romelTagan bevri nairam megobrad miiRo, mTeli cxovreba maTze zrunavda da riTac SeeZlo, xels umarTavda, isini ki sapasuxod zurgsukan qirqilsa da ugemovno, ukbilo `funagoriebs~ ubrunebdnen, magram naira cxovrebas imaze did mniSvnelobas aniWebda, rom aseTi qirqilisaTvis yuradReba mieqcia. msajuli sxvagan egulvoda, romelTan pirispir SerCenils bageebs miwidan TavwamoRerili, urCi balaxiviT aseTi saocari locva gaupobda: `ufalo, ipove Cemi guli, rodesac is gkargavs Sen...~ sxvaTa Soris, aRmosavleTSi sicocxles moiazrebdnen WurWlad, romelsac adamiani suls TviTon udgamda Tu Sinaarss TviTon aniWebda. es erTgvarad banaluri sentencia naira gelaSvilis mier bolo xans Jurnal `afris~ me-10, me-11 da me-12 nomrebSi gamoqveynebulma

themselves: “Look at this, how the East managed to preserve human empathy and love, which German daughter would take care of her ill father like this? They don’t even take the time to see their healthy parents.”

And when they discovered that Naira was not their patient’s daughter, but his former wife, they couldn’t even take it in, and I think that they remembered the words of Rudyard Kipling: “East is East, West is West, and never the twain shall meet”.

In reality, the well-known opposition between the East and the West has nothing to do here. It’s just that for Naira, the concept of “former” doesn’t exist. She is like a live nerve, and this nerve trembles in the same way from the past, the present, and the future. And if just once, your path has crossed that of someone else, then this person stays with you forever: it doesn’t matter how many years, kilometers, or even centuries separate you. From this height, life is measured through the lens of eternal values, and not that of everyday fuss.

This is why to her, Ilia Chavchavadze is more alive than many other men from her time or generation, from which many Naira looked at as friends, and of whom she took care and helped and supported as much as she could, while they, in return, would giggle behind her back; but Naira cared too much about life to pay attention to this kind of behavior. Her judge was somewhere else: “Lord, please find my heart when it loses you…”

By the way, in the East, they used to consider life as a piece of crockery, into which humans were breathing life themselves, or were providing their essence. This sort of banal sentence was reminded to me by the cycle of biographical novels by Naira Gelashvili recently published in the 10th, 11th and 12th issues of the magazine ‘Afri’: ‘Hölderlin’, ‘Road and ‘Road and face, or Else Lasker-Schüler’, and ‘The happiness of growing, or painter Paola Modersohn-Becker’.

Isn’t biography almost a preliminary, gratuitous given, in which one cannot change anything to the chain of causes and effects – perhaps it is, but the most important is on what you focus, to what you pay attention, what you internalize in order to transmit it to readers the way you have felt and perceived it. And in this regard, Naira Gelashvili’s biographic novels – be it on Paola Modersohn-Becker, Else Lasker-Schüler or others, are, I think, biographies of Naira herself, in which the writer offers us a sort of spiritual-intellectual game: what she would have been like if she had been born in another place, in another time, or another culture.

In other cases, this might be seen as fleeing from reality, but through biographies of distinguished individuals written in a wonderfully lively manner, Naira Gelashvili provides precisely solid foundations to our reality, and is trying to offer real heroes, real human values to the youth, which doesn’t have anything else than ‘Geobar’ [reality TV show] and devalued pseudo TV stars left as spiritual food in an environment totally devoid of ideals.

She knows very well that the battle is not fair: little by little, the virtual space chases the real one from our lives, and books cannot even compete anymore with other, newer means of transmitting information.

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3 (21) 2020

biografiuli romanebis ciklma: `hiolderlini~, `gza da saxe anu elze lasker-Suleri~ da `zrdis bedniereba anu mxatvari paola moderzon-bekeri~ gamaxsena. biografia xom TiTqmis winaswari, mzamzareuli mocemulobaa, sadac movlenaTa da faqtTa mizezSedegobriv jaWvSi verafris Secvlas, gadasxvafrebas veRar moaxerxeb, magram Turme ara: mTavaria, Sen raze akeTeb aqcents, ras aqcev yuradRebas, ras iSinaganeb, rom mere mkiTxvelamde ise miitano, rogorc ganicade da gaiazre. am mxriv, naira gelaSvilis biografiuli romanebi _ paula moderzonbekerze iqneba, elze lasker-Sulerze Tu sxvebze, mgoni, TviTon nairas biografiebia, sadac mwerali erTgvar spiritualur-inteleqtualur TamaSs gvTavazobs: rogori iqneboda TviTon sxva sivrciT, droiT Tu kulturul garemoSi. es sxva SemTxvevaSi SesaZloa sinamdvilidan gaqcevadac aRgveqva, magram naira gelaSvili gamorCeul adamianTa arCveulebrivad cocxlad dawerili biografiebiT swored Cvens sinamdviles aZlevs myar sayrdenebs da cdilobs axalgazrdobas, romelsac `jeobaris~ garda, sxva sulieri sakvebi aRar gaaCnia, totaluri uidealobis pirobebSi, devalvirebuli fsevdo telegmirebis nacvlad, namdvili gmirebi, namdvili adamianuri Rirebulebebi SesTavazos.

TviTonve icis, rom brZola sakmaod uTanasworoa: virtualuri sivrce xom TandaTan devnis namdvil sivrces Cveni cxovrebidan da Tanac wigni konkurencias veRar uwevs informaciis gadacemis sxva ufro totalur saSualebebs. mis axalgazrdobaSi ki televizori arsebuli reJimis iaraRad aRiqmeboda da amitomac, is axalgazrdebi, romelTac azrovnebis odnavi unari (da ara _ unarCvevebi) hqondaT, telesivrcis mimarT interess naklebad amJRavnebdnen. wigni ki gacilebiT utyuari megobari iyo. miTumetes, Tu ucxo enaze kiTxva gemarjveboda, SegeZlo saerTod zurgi Segeqcia sabWoeTisaTvis da sulier emigraciaSi wasuliyavi, sadac namdvili emigraciisagan gansxvavebiT, `grin-qarTs~ aravin mogTxovda da sadac Wreli, komerciuli dasavleTis nacvlad, mxolod Seni megobrebi, sulieri maswavleblebi, mwerlebi, mxatvrebi, poetebi, artistuli adamianebi dagxvdebodnen. dRes, Tu hkiTxavT, vin moaxdina masze gadamwyveti zegavlena, naira gelaSvili swored am wreze _ holderlinze, goeTeze, novalisze, rilkesa Tu paola moderzon-bekerze migiTiTebT. es ar aris vinmesTvis Tavmosawonebeli gapranWuli Jesti: `roca mamam parizSi wagiRo...~ naira gelaSvili im kondiciaSi cxovrobs, sadac yvelgan TviTonve qmnis Tavis `germanias~ _ ara geografiuli, aramed im idealuri qveynis azriT, romelSic wesrigi, sisufTave, kanonis uzenaesoba da Sromis pativiscema mefobs.

During her youth, TV was considered to be a weapon in the hands of the regime in power, and therefore, the young people who boasted some ability to think (in opposition to technical skills) were showing relatively less interest towards TV. As for books, they were much more trustworthy friends. Especially if you were able to read in foreign languages, you could completely turn your back to the soviet regime and go into a spiritual emigration, in which unlike actual emigration, nobody would ask you for your “green card”, and in which instead of the commercial West, you would only be greeted by your friends, spiritual teachers, writers, painters, poets, and artists.

Today, if you ask her who her biggest influence was, Naira Gelashvili would point to precisely this circle – Hölderlin, Goethe, Novalis, Rilke, or Paola Modersohn-Becker. Naira Gelashvili lives in a way in which she creates her own “Germany” wherever she is – not the geographical one, but the Ideal Germany, in which there is order, cleanliness, law and order, and where work is valued.

Maybe it is precisely in this aspect that Naira Gelashvili and Givi Margvelashvili both looked like each other, and at the same time, were very different. They were probably united mostly by their love for the German language and culture, as well as by the fact that both were the children of assassinated fathers. Historian and philosopher Tite Margvelashvili, who was the head of the Georgian Society in Berlin, was kidnapped by NKVD agents in 1945, together with his son Givi, who was 16 years old at the time. The father was shot in Tbilisi, while the son was sent to a forced labor camp for a year and a half.

Naira’s father was a famous winemaker and a man of rare spiritual qualities, who was protecting the purity of Georgian wine at the risk of losing his life; in 1969, he was killed by the soviet mafia controlling strong alcohols –this is, at least, what everybody suspects.

The fate of their parents can be noticed in the works of both writers, sometimes as a straightforward leitmotiv, sometimes as a more veiled one.

After the level of surveillance dropped down a bit, Givi Margvelashvili, who had been brought to Georgia through lies and against his will by soviet security services, locked himself in a oneroom apartment, and one could say, turned his back to reality; to be more exact: he swapped the existing with the idealized, because he delved into books and confronted his fate with writing. It is not by chance that one of his brilliant novels is titled ‘The Major Correction’.

In this way, Givi Margvelashvili was trying to restore the divine order that had been disrupted by humans, and in his writings, he would move ageless boys, who, according to Herod’s orders (in one of the gospels), had to be exterminated, from Matthew’s Gospel to a safer place – John’s Gospel.

Naira, who was 23 years old, and who was supporting her older husband, quickly noticed that unfortunately, books aren’t solid partners when it comes to the actual realization of noble ideas.

Living with them in a one-room apartment resulted in a pleurisy, and therefore: “Neither being illiterate, nor swearing only by books is the solution…”

- 52 -

2 (20) 2020

egeb, swored am niSniT kidec hgavdnen da kidec gansxvavdebodnen is da givi margvelaSvili. albaT yvelaze metad germanuli enisa da sulieri samyarosadmi siyvaruli aerTianebdaT da kidev is, rom oriveni mokluli mamebis Svilebi arian. istorikosi da filosofosi, berlinis qarTvelTa saTvistomos Tavmjdomare tite margvelaSvili sabWoTa `enkavedes~ agentebma 1945 wels SvilTan, 16 wlis givisTan erTad moitaces. mama TbilisSi daxvrites, Svili ki mTeli weliwadnaxevari sakoncentracio banakSi gamoamwyvdies. nairas mama cnobili meRvine da iSviaTi sulieri Tvisebebis adamiani, romelic sicocxlis riskiT icavda qarTuli Rvinis siwmindes,_ 1969 wels e. w. `samtrestTan~ dakavSirebulma spirtiani sasmelebis mafiam mokla (aseTi iyo yvelas azri). mSoblebis bediswera orive mwerlis Semoqmedebas zogjer aSkara, zogjer farul mamoZravebel laitmotivad gasdevs. sabWoTa kontrdazvervis mier saqarTveloSi motyuebiT, moZaladeobrivad Camoyvanili givi margvelaSvili, roca TvalTvali da devna odnav Seumsubuqda, erToTaxian binaSi Caiketa da sinamdviles, SeiZleba iTqvas, zurgi Seaqcia, ufro zustad: arsebuli idealuriT Caanacvla, radgan wignebSi gadasaxlda da bedisweras weriT daupirispirda. SemTxveviT ar hqvia mis erTerT brwyinvale romans `uzenaesi koreqtura~. givi margvelaSvili ase cdilobda adamianis mier darRveuli RvTiuri wesrigi aRedgina da Tavis nawerebSi uasako yrmebi, romlebic herodes brZanebiT, (erTaderT saxarebaSi) unda gaJuJuliyvnen, maTes saxarebidan usafrTxo adgilas _ ioanes saxarebaSi gadahyavda. ocdasami wlis nairam, romelic gulwrfelad edga mxarSi Tavis ufros meuRles, male dainaxa, rom, samwuxarod, keTilSobiluri ideebis realurad ganxoricielebisas wignebi aramyari mokavSireebi arian. erToTaxiani binis sivrceSi maTTan Tanacxovrebis faqtobrivi Sedegi ki mSrali plevritia da amitom: `arc uwignoba varga da arc mxolod wignebidam gamoxedva...~ rac Seexeba `kavkasiur saxls~: idea TavisTavad mSvenieri iyo: kavkasiis kulturuli da adamianuri erTianoba _ Cveni ulamazesi regionis Tvisobrivi ganaxlebis sawindari. magram am ideis xorcSesxmaze zrunva im awewil da Jamkarareul 90-ian wlebSi raRac giJur axirebas waagavda. naira gelaSvilma megobrebTan erTad mainc gariska da saqarTvelos kulturul urTierTobaTa centri `kavkasiuri saxli~ daaarsa. gasuli saukunis 90-ian wlebSi `kavkasiuri saxli~ lamis erTaderTi adgili iyo, sadac gapartaxebuli saqarTvelo sicocxlis raRac niSanwyals iZleoda. uSuqobis, sicivis, siRaribisa da apaTiis pirobebSi, `kavkasiur saxlSi~ Tavs iyrida Cveni

Concerning the ‘Caucasian House’, the idea was wonderful, naturally: the cultural and human union of the Caucasus – a precondition for a qualitative renewal of our beautiful region.

But during these disordered and muddled 1990s, thinking about the realization of this idea looked like a crazy, stubborn stance.

Still, Naira Gelashvili risked it, and together with some friends, she established the cultural relationships center of Georgia named ‘Caucasian House’. The ‘Caucasian House’ was almost the only place where one could find a trace of life in the ravaged Georgia of the 1990s. While there were power cuts, cold, poverty, and apathy, the intellectual society of our nation was gathering at the ‘Caucasian House’, and was thinking about ways to save the future of our country.

There was only one lightbulb in the main room, the teapot was being boiled on an oil stove, and around it, one could find the people who didn’t want to Surrender. You had to go up a creaking spiral staircase in order to get in that room. The plaster was falling from the wall, and parts of the ceiling could fall on your head. In short, you couldn’t even imagine a better symbol of the Georgia of the time.

At that time, people still didn’t know that they could shape a life based on productive ideas aimed towards Europe. To be short, the only ‘Grant’ was still the captain in Jules Verne’s novel, and NGOs hadn’t hatched yet either –the latter actually got most of the ideas that they would later, during the development of commercialization, display as theirs, precisely from the ‘Caucasian House’.

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3 (21) 2020

eris moazrovne sazogadoeba da momavlis gadarCenaze zrunavda. did oTaxSi erTaderTi navTqura idga, navTquraze Caidani TuxTuxebda, navTquris garSemo ki _ adamianebi, romelTac far-xmlis dayra ar undodaT. am oTaxSi mosaxvedrad daxveuli, moWriale kibe unda agevlo. kedlebidan baTqaSi cvioda, Weri naWer-naWer Zirs Camodioda. mokled imdroindeli saqarTvelos ukeTes simbolos verc ki inatrebdiT. im dros xalxma jer kidev ar icoda, rom momgebiani, evropaze gaTvlili ideebiT dalxenili cxovrebis awyoba SeeZlo. mokled, kapitani `granti~ jer mxolod Jiul vernis romanis gmirs erqva da arc e. w. `arasamTavroboebi~ gamoCekiliyvnen, romelTagan bevrma is ideebi, rasac mere, sayovelTao komercializaciis moZalebisas, sakuTar mosazrebebad daafrialebda, pirvelad swored `kavkasiur saxlSi~ gaigona. naira gelaSvils ki maSin sul sxva sazrunavi awuxebda: nebismier, Tundac sicocxlis riskis fasad, `kavkasiuri saxli~ unda gadaerCina, radgan am saxlis gadarCena misTvis TiTqos mTlianad saqarTvelos gadarCenis imedsac iZleoda. sxvebs veRar daucdida. amitomac, Sinidan daiwyo im aucilebeli nivTebis gadmotana, rac, misi azriT, `kavkasiur saxls~ ufro sWirdeboda. dedamisi, qalbatoni nina lamis SeCvenebas uTvlida im organizacias, sadac misi Svili `msaxurobda~: rac eg `kavkasiuri saxli~ aSenda, Cemi saxli gaCanagdao, godebda da iqve Sinidan gatanili nivTebis srul sias CamoTvlida: mamamisis danatovari antikvaruli sarke da pianino `roiniSi~, bebiamisis mziTevi, antikvaruli komodi da magida dedaCemis naqoni taxti, Cais servisi, vercxlis dana-Cangali da TviT TefSebic ki. bevrs samsaxuridan Sin miaqvs, es ki Sinidan samsaxurSi ezideba. gadareulia, aba

As for Naira Gelashvili, at that time, she was preoccupied with a completely different matter: she had to save the ‘Caucasian House’ at any cost, because to her, saving it meant that there was hope to save Georgia as a whole.

She couldn’t wait for others. Therefore, she started moving furniture items and objects that she deemed were needed by the ‘Caucasian House’ from her own home.

Her mother, Mrs. Nina, was considering the organization in which her daughter was “employed” almost as a curse; she was saying that since the ‘Caucasian House’ was created, her own house got ransacked, she would lament and list all the objects that were taken from the house: “An antique mirror and a ‘Roinish’ piano left by her father, her grandmother’s dowry – an antique chest of drawers and an antique table, a throne owned by her mother, a tea service, a silver knife and fork, and even silver plates. Many people take things from their work and bring them home, and this one decided to do the opposite. She went crazy, what else could it be?! They also thanked her and made her leave the university with pomp and circumstance, didn’t they?! She didn’t know what moderation was back then either. If she found miserable people, she would gather them, invite them to her house and host them. I thought that the place of a student is at the university, and I thought that the job of a lecturer was to give lectures, but her, she was preparing food in a large caldron…”

Mrs. Nino was referring to a difficult episode. When Naira, who was very young, graduated from the Tbilisi State University, they appointed her as a professor of foreign literature history. Soon, her lectures became a real sensation. The auditorium was crowded, the students were listening to the young professor in silence, and the latter, apart from an attractive physique, stood out with an outstanding erudition.

Even in the very tough conditions of the soviet regime, Naira managed to create an island of freedom in her auditorium. This island was expanding more and more, students were ditching their classes to attend her lectures, and for many, higher education became synonymous with attending lectures by this sleek young girl.

Female students were imitating the way she was dressing. Many thought that they were sending her clothes from Germany, while in reality, their strange professor would sew her dresses herself.

They were repeating the sentences she was teaching them, and trying to sound like her.

The situation became almost impossible to control, and on the orders of the services looking after ‘soviet peacefulness’, Naira Gelashvili was fired from the university without any explanation.

This was a big shock for her students. During her last lecture, when Naira announced to her students that she wouldn’t be coming back to the university the next day, they passed her a shabby piece of paper from the back of the auditorium. It contained a poem written hastily, with a trembling hand: “Others have faded, like numbers, and all around, only clean boards are left. I understood: you are the sky and sky blue, and with this,

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ra aris?! universitetidan xom gamoabrZanes madlobiTa da didi zarzeimiT! zoma-wona arc maSin icoda. Sekrebda Tu sadme xeibari iyo, saxlSi moasxamda da umaspinZldeboda. yvavs ra hqonda, Cxikvs gahqonda?!. studentis adgili universitetSi gamigia, leqtoris saqmed maswavlebloba uTqvamT, es ki didi qvabiT akeTebda xolme sadils... qriste mxolod magisTvis movida, rom dadgeba da yvela ubedurs xelgaSlili uxmobs: modiT, modiT, SemomeyuJeT, me var Tqveni Semfarebeli da gadamrCenelio... qalbatoni nino erT mtkivneul ambavs gulisxmobda. naira, sruliad axalgazrda, roca Tbilisis saxelmwifo universiteti daamTavra, iqve, kaTedraze datoves da sazRvargareTuli literaturis istoriis saaTebi misces. male misi leqciebi maSindeli sauniversiteto cxovrebis namdvil movlenad iqca. auditoria gadaWedili iyo, studentebi sulganabulni usmendnen axalgazrda maswavlebels, romelic garegnuli momxibvlelobis garda, saocari ganaTlebiT gamoirCeoda. nairam maSinac, umZimesi sabWouri reJimis pirobebSi, universitetis auditoriaSi Tavisuflebis moyvavile kunZuli Seqmna. es kunZuli sul ufro da ufro farTovdeboda, mis mosasmenad sxva auditoriebidan gamoqceuli studentebic modiodnen da bevrisaTvis sauniversiteto ganaTleba mxolod am kafandara, axalgazrda gogos saxels daukavSirda. studenti gogonebi misi Cacmulobis maneras baZavdnen. bevrs egona, tansacmels germaniidan ugzavnidnen. arada, maTi ucnauri leqtori kabebs xSirad Tavisive xeliT ikeravda. misgan naswavl frazebs imeorebdnen da cdilobdnen, odnav mainc damsgavsebodnen. viTareba TiTqmis umarTavi gaxda da `sabWoTa simSvidis~ sadarajoze myofi samsaxurebis miTiTebiT, naira gelaSvili univeristetidan yovelgvari axsna-ganmartebis gareSe daiTxovs. studentebisaTvis es udidesi travma aRmoCnda. bolo leqciaze, roca nairam Tavis mowafeebs ganucxada, rom xvalidan universitetSi aRar mividoda, bolo merxebidan erTi gacrecili furceli gadmoawodes. furcelze leqsi iyo, naCqarevi, aTrTolebuli xeliT dawerili: `sxvebi gaxundnen, rogorc cifrebi da darCa irgvliv sufTa dafebi. me mivxvdi: Sen xar ca da cisferi da amiT morCa sulyvelaferi. sxvebi amboben: aris ra kargi! kargi ki ara, me vuxmob wmindad. me mivxvdi: droa Seni dakargvis, Cveulebrivi yofna Tu minda~. nairaze leqsma Zalian imoqmeda, cremlebi sadRac yelTan Seikava da araferi uTqvams. Tavi imiT daimSvida, rom leqsi Seyvarebuli biWis dawerils hgavda. avtori, didi xnis Semdeg, ukve `kavkasiur saxlSi~ moRvaweobisas gaarkvia. is leqsi dRes ukve cnobili poetis rusudan kaiSauris erT-erTi pirveli striqonebi yofiliyo.

everything is said. Others say: “she is so great!” But instead of great, I would call her a saint. I understood: it is time to lose you, if I want to live a regular life”.

This poem had a strong effect on Naira, but she held her tears and said nothing. She calmed herself down by telling herself that the poem looked like it had been written by a boy in love. She discovered its author many years later, while she was working at the ‘Caucasian House’. That poem turned out to be some of the first verses by the then already famous poet Rusudan Kaishauri.

As for Rusudan, the childish admiration and love of her student years had followed her, and gotten even deeper. When she lost her husband and was left practically alone with her five children, God manifested Naira once again in her life. Rusudan Kaishauri remembers: “I think that I will never be able to repay my debt towards Naira.

When I was a student, we had many good professors, but Naira stood out from all the others. She seemed omniscient, because she was answering all the questions that were bothering us at the time.

My student years coincided with the notorious events of 1978, when they wanted to take out Georgian language as a state language from the constitution. Everybody was tense back then. Older people in particular would repeat us over and over again: “Children, don’t do anything stupid. Nothing will come out of your protests anyway.”

Nevertheless, many signatures were gathered, and once, they brought such papers to be signed during one of Naira’s lectures.

Many, and mostly straight-A students, were against it: “We won’t achieve any results anyway, so why should we sign it?!” This is when Naira told us: “Would a doctor abandon a very sick patient and not try anything he can to keep them alive?”. Then she stood up and was the first one to sign the protest papers.

Many people were saying that the Georgian language was saved in 1978 precisely thanks to their own protest, but Naira never said a word about this. But I think that one of the reasons why she was fired from the university was precisely this signature.

In general, silent love and loyalty were qualities that Naira clearly possessed. She never told me that she loved me, but I can always feel her love, and it is precisely thanks to this love that myself and my children have made it to this day.

I think a lot about the idea that if it weren’t for the ‘Caucasian House’, my children would never have grown up the way they did.

All five of them have attended the Sunday school of the ‘Caucasian House’, and I think that it is there that they learned to distinguish the good from the bad, and that they developed into critically thinking and caretaking humans. This year, my older girl was helping the managers of the school at the Sunday school that opened in village Nukriani, and she stayed as a pleasant memory in the minds of many of the children that have attended it. I have already told you that I will never be able to repay Naira, as for Naira herself, she said several times that the greatest reward for her would be if any of her deeds, be it the smallest, would guide someone towards a love of others and kindle their wish to do good around them. In this regard, I am at

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rusudans ki maSindeli bavSvuri aRtaceba da siyvaruli dRemde gamohyva da kidev ufro gauRrmavda. meuRle rom gardaecvala da xuTi SviliT, faqtobrivad, martodmarto darCa, RmerTma TiTqos xelaxla Semwed mouvlina nairas Tavi. rusudan kaiSauri ixsenebs: `ase mgonia, nairas vals verasdros gadavixdi. studentobisas, bevri kargi leqtori gvyavda, magram naira yvelasagan gamoirCeoda. TiTqos, gulTamxilavi iyo, radgan swored im SekiTxvebze gvcemda xolme pasuxs, rac maSin gvawuxebda.

Cemi studentoba 1978 wlis im cnobil movlenebs daemTxva, roca saqarTvelos konstituciidan qarTuli, rogorc saxelmwifo ena unda amoeRoT. maSin yvela Relavda. ufrosebi, ZiriTadad, imas CagvCiCinebdnen: Svilebo, Tavs nu daiRupavT. Tqveni protestidan mainc araferi gamovao. amis miuxedavad xelmowerebi mainc grovdeboda da erTxel aseTi furclebi xelmosawerad swored nairas leqciaze Semoitanes. bevrni da ZiriTadad xuTosani studentebi uarze iyvnen: Sedegs mainc verafers mivaRwevT da xeli rad unda movaweroTo?! maSin nairam aseTi ram gviTxra: gana eqimi mZime avadmyofze xels Caiqnevs da bolomde ar ibrZolebs, rom sicocxle SeunarCunoso? adga da pirvelma xeli im saprotesto furcels TviTon moawera. mere bevri ibralebda da saqmes ise warmosaxavda, TiTqos qarTuli ena 1978 wels swored misma protestma gadaarCina, nairas ki amaze sityva ar uTqvams, magram, mgoni, misi universitetidan gamoSvebis erT-erTi mizezi is xelmowerac gaxda. saerTod Cumi siyvaruli da erTguleba naira gelaSvilis Tvisebaa. xmamaRla CemTvis arasodes uTqvams _ miyvarxaro, magram mis siyvaruls mudam vgrZnob da dRemde mec da Cems Svilebsac swored am siyvarulma gagvaZlebina. bevrs vfiqrob, rom ara `kavkasiuri saxli~, Cemi Svilebi aseT adamianebad verasodes gaizrdebodnen. xuTive `kavkasiuri saxlis~ sakvirao skolaSi dadioda da vfiqrob, swored aq iswavles av-kargis garCeva, aq Camoyalibdnen mofiqral da moyvasze mzrunvel adamianebad. ufrosi gogona wels nukrianSi gaxsnil amave sakvirao skolis sazafxulo filialSi exmareboda skolis xelmZRvanelebs da bevr iqaur bavSvs masTan urTierToba sasiamovno mogonebad darCa. weRan giTxariT, nairas amags verasodes gadavixdi-meTqi, TviTon nairas ki araerTxel uTqvams, rom misi sikeTis yvelaze didi safasuri is iqneba, Tuki mis mier gakeTebuli Tundac umniSvnelo madli adamians sxva adamianTa siyvarulisaken ubiZgebs da sxvaTa mimarT sikeTis qmnis survils gauRvivebs. am mxriv, guli mSvidada maqvs: mec da Cems Svilebsac iseTi magaliTi mogvca nairasTan urTierTobam, vfiqrob, es bavSvebi mTeli sicocxle am magaliTiT icxovreben.~

peace: being around Naira was so educative for both myself and my children, that I think these children will live with her as an example for the rest of their lives.”

After she left university, Naira was supported by the Board of translators and by her supervisor of the time, Mr. Otar Nodia. At that period, the Board of translators was a kind of refuge for the intelligentsia. Firstly, specialists of various languages were working there, who were translating great literatures from those languages into Georgian, and therefore, most of them were free from the xenophobia that has, unfortunately, always characterized the Georgian society. Apart from that, because they mastered foreign languages, members of the Board could analyze the events unfolding in the country through the comparative lens of first sources from the processes at hand in other regions of the world, and therefore, they could often see the reality in which they were living from a very critical point of view.

As a result, the Board of translators was always the target of various odious institutions or people. The main attack took place against the wonderful intellectual and human being that was Otar Nodia.

The country was already in chaos. The ‘Round Table’ and the heads of the Union of Writers told the Board of translators: “You followers of foreign cultures, you will see, now we will really make you dance the cancan”, and they dissolved the Board. The latter was only left with one building, the so-called ‘Smirnoff House’, and the heads of the Union of Writers decided to open a café-restaurant there.

This house, standing on Galaktioni Street #20, was handed to the Georgian people, as the place where the Board of translators should have office, by Giorgi Smirnoff, the direct descendant of a well-known family of the Russian aristocracy with ties to the Caucasus, through his will.

Giorgi Smirnoff’s gift implied that this house should continue its traditions in the future. This house used to host anyone who was traveling from Europe and Russia and had decided to visit the Caucasus and Georgia. One of the best Russian salons, which was brought from Petersburg in the end of the 19th century and in which great Russian poets used to read their verses and great composers used to play their music, was and still is exhibited in this house.

And the Union of Writers decided to open a restaurant and dance the cancan there...

Otar Nodia’s health couldn’t endure such vicious attacks anymore. He passed in the end of 1993. As for the Board, following the request of its employees, Naira became its director, and she created a new type of cultural-educational organization dedicated to peace.

Everybody had already experienced Naira Gelashvili’s organizational skills. The employees of the Board remembered how dedicated she was when dealing with serious issues back during the ‘Pitsinda Seminars’. There, Naira created a working group for the translation of four tomes of the great German poet Rainer Maria Rilke, and some people from this group experienced on themselves the whole extent of Naira Gelashvili’s “German orderliness”. This is

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universitetidan wamosul nairas ki maSin mTargmnelobiTi kolegia da misi imJamindeli xelmZRvaneli batoni oTar nodia daexmara. saerTod mTargmnelobiTi kolegia maSindeli inteligenciis Taviseburi TavSesafari iyo. jer erTi, aq sxvadasxva enis specialistebi muSaobdnen, romlebic qarTulad Targmnidnen am enebze arsebul did literaturas da Sesabamisad, TanamSromelTa ZiriTadi birTvi Tavisufali iyo qarTuli sazogadoebisaTvis yovelTvis damaxiasiaTebeli qsenofobiisagan. amas garda, kolegiis TanamSromlebs, imis gamo, rom ucxo enebi SesaniSnavad emarjvebodaT, SeeZloT qveyanaSi arsebuli viTareba msoflioSi mimdinare procesebTan pirvelwyaroTa gamoyenebiT SeedarebinaT da obieqturad, xSirad Zalze kritikulad gaeazrebinaT is sinamdvile, romelSiac cxovreba uwevdaT. aqedan gamomdinare, mTargmnelobiTi kolegia sxvadasxva odiozur warmonaqmnTa Tu adamianTa mudmivi samizne iyo. mTavari dartyma ki umTavresad araCveulebriv inteligentsa da adamianze baton oTar nodiaze modioda. qveyanac ukve areuliyo. `mrgvalma magidam~ da mweralTa kavSiris xelmZRvanelobam: `Tqve, ucxoeTis adeptebo, ai, axla ki gacekvebT kankanso~, kolegia gaauqma. dawesebulebas erTi SenobaRa darCa e. w. `smirnovebis saxli~ da kavSiris xelmZRvanelobam aqac kafe-restornis gaxsna gadawyvita.

Tavis droze galaktionis 20 nomerSi mdgari es saxli kavkasiasTan dakavSirebuli rusi didgvarovnebis pirdapirma Camomavalma giorgi smirnovma mTargmnelobiTi kolegiis saxiT, qarTvel xalxs anderZiT dautova. giorgi smirnovis saCuqari gulisxmobda imas, rom am saxlis tradiciebi momavalSic gagrZelebuliyo.

Zvelad maT ojaxSi Cerdeboda yvela, vinc ki evropidan da ruseTidan kavkasiisa da saqarTvelos monaxulebas gadawyvetda. am saxlSi moqmedebda da moqmedebs XIX saukunis bolos peterburgidan Camotanili ruseTis erTerTi saukeTeso saloni, sadac leqsebs kiTxulobdnen didi rusi poetebi, ukravdnen didi kompozitorebi... axla ki maT nakvalevze restornis gaxsnasa da kankanis cekvas apirebdnen... oTar nodias janmrTelobam amden uRirs Semotevas veRar gauZlo. igi 1993 wlis bolos gardaicvala. kolegias ki, TanamSromelTa TxovniT, naria gelaSvili Caudga saTaveSi, romelmac axali tipis kulturulsaganmanaTleblo da samSvidobo organizacia daaarsa. naira gelaSvilis organizatoruli niWis ambavi manamdec yvelas kargad moexseneboda. kolegiis TanamSromlebs jer kidev `biWvinTuri ardadegebidan~ axsovdaT, rogori Seuvali iyo igi, roca saqme saqmeze midgeboda. maSin nairam didi germaneli poetis rilkes oTxtomeulze momuSave jgufi Seqmna da am jgufis ramdenime wevrma

precisely the time when Vakhushti Kotetishvili dubbed her “Rilke’s widow”, because she was managing the work she was assigned with the boldness of Otar’s widow [name and character of Ilia Chavchavadze’s literary work], and for instance, Jemal Ajiashvili was terrified at her sight, and didn’t know where to hide…

They knew her abilities, but they couldn’t imagine their actual extent. Therefore, in the beginning, as it often happens in Georgia, they would look at Naira’s selflessness with a chuckling and expressive passivity: “Let us see what she will do from this house in ruins. Especially in this time, when everything is crumbling or being destroyed.” – they thought.

But Naira was stubborn. Each morning, she would walk up the stairs of the ‘Caucasian House’ with increased energy, shake off the plaster dust from her clothes, sit in the ill-equipped room, and start working…

Because of Georgia’s fate or because great people are easier to notice from a distance, Germans were, again, the first ones to notice Naira’s selflessness, and they started sending humanitarian aid to the ‘Caucasian House’.

In the 1990s, a great number of Georgian intellectuals wore the clothes sent through this humanitarian aid. Containers filled with provisions, first-aid articles as well as often unused, completely new clothes, were unloaded and then distributed to those who needed them. I wore clothes from Naira’s humanitarian aid for my whole student life, and I still own some shirts from that time.

And it wasn’t only me. I remember that once, I met Giorgi Maisuradze on Rustaveli Avenue. We weren’t close friends, we just knew and were sympathetic to each other, and as it so happens in those cases, after greeting each other, we started talking about the weather and complaining about the cold. “You’re well-equipped with that fur coat of yours”, I said. He answered me that without Naira, he would not be wearing it. And it turned out that I was also wearing a jacket I had gotten from Naira Gelashvili’s German humanitarian aid.

I digressed, but today, people who are much younger than me could perhaps not even imagine the conditions in which we were living, and if not for Naira and a handful of people like her, we might not even have been able to endure all this.

And later, when many started considering humanitarian aid as something that belonged to them personally and getting personal gain from it, Naira Gelashvili’s honor in that regard was also exemplary.

By the way, being around Naira also taught me that in kindness, there is no small or big scale, no narrow or broad perspective. This is why she was looking after the problems of the nation and those of her neighbors and fellow regular citizens with the same diligence.

I used to be surprised at her ability to be interested in the same manner in writing, societal problems, and the fate of some farmer from the village of Nukriani, who wasn’t treated fairly and is expecting Naira’s support. Then I understood that all this is one and the same process for Naira, in which writing is based on our nation’s problems, and the latter, in turn, also depends on the fate of the farmer from

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sakuTar tyavze iwvnia naira gelaSvilis `germanuli wesrigis~ mTeli `madli~. vaxuSti kotetiSvilma swored am dros Searqva `rilkes qvrivi~, radgan iseTi oTaaraanTqvrivuli SemarTebiT zrunavda mindobil saqmeze, rom jemal ajiaSvils, magaliTad, mis danaxvaze eleT-meleTi mosdioda da aRar icoda, romel buCqSi Semaluliyo... moexsenebodaT, magram amdens mainc ver warmoidgendnen. amitomac Tavidan, rogorc saqarTveloSi xSirad xdeba xolme, nairas Tavgamodebas qirqil-qirqil gamJRavnebuli pasiurobiT Sescqerodnen: vnaxoT, erTi ras gaakeTebs, am nangrevebad qceuli saxlidan ras gamoadnobs. Tan am droSi, roca yvelaferi isedac iqceva da nadgurdebao. naira ki jiutad idga. yovel dilas gaaskecebuli energiiT ahyveboda `kavkasiuri saxlis~ moWriale kibeebs, mouwyobel oTaxSi, tansacmlidan baTqaSis mtvers CamoiferTxavda da muSaobda... saqarTvelos ubedurebisa Tu imis gamo, rom didi adamiani Soridan ufro advilad aRiqmeba, nairas

Nukriani. This is why there are practically no important issues for our country about which Naira hasn’t expressed her opinion. Her views were often provoking great uproar, especially among chauvinist circles, as the understanding Naira had of love and justice couldn’t adapt, as a matter of principle, to the Georgian understanding of patriotism, in which everybody veils their ulcer, everybody veils their scars with the ragged mask of the pathos, and always flee from an open conversation about their own illnesses.

This is why many resented her approach to ecological problems, Muslim Meskhetians, the dangers of neo-fascism, all of which Naira would reveal without an ounce of fear. She was risking her own life, but when things were getting dangerous, for instance when a hysteric situation followed debates about the problem of the Meskhetians, she hid her ten-year-old daughter Ana in one of her friends’ house.

Today, many of Naira Gelashvili’s views, for instance those she has about Muslim Meskhetians, have become parts of the programs of both governmental and non-governmental organizations headed by some of the people who used to antagonize her about the same

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2 (20) 2020

Tavganwirva pirvelad isev germanelebma SeamCnies da `kavkasiuri saxlisaken~ humanitaruli daxmarebis nakadi wamovida. gasuli saukunis 90-ian wlebSi Zalian bevr qarTvel inteligents am humanitaruli daxmarebis tansacmeli ecva. `kavkasiur saxlSi~ icleboda da Semdgom uklebliv miznobrivad nawildeboda sursaTiT, pirveladi moxmarebis sagnebiTa da xSirad uxmari, axalTaxali samosiT datvirTuli konteinerebi. mTeli Cemi studentoba nairas humanitaruli daxmarebis tansacmelSi gavatare da imdroindeli ramdenime perangi dRemdec SemomrCa. ase iyo Zalian bevri adamiani. maxsendeba, erTxel, rusTavelze giorgi maisuraZe Semxvda. me da giorgi axlo megobrebi ara, mxolod keTili nacnobebi viyaviT da, rogorc aseT SemTxvevaSi xdeba xolme, misalmebis Semdeg amindze, siciveze wuwuns SevudeqiT. Sen ra giWirs, mSvenieri qurqi gaqvs-meTqi. naira ar yofiliyo, ra qurqi mecmeboda, imasac vnaxavdio. aRmoCnda, rom mec swored naira gelaSvilis `germanuli humanitarulis~ kapuSoni mecva. tansacmelze sityva gamigrZelda, magram dRes Cemze gacilebiT umcrosebs egeb verc ki warmoudgeniaT, maSindel studentobas ra pirobebSi gvixdeboda cxovreba da, rom ara naira da misi msgavsi TiTo-orola adamiani, dRemde iqneb sulic ver mogvetana.

Tanac mere, roca `humanitaruli daxmareba~ bevrma sakuTar, mxolod misTvis gankuTvnil daxmarebad aRiqva, naira gelaSvilis patiosneba CemTvis am mxrivac adamianobis nimuSad iqca. nairasTan urTierTobam, sxvaTa Soris, isic maswavla, rom sikeTisaTvis mcire da didi, msxvilmani da wvrilmani ar arsebobs. amitomac igi Tanabarad gulisxmierad zrunavs zogaderovnul problemebze da mis gverdiT mcxovreb, erTi SexedviT Cveulebriv adamianebze. adre mikvirda, rogor axerxebs erTnairad ainteresebdes mwerlobac, samoqalaqo problemebic da romelime nukrianeli glexkacis bedi, visac samarTali ver upovia da axla nairasgan moelis Svelas-meTqi. mere mivxvdi, rom es yvelaferi nairasaTvis erTiani procesia, sadac mwerlobas erovnuli problemebi, erovnul problemebs ki nukrianeli glexkacis bedi ganapirobebs. amitomacaa, rom ar darCenila Cveni erisaTvis ase Tu ise mniSvnelovani sakiTxi, razec nairas Tavisi azri ar gamoeTqvas. misi Sexedulebebi xSirad saocar winaaRmdegobas iwvevda, gansakuTrebiT urapatriotulad ganwyobil wreebSi, radgan siyvarulisa da samarTlianobis nairaseuli aRqma principulad ver egueba patriotizmis qarTul gagebas, sadac yvela wyluls, yvela daCirqebul iaras paTetikis daZonZil samoss afareben da sakuTar snebaTa Sesaxeb gulaxdil saubars mudam gaurbian. amitomac zafravda bevrs ekologiur problemebTan,

subjects. Naturally, there is nothing bad in that fact itself. At first glance, it means that Naira’s thoughts of the time finally managed to thrive; but unfortunately, the main motivation today is to find money through these projects, while Naira was and still is battling for “her” Meskhetians, and for Georgia as a whole, without any pecuniary interest, because from the heights where she is standing, from which she is observing the problem, the issue is formulated like this: “Don’t expel them, and you won’t be expelled”.

When we were watching Georgians being expelled from Russia because of the recent anti-Georgian hysteria taking place in that country, Naira said, with a hint of regret, in a voice so low it almost couldn’t be heard, seemingly talking to herself: “In the past, they used to call deported people Muslim Meskhetians…”

Rusudan Kaishauri remembers the meeting of the Georgian intelligentsia with the Russian ambassador, Zemsky, after the events that took place on April 9th. It turned out that Zemsky only really listened to Naira, because unlike the others, who were mainly quoting chauvinist slogans, Naira went in the depths of the problem, and demonstrated to the then ambassador of our neighboring country that such actions would bring harm to Russia in the first place.

In general, when Naira is thinking about an issue, then the “you” or “me” disappears. She wants to resolve the problem itself, and is thinking about the bigger truth, and not that of some individual.

Therefore, almost all her predictions usually turn true, and because of that, a Swiss journalist titled his article about Naira Gelashvili: “Georgian Cassandra”.

Kindness calls for kindness, and good deeds can return to you from places you wouldn’t have thought they could.

In any case, when she visited Givi Margvelashvili in Germany, Naira could never have imagined how important her meeting with German philanthropist Jorg Henle would turn out.

As the descendant of the German Henle family of writers, Jorg Henle received enormous assets with the condition that he has to spend part of these assets for the development and the bringing to light of ancient cultures. It is precisely with this goal in mind and with the help of these assets that he founded the ‘Horizon’ foundation, which now collaborates with many countries around the world.

Jorg Henle met Naira Gelashvili in Berlin, in Givi Margvelashvili’s apartment, and asked her to be the compiler and editor of an anthology of Georgian literary works in the German language (this anthology was published in Germany in 1994).

At that time, Naira Gelashvili could not even have imagined that this man, dressed in ordinary clothes and talking passionately about literature and philosophy, had and managed such assets. During that evening, they planned a Georgian visit for Mr. Henle, and when he arrived in our country and saw the worn out, agonizing building of the ‘Caucasian House’, he declared: “I cannot let Naira finish her life in the ruins of this building”, and the ‘Horizon’ foundation financed the restoration works of the ‘Caucasian House’s’ damaged building. The clever German took the reality of our country into account, and in the contract he signed with the Ministry of Culture, he included a special

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mahmadian mesxebTan, neofaSizmis safrTxeebTan dakavSirebuli is mosazrebebi, rasac naira uxorcosaviT uSiSrad gamoTqvamda. TviTon Tavi gadadebuli hqonda, magram aseT dros, magaliTad mesxTa problemaze agorebuli erT-erTi isteriisas, Svils, 10-11 wlis anas erTguli megobrebis saxlebSi malavda. bevrma dRes naira gelaSvilis mosazrebebi vTqvaT imave mahmadian mesxebTan dakavSirebiT TavianTi `arasamTavroboebisa~ Tu `samTavroboebis~ samoqmedo programad gaixada. amaSi cudi, TavisTavad, araferia. erTi SexedviT, es imas niSnavs, rom nairas maSindelma azrebma TiTqos Znelad, magram mainc gaimarjva, Tumca mTavari motivaciaa: dRes am ideebiT fuli iSoveba, naira ki sruliad uangarod ibrZoda da ibrZvis `Tavisi~ mesxebisTvis da mTlianad saqarTvelosaTvis, radgan im simaRleze, saidanac is problemas xedavs, sakiTxi ase dgas: `ar gaaZevoT da ar iqnebiT gaZevebulni~. bolo dros ruseTSi antiqarTuli isteriis gamo am qveynidan gamodevnil qarTvelobas rom vuyurebdiT, nairam sinanuliT, odnav gasagoni xmiT, TiTqmis TavisTvis Cailaparaka: `adre deportirebulebs mahmadian mesxebs uZaxdneno...~ rusudan kaiSauri ki 9 aprilis Semdeg ruseTis elCTan zemskisTan qarTveli inteligenciis Sexvedras ixsenebs, sadac zemskim yuradRebiT Turme mxolod nairas mousmina, radgan Tu sxvebi ZiriTadad urapatriotul lozungebs isrodnen, nairam problemaze Rrmad ilaparaka da mezobeli qveynis maSindel elCs daanaxva, rom aseTi qmedebani pirvel rigSi TviTon ruseTisTvis iqneboda zianis mimcemi. zogadad, roca naira romelime sakiTxze fiqrobs, maSin Sen-Cemoba ar axasiaTebs. problemis gaazrebaze zrunavs, did da ara vinmes kerZo, pirovnul simarTleze. amitomac marTldeba xolme misi TiTqmis yvela prognozi da amis gamo, roca erTma Sveicarelma Jurnalistma mis mier sxvadasxva dros gamoTqmuli mosazrebaTa gamo naira gelaSvilisadmi miZRvnili statia ase daasaTaura: `qarTveli kasandra.~ sikeTe ki sikeTes uxmobs da xSirad SeiZleba madli iqidan anazRaurdes, saidanac sulac ar elodebi. yovelSemTxvevaSi, germaniaSi givi margvelaSvilTan stumrad Casuli naira maSin namdvilad ver warmoidgenda, ramdenad mniSvnelovani iqneboda germanel mecenatTan iorg henlesTan misi Sexvedra. germanel mrewvelTa gvaris henleebis STamomavals iorg henles memkvidreobiT uzarmazari qonebis nawili im pirobiT darCa, Tu am qonebis nawils Zveli kulturebis ganviTarebasa da gamomziurebas Sealevda. swored am mizniT da aRniSnuli saxsrebiT daarsda kulturuli fondi `horizonti~, romelic dRes msoflios mraval qveyanasTan TanamSromlobs.

clause, according to which the sum of money was being handed only to the ‘Caucasian House’ for its endeavors, and if sometime in the future, someone wanted to purchase the building, or if it was to be handed to another organization, the new owner would have to fully reimburse the hefty sum of money spent for the restoration works to the ‘Caucasian House’.

With the restoration, the ‘Caucasian House’ started resembling an oasis from the visual aspect too. The staggering old staircase, the falling ceiling and walls, or the yard full of rats were unrecognizable.

Everything was neat, every room and corner were beautiful and full of a new life.

As a result of Naira’s various fields of interest, today, this building hosts so many departments, funded by either the same ‘Horizon’ foundation, the Heinrich Boell foundation or other European organizations, that many topical issues are actually tackled at the ‘Caucasian House’.

Apart from that, Naira also didn’t leave her family village behind.

She opened a subsidiary of the ‘Caucasian House’ in Nukriani, and many projects that were absolutely necessary for our regions have moved to this most beautiful, but also very poor and neglected corner of the Kakheti region. Today, Nukriani’s projects are mostly managed by Ana Margvelashvili – Naira and Givi Margvelashvili’s only child.

Naira seems to be saddened by the fact that Ana, who has proved very talented in many creative fields since her childhood, didn’t decide to write or to paint. She chose law as a profession, and finished her masters in Germany, at the University of Berlin.

Ana herself doesn’t deny that she decided to choose a profession so radically distant from that of her parents’ on purpose. For children of such parents, it is twice as difficult to assert oneself, and for people not to be able to say that she managed to become successful because she is Naira and Givi’s daughter, she decided to study a field where “the parents’ jurisdiction cannot interfere”.

“Otherwise, due to her experience during her youth – I mean her relationship to her own mother, my mother never forbade me to do anything. I think that on the contrary, she was utterly loyal to me, and I always thought that she was not interested at all in my comings and goings. Once, I even told her: on birthdays, mothers even call their sons to check on them and to ask when they will be back home; why do you never think about me?

Naturally, this was not a serious reproach, because of course that my mother always thought about me, and when she was at home, she would switch on the lightbulbs of our balcony, so that my path home would be illuminated. To get to our building, you have to enter an arch, and then walk for a bit. You can see the building from the arch, and today too, when I visit my mother at late hours, I always look at the windows of the balcony first – if the lights are on, I am happy: it means that she’s home and waiting for me.”

Naira herself thinks that the relationship between Ana and herself didn’t turn out to be an easy one. Perhaps because Ana never spoils her author of a mother with the lyricism that she divulged to us. On

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iorg henle ki berlinSi myof naira gelaSvilis givi margvelaSvilis binaSi Sexvda da sTxova, qarTuli moTxrobebis germanuli anTologiis Semdgenel-redaqtori yofiliyo (es anTologia germaniaSi 1994 wels gamoica) naira gelaSvils maSin fiqradac ki ar gauvlia, rom es sadad Cacmuli, literaturasa da filosofiaze gatacebiT moubari kaci didi simdidris patroni da ganmkargavi iyo. im saRamos henles saqarTveloSi stumroba daigegma, xolo, roca batoni iorgi CvenTan CamobrZanda da `kavkasiuri saxlis~ dafxavebuli, sulTmobrZavi Senoba ixila, ganacxada: `ver davuSveb nairam am Senobis nangrevebSi daasrulos sicocxleo~ da, fondma `horizontma~ Senobis kapitaluri remonti TavisTavze aiRo. oRond Wkvianma germanelma qarTuli sinamdvile imTaviTve gaiTvaliswina da kulturis saministrosTan am sakiTxze dadebul xelSekrulebaSi sagangebo punqtad Seitana is, rom remontisaTvis gamoyofil Tanxas saCuqrad mxolod `kavkasiur saxls~ aZlevda misi saqmianobisaTvis, xolo Tu odesme vinme Senobas Tvals daadgamda, anda am

the contrary, if someone is critical of her work, it’s Ana. Naira doesn’t lag behind either, as she often gives Ana remarks and reproaches for things that regular mothers would, on the contrary, brag about.

What can we do, love is often the most merciless of all. On the other hand, if someone knows Naira’s true value, it is also Ana. Does it matter if she pretends to never read her mother’s works, if the people around her might not know for a long time whose daughter she is, if people always expected something special to come out of her because she was Givi Margvelashvili and Naira Gelashvili’s child? She fled these expectations and went in another space, in another profession. Isn’t Ana the person who is looking with the most agitation, love, and tenderness towards the glimmering lights of her mother’s large windows, and who feels at peace when she sees that the lights are on?

These lights mean one of the most important things for the author’s readers. They mean that Naira is working on a new novel or translation, that she is doing her main activity, one for which it would seem she has less and less time. But I’ve known her for a very long time, and I can say that even in the most ordinary situations, there is

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saxlis gasxvisebis sakiTxi dadgeboda, SeZenis msurveli valdebuli iyo remontisaTvis daxarjuli soliduri Tanxa `kavkasiuri saxlisaTvis~ daebrunebina. `kavkasiuri saxli~ ki axal ukve garegnuladac namdvil oaziss daemsgavsa. sadRaa is moyanyalebuli, Zveleburi kibe, is baTqaSacvenili Weri da kedlebi Tu virTxebiT savse ezo?! yvelafers saocari pewi daedo, yvela kuTxekunWulma Tvali gaaxila da galamazda. nairas mravalmxrivi interesebidan gamomdinare ki dRes aq, imave fond `horizontis~, hainrix biolis fondisa Tu sxva evropuli organizaciebis SemweobiT imdeni ganyofileba muSaobs, rom realurad bevri saWirboroto problema swored `kavkasiur saxlSi~ muSavdeba. garda amisa, nairas uyuradRebod arc Tavisi mSobliuri sofeli darCenia. nukrianSi `kavkasiuri saxlis~ filiali daarsa da bevrma _ Cveni regionebisaTvis sasicocxlod aucilebelma proeqtma _ swored kaxeTis am ulamazes, magram uRaribes da mouvlelobiT gapartaxebul sofelSi gadainacvla. nukrianis proeqtebs dRes, ZiriTadad, ana margvelaSvili _ nairasa da givis erTaderTi Svili xelmZRvanelobs. nairas TiTqos swyins kidec, rom bavSvobidan mravalmxrivi SemoqmedebiTi niWiT dajildoebuli ana arc mwerlobas gahyva da arc mxatvrobas. specialobad iurisprudencia airCia da am ganxriT magistratura germaniaSi, berlinis universitetSi daamTavra.

TviTon anac ar uaryofs, rom mSoblebisagan radikalurad gansxvavebuli profesia sworedac sagangebod airCia. aseTi ded-mamis SvilebisTvis pirovnuli TviTdadgineba ormagad ufro Znelia da mere vinmes rom ar eTqva, nairasa da givis Svilia da warmatebebic amitom aqvso, iseTi dargis Seswavla gadawyvita, sadac `mSoblebis iurisdiqcia odnavadac ver gavrceldeboda.~ `sxva mxriv, dedaCemi, dedamisTan Tavisi axalgazrdobisdroindeli urTierTobis gamocdilebidan gamomdinare, araferSi mzRudavda. mgoni, piriqiT, Zalze loialuric ki iyo da sul megona, rom Cemi wasvla-mosvla arafrad anaRvlebda. erTxel vuTxari: vinmes dabadebis dReze biWebsac ki urekaven dedebi da ainteresebT, saxlSi rodis mivlen, Sen ratom ar gaxsnedebi-meTqi. es, ra Tqma unda yasidi sayveduri iyo, radgan dedaCems mudmivad vaxsovdi, da roca Sin iyo, Cveni aivnis naTurebs minTebda, rom daRamebulze Sinisaken mimavali gza gaenaTebina. Cvens korpusamde TaRSi unda Sexvide da mere cota manZilze iaro. saxli ki TaRidanve moCans da dResac, roca dedasTan gvian mividvar, pirvel rigSi aivnis fanjrebs avxedav, Tu iq sinaTle anTia, mixaria: ese igi, Sinaa da melodeba.~ TviTon naira Tvlis, rom mas da anas rTuli dedaSviloba gamouvidaT. albaT imitom, rom lirizmiT,

not a second during which Naira Gelashvili isn’t a writer. She always looks at anything, even the simplest everyday occurrences, through the eye of a writer, and in this regard, one could even say that being around her can be risky, as she could use any of your behavior, word, or gesture against you in her writings – naturally, she would never do that. To be serious, I am astonished at her inextinguishable artistic energy. She has already done so much that it would be more than enough for the deeds of not one, but several ordinary lives, but she works with such passion on new poems or novels that one could think she is writing for the first time, and that she didn’t create the large literary world that is hers.

Her selflessness has been present since her youth. Because she could see how everything was working against her as soon as she had decided to write something: either a child was becoming sick, or a family member fell victim to some misfortune… Her ties with the ones she loved were too strong, and therefore, she could not lock herself in her world, she never had the occasion to fully get absorbed and consume herself in her work. Ana told me a very important thing about this: “As long as I can remember, my mother was always locked up in her room. For a period of time, I even became jealous of her room, her books, and even the fact that she strived for solitude. But despite the fact that Naira was always “in her world”, I didn’t lack anything because of that. She always managed to preserve her relationship with me.”

This unusual kind of love and attention was not only directed towards her daughter and family members. I think that it is for her friends that Naira Gelashvili didn’t part with the ‘Caucasian House’, in order for her intellectual – and therefore materially insecure – friends to have something physical to hold on to in addition to their spiritual world.

Despite all this, her friends were the first ones to scold her for dedicating her whole energy to the ‘Caucasian House’ and never taking the time to take care of her own world, her creative work, as she should have…

You will never hear psychologist Nana Chachua utter this reproach, as she knows very well how difficult it is to be a female author and force our traditional society to deem your writing more important than your gender. Unlike many, Mrs. Nana doesn’t brag being Naira’s friend. To be more precise, this is what she says: “We haven’t been friends for a long time, but I’ve been seeing Naira since she has started publishing her works, and naturally, this relationship was very important to me, because while reading her works, one can find some kind of energy in oneself, and then this energy can become a foundation for self-expression. To put it simply, this is a place and environment in which one can grow.

As I am sure you know, to grow is a difficult process, and therefore, Naira was coming to me little by little. For instance, this kind of thing happened to me when reading ‘Serso’: I was reading it slowly, taking pleasure in it, and when I would stop reading and return to the “normal” life, I had the feeling that I was coming back from a totally

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rac anas CvenTan naTqvam sityvebSi gamokrTa, iuristi Svili mweral dedas arasdros anebivrebs. piriqiT, Tu vinmea kritikulad ganwyobili misi Semoqmedebisadmi, anaa. Tavis mxriv, nairac `ar rCeba valSi~ da xSirad imazec ki, risTvisac Cveulebrivi dedebi SviliT Tavmowonebas daiwyebdnen, anas SeniSvnebiTa da sayveduriT avsebs. ras izam, xSirad yvelaze ulmobeli swored siyvarulia. samagierod, Tu qveynad vinmem icis nairas fasi, albaT isev anam. mere ra, Tu Tavi ise uWiravs, TiTqos mis nawerebs arasdros kiTxulobs, mere ra, Tu garSemomyofTagan SeiZleba misgan didxans veravin gaigos visi Svilia, mere ra, Tu imis gamo, rom givi margvelaSvilisa da naira gelaSvilis Svilisagan mudam raRaca dids moelodnen; is ki am winaswarakviatebul molodins sxva sivrceSi, sxva profesiaSi gaeqca. yvelaze didi SiSiT, sisaTuTiT da siyvaruliT xom swored ana Sescqeris Tavisi didi dedis fanjrebidan gamomkrTal sinaTles da guli mSvidada aqvs, roca am fanjrebSi sinaTle anTia. es sinaTle mkiTxvelisaTvis erT yvelaze mniSvnelovan ramesac gulisxmobs. ese igi, naira gelaSvili axal moTxrobaze, romanze an Targmanze muSaobs, Tavis mTavar saqmes akeTebs, risTvisac erTi SexedviT, sul ufro da ufro naklebad scalia. Tumca, amdeni xnis urTierTobisas, TviT yvelaze banalur, yoveldRiur viTarebaSic ki, wamic ar vici, roca naira gelaSvili mwerali araa. is Cveulebriv yofiT situacias mudam prozaikosis TvaliT ukvirdeba da am mxriv, masTan urTierToba garSemomyofTaTvis saxifaToc kia, radgan mis nawerebSi Seni yoveli qceva, sityva Tu Jesti SeiZleba `Sens winaaRmdeg iqnes gamoyenebuli.~ es, xumrobiT. seriozulad ki gaocebuli var misi dauRalavi mxatvruli energiiT. man ukve imdeni gaakeTa, Cvens sinamdvileSi, erTs ki ara, ramdenime adamiansac Tavisuflad eyofoda, magram iseTi gatacebiT muSaobs xolme axal leqssa Tu moTxrobaze, TiTqos pirvelad wers, TiTqos aqamde amxela mxatvruli samyaro ar Seuqmnia. es Tavganwirva axalgazrdobidanve mosdevs. radgan xedavda, rogor ewinaaRmdegeboda yvelaferi, rogorc ki raimes daweras gadawyvetda: an bavSvi unda gamxdariyo avad, an ojaxis romelime wevri raRac xifaTs gadahyroda. is ki nervebiT iyo gamobmuli axloblebze da amis gamo Tavis samyaroSi gamoketvas, saqmeSi bolomde danTqmasa da daxarjvas verasdros axerxebda. sxvaTa Soris, anam Zalze mniSvnelovani ram miTxra: `deda bavSvobidan sul oTxaSi Caketili maxsovs. amitomac erTxans aranormalurad veWvianobdi mis oTaxzec, wignebzec da imazec, martoobas rom eswrafoda.

Tumca, miuxedavad imisa, rom naira mudam Tavis samyaroSi cxovrobda, amiT araferi makldeboda. is CemTan kavSiris SenarCunebas yovelTvis axerxebda.~

different world.

It is a sort of meditative path to incarnation, which is supplemented by a sensitivity of the highest standards, or in other words, emotions, the givens of feelings, and if it is not in accordance with the rational, it will seem unnatural and extravagant. With Naira, it is precisely the correspondence between the emotional and the rational that is important, and she manages to preserve this balance by always depicting humans as a unity of heart, feeling, and reasoning in her works.

By the way, as a psychologist, I have often used Naira’s works as means of helping my patients. I am particularly fond of a small work of hers, ‘Painting. Fig tree’, the reading of which I usually advise to everybody. In this miniature, which we find on a Japanese or Chinese vase, there are marvelous colors. The beautiful shimmering of these colors remind us that humans are not only the children of earth, and how much strength is needed to show this to a simple human being locked in three dimensions, and make them feel it.

Therefore, to this day, when I actually see Naira and I’m not reading her, I always approach her as someone utterly great, someone precious, and I don’t have the urge to talk. I only want her to talk, and not take minutes from her speech away from me with my words, as the time God granted me to be around her is precious.”

In other cases, such commentaries would seem exaggerated,

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but the important thing is that these words come from Mrs. Nana Chachua, a psychologist who knows very well that a person can almost never be interpreted and appreciated adequately.

Especially in Georgia, where all criteria are so ruined and disheveled that the surrogate always replaces the authentic.

It seems it is because she was conscious of this reality that Naira recently started focusing on children and made them her readers; she wrote wonderful children’s books, tales, and songs. Georgian children’s books never really stood out with their diversity, but today, the situation is especially unsatisfactory, as established writers seem to not deem children’s books as something serious, and therefore don’t produce any, and children are therefore almost completely dependent on translations, or to be more precise, on the new editions of old translations. With this in mind, one can understand that Naira Gelashvili’s books for children are invaluable. The main value of these books is that they do not address children with baby talk, but rather talk to them as equals, and they tackle every issue, every problem that this generation will have to face in the future. In the beginning, she was creating these stories for her grandson Giorgi, and this is perhaps the reason why they stand out with a playfulness, honesty, and love that could only exist in a grandmother-grandchild relationship.

Apart from that, so many unforgettable characters are found in Naira Gelashvili’s children’s books that children will probably miss trolleybus Astarioni, the little helicopter named Limpharo, Florian Nergovani, the refugee girl Nia-Nia, or the three Goliaths for the rest of their lives…

For the record, if Naira had been born in a more powerful country, she would have much more popularity and would be much more es ucnauri siyvaruli da mzrunveloba mxolod SviliTa da ojaxis wevrebiT ar amoiwureboda. naira gelaSvilma Tavis droze, mgoni, sulac megobrebis gamo SeinarCuna `kavkasiuri saxli~, rom mis inteligent da Sesabamisad yofaSi uxerxemlo axloblebs sulieris garda, mciredi nivTieri sayrdenebic hqonodaT. amis miuxedavad, pirvel rigSi, isev megobrebi usayvedureben xolme, rom mTeli energia `kavkasiur saxls~ Sealia da Tavisi samyarosTvis, sakuTari SemoqmedebisaTvis bolomde da Tanamimdevrulad verasdors moicala... es sayveduri arasdros wamoscdeba fsiqolog nana CaCuas, romelmac kargad icis, ra Znelia, iyo qali mwerali da Cvennairi tradiciuli sazogadoeba aiZulo, misTvis Seni mwerloba ufro mniSvnelovani gaxdes, vidre Seni qaloba. qalbatoni nana bevrisagan gansxvavebiT, arc nairasTan megobrobas iCemebs. ufro zustad, aseT rames ambobs: `Cven arc ise didi xania, rac vmegobrobT, magram nairasTan mas Semdeg vurTierTob, rac nawerebis beWdva daiwyo da es urTierToba, ra Tqma unda, CemTvis iyo mniSvnelovani, radgan misi Semoqmedebis kiTxvisas, adamiani sakuTar TavSi aRmoaCen raRac Zalas da da es

valued. She would have been able to write a novel a year, and sustain herself from these books, but she is a child of this country, where since the 19th century, if not before that, they deliberately persecute writers with various methods, and if we put aside the fact that they aren’t valued during their lifetime, people can’t even write proper obituaries for them…

This is why I decided to tell Naira Gelashvili what I will not be able to tell her after her, or, especially, after my own, passing. But now, I understand Mrs. Nina too. She was right to note that among Naira’s close friends or colleagues, none could fully appreciate her daughter’s value, and everybody was seeing merely one or a few facets of her life and work.

On the one hand, this is natural, as if one wanted to thoroughly describe Naira Gelashvili, the battle would be lost before starting, because she is interested and active in so many fields, that some would get tired just listing them.

But precisely because this stance sometimes becomes a wonderful, veiled excuse for indifference, I still decided to write an article about Naira. But as Mrs. Nina said herself, I am also one of those who could, and would not write an obituary, because the man in me, who is Naira’s friend, is watching the large windows with a terrible, ontological fear, and he is happy that their lights are lit.

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Zala mere SenSi sakuTari Tavis gamoxatvis safuZvlad iqceva. anu martivad rom vTqvaT, es is sivrce da garemoa, sadac Sen izrdebi. zrda, mogexsenebaT, rTuli procesia, da amitom naira Cemamde nawil-nawil modioda. magaliTad aseTi ram damemarTa `sersos~ kiTxvisas: nel-nela, dagemovnebiT vkiTxulobdi, xolo roca kiTxvas Sevwyvetdi da Cveulebriv yofas davubrundebodi, iseTi SegrZneba mqonda TiTqos sul sxva samyarodan movedi. es samyaro `cnebaTa samyaro~ iyo, sadac cneba isaa, rac sagnis arsebaa. xolo am arsebaSi SenTvis yofiTi da nivTieri isea mocemuli, rom swored iqaa realoba yofiTisa da nivTierisa. es erTgvari meditaciuri gankacebis gzaa, romelsac emateba Zalze maRali xarisxis mgrZnobeloba anu emociebi, gancdiTi mocemuloba da Tu es SesabamisobaSi ar iqna racionalurTan, naZaladevi da gadapranWuli aRmoCndeba. nairasTan swored emociurisa da racionaluris Tanafardobaa mniSvnelovani da am wonasworobis SenarCunebas imiT axerxebs, rom mis nawerebSi yovelTvis Cans adamiani, rogorc gulis, grZnobisa da gonebis gamamTlianebeli. sxvaTa Soris, rogorc fsiqologs, pacientebTan urTierTobaSi xSirad momiSveliebia nairas nawerebi. gansakuTrebiT erTi miniatura miyvars `suraTi. leRvis xe~, romlis wakiTxvasac yvelas vurCev xolme. am miniaturaSi, iaponur Tu Cinur larnakze rom gvxvdeba, iseTi ferebia. am ferebis saocari liclici imas Segvaxsenebs, rom adamiani mxolod miwis Svili ar aris da ramxela Zala sWirdeba, rom Cveulebriv samganzomilebaSi sicocxlemisjil adamians es daanaxo da agrZnobino. amitomac dRemde nairasaTan yofiTi urTierTobisas ise mivdivar, rogorc Zalze didTan, ZvirfasTan da xmis amoRebis survili ar miCndeba. minda mxolod man ilaparakos da Cemi replikebiT sakuTar Tavs is wuTebi ar wavarTva, rac RmerTma masTan urTierTobisaTvis miwyaloba.~ sxva SemTxvevaSi aseTi ganmartebebi albaT gadaWarbebulad gamoCndeboda, magram mniSvnelovania is, rom am sityvebs qalbatoni nana CaCua gveubneba, fsiqologi, romelmac mSvenivrad icis, rom adamiani adekvaturad TiTqmis verasodes aRiqmeba da dafasdeba. miTumetes, saqarTveloSi, sadac yvela kriteriumi isea moSlili da mofutknuli, rom namdvils mudam surogati enacvleba.

TiTqos am realobis gacnobierebis gamo nairam bolo xans aqcenti bavSvebze gaakeTa da Tavis namdvil auditoriad patarebi daigula, romelTaTvisac erTmaneTis miyolebiT, erTmaneTze ukeTesi sabavSvo

wignebi, zRaprebi da simRerebi dawera. qarTuli sabavSvo mwerloba gansakuTrebuli mravalferovnebiT TiTqmis arasodes gamoirCeoda, magram dRes sagangebod savalalo viTarebaa, radgan rigiani mwerlebi TiTqos aRarc kadruloben bavSvTaTvis weras da patarebi TiTqmis mTlianad `gadauloces~ Targmans, ufro sworad, Zveli Targmanebis axal gamocemebs. am fonze naira gelaSvilis sabavSvo wignebi fasdaudebeli siaxlea. am wignebis mTavari Rirseba isaa, rom bavSvebs enis moCleqiT ki ar esaubrebian, TanatoliviT elaparakebian yvela mniSvnelovan sakiTxze, yvela problemaze, romelTa pirispir dgomac am Taobas momavalSi uTuod mouwevs.

Tavidan es zRaprebi SviliSvilis _ giorgisaTvis iTxzveboda da albaT amitomac gamoarCevs is silaRe, gulwrfeloba da siyvaruli, rac SeiZleba mxolod dideda-SviliSvilis urTierTobisas arsebobdes. garda amisa, naira gelaSvilis sabavSvo wignebSi imdeni dauviwyari gmiri Semodis, rom bavSvebs, albaT, mudam moenatrebaT troleibusi astarioni, patara Sveulmfreni, saxelad limfaro, florian nergovani, ltolvili gogona nia-nia Tu sami goliaTi... da mainc: naira rom romelime didi qveynis Svili yofiliyo, saxelica da dafasebac garantirebuli eqneboda. SeZlebda weliwadSi TiTo romani ewera da am wignebis xarjze uzrunvelad earseba, magram igi im qveynis Svilia, sadac XIX saukunidan Tu ufro adridan mokidebuli mwerlebs mizanmimarTulad, sxvadasxva meTodebiT xocaven da adamianis sicocxleSi dafasebas vin Civis, nekrologebis werac ki ar ician... mec amitom gadavwyvite sicocxleSive meTqva naira gelaSvilisaTvis is, rasac misi an miTumetes Cemi sikvdilis Semdeg namdvilad veRar movaxerxeb. Tumca, qalbaton ninas axla ukve zustad gavuge. am qalbatonma savsebiT sworad SeniSna, rom nairas axloblebTa da TanamSromelTagan misi Svili srulyofilad veravin Seafasa da yvelam nairas moRvaweobisa Tu cxovrebis erTi an ramdenime waxnagi dainaxa. erTis mxriv, es bunebrivicaa, radgan Tu naira gelaSvilis srulyofil Sefasebas moindomeb, aucileblad damarcxdebi, radgan iseTi mravalxrivi interesebis adamiania da imden saqmes akeTebs, zogi mxolod am saqmeTa ubralo CamoTvliTac daiRleba. magram swored imis gamo, rom aseTi pozicia zogjer gulgrilobis an daufaseblobis SesaniRbavi SesaniSnavi sababia, mainc gadavwyvite nairaze narkvevis dawera.

Tumca, rogorc qalbatoni nina brZanebs, mec erT-erTi imaTgani var, visac nekrologebis wera arc gamosdis da arc exaliseba, radgan CemSi is kaci, vinc nairas megobaria, raRac SemaZrwunebeli, ontologiuri SiSiT Sescqeris didi dedis fanjrebs da uxaria, rom am fanjrebSi sinaTle anTia.

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mimarTva qarTuli emigraciisadmi Address to the Georgian emigration iyo dro da es arc ise didi xania, rac Cveni inteligencia erTob gulgrilad ucqeroda qarTul sakulturo naSTebs da Tavs ar iwuxebda maTi Segrovebisa da gamocemisaTvis. am gulgrilobam didZali pirvelxarisxovani Zeglebi dagvikarga. rac mamebs TavianT Zvel ojaxebSi dagrovili hqondaT, Svilebma dakarges… qarTuli sulieri, gonebrivi da materialuri kultura rTulia, mravalmxrivia da bevr rameSi metad Taviseburia. iSviaTia patara eri, romelsac aseTi mdidari Zveli kultura hqondes. am kulturam gadaarCina qarTveli eri mospobas JamTa viTarebis aboboqrebuli qartexilisagan, misca unari simtkicisa, gamZleobisa da yoveli Wiris gadatanisa. vinc am kulturas, ase Tu ise, ar icnobs, is arasodes ar iqneba namdvili qarTveli, WeSmaritad

There was a time, and it wasn’t so long ago, when our intelligentsia was looking at the cultural treasures of Georgia with outright indifference, and wouldn’t take the time to gather them and bring them forth. This indifference has lost us numerous first-class monuments of culture. What fathers had accumulated in their old families, sons have lost… The spiritual, mental, and material Georgian culture is a difficult, complex, and, in many ways, very peculiar one. It is rare to find a small country with such a rich ancient culture. This culture has saved the Georgian nation from being destroyed by the raging storms of time, and gave it the solidity, endurance, and the ability to sustain any affliction. Those who do not know this culture cannot ever be a real Georgian, they cannot act as conveyers of the Georgian soul, they will degenerate, if this isn’t already the case.

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qarTuli sulis matarebeli, mas gadagvareba moelis, Tu ukve gadagvarebuli ar aris. amitom movale varT, xeli SevuwyoT Cveni kulturis safuZvlianad Seswavlas, rac unda gamoixatos sakulturo masalebis SekrebaSi da ukve Sekrebilis gamoqveynebaSi. uamisod Cven ver aRvadgenT Cveni kulturis namdvil saxes da ver SevignebT mis cxovelmyofel Zalas, romelic ixateboda, pirvel yovlisa, mdidari qarTuli enis ganviTarebaSi. qarTvelTa mier qarTuli Zeglebis Sekreba iwyeba mxolod wera-kiTxvis sazogadoebis daarsebidan, amas xeli Seuwyo kidev saeklesio muzeumisa da gansakuTrebiT ganacxovela saistorio da saeTnografio sazogadoebis daarsebam. exla mas agvirgvinebs Cvens dros daarsebuli qarTuli universiteti da xels uwyoben Cveni muzeumebi. kvexnaSi nurvin CamomarTmevs, Tu vityviT, rom wilad mxvda, sxvebTan erTad, Cemi susti Rone da mcire Tavisufali dro, specialuri sapedagogo moRvaweobidan gadarCenili, mTlad Semewira qarTuli saistorio da sakulturo sagnebis da masalebis SegrovebisaTvis, cnobaSi moyvanisaTvis, aRwerisa da gamocemisaTvis. am mizniT xSirad mixdeboda mogzauroba da eqspediciebis mowyoba saqarTvelos sxvadasxva kuTxeebSi. Segrovili

Therefore, we are in debt, and have to support the fundamental study of our culture, which should consist in gathering cultural material, and to draw attention to those that have already been accumulated. Without this, we will not be able to restore our culture in an authentic way, and we will not be able to harness its life-giving force, which is illustrated, in the first place, in the development of the rich language that is Georgian. The gathering of Georgian cultural monuments by Georgians has started only since the creation of the Society for the Spreading of Literacy among Georgians, was supported by the ecclesiastical museum, and was particularly invigorated by the foundation of the Society of History and Ethnography. Today, it is crowned by the Georgian university, and supported by our museums.

Please do not think that I am bragging if I say that I had the chance, together with others, to fully dedicate the little strength and free time I have left from my role as a pedagogue for the gathering, archival, description and spread of Georgian historical and cultural articles and materials. With this goal in mind, I often had the opportunity to travel and arrange expeditions in various regions of Georgia. Many of the gathered materials are preserved in our museums. A small part is published, and those who were reading our literature saw how these publications have increased the popularity of our history, literature, and art. And I have another part of the material with me, which is

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didZali masala daculia Cvens muzeumebSi. mcire nawili gamocemulia da vinc Cvens literaturas Tvals adevnebda, dainaxavda, Tu rogor Seuwyves xeli am gamocemebma Cveni istoriis, literaturis da xelovnebis Seswavlas. xolo erTi nawili masalebisa Tan maqvs da gamoucemeli rCeba, saqme ki saSuria: dro midis, me miviwure aRsasrulisaken: “adamis tomTa wesiTa” da Cems Semdeg am masalas Tavs veravin gaarTmevs.

Tana maqvs, sxvaTa Soris, SesaniSnavi saxuTmoZRvro Zeglebis gegmebi samusulmano saqarTvelosi da mravali fotografiuli suraTi. maT Soris iseTi pirvelxarisxovani Zeglebis suraTebic, romelnic dRes samudamod mospobilia da mxolod Cemi aRweriloba da gadmoRebuli suraTebia darCenili. amaT gamocemas mpirdebodnen eqvs did albomad, magram es imedi exla gaqra, vinaidan amas, sul cota dasWirdeba naxevar milion frankze meti. isic didi saqme iqneba, Tu aRwerilobaTa teqstebi gamoveciT. es Seadgens daaxloebiT 2000 gverds Sua formatis wignisas, rasakvirvelia, es ramdenime wignad unda gamovides. amitom gavkadnierdebi, vinaidan es sazogado qarTuli sakulturo saqmea da mivmarTav yvela sazRvars gareT myof qarTvel organizaciebs da TviTeul sazRvars gareT myof qarTvels ganurCevlad partiisa keTili inebon da visac ra SeuZlia, ramdenic SeuZlia, dagvexmaron am saqmeSi. visac exerxeba, erTdrouli Tanxa mogvawodos; visac es ar exerxeba, Tviurad erTi wlis ganmavlobaSi aT-aTi franki Semoitanos. ufro xelmokled SeuZliaT Tviurad xuT-xuTi franki gadadvan. vinc umuSevaria, maT es mimarTva ar exeba. kerZod im organizaciebisaTvis, romelnic gazeTebs scemen, Cemi winadadebaa, erTi-ori nomeris gamocema SeaCeron da maTi fasi am saqmisaTvis gadadvan, amiT mgonia, araferi daSavdeba. me mowme var im saocari evoluciisa, romelic CvenSi moxda am sakiTxSi. Tu pirvel xanebSi am dargSi muSaobis dros me sasacilod migdebdnen, Tavs mesxmoden, gansaqiqebel werilebs miZRvnidnen, saistorio da saeTnografio sazogadoebis daarsebis Semdeg mtruli ganwyobileba simpatiad Seicvala. yvelam didi pativi damdva, Zvirad Tu vismes gauwbilebivar sayuradRebo xelnawerebis da nivTebis SemowirvaSi. raSiac fuls vaZlevdiT, imasac sul iafad dagviTmobdnen. aTi wlis ganmavlobaSi didi muzeumi SevqmeniT da milioni maneTis uZravi mamulebi SeviZineT. is anderZebi, romelnic dagvitoves akaki wereTelma, daviT sarajiSvilma, nestor petriaSvilma, RuduSaurebma da bevrma sxvebma (xolo Cven revoluciis da fulis dacemis gamo naklebad visargebleT), mowmoben ZiriTad gardatexas da mtkice Segnebas Cveni Zveli kulturis Seswavlis aucilebel saWiroebisa…mTelma saqarTvelom pativi dagvdva da xeli Segviwyo. Tu aseTi simpatia gamoyva emigraciasac, maSin Cemi winadadeba, pativiT iqneba miRebuli. samwuxarod, Cveni emigracia daqsaqsulia

unpublished, and it is a difficult issue: time goes by, I am approaching my demise, and nobody will be able to look after this material with “the wont of Adam’s race” after me.

By the way, I have, with me, architectural blueprints and many photographs of marvelous Islamic monuments of Georgia. Among them, there are authentic photographs of monuments that are no longer standing today, and of which only my description and these photographs are left. I was promised that they would be published in six large albums, but this hope has now disappeared, as it would cost at least half a million francs. It would already be a great accomplishment to just publish the descriptive texts. It amounts to about 2000 pages of a medium-sized book, so naturally, it would have to be printed in several books. This is why I would allow myself some boldness, as this is a Georgian cultural matter of public importance, address all the Georgian organizations and individuals based abroad, regardless of their party, and ask them to help us in this endeavor, in the way or the amount they can afford. Those who can afford it can transfer us a one-time sum; those who cannot can transfer ten francs each month. Those who have less means can transfer a monthly sum of five francs. Of course, this doesn’t concern those who are not working. As for the organizations that publish newspapers, my suggestion would be that they refrain from printing one or two issues,

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and use the spared amount for this endeavor; I think that nothing bad will come out of this.

I have been the witness of the unique evolution that took place in this field among our compatriots. If at first, people were laughing at me for working in this field, attacking and writing accusatory articles about me, this stance changed from black to white after the foundation of the Society of History and Ethnography, and they became sympathetic to my cause. If someone had frustrated me with too large a price for the purchase of some important manuscript or other cultural material, now they were much more accommodating. They started giving us items for which we would have paid for a very small amount of money.

In ten years, we created a large museum, and purchased lands for about a million rubles.

The wills left to us by Akaki Tsereteli, Davit Sarajishvili, Nestor Petriashvili, the Gudushauris and many others (and because of the revolution and the depreciation of the currency, we benefited much less from them) are proof of the sudden change and the firm realization of the urgent necessity of researching our ancient culture‌ Georgia as a whole showed great respect and supported us in our endeavor. If the same sympathy spreads to our emigration, then my address will be well-received. Unfortunately, our emigration is divided according to their political views. Let us at least unite in this

politikuri mimarTulebis TvalsazrisiT. am saqmeSi mainc SeverTdeT. iqneba am SeerTebam sxva did saqmeSic SeerTeba gamoiwvioso. RmerTma qnas! axlo xanSi 50 weli Sesruldeba, rac me sapedagogo dargSi daviwye muSaoba. Cemma yofilma Segirdebma mommarTes winadadebiT iubiles mowyobisa. razedac, uari ganvacxade, pirvelad mitom, rom saiubileo araferi gamikeTebia. mxolod Cem qarTul movaleobas vasrulebdi. meored mitom, rom kidevac Rirsi viyo iubilesa, Cvens pirobebSi, emigraciaSi, iubile vis gaugonia! ar egebis! iubilezed metad CavTvli da ufro sasargebloc iqneba, Tu am gamocemaTa saSualebas momixerxeben. nurvin damwamebs, TiTqo me Cveni emigraciis siRaribe ar vicode. magram isic kargad vici, CvenSi sazogado saqme, Tu rame gakeTebulia, isev Raribi qarTvelis jibiT da misi inteligenciis wyalobiT, mdidrebi cota gvyvanden da vinc gvyavda, bevri saimiso araferi gaukeTebiaT. Tu guli gulobs da yvelani SeverTdebiT, saerTo wvliliTac am saqmes eSveleba. es aris pirveli da ukanaskneli Cemi Txovna qarTveli emigraciisadmi. vinc pativs dagvdebs da dagvexmareba am saqmeSi, maT vTxov windawinve miiRon Cemi uRrmesi madloba.

25 noemberi, 1936, parizi

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matter. Perhaps this unity will lead to the accomplishment of another great deed. May God help us in that!

It will soon be 50 years since I have started working in the field of pedagogy. My former students wrote me and suggested to organize a jubilee. I refused, firstly because I have never done anything deserving a celebration. Firstly, I was only fulfilling my duty as a Georgian. Secondly, even if I deserved such a celebration, what does it have to do in our reality as emigrants?! It is impossible! I would be happier and it would be more beneficial for everybody if I was allowed to publish these books.

I will not allow anybody to tell me that I do not know the poor conditions in which our emigration is living. But I also know very well that if something has ever been done for our society, it was always with the support of the means and intelligence of poorer Georgians; we had few rich individuals, and those we had did not do much in this regard. If we all unite, a sum of small contributions could solve this issue. This is the first and last request I will make to the Georgian emigration. I hereby ask those who will esteem our endeavor and help us in it to receive my deepest gratitude.

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kadrs miRma teleoperatori kameriT da kameris gareSe

BEYOND THE FRAME TV CAMERAMAN WITH AND WITHOUT THE CAMERA `...mova dro da televizia kacobriobis cxovrebas gadaatrialebs, aRaraferi iqneba _ arc kino, arc Teatri, arc gazeTebi, iqneba mxolod televizia... momavali ekuTvnis televizias...~ _ es xom yvelasTvis nacnobi frazaa sabWoTa oskarosani filmidan. im dros moskovs cremlebis ar sjeroda, magram, im axalgazrda operatorebs sjerodaT Tavisi profesiis brwyinvale momavlisa da arc Semcdaran...

“…The time will come when television will change the life of humans, when there will be nothing else left – no cinema, no theater, no newspaper, and there will only be television… The future belongs to television…” – this is a famous sentence from an Oscar-winning soviet film. At that time, young soviet cameramen believed in the brilliant future of their profession, and they weren’t mistaken…

The great invention that began with a cathode-ray tube was first seen in 1936 in Great Britain and Germany, and then in 1939 in Russia.

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kaTodis miliT dawyebuli kacobriobis udidesi gamogoneba pirvelad 1936 wels britaneTsa da germaniaSi, xolo 1939 wels ruseTSi ixila mayurebelma. saqarTvelo am movlenebis Tanamonawile 1956 wels gaxda da, warmoidgineT, am istoriuli monacemiT, amerikis SeerTebul Statebsac ki gauswro. pirveli qarTuli gadacema eTerSi mTawmindis teleanZidan gavida. 1960 wels amoqmedda televiziis pirveli korpusi, ramdenime weliwadSi mas kidev sami miemata da, ostankinos Semdeg, teqnikuri TvalsazrisiT saqarTvelos televizia meore gaxda sabWoTa kavSirSi. „diad sabWoeTSi“ tele-profesiebi moskovSi iswavleboda da, rodesac Cvenma respondentma „televiziis mtveri“ pirvelad SeisunTqa, im sivrceSi swored teleanbans „centrSi“ dauflebuli pirveli Taoba daxvda. iyo dro, teleoperatoris statusi, garda imisa rom axali, ucxo da saintereso profesia iyo, popularobis indeqssac matebda adamianebs. amaze meti ra unda enatra 70-iani wlebis TbilisSi 17 wlis biWs, Tu ara televiziaSi muSaoba?. skolis damTavrebidan pirvelive wels dasrulda msaxiobobaze ocneba da kameris meore mxarem grZelvadianad da didi angariSiT gaimarjva. teleoperatori besarion ormocaZe TiTqmis naxevari saukunea pirveli arxis operatoria da arasodes ufiqria sxva arxze gadasvla... _ batono beso, momaval profesias rom Zalian axalgazrdam da advilad miageniT, es SemTxvevaa Tu gamarTleba? _ orive erTad. skolis damTavrebis Semdeg Teatralur instituts mivaSure. msaxioboba mindoda. moxda ise, rom im wels studenti ver gavxdi. momavali wlisTvis ki staJi iyo saWiro. marTla SemTxveviToba da gamarTleba iyo erTad Cemi televiziaSi moxvedra, risTvisac yovelTvis madlieri viqnebi am ambis monawile adamianebis. pirvel rigSi ki dedaCemis. gamimarTla im adamianebSi, vinc iq damxvda, maswavla da mimegobra... _ mainc da mainc operatoroba? _ operatoroba samxedro savaldebulo samsaxuridan dabrunebis Semdeg gadavwyvite. Cemi pirveli statusi televiziaSi reJisoris TanaSemwis iyo. _ da ra evaleboda reJisoris TanaSemwes? _ ise JRerda, kinaRam uari vTqvi, magram roca amixsnes ra mevaleboda, sixaruliT davTanxmdi. aRmoCnda rom, reJisoris TanaSemwe Cveulebrivi muSaa... mivedi samsaxurSi da damxvda saocari, cota ucnauri kaci _ reJisori Temur faferaSvili, romelmac Semayvara da maswavla televizia. televiziiT cxovrebas swavla unda, es Cveulebrivi cxovreba araa. imdenad mondomebuli viyavi, mZRolis marSrutis naxazebsac ki vakeTebdi.

Georgia joined in 1956 – interestingly, it was before the United States had the TV. The first Georgian TV show was broadcast from the Mtatsminda TV tower. The first TV building started working in 1960, three others followed in a few years’ time, and in terms of technical equipment, Georgian TV was the second in the Soviet Union, after Ostankino.

In “the Great Soviet Union”, the professions related to TV were being taught in Moscow, and the first time our respondent "tasted", he met precisely the first generation that was working in the TV “center” of Georgia.

There was a time when the status of cameraman, apart from being a new, unfamiliar, and interesting one, was also providing people popularity. Working for the television – what more could a 17-yearold want in Tbilisi in the 1970s? The first year after finishing school, the dream of our respondent to become an actor dwindled, and the other side of the camera took more and more importance.

Cameraman Besarion Ormotsadze has been the cameraman of the Georgian Public Broadcasting for almost half a century, and he has never thought about moving to another channel…

– Mr. Beso, you found your future profession at a very young age and very easily, was it coincidence or luck?

– It was both. After finishing school, I wanted to enroll at the Theater and Film State Institute. I wanted to become an actor. It so happened that I could not become a student that year. It was really both a coincidence and luck for me to get into television, for which I will always be thankful towards the people who have taken part in this. In the first place, my mother. I was lucky to find the people who welcomed me there, taught me, and befriended me…

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maSin Temurma filmi gaakeTa televiziis teqnikur muSaobaze, „sinaze“ erqva. Zalian saintereso filmia _ sxva rakursiTaa naCvenebi operatoris Sromac, yvela xarvezi da wuni gamoiyena, rac ki arqivSi arsebobda. 75-Si jarSi wavedi. iq gavicani operatori guja qoiava, romelmac „momwamla“ Tavisi profesiiT. jaridan dabrunebis mere reJisoris asistentad SemeZlo memuSava, magram me operatoroba varCie. ase gavxdi teleoperatoris mesame kategoriis asistenti. anu, televiziaSi yvela safexuri gavlili maqvs. _ teleoperatoris Tqveneuli ganmarteba... _ teleoperatori esaa adamiani kadrs miRma, romelic Tavisi uCinarobiT uamrav rames xdis saCinos. teleoperatori aris yvelgan, sadac saqme gamosaxulebas exeba. televiziaSi is erT-erTi yvelaze mniSvnelovani da sapasuxismgeblo profesiaa. mis gareSe warmoudgenelia nebismieri xasiaTis dadgmis ganxorcieleba. is gegmavs da ayalibebs mxatvruli Canafiqris vizualur struqturas. _ sazogadoebrivi mauwyeblis damdgmeli teleoperatori. saqarTvelos teleoperatorTa gildiis prezidenti da erT-erTi damfuZnebeli, ganaTlebis xarisxis ganviTarebis erovnuli centris eqsperti, fasilitatori _ profesiuli standartis SemmuSavebeli samuSao jgufis wevri... erT-erTi saukeTeso pedagogi da operatori... erTi adamianisTvis arc ise cotaa Tu bevria? _ vidre am yvelafers Tavs arTmevs erTi adamiani, vfiqrob, sakmarisia. Tumca, Tu arCevanze midgeba saqme, Cems SemTxvevaSi, bolo pozicia vatyob gadawonis pirvelad profesias, imdenad saintereso gaxda CemTvis swavlebis procesi. _ rogorc profesiuli standartis SemmuSavebeli, rogor fiqrobT, yvelas SeuZlia, iyos operatori? _ ra Tqma unda, ara... dRes, Tundac telefoniT yvela iRebs, magram Zalian cotam icis, ra aris kompozicia. magas rom Tavi davaneboT, mTavaria, hqondes gemovneba da xedva.

Tu ginda rom operatori gaxde, fotografia unda icode. esaa sabaziso unari. unda viwyebdeT fotografiiT, romelic ayalibebs ganaTebisa da kompoziciis SegrZnebis unarebs. televizia pirvel rigSi gamosaxulebaa. operatoris amocana egaa _ Tavi moawono adamianebs Seni gadaRebuli kadriT.

– Why be a cameraman?

– I decided to become a cameraman after coming back from the army. My first job at the TV station was director’s assistant.

– What does a director’s assistant do?

– It didn’t sound very good, so I almost refused this job, but when they explained me what I had to do, I gladly accepted. It turned out that a director’s assistant is just like a muse… I arrived at the office, and I met a wonderful, somewhat peculiar man – director Temur Paperashvili, who taught me and made me fall in love with television. You need to learn television life, it is not like regular life. I was so motivated that I was even drawing the routes that we had to go through for the driver. At that time, Temur made a film about the technical aspects of working in television, it was named ‘Softness’. It is a very interesting film – he also shows the work of the cameraman, and used all the defects that he could find in the archive. In 1975, I had to go to the army. There, I met cameraman Guja Koiava, who “contaminated” me with this profession. After returning from the army, I could have worked as a director’s assistant, but I preferred being a cameraman. This is how a became a third-grade assistant for television cameramen. So I held all kinds of positions at the television.

– Could you tell us how you see the profession of a TV cameraman?

– The TV cameraman is a person who makes many things visible through his invisibility beyond the frame. He is everywhere where there is image. It is one of the most important and responsible professions in TV. It would be impossible to imagine any kind of production without a cameraman. He plans and arranges the visual structure of the artistic concept.

– The head cameraman of the Georgian Public Broadcasting channel, the president and one of the founders of the TV Cameramen Guild of Georgia, an expert for the National Center for the Development of the Quality of Education, a facilitator – member of a working group on professional standards… One of the best teachers and cameramen… Isn’t it too much for one person?

_ kidev ra moeTxoveba teleoperators? aseve unda icnobdes calkeuli scenis gadaRebisTvis teqnikuri uzrunvelyofis Taviseburebebs, unda hqondes jgufuri da individualuri SemoqmedebiTi muSaobis Cvevebi. iyos yuradRebiani, keTilsindisieri, kreatiuli... danarCeni ukve rutinaa, TiTqos uintereso, mosawyeni, magram umniSvnelovanesi da didi riskebis matarebelic. operatorebi varT adamianebi _ kadrs miRma. zogjer TviT

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– Until the person can handle all this, I think that it’s enough. But if I could choose, personally, I think that my latest position would outweigh my original profession, because the process of teaching has become very interesting.

televiziis TanamSromlebmac ar ician is detalebi da wvrilmanebi, romlebic Cvens yoveldRiur profesiul saqmianobas axlavs Tan. iciT, wlebis win Cvens gamoCenil kolegaze, zaur doborjginiZeze, televiziis beWdviT gamocemaSi ra daiwera _ „ ise kargad muSaobs onkanzeo!“ arada, e.w. „kranze“ anu, saoperatoro amweze iyo saubari. _ yvela operatori mainc kinoze ocnebobs bolos? _ aramgonia, Tumca, teleoperatoris rutinis fonze, Tundac reklamaze an musikalur klipze muSaoba TiTqmis miaxloebaa kinosTan. me mqonda bedniereba memuSava maRali donis reJisorebTan. Cemi studentobis dros firze muSaoba xelmisawvdomi iyo da visac es gamoucdia, icis gansxvavebac. sadiplomo namuSevari firze maqvs gadaRebuli. iyo aseTi dokumenturi filmi „mxedari“. politeqnikuri institutis dokumenturi filmis avtor-operatoris diplomi swored am filmiT davimsaxureT me da Cemma Tanakurselma mixo mandariam. am filmze erToblivad vimuSaveT. gadaRebis procesi Zalian saintereso iyo da filmic Sesabamisi gamovida. samwuxarod, misi Senaxva ver SevZeli, daikarga. _ operatoris profesiul riskebzec mogviyeviT...

– As a member of the working group on professional standards, what do you think, can everybody become a cameraman?

– Of course not… Today, many people film with mobile phones, but few know what composition is. But even if we forget about that, the most important is for the person filming to have taste and vision. If you want to become a cameraman, you have to know photography.

This is the basic necessary skill. You have to start with photography, which establishes skills in lighting and composition. Television is mostly image. This is the challenge of the cameraman – to make spectators like the frames you offer them.

– What else is expected from a TV cameraman?

– They also need to know the intricacies of the technical aspects of filming different kinds of scenes, and they need to have the skills to work both as a part of a creative team and as a creative individual.

They have to be attentive, honest, creative… The rest is a routine, which may seem uninteresting, boring, but is also utterly important

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_ pirvel rigSi, operatori unda iyos karg fizikur formaSi, unda icodes da icavdes usafrTxoebis wesebs. ekipireba sakmaod moculobiTia. kamerasTan erTad, saoperatoroamwe, urika, stedikami, slaideri, monorelsi, kamseti da sxva _ misi Sromis iaraRebia. saoperatoro amweze da sxva specteqnikiT muSaoba urTulesia. magaliTad, „stedikams“ tanze JiletiviT irgeb da ise iReb. Tu is kargad dabalansebuli araa, 3 Tvis Semdeg iwvevs xerxemlis gamrudebas. Tu amas omisa da konfliqtur zonebSi gadaRebebsac davumatebT, mixvdebiT, rom sulac araa martivi da usafrTxo iyo teleoperatori. _ xSirad dauyenebixarT profesias riskis qveS? Cemi xangrZlivi praqtikidan gamomdinare, uamravi gauTvaliswinebeli situacia mqonia. roca eqskluzivze muSaob da riskis zonaSi Sedixar, cxadia, amisTvis mzad unda iyo. samagierod, ramxela adrenalinia?! wlebis win, iranis miwisZvris tragikuli Sedegebis gadasaRebad batonma ednar giorgobianma(maSin mTavari reJisori iyo televiziis) gamagzavna. „wiTeli jvris“ egidiT gavfrindiT, waviyvaneT 4 fereidneli qarTveli. maSin sabWoTa kavSiris

and includes many risks. Cameramen are the people beyond the frame. Sometimes, even the people working at the TV don’t know the details and intricacies that come with our everyday professional work. A few years ago, it was published, in a written medium, that our eminent colleague Zaur Doborjginidze was “working so well on the tap [onkanze in Georgian] !” In reality, he was working on a camera crane [kranze in Georgian].

– Do every cameramen dream of working in cinema in the end?

– I don’t think so, though if we consider the routine of being a TV cameraman, even working on a commercial or a music clip is getting closer to cinema. I had the chance to work with great directors. During my student years, it was possible to work on actual film formats, and those who have experienced it know the difference. I filmed my graduation work on film. It was a documentary film called ‘horseman’. Myself and my fellow student Mikho Mandaria got our diplomas as a documentary film author and cameraman thanks to this film. We worked together on this film. The filming process was very interesting, and the film turned out interesting too. Unfortunately, it got lost.

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sagareo saqmeTa ministri eduard SevardnaZe iyo. irans ruseTis gagonebac ar undoda, misgan yvelanairi daxmarebis miRebaze uars ambobda. SevardnaZem dareka saelCoSi, rom es iyo daxmareba konkretulad saqarTvelodan da migviRes. erTi dRiT unda CavsuliyaviT, gadagveRo da ukan davbrunebuliyaviT. „hiltonSi“ gvacxovres. iqauri axalgazrda, romelic gvmegzurobda maqsimalurad cdilobda, dagvxmareboda. qorwilSic ki aRmovCndiT da misi gadaRebis saSualebac ki mogvca. _ qorwilis imxela tragediis dros? _ Cvenc gakvirvebulebi viyaviT. daqceuli qalaqi, didi msxverpli da am dros xalxis meore nawili quCaSi daseirnobda, erToboda. is situacia gamaxsenda _ afxazeTis omis dros Tbilisis restornebi rom iyo gadaWedili. mokled, tragediis paralelurad, qorwilic gadaviReT. patarZals saxe Ria hqonda. gagvikvirda, magram qorwilis dRes SeiZleba, mere aRaro. erTis magivrad sami dRe davrCiT. Cvens maspinZel axalgazrdas Casvlis dRes vkiTxe: Sahi ufro kargi iyo Tu aiaTola ukeTesia-meTqi. uf, ras ambob, Sahi, ar mixsenoo! ukve wamosvlis dRes, gadaRebidan sastumroSi dabrunebuls gadamekida _ me wagaRebineb kameraso, arada, patara kamera mqonda. mainc Semomyva, liftSi da, rogorc ki kabina daiZra, meubneba _ aiaTola ara! Sahi iyo kargio! maSin mivxvdi, iq sabWoTa „kagebeze“ uaresebi hyavdaT. reJimi da sistema yvelgan saZulvelia. adamianebs ki uamravi gansxvavebis miuxedavad Tavisuflebis da gulwrfelobis survili yovelTvis aqvT.

– Tell us about the professional risks involved in being a cameraman…

– In the first place, cameramen need to be in good physical shape, and they should know and observe safety measures. The equipment is quite heavy. Apart from the camera, there is a camera crane, a cart, camera stabilizer, slider, monorail, and others – these are a cameraman’s professional tools. It is very difficult to work with a camera crane and other special equipment. For instance, you need to put on the Steadicam like a jacket and film with this weight on you.

If it is not well balanced, it can lead to curvatures of the spine three months later. If we add war and conflict zones to the picture, we will understand that it is not at all easy or safe to be a cameraman.

– Were you often at risk because of your profession?

– Because of my long years of practice, I have seen many unexpected situations. When you are working on something exclusive and you enter a risky zone, naturally, you have to be ready for this. But on the other hand, it is such a high dose of adrenaline! Years ago, Mr. Ednar Giorgobiani, who was the head director of the TV station at the time, sent me in Iran in order to film the tragic results of the earthquake that had taken place there . We flew with the team of the Red Cross, and brought four Iranian Georgians with us. Back then, the Minster of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union was Eduard Shevardnadze. Iran didn’t want to hear a word about Russia, it was refusing any kind of support from them. Shevardnadze called the embassy and told them that this was an aid specifically from Georgia, and they accepted us. We had to go for only one day, film, and return to Georgia.

They hosted us at the ‘Hilton’. Our young guide was doing his best to help us. We even found ourselves at a wedding and filmed it.

– A wedding during such a tragic time?

– We were also surprised. A city in ruins, many victims, and at the same time, part of the people was wandering in the streets, having fun. It reminded me of the time when restaurants in Tbilisi were overcrowded during the war in Abkhazia. In short, in parallel to the tragedy, we filmed the wedding. The bride’s face was not veiled. We were surprised, but they said that it was the last day they could do the wedding. We stayed for three days instead of one. I asked our

_ operatorebi Tu xarT muSaobis dros Tavisuflebi? Tu mkacrad emorCilebiT reJisoris miTiTebas. _ kinoSic, reklamaSic arsebobs „saoperatoro dubli“. reJisoris surviliT gadaRebuli dubli sxvaa. 80 %-is SemTxvevaSi, bolos masalaSi operatoris dubli jdeba, radgan is ukeTesi gamodis. televiziaSi aseTi dublebi naklebadaa. _ sabWoTa televiziaSi muSaoba garkveul wesebs da SezRudvebs gulisxmobda. ramdenad mkacri iyo cenzura da ramdenad obieqturi? _ oo, axla ki mecineba, magram maSin kinaRam samsaxuri davkargeT iciT ris gamo? 70-ianebis bolos Temur faferaSvilma lui amstrongze gaakeTa gadacema. fotoebi da musika gamoiyena. aba sxva masala sad gvqonda, nodar paladaSvili iyo musikaluri redaqtori. maSindelma cenzuram Seicxada _ lui amstrongs rogor usmenT! meored amas gaakeTebT da samsaxurs dakargavTo. guli dagvwyda, kargi gadacema iyo... _ rogorc vici, (agvistos)sxvadasxva saomar situaciebSic iRebdiT (omsac) iRebdiT. _ ki, bevri siuJeti mqonda. filmic maqvs cxinval

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young host on the first day: “Who would you prefer, the Shah or the Ayatollah?” – “Don’t even mention the Shah!”, he said. But on the last day, when we were coming back from the shooting to the hotel, he insisted to carry my camera, even if it was a light one. He followed me in the elevator, and as soon as the elevator started moving, he told me – “Not the Ayatollah! The Shah was good!" This is when I understood that they had something worse than the soviet KGB there. Regimes and systems are odious everywhere. As for people, despite many differences, they always strive for freedom and sincerity.

– Do cameramen have freedom when they work? Or do you have to follow the orders of the director?

– Both in films and in commercials, there are “cameraman cuts”.

The director’s cut is something else. In 80% of the cases, it is the cameraman’s cut that makes it in the final version, because it looks better. It is not the case in television though.

– Working for a soviet television channel came with several rules and restrictions. How strict was the censorship, and how objective was it?

– Right now, I laugh about it, but back then, we almost lost our jobs.

You know why? In the end of the 1970s, Temur Paperashvili made a documentary film about Louis Armstrong. He used photographs and music. We didn’t have any other material, and Nodar Paladashvili was the musical editor. The censorship told us – “How can you listen to Louis Armstrong?! If you do something similar another time, you will lose your jobs.” We were heartbroken, it was a good documentary.

is(ze) omze gakeTebuli. omis dros sastumro „metexSi“ iyo igive saxelwodebis studia, sadac qarTveli operatorebi ucxoel reportiorebTan vTanamSromlobdiT. „moambis“ operatorebi viyaviT ZiriTadad. erTxelac, TamaraSenSi varT, sabrZolo operaciebi mimdinareobs. „beteeriT“ Cagviyvanes cxinvalSi me da scenaristi da reJisori soso mWedliSvili. merab kokoCaSvilis weriliT gamovcxaddiT rusebis samxedro StabSi, raTa uzrunveleyoT Cveni usafrTxo gadaadgileba da gadaRebis saSualeba moecaT. werilis adresati iseTi nasvami dagvxvda, veraferi gavawyveT. aRarc „beteeri~ mogvces TamaraSenSi dasabruneblad. kidev kargi, soso saerTod ar hgavs qarTvels da mec, Cemda bedad, ucnauri Sindisferi Sarvali mecva. ase davadeqiT gzas. sosos vuTxari _ inglisurad rac ici da ar ici, araxune-meTqi. vertmfrenebis polkidan TamaraSenamde ase gamoviareT. is raRac sityvebs gahyviroda, me _ kameraCarTuli „vmanevrirebdi“. TamaraSenamde jer osebis saguSago iyo, mere rusebis da mere idgnen Cvenebi. meore reJisorma bakur xundaZem feri dakarga Soridan rom dagvinaxa, gamovarda rusebis perimetrze da gadmogviyvana, Torem... _ TqvenTvis yvelaze mniSvnelovani namuSevari? _ namuSevrebis gamorCeva gamiWirdeba, Semfasebeli mayurebelia, magram yvelaze bednieri viyavi, roca reJisor giorgi ebraliZesTan vmuSaobdi pirveli arxis proeqtze _ „SeinarCune saqarTvelo mSvenieri“ „Zeglebi“ „vazis istoria“. imave periodSi „neostudia~ iRebda „gadmorekes“, romlis reJisoric isev giorgi ebraliZe iyo. Zalian didi mniSvneloba aqvs gadaRebisTvis garemos, reJisors, jgufs.

– As I know, you also filmed various war situations.

– Yes, I had many such subjects. I have even done a film about the Tskhinvali War. During the war, there was a studio called ‘Metekhi’ in a hotel of the same name, where Georgian cameramen collaborated with foreign reporters. We were mainly cameramen from the news show ‘Moambe’. Once, when we were in Tamarasheni, there were military operations taking place. They took us to Tskhinvali in a ‘BTR’, myself and the scenarist and director Soso Mchedlishvili. We arrived at the Russian military checkpoint with a letter from Merab Kokochashvili, so that they would take care of our safety and give us the possibility to film. The addressee of the letter was so drunk that we couldn’t make him understand anything. They didn’t even give us a ‘BTR’ to return to Tamarasheni. We were lucky that Soso doesn’t look anything like a Georgian, and that I was wearing a strange violet pair of trousers. This is how we managed to get from the helicopter regiment to Tamarasheni.

He was screaming some words in English, while I was “maneuvering” with my camera switched on. To reach Tamarasheni, we had to pass an Ossetian checkpoint first, then a Russian one, then ours. The second director, Bakur Khundadze, got pale when he saw us, he ran on the Russian perimeter and took us on our side, otherwise…

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– What is your most important work?

– It is difficult for me to choose one work over others, the judge is

2 (20) 2020

the audience, but I felt the happiest when I was working with director Giorgi Ebralidze on the projects ‘Preserve beautiful Georgia’, ‘Monuments’, ‘History of vine’, all for the Georgian Public Broadcaster. At the same period, ‘Neostudio’ was filming ‘They called’, whose director was also Ebralidze. The environment, director, and whole team are very important.

_ aris rame iseTi, rac ar gadagiRiaT, da Zalian gindaT? _ mgoni, araferi, axla is periodi da asaki maqvs, roca bevri vnaxe, bevri viswavle da minda, es gamocdileba da codna sxvebsac gadavce. _ amas axerxebT kidec. operatorTa gildiaze mogviyeviT, romlis damfuZnebelic xarT. _ saqarTvelos teleopertorTa gildia 2015 wels davafuZneT didi enTuziazmiT, keTilSobili miznebiT da didi gegmebiT, magram... jer-jerobiT mxolod varsebobT. gvindoda, gildias etvirTa profkavSirebis, profesiuli gadamzadebis funqciac. wlebis win, qarTvel veteran operatorebs amierkavkasiis masStabiT gvindoda iseTive saswavleblis gaxsna, rogoric sabWoTa kavSiris dros arsebobda moskovSi. saswavleblis bazad telefilmebis studiis gamoyenebas vgegmavdiT, magram am proeqts teritoriebis gaqiraveba arCies. da uceb, amxela imedgacruebis Semdeg, Cemda sasixarulod, ganaTlebis saministrom gamoacxada moklevadiani profesiuli momzadebagadamzadebis programa, sadac gaTvaliswinebuli aris teleoperatoris profesiac. _ anu, vidre aseTi profsaswavlebeli ar gaixsna, operatorebi TviTnaswavlebi iyvnen? _ an garkveul kursebgavlili. Tu televiziaSi SedarebiT normalurad gadaRebul masalas moitanda vinme, amis mixedviT iRebdnen samsaxurSi. mec mqonda gaxsnili samTviani kursi, serTifikatsac gavcemdi, magram am gadawyvetilebiT sul sxva masStabze gavdivarT da swavlebis donec Sesabamisia. _ ra misiis Sesrulebas gegmavT? _ gildias unda rom teleoperatori pirvel rigSi iyos profesionali, ganaTlebuli da daculi. gildias surs profesiis aRiarebas miaRwios, vxedavT, rom araformaluri ganaTlebis aRiarebisken midis saqme.

– Is there something that you haven’t filmed and would really like to flim?

– I don’t think so, no, right now, I am at a time when I have seen a lot of things, I have learned a lot, and I want to transmit this experience and knowledge to others.

– And you manage to. Could you tell us about the guild of cameramen, which you founded?

– The Guild of TV Cameramen of Georgia was founded in 2015 with great enthusiasm, sincere goals and ambitious plans, but… for now, we’re just existing. We wanted the guild to be part of trade unions and to prepare professionals too. Years ago, us Georgian veteran cameramen wanted to open an educational center on the Transcaucasian scale like the one that existed in Moscow during soviet times. It would have been based on the use of studios for telefilms, but they preferred to rent these spaces instead of carrying out this project. And suddenly, after such a disappointment, to my delight, the Ministry of Education declared a short-term professional education program, which also included the profession of TV cameraman.

– So before this kind of professional education opened, cameramen learned their craft by themselves?

– Or by following other lessons. If someone brought filmed material of some quality at the TV station, they would be hired because of it. I had also opened a three-month course which even included a certificate, but with this decision, we are getting to a whole another level, with appropriate quality for the lessons.

– What is your plan?

– In the first place, the guild wants TV cameramen to be professionals, educated, and protected. The guild wants this profession to be recognized, and we can see that everything is going towards the establishment of a non-formal education course.

_ amisTvis xom arsebobs profkavSiri? _ televiziaSic arsebobs profkavSiri, magram verafers axerxebs. gildia ufro qmediTi unda iyos, magram msgavs kavSirebs yvelgan saxelmwifo afinansebs. dasawyisSi mainc, vidre is ricxobrivad gaizrdeba da saerTaSoriso kontaqtebze gava. me Tu aq ar Sevqmeni srulyofili gildia, msoflio gildiamde rogor mivide? da Tu mivediT, mere ukve is gicavs da gexmareba, magram.. finansebia saWiro samoZraod, sakontaqtod. imedia, Cemi gamousworebeli optimizmi aqac gaamarTlebs da yvelaferi kargad iqneba...

– Is there a trade union for this?

– There is a trade union at the TV, but it cannot do anything. The guild has to be more active, but such unions are financed by the state everywhere. At least in the start, before they get larger and get other contacts. If I do not create a proper guild here, how could we get to the worldwide guild? And if we do get there, then they will be the ones protecting and helping us, but… We need finances to travel, to get contacts. I hope that my incorrigible optimism will prevail here too, and that everything will be well.

ana obolaSvili

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Ana Obolashvili

3 (21) 2020

rigoleto igebs jekpots RIGOLETTO WINS THE JACKPOT 25 weli msoflio saopero scenebze, 100-ze meti speqtakli NY Metropolitan Opera-Si, triumfi milanis La Scala-Si, londonis Covent Garden-Si, LA Opera-Si, madridis samefo TeatrSi, parizis Grand Opera-Si, venis StaatsoperSi, berlinis Deutsche operaSi, neapolis San Carlo-s samefo TeatrSi, Arena di Verona-Si... giorgi gagniZe operis didi varskvlavia, _ elitaruli baritoni, msoflio maestro lorin maazelisa da msoflio tenoris xose karerasis aRmoCena, romlis fenomensac didi xania grZnobs msmeneli. The New-York Times-ma Met Opera-is scenaze maikl maieris gaxmaurebul produqciaSi qarTveli momRerlis rigoleto ase Seafasa: `rigoleto igebs jekpots... gagniZis metaliviT Zlieri xma, rogorc

25 years on opera stages around the world, more than 100 shows at the New York Metropolitan Opera, triumphs at Milan’s La Scala, London’s Covent Garden, the Los Angeles Opera, Madrid’s Royal Theatre, the Grand Opéra de Paris, the Vienna State Opera, Berlin’s Deutsche Opera, The San Carlo Theater in Napoli, the Arena di Verona…

Giorgi Gagnidze is a great star of opera – an elite baritone discovered by renowned conductor Lorin Maazel and tenor José Carreras. The New York Times has reviewed the Georgian singer’s Rigoletto in Michael Mayer’s triumphant production on the Met Opera stage as such: “Rigoletto wins the jackpot… Gagnidze’s voice, strong as iron, sounds like a thunderstorm here, just like on any big stage in the world…”. The American ‘Operawire’ writes

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msoflios did scenebze, aqac Weqa-quxiliviT ismis...~, `aidaSi“ mis mier Sesrulebul eTiopiis mefe amonasros mTavar partiaze amerikuli Operawire wers: „kataklizmuri Zalis mqone xma“, leonkavalos „soflis Rirsebasa“ da „jambazebSi“ gagniZis rTul Teatralur gamowvevasa da gansxvavebuli scenuri portretebis mimarT aseTi iyo The New-York Times-is verdiqti: „is, rom erT dReSi or sruliad gansxvavebul adamianad gardaisaxo, es rogorc did profesionalizms, aseve did adamianur energias moiTxovs. alfios da tonios roliT giorgi gagniZe warmoCinda rogorc Zlevamosili baritoni. Tuki alfio aris Tavdajerebuli, misi tonio sruliad gatexili da SeZruli Cans“. giorgi gagniZis, rogorc italiuri operebis saukeTeso Semsruleblis varskvlavuri kariera Met Opera-Si 2009 wlidan iwyeba oto Senkis reJisuraze „rigoletoSi“ rigoletos sensaciuri debiutiT. aseT did scenaze mis warmatebul gamosvlas 5000 mayurebeli fexze Sexvda, miiRo xangrZlivi aplodismentebi, _ yvirodnen, fexebs abraxunebdnen... _ „imdenad gaxarebuli viyavi, rom bednierebisgan ver vsunTqavdio“ _ ase ixsenebs am gamosvlas qarTveli momRerali, radgan is emociebi masSi isev cocxlobs da Zvirfasia... „unikaluri xmaa!“ _ ase alaparakdnen qarTvel baritonze, `is ar daibada rigoletosTvis, is Tavad rigoletoa...~ _ aRfrTovanebas ver malavda legendaruli xose karerasi, espaneli tenori, xolo darbazidan qarTvel varskvlavs plasido domingo gulSematkivrobda, romelic mogvianebiT ityvis: `giorgi gagniZe Zalian didi momReralia da Cemi qarTveli megobari...~ rogorc ki farda daixura, giorgim kontraqti pirdapir kulisebSi miiRo isev NY Lincoln Center-is yvelaze akademiuri da prestiJuli Teatrisgan. „rigoleto“ Met Opera-Si giorgi gagniZis gareSe ar imarTeba, _ 2012-2013 wlebis sezonebze maikl maieris absoluturi fantazia, anu axali grandiozuli produqcia las vegasis „rigoletod“ gadaiqca, iq, sadac gagniZe isev warmatebiT dabrunda. sxvanairad SeuZlebelia, rodesac giorgis Sesrulebas usmen skarpiadan toniomde, grZnob mis namRerSi ramxela siRrmea, savse da myari legatoebi, zariviT ismis misi Zlieri da energiuli xma. Zlier vokalur palitrasTan erTad, mis scenur saxeebs aqvs emociuri gulwrfeloba, saocari artistizmi da is Seudarebeli qarizma, rac mas varskvlavad aqcevs.

about his main part as Ethiopian King Amonasro in Aida: “A voice of a cataclysmic force”. And this was the New York Times’ verdict about Gagnidze’s difficult theatric challenge and contrasting scenic portraits in Leoncavallo’s ‘Cavalleria Rustiacana’ and ‘Pagliacci’: “To transform into two completely different characters in a day demands both utter professionalism and a great deal of human energy. Through Alfio and Tonio’s roles, Giorgi Gagnidze stood out as a triumphant baritone. If his Alfio looked selfconfident, his Tony looked completely broken.”

The stellar career of Giorgi Gagnidze as one of the best performers of Italian operas started at the Met Opera in 2009, with a sensational debut in the title role of Giuseppe Verdi’s ‘Rigoletto’, directed by Otto Schenk. 5000 spectators stood on their feet and applauded him for a long time after this successful performance on this large stage. “They were shouting, banging their feet on the ground… I was so happy that I almost couldn’t breathe” – this is how the Georgian singer remembers the reaction of the audience, and these emotions still live and are precious to him… “It’s a unique voice!” – this is what they started saying about the Georgian baritone. The legendary

wlebis ganmavlobaSi Met Opera-Si axalgazrda da inteleqtualuri artistis repertuari kidev ufro solidurad gafarTovda _ verdis `aida~, `makbeti~, „traviata“, `nabuqo~, puCinis `toska~, musorgskis `xovanSCina~... yovel sezonze elodebian mTavari heroikul-dramatuli partiebiT. ase movida mis TavgadasavalSi didi warmateba da aseTi seriozuli

venis saxelmwifo opera 2015, suraTi: maikl pun VIENNA STATE OPERA 2015, CREDIT: MICHAEL POEHN

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breSia / amisano - la skala

aRiareba, Tumca, „rigoletos“ amerikul triumfamde jer operis mefis konkursi _ „verdis xmebi“ moigo. es iyo 2005 wels da sanam pirvel adgilsa da gran pris gadascemdnen, xose karerasma, Jiuris Tavmjdomarem erT-erTi turis mere veRar moiTmina, mivida da emociurad uTxra: „Zalian amaRelvebeli iyo Seni Sesrulebuli renatos aria `bal-maskaradidan~, amitom ar SemeZli ar movsuliyavi. gilocav!“ am konkursis mTavari prizi iyo tokios operis TeatrSi `toskasa~ da `traviatas~ speqtaklebi Tanamedroveobis erT-erTi didi diriJoris lorin maazelis xelmZRvanelobiT. iaponiis Semdeg giorgis la skalas legendaruli Teatri elodeba, _ maazeli mixvda, rom gagniZe gaxda zustad is xma, romelic „traviataSi“ Jermonis partias sWirdeboda STambeWdavi portretis Sesaqmnelad, mere ki Avery Fisher Hall-Si niu-iorkis filarmoniul orkestrTan erTad miiwvevs puCinis „toskas“ sakoncerto SesrulebisTvis. mniSvnelovania is, rom swored, am koncerts eswreboda

BRESCIA / AMISANO – LA SCALA

Spanish tenor José Carreras couldn’t hide his amazement: “He was not born for Rigoletto, he is Rigoletto…”. Placido Domingo was applauding him from the hall, and he would later say: “Giorgi Gagnidze is a great singer, and my Georgian friend…”. As soon as the curtains shut, Giorgi received a contract from New York’s Lincoln Center’s most academic and prestigious Theatre.

‘Rigoletto’ isn’t performed at the Met Opera without Giorgi Gagnidze. In the 2012-13 seasons, Michael Mayer’s absolute fantasy, a new grandiose production, consisted in resetting ‘Rigoletto’s’ scene from 16 th century Mantua to 1960s Las Vegas, and Gagnidze was triumphant in it too. It couldn’t be otherwise, as when you listen to Giorgi’s performances from Scarpia to Tonio, you feel how much depth there is in his singing, his full and solid legatos; his strong and energetic voice sounds like the ringing of a bell. Together with a powerful vocal palette, his facial expressions convey authentic emotions, marvelous artistry, and incomparable charisma, which has made him the star that he is.

Over the years, the repertoire of the young and intellectual artist at

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piter gelbi, metropolitan operis generaluri menejeri, romelmac „verdis xmebis“ qarTveli gamarjvebuli im dResve Met Opera-Si dapatiJa „rigoletoSi“ rigoletos samRerlad: giorgi, imRereb rigoletoso? _ siamovnebiT! 2009 wels Met Opera-Si axali sezonis gaxsnisTvis „toskas“ did premieraze giorgi skarpias mTavar rolzea damtkicebuli, rac calke pativia da kidev ufro meti ambicia(pasuxismgebloba?) miT umetes, rom premieris teletranslacia msoflios 46 qveyanaSi milionobiT mayureblisTvis gadaicema... luk bondis reJisuraze am axal produqcias xelmZRvanelobda cnobili diriJori jeims livaini, romelmac repeticiaze giorgis pirvelad rom mousmina, gaaCera orkestri, xelebi CamouSva sadiriJoro pultidan da ase Seaqo: Excellent George! Tqven gaqvT pirveli xarisxis baritonis xma, lamazi xmis feri, Zalian Zlieri teqnika, sad swavlobdiT? _ me Tbilisis konservatoriis garda arsad miswavlia, es yvelaferi qarTuli vokaluri skolis damsaxurebaa. _ ase upasuxa giorgi gagniZem, romelsac msoflios didi Teatrebi kontraqtebs ramdenime wliT adre sTavazoben...

karlo jerard, andrea Senie, san francisko, suraTi: kori viver CARLO GERARD IN ANDREA CHENIER, SAN FRANCISCO, CREDIT: CORY WEAVER

the Met Opera has expanded even more – Verdi’s ‘Aida’, ‘Macbeth’, ‘La traviata’, ‘Nabucco’, Puccini’s ‘Tosca’, Mussorgsky’s ‘Khovanshchina’…

They expect him to come back each season and perform the lead heroic-dramatic parts. This is how he achieved so much success and such recognition during his career, though before ‘Rigoletto’s’ American triumph, he had won the ‘Concorso Voci Verdiane’ in Italy.

This was in 2005, and before they announced that he had won the first place and handed him the grand prize, José Carreras, the head of the jury, couldn’t hold it anymore, approached him in-between two rounds of singing, and told him: “Your performance of Renato’s aria in ‘Un ballo in maschera’ was very moving, I couldn’t refrain myself from telling you. Congratulations!”. The main prize of this competition was the performance of ‘Tosca’ and ‘La traviata’ at the Tokyo Opera House, under the direction of one of the great conductors of modern times, Lorin Maazel.

After Japan, the legendary La Scala theater was awaiting Giorgi – Maazel understood that Gagnidze had the perfect voice to create a stunning portrait of Germont in ‘La traviata’. Afterwards, he invited breSia / amisano - la skala

BRESCIA / AMISANO – LA SCALA

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rigoleto - la skala

_ msoflioSi yvelaze Zvel da tradiciul neapolis san karlos TeatrSi Tqven puCinis sammoqmedebian dramatul opera „toskaSi“ baron skarpias partia imRereT erT-erTi pativsacemi maestros donato renzetis/Donato Renzetti diriJorobiT. ra rCevebi mogcaT italielma maestrom, an musikaluri partiturisa da libretos dramaturgiis garda, ra iyo TqvenTvis inspiracia am boroti, tirani, sazizRari personaJis SeqmnisTvis? _ donato renzeti Zalian Rrma da inteleqtualuri diriJoria. Cven pirvelad SevxvdiT pekinSi, rodesac parmas Teatri sagastrolod imyofeboda CineTSi. me vmRerodi „rigoletoSi“ rigoletos partias. maSin CvenTan erTad iyo Zalian kargi soprano Desirée Rancatore da rodesac speqtaklis msvlelobisas Cveni dueti vimRereT, darbazSi iseTi mowoneba daimsaxura, rom mayureblis moTxovniT, es dueti bisze gavimeoreT. saerTod, Sua speqtaklis dros ariebis gameoreba ar xdeba xolme, magram imxela aplodismentebi iyo, rom... meored Sevxvdi bilbaos TeatrSi, _ espaneTis CrdiloeTiT, baskeTSi, sadac didi warmatebiT vimRere simon bokanegras mTavaria partia da

RIGOLETTO – LA SCALA

Gagnidze to perform in Puccini’s ‘Tosca’ at the Avery Fisher Hall with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, and this concert was attended

by Peter Gelb, the general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, who invited the Georgian winner of the ‘Concorso Voci Verdiane’ at the Met Opera the same evening: “Giorgi, will you sing Rigoletto? – With pleasure!”

For the inauguration of the Met Opera’s new 2009 season, Giorgi performed the lead Scarpia role in ‘Tosca’, which is a big honor and an even bigger responsibility, especially if we consider the fact that the premiere was broadcast in 46 countries for millions of spectators to watch… Famous maestro James Levine was conducting the new production under the direction of Luc Bondy.

When the conductor first heard Giorgi at a rehearsal, he stopped the orchestra, lowered his hands, and told him: “Excellent, George!

You have a first-class baritone voice, a beautiful tone, and very good technique; where did you study?”. “I never studied anywhere else than at the Tbilisi Conservatoire, all this is thanks to the Georgian vocal school” – this was the answer of Giorgi Gagnidze, to whom the world’s most prestigious theatres offer contracts years in advance…

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maxsovs, miTxra: „Grande Baritono! me aseTi simon bokanegra iSviaTad momismeniao.~ _ ai, aseTi didi kmayofileba gamoxata. ase rom, masTan TanamSromlobis Zalian kargi da sasiamovno mogonebebi maqvs, ukve mesamed SevxdiT san karlos samefo TeatrSi da orives Zalian gagvexarda. neapolis operis Teatris es produqcia eduardo de anjelisis/Eduardo De Anjelis Tanamedrove dadgmaa, mas ufro kinematografiuli xedva aqvs, saintereso detalebi Semoaqvs, amitomac speqtakls Taviseburi interpretaciiT mosavs. ai, magaliTad, skarpia rogorc mafiozi isea warmodgenili, scenaze ZaRliT, pitbulTan erTad Semodis... saintereso aqcentebia, Tumca iqve klasikuri fabulisa da kostiumebis stils inarCunebs. skarpias roli, Zalian mniSvnelovania im TvalsazrisiT rom dramatul daZabulobas am operaSi qmnis skarpia iseve, rogorc iago „oteloSi“ Sinaarsidan gamomdinare. rolze rodesac vmuSaob, vswavlob libretos, veZeb istoriul wyaroebs, veZeb xolme xasiaTs, manerebs imisTvis, rom skarpias Cemi individuluri saxe Sevqmna. _ NY Met operis galereaSi gamofenilia yvela im

suraTi: lado vaCnaZe

– You performed Baron Scarpia in Puccini’s dramatic opera ‘Tosca’ at Naples’ San Carlo Theater, the oldest and most traditional theater in the world, under the conduction of Donato Renzetti. What advice did the Italian conductor give you, and apart from the music and the dramaturgy, what were your inspirations for the creation of this evil, tyrannical, repulsive character?

– Donato Renzetti is a very profound and intelligent conductor.

We first met in Beijing, when the Parma Theater was touring in China. I was performing Rigoletto’s part in the opera of the same name. The great soprano Desirée Rancatore was with us, and when we sang our duet during the show, the audience liked it so much, that they asked us to sing an encore. In general, we never redo arias in the middle of a spectacle, but they applauded so fervently that we had to… The second time I met him was at the Bilbao Theater – in the Basque Country, where I successfully sang Simon Boccanegra’s part, and I remember that he told me: “Grande Baritono! I have rarely heard such a Simon Boccanegra!”. He expressed a great deal of satisfaction. I have very pleasant memories of working with him. The third time we met was during ‘Tosca’ at the

PHOTOGRAPH BY LADO VACHNADZE

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suraTi: xatia jijeiSvili; toska, san karlos Teatri, neapoli

artistis Sav-TeTri foto, vinc wlebis manZilze `metropoliten operam~ saopero xelovnebis ganviTarebaSi soliduri wvlilis SetanisTvis Rirseulad miiCnia. am TanavarskvlavedSia erTaderTi qarTvelis _ giorgi gagniZis fotoc, skarpias rolSi. rogoria Met operis backstage, rodesac aseTi monumenturi prodaqSenisTvis emzadebian? _ repeticiebze Zalian Tbili damokidebulebaa, amxela uzarmazari Teatria, magram yvelaferi zustadaa droSi gawerili, Zalian koordinirebulad muSaoben da Tanac raRacnairad dabalansebuli situaciaa Seqmnili, yvela erTmaneTis Sromasa da profesionalizms pativs scems, rac saboloo Sedegebze aisaxeba. anu Sen Tu CvenTan xar, _ mogiRo Cvenma publikam, presam, ese igi, Cveni ojaxis wevri xar... me bednieri var, rom 2009 wels, rodesac daidga luk bondis/Luc Bondy axali prodaqSeniT „toska“, masTan, aseT did reJisorTan erTad momiwia muSaoba. repeticiebze is maZlevda srul Tavisuflebas: „me mainteresebs Sens mier danaxuli skarpia.“ _ ase meubneboda, amitomac mec sul vfiqrob xolme rolis axlebur interpretaciasa da mravalferovnebaze... maSin luk bondis am axali

PHOTO BY KHATIA JIJEISHVILI; TOSCA, SAN CARLO THEATER, NAPLES

San Carlo Royal Theater, and we were both very happy to see each other again. This production was directed by Edoardo de Angelis, it was a modern staging, as he has a relatively more cinematic approach. He added some interesting details, and brought his own interpretation in the play. For instance, Scarpia is presented as a Mafioso, and he enters the stage with a dog – a Pit bull… So there were interesting new details, but all retained the classical style and costumes of the original play.

Scarpia’s role is very important, as he is the one who creates the dramatic tension in this opera, just like Iago in ‘Othello’. When I work on a role, I study the libretto, look for historic sources, and try to find the temperament and manners to provide my individual interpretation.

– The gallery of New York’s Met Opera presents monochrome photographs of all the artists who are deemed to have played a solid role for the development of opera as an art. There is only one Georgian to be found in this constellation – Giorgi Gagnidze, in Scarpia’s role. How is the backstage of the Met Opera when you are preparing for such a monumental

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production?

– There is a very warm atmosphere during the rehearsals, it is such a huge theater, but everything is organized perfectly, they work in coordination with each other, and the situation is balanced, we all respect the work and professionalism of each other, which shows in the final results. In other words, if you are “with us”, if our public and the press have accepted you, then you become part of our family…

I am happy that in 2009, when the new production of great director Luc Bondy’s ‘Tosca’ was arranged, I had the honor to work with him.

He gave me complete freedom during the rehearsals: “I am interested in how you see Scarpia”, he told me, and this is why I always think of a new interpretation for roles… The conductor for this new production was the great maestro James Levine. We opened the 2009 season together. This was a really big achievement for my career at that time, I couldn’t believe it when I saw myself on the large screens of the theater.

prodaqSeniT `toskas” diriJorobda aseve didi maestro jeims livaini, Cven erTad gavxseniT 2009 wlis sezoni. es iyo maSin Cems karieraSi Zalian didi miRweva, ver vijerebdi, imasac ver vijerebdi, rodesac Teatris did sareklamo ekranebze Cems Tavs vxedavdi. _ Met operaSi 2009 wlidan Tqvens memkvidreobaSia 100-ze meti speqtakli... ra unarebia saWiro am TeatrSi dasamkvidreblad? _ amis ukan Zalian didi Sroma dgas, didia konkurencia, yvela momRerals enatreba Met-is scenaze Tundac erTxel simRera. garda imisa, rom xma unda iyos gamorCeuli, amave dros xmas sWirdeba iseTive movla, rogorc aRmoCenil Zvirfas qvas, romelic unda gaasufTavo, daamuSavo da gaabrwyino. amitom Zalian mniSvnelovania pedagogis arCeva, rom swori mimarTuleba mogces da bevri unda imuSavo sakuTar Tavze, radgan rodis gaikeTeb did karieras, es aravin icis; es kidev sxva movlenebzecaa damokidebuli, magram amisTvis Sen sul unda iyo mzad. Zalian didi mniSvneloba aqvs xmaSi gqondes metali, Seni xma scenis nebismieri adgilidan unda ismodes da darbazSi gasrolili isariviT midiodes.

– Since 2009, you have held more than a hundred performances at the Met Opera… What are the necessary skills to establish oneself at that theater?

– There is a lot of hard work behind it, there is a lot of competition, every singer dreams of standing on the Met stage at least once. In addition to having a distinguished voice, it needs the same care as a

suraTi: xatia jijeiSvili; toska, san karlos Teatri, neapoli

PHOTOGRAPH BY KHATIA JIJEISHVILI; TOSCA, SAN CARLO THEATER, NAPLES

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_ marTalia, rom 2016 wels piter gelbma, Met operis generalurma menejerma, oskarosani dizaineris milena kanoneros/Milena Canonero mier Seqmnili skarpias Zvirfasi kostiumi gaCuqaT? gamodixarT am kostiumiT Tu mxolod samuzeumo eqsponativiT inaxavT? _ ara, am kostiumiT aRar gamovdivar. Zalian lamazi kostiumia, _ aligatoris faqtura aqvs, Tanac istoriuli kostiumia, radgan es kostiumi Cemze gakeTda 2009 wels, rodesac Met operis sezoni gavxseni, Tavisi mniSvnelobiT istoriuli movlena iyo, mere Met operis am „toskam“ moiara la skala, venis Statsopera, miunxenis Bayerische Staatsoper da am turis mere, piter gelbma aseTi siurprizi damaxvedra, Tan miTxra: „vfiqrob, rom Sen saukeTeso skarpia xar da minda Cemgan saCuqrad gqondeso...“ _ ra iyo Tqvens karieraSi riski?

- 2014 wels iyo aseTi SemTxveva, SeiZleba uxmoT davrCeniliyavi. Met operaSi Zalian datvirTuli sezoni mqonda. „toska“ 12 speqtakli vimRere Zalian mokle periodSi, or SemadgenlobasTan erTad. amis mere gadavfrindi koreaSi, seulSi, sadac „rigoletos“ 3 speqtakli vimRere. mere miunxenis Bayerische Oper-Si

gem – polishing, working and smoothing. Hence, it is very important to choose a teacher to give you the right direction, you have to work hard, because you never know when you will attain a great career; it also depends on other factors, but you need to always be ready for this. It is very important to have “iron” in your voice – your voice should be heard from anywhere on the stage, and reach the audience as a shooting arrow.

– Is it true that in 2016, Peter Gelb, Met Opera’s general manager, gave you Oscar-winning designer Milena Canonero’s Caroua costume? Do you still wear it on stage, or do you keep it at home as an exhibit?

– No, I don’t perform in this costume anymore. It is a very beautiful one. It has an alligator texture, and it is a historic costume, because it was made for me in 2009, when I opened the Met Opera season, which was a historic moment. Then this ‘Tosca’ from the Met Opera traveled at La Scala, the Vienna State Opera, Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, and after the tour, Peter Gelb gave it to me as a surprise, and he told me: “I think that you are the best Scarpia, I want you to have this as a gift from me.”

– What was the biggest risk you took during your career?

suraTi: xatia jijeiSvili; toska, san karlos Teatri, neapoli

PHOTOGRAPH BY KHATIA JIJEISHVILI, TOSCA, SAN CARLO THEATER, NAPLES

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toska, san karlos Teatri, neapoli 2020; suraTi: luCiano romano

melodeboda „simon bokanegra“, magram eqimma amikrZala simRera aseTi mZime grafikis gamo. mirCia Cems xmas, iogebs daesvena, Tan gamafrTxila, rom ar unda melaparaka. saerTod, speqtakli imxela daZabulobaa, rom aucilebelia Sinaganadac damSvidde, fsiqo-emociurad moemzado da Sens TavSi axali energia moZebno. amitom wavedi bakurianSi, 10 dRe davisvene, CemTvis, Cumad viyavi. _ romelia Tqveni ocnebis partia? _ Cemi natvraa puCinis opera-verternSi `gogona Soreuli dasavleTidan“ Serifi jek rensis partia Sevasrulo, aseve masnes opera „taisi“ minda vimRero, verdis „trubaduri“... _ 2018 wels Tqven la skalaSi franko Zefirelis 95 wlis iubilesadmi miZRvnili grandiozul speqtakl „aidaze“ iyaviT miwveuli eTiopiis mefis amonasros mTavari partiiT. es iyo florencieli klasikosis ferweruli reJisuruli saga, sadac, msoflio operis varskvlavebTan erTad, misive arCevaniTa da surviliT moxvdiT. rogori iyo maestro franko Zefirelis muSaobis stili? rogor aRiqvamT legendarul la skalas scenas? _ la skalaSi am saiubileo speqtaklis repeticiebs

TOSCA, SAN CARLO THEATER, NAPLES 2020, CREDIT: LUCIANO ROMANO

– I almost lost my voice in 2014. I had a very busy season at the Met Opera. I sang ‘Tosca’ twelve times in a row in a very short period of time, with two different teams. After that, I flew to Korea, in Seoul, where I sang ‘Rigoletto’ three times. Then, I had to perform ‘Simon Boccanegra’ at Munich’s Bavarian State Opera, but my doctor forbade me to sing because of the crammed schedule. He advised me that my voice and tendons needed to rest, and warned me that I should not even speak. In general, performing an opera is so trying that it is necessary to calm down internally, to prepare from a physical and emotional point of view, and to find new energy in yourself. This is why I went to Bakuriani, rested for 10 days, during which I was silent, by myself.

– What is your dream part?

– My dream is to perform at Sheriff Jack Ranke’s part in Puccini’s opera-western ‘Girl of the Golden West’, as well as in Massenet’s opera ‘Thais’ and Verdi’s ‘Troubadour’…

– In 2018, you were invited to perform Ethiopian king Amonsaro’s part in ‘Aida’ at La Scala, as Franco Zeffirelli’s 95th anniversary celebration. “The Florentine Classic’s Painting Saga” – this is how Zeffirelli’s staging came to be. The great maestro

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Zefireli ver daeswro avadmyofobis gamo, Tumca CarTuli iyo laivze kamera da yvelafers ase distanciurad adevnebda Tvals detalebSi: Zalian STambeWdavi saxasiaTo grimi gamikeTes, namdvili eTiopiuri saxe Seqmnes Tavisi parikiT, wveriT, StrixebiT... Tavis asistentebTan erTad ganixilavda yvelafers. mTlianobaSi raRac saocari speqtakli gamovida mTeli Tavisi srulyofilebiT, istoriuli mniSvnelobiT Tu emociuri datvirTviT. me namdvilad bednieri var, rom momeca SesaZlebloba aseTi dResaswaulis monawile vyofiliyavi. Zalian miyvars la skalaSi simRera, erT dros legendaruli momRerlebi gamodiodnen, raRacnairad grZnob am energetikas, mistikuri scenaa, Zalian mkacria publika, magram Cvens speqtakls udidesi warmateba hqonda. _ „giorgi Zlieri, saocari momReralia, iseTive namdvili baritoni, rogorebic gasul saukuneSi mRerodnen. is fantastikuria!“ _ ase gaxasiaTebT Tanamedroveobis didi reJisori, verdis saukeTeso interpretatorad aRiarebuli maestro daniel oreni/Daniel Oren. is Zalian artistuli da emociuri diriJoria, amitom ra momentebs gaixsenebT Tundac repeticiebidan, rodesac yvelaze mkveTrad Cans misi xasiaTi?

suraTi: xatia jijeiSvili; toska, san karlos Teatri, neapoli

wanted to see you among other world opera stars. What was the style of Franco Zeffirelli’s work? What can you tell us about the legendary stage of La Scala?

– Zeffirelli himself could not attend the rehearsals because of his illness, but they were transmitted to him through a live broadcast, and he was watching every detail. They put a very impressive makeup on me, they created a real Ethiopian face, with its wig, beard, traits… Franco Zeffirelli was directing everything through his assistants. In the end, we got a wonderful performance, worthy of the importance of the event, and very emotional. I am happy that I was given the opportunity to be a part of this celebration. I love singing at La Scala, it used to host legendary singers, and you can somehow feel this energy, it is a mystical stage. The audience is very harsh, but our performance was very successful.

– “George is a powerful, amazing singer, a true baritone like the ones of the last century. He is fantastic!” – this is how great conductor Daniel Oren, who is considered to be the best interpreter of Verdi’s works, described you. He is a very artistic and emotional conductor; could you tell us any interesting

PHOTOGRAPH BY KHATIA JIJEISHVILI, TOSCA, SAN CARLO THEATER, NAPLES

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suraTi: xatia jijeiSvili; toska, san karlos Teatri, neapoli

_ diax, Zalian emociuri diriJoria da zustad grZnobs rogori mxardaWera sWirdeba momRerals. Arena di Verona-ze „nabuqos“ gavixseneb, am uzarmazar, gaSlil, farTo sivrceSi rodesac vmRerodiT, speqtaklis dros Sua musikis dros, Giorgio, Giorgio! _ meZaxda, anu moewona maRali bgerebi rom aviRe da ase gamoxata Tavisi kmayofileba imitom, rom operebis mTeli musikaluri partitura man zedmiwevniT kargad icis, momRerlisgan musikaSi sizustes moiTxovs da koncentracias. Tqven warmoidgineT, miuxedavad imisa, rom scena Ria cis qveSaa, am Ria sivrceSi kargi akustikaa, saocari energetika iqmneba, amitomac udidesi stimuli moaqvs, Zalian sasiamovnoa gamosvla amxela auditoriis winaSe. _ msoflio saopero scenaze 25 weli SegisruldaT... _ Zalian mniSvnelovania es wlebi CemTvis. saiubileo koncerti sxvanairad mqonda Cafiqrebuli, TbilisSi unda Camosuliyvnen msoflio varskvlavebi, romlebic Cemi megobrebi arian, magram pandemiis gamo, es ar Sedga da amitomac konservatoriis did darbazSi onlain koncerti gavmarTe Cems koncertmaisterTan viqtoria CaplinskaiasTan erTad. SevarCie neapolitanuri simRerebi da aseTi formiT kidev erTxel gamovxate Cemi siTbo siyvaruli da pativiscema Cemi msmenelis mimarT.

PHOTOGRAPH BY KHATIA JIJEISHVILI, TOSCA, SAN CARLO THEATER, NAPLES

moments with him, be it during rehearsals, in which one can best see a conductor’s character?

– Yes, he is a very emotional conductor, and he can feel exactly how much support a singer needs. I remember that when we performed ‘Nabucco’ at the Arena di Verona, in this huge, open, wide space, in the middle of the show, he was calling me – Giorgio, Giorgio! He liked the fact that I had chosen to sing high notes, and this is how he expressed his satisfaction, because he knows the whole musical score of operas in detail, and demands accuracy and concentration from singers. And imagine that despite the fact that the stage is in open air, it has great acoustics, which creates a wonderful energy, bringing great incentive, it is very agreeable to sing in front of such a large audience.

– You have been singing on the world opera stage for 25 years...

– These years are very precious to me. I had imagined a different jubilee concert, I wanted world-class singer friends of mine to come to Tbilisi, but because of the pandemic, it could not happen, and therefore, I held an online concert at the main hall of the Conservatoire with my concertmaster Victoria Chaplinskaya. I chose Neapolitan songs, and with this, I once more expressed my warmth, love, and respect towards my listeners.

Mzekha Makharadze

mzexa maxaraZe

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griver farulava

GRIVER PARULAVA - 92 -

2 (20) 2020

s

amocdaaTianebis Sua wlebSi studentoba erTi didi Tavgadasavali iyo. universitetis pirveli dReebidanve, filologiis fakultetze, cxadi gaxda, rom “aRmoCenebis“ xana iwyeboda. es ki yvela drois studentobis dasawyisisTvisaa niSandoblivi, magram sabWoTa skolidan mosulebs universitetSi axali adamianebiTa da azrebiT gajerebuli sinamdvile SemogvefeTa, romelic aranairad ar hgavda skolis gamocdilebas. erT-erTi yvelaze TvalSi sacemi am moulodnelobaTagan iyo maTes saxareba, romliTac Zveli qarTuli literaturis seminari daviwyeT. seminars uZRveboda griver farulava. rasac batoni griveri am seminarze gvaswavlida, did STabeWdilebas axdenda.

SesaZloa, mowonebis ufro dabal reestrSi ganixileboda is, Tu rogor gvaswavlida. imitom, rom misi marTla gveSinoda. wlebis mere bevrjer mifiqria, Tu ra axalgazrda iyo, rodesac CvenTan pirvel kursze Semovida.

SesaZloa, TviTonac frTxilobda pirvelkurselebTan da amis gamo mkacrad eWira Tavi. arasdros ar mikiTxavs amis

I

n the middle of the 1970s, being a student was a great adventure.

From the very first days at the Faculty of Philology, it became clear that a time of discoveries had begun. This might be characteristic of the beginning of the student life of any new freshman, but for us young people coming from soviet schools, the university was offering us a new reality, one full of new people and ideas, and it didn’t look anything at all like our school experience. One of the most striking surprises was the Gospel of Matthew, with which we started our ancient Georgian literature seminar. The head professor of the seminar was Griver Parulava. What Mr. Griver taught us in the framework of this seminar has left a great impression on us. The way he was teaching us was special – we were really afraid of him. Years later, I often thought about what kind of young person he was when he entered our freshman class. Perhaps he was wary of freshmen himself, and this would explain why he acted as a strict lecturer.

I actually never asked him about this. Years later, he displayed a friendliness that would have been difficult to imagine as a freshman.

But he never lost the unconditional integrity he showed from the first day I met him.

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Sesaxeb. wlebis mere iseTi megobruli iyo, rom pirvel kursze es Zneli warmosadgeni iqneboda. Tumca, Seuvali principuloba, sakuTari Tavis mimarT mainc, vfiqrob, arasdros daukargavs. griver farulavas aseTive SeuvalobiT uyvarda yvelaferi qarTuli, dawyebuli sityvidan, damTavrebuli Zveli nangrevebiT. amasTanave, hqonda saocari unari, rom „yvelaferi qarTulis“ mimarT Tavisi damokidebuleba gverdiT myof adamianebzec gaevrcelebina, ara imdenad xmamaRali, ramdenadac gadamdebi siyvaruliT. es daJinebuli „qarTuli“ arc yurs gWrida adamians, arc geurapatriotuleboda, ubralod misi bunebrioba giTrevda. Cven, SemiZlia Tamamad vigulisxmo ramdenime Cemi Tanakurseli da megobari, namdvilad „mogvaqcia“. erTi aseTi epizodi maxsendeba, Cems TanakurselebTan yoveli Sexvedris dros rom amogvitivtivdeba xolme. im dros universitetis filologiis fakultetis dRis ganyofilebaze asamde studenti swavlobda. mgoni, amdenive saRamos fakultetze. baton grivers dRis fakultetze seminari mihyavda, saRamos studentebs ki leqciebs ukiTxavda. ramdenime pirvelkurselma „seminaristma“ gadavwyviteT, misi leqciebisTvis

Griver Parulava also displayed an unconditional love towards everything Georgian, from words themselves to ancient ruins. He had the unique ability to spread his attitude towards “everything Georgian” among the people around him, and not with verbal reiterations, but rather with a contagious love. This stubborn love for everything Georgian was not tiring our ears, and didn’t feel chauvinistic, it was simply natural. I can say with certainty that he really “contaminated” myself and several of my fellow students and friends.

One such episode comes to mind – it would always come up when we met with fellow students. At that time, up to a hundred students were studying at the university’s daytime lessons of philology. I think

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mogvesmina. axla rom vfiqrob, gakvirvebulic iqneboda da gaxarebulic, damatebiT leqciebze rom davdiodiT mis mosasmenad. erTxelac gadawyvita „davejildovebineT“, leqciamde Tu mis Semdeg wablis foTlebi dagviriga, svaneTidan CamogitaneTo. ar vici, aseTi precedenti Tu arsebobs an Tu yvelas, vinc icnobda, SeeZlo amis warmodgena, rogor Camoaqvs yvelaze mkacr leqtors ramdenime foToli svaneTidan studentebis wasaxaliseblad! am foTlebiT yvelaze metad saqarTvelos im nawilTan gvaziara, romelic Sors iyo, migvaaxlova. wlebis mere, rodesac saqarTveloSi xangrZlivi aryofnis Semdeg davbrundi, vfiqrobdi, netav batoni griveri ras metyvis, xom ar damZraxavs saqarTvelos mitovebis gamomeTqi. sulac ara, isev iseTi siTboTi da gulisxmierebiT Semxvda, uxaroda, rom gatacebuli viyavi imiT, rasac vakeTebdi. there was about the same number of students in the evening lessons.

Mr. Griver was teaching a seminar during the day, and giving lectures in the evening. Some of us “seminar students” decided to attend his evening lectures too. Now that I think about it, he must have been both surprised and glad that we attended non-obligatory courses in order to listen to him. Once, he decided to “reward” us, and gave us chestnut leaves between two lectures, saying he had brought them for us from the Svaneti region. I don’t know if there was a precedent for this, or if the people who knew him could imagine that he, the most rigorous of all professors, could bring a few tree leaves from Svaneti to encourage his students! With these leaves, he connected us and brought us closer to a remote part of Georgia. Years later, when I returned to Georgia after a long absence, I was asking myself what Mr. Griver would tell me, and whether he would blame me for leaving Georgia. But he didn’t – he met me with his usual warmth and kindness, and he was happy that I was passionate about what I was doing.

It wouldn’t be exaggerating to say that Griver Parulava was teaching us an exceptional approach towards old Georgian texts – to read each word, each sentence with utmost attention, and to imagine the lives of the characters found in Georgian hagiography

gadaWarbebuli ar iqneba, Tu vityvi, rom griver farulava gvaswavlida Zveli qarTuli teqstebis mimarT gansakuTrebul damokidebulebas, yvela sityvis, frazis mimarT yuradRebiT mopyrobas, qarTuli hagiografiis personaJebis sulieri cxovrebis cocxlad warmodgenas.

Tan damatebiT iseT teqstebs gvakiTxebda, rac sabWoTa

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saganmanaTleblo sistemisTvis prioritetuli ver iqneboda, magaliTad, erih auerbaxis „mimezisi“, dimitri lixaCovis, sergei averincevis nawerebi. dRes warmodgenac gviWirs, rom im dros wignis deficiti iyo, gansakuTrebiT arasabWoTa wignebis, magram maTi Zieba-mopoveba Cveni Taobis ganuyofeli nawili gaxda. cxadia, yovelgvari garomantikulebis gareSe, mainc unda iTqvas, rom rTulad mosapovebeli wignebis erTmaneTisTvis gaziarebam garkveuli roli iTamaSa adamianebSi kavSirebis gabmis TvalsazrisiT. es erTgvari „socialuri forumi“ iyo. vinc erTxel mainc yofila mTaSi baton griverTan erTad, samudamod daamaxsovrdeboda mTaSi siarulis miseuli kultura: dReSi rac SeiZleba bevri kilometris gavla, ara TviTmiznurad, aramed yvela mSvenieri xedisa da detalis danaxviT, zomieri waxemseba, arasdros Rreoba. batoni griveri im adamianebs miekuTvneba, Zaldautaneblad rom gaswavlian wesierebas, saqmis erTgulebas, „yvelaferi qarTulis“ mofrTxilebas, moyvasis siyvaruls. naTeli mis xsovnas.

in a vivid manner. In addition to this, he was assigning us readings that couldn’t have been prioritary for the soviet education system, for instance, Erich Auerbach’s ‘Mimesis’, or the works of Dmitry Likhachov and Sergey Averintsev. Today, it is difficult to imagine that at that time, there was a shortage of books, especially of non-soviet ones, but searching and finding them became an intrinsic part of our generation’s lives. Of course, and without any romanticization, it has to be said that swapping books that were difficult to find has played a significant role in bonding people with each other. It was a sort of “social forum”.

Whoever has ever been to the mountains with Mr. Griver will never forget his way of walking in nature: walking as many kilometers as possible, not as a goal in itself, but in order to see all the beautiful landscapes and details of the place. And a moderate snack, never excessive meals.

Mr. Griver belongs to the kind of people who can, without effort, teach you the correct attitude to adopt, the devotion you should cultivate towards your work, how to take care of “everything Georgian”, and to love one’s neighbor. May he rest in peace.

Tamar grZeliZe

Tamar Grdzelidze

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