კულტურა პლუს 1 (7) 2017

kultura plus / CULTURE PLUS 13 (7) (5) 2017 2016

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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 ganaxlebadi, viTarca amirani

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CAPABLE OF REVIVAL LIKE AMIRAN

bolos da bolos, movida dro

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THE TIME HAS FINALLY COME

mariam vaxvaxiSvili-wereTlisa

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ilustrirebuli saojaxo qronikebi...

modi, viTamaSoT

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LET’S PLAY!

im kldis ukan WaWkaria...

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BEHIND THAT CLIFF IS CHACHKARI...

Tu diriJorma icis risi gakeTeba surs

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IF CONDUCTORS KNOW WHAT THEY WANT TO ACHIEVE

67-e berlinale

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67TH BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

„Cems balets konkretuli gzavnili ara aqvs“

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“MY BALLETS DON’T HAVE SPECIFIC MESSAGES”

axali, `axali talRa~

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NEW “NEW WAVE”

rom mReroda maCabeli

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THAT MACHABELI SUNG

mTavari redaqtori EDITOR-IN-CHIEF revaz iukuriZe REVAZ IUKURIDZE saredaqcio jgufi ramaz Wilaia xaTuna kereseliZe aleqsandre ServaSiZe qeiTi ruTi deivisi

EDITORIAL STAFF RAMAZ CHILAIA KHATUNA KERESELIDZE ALEKSANDRE SHERVASHIDZE KATIE RUTH DAVIES

dizaineri DESIGNER nikoloz bagrationi NIKOLOZ BAGRATIONI

el-fosta: kulturaplusm@gmail.com facebook.com/kulturaplusm tel: 032 298 96 13 gamodis kvartalSi erTxel JurnalSi ganTavsebuli masalis gamoyeneba SeiZleba mxolod redaqciis TanxmobiT

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

ISSN 2346-8165 beWdva: Sps „favoriti“ / Print: LTD Favorite fotomasalis mowodebisTvis madlobas vuxdiT: saqarTvelos parlamentis erovnul biblioTekas; saqarTvelos Teatris, musikis, kinosa da qoreografiis saxelmwifo muzeums; biZina da nana vaxvaxiSvilebs. garekanze: mixeil TumaniSvilis Canaxatebi Cover: Illustrations by Mikheil Tumanishvili

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redaqciisgan: vinc met-naklebad icnobs Cvens Jurnals, albaT icis, rom saredaqcio werils, obieqtur Tu subieqtur mizezTa gamo, yvela nomers ar vurTavT, Tumca axla Cveni poziciis gamoxatva aucileblobad miviCnieT, rac ramdenime sababma ganapiroba. pirveli da Zalze sasixarulo: 2017 wlis 28 martidan saqarTvelos moqalaqeebisTvis evrokavSirTan uvizod mimosvlis reJimi amoqmedda! Cvenma qveyanam miiRo `dagvianebuli~ vizaliberalizacia, romelsac ager ukve ramdenime saukunea veliT... evropam farTod gagviRo kari da axla _ mas, Sen, me _ Tavisuflad SegviZlia _ `qarTuli sityviT, istoriiT, azrovnebiT, politikiT, saqmiT, xedviT, codniT~ _ vestumroT civilizebul samyaros, vestumroT Cveni kulturiTa da xelovnebiT, Tumca... meore da dasafiqrebeli: evropidan `uvizo-liberalizaciiT~ dabrunebulma sulxan saba orbelianma `sityvis kona~ Seadgina; mogvianebiT, ruseTSi (romelzec gadioda imdroindeli gza evropisken) ganaTlebamiRebulma `Tergdaleulebma~ mixedes qveyanas da gansakuTrebiT, qarTul enas; XX saukuneSi 150 mecnierma, arnold Ciqobavas meTaurobiT, qarTuli saliteraturo enis rvatomiani akademiuri leqsikoni gamosca, Tumca...

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axla, XXI saukunis globalizacias morgebuli qarTvelebi vmetyvelebT da vismenT ucxo, xelovnur `terminebs~ _ `deskebi~, `mefingi~, `auTlaini~, `feSenviqi~, `rimeiqi~, `Ceq ini~, `ivenTi~, `farTi~, `laiTi~, `laiqi~ `uiqendi~, `eiCari~ da sxva da sxva _ da ara mxolod vmetyvelebT da vismenT, samwuxarod, oficialur, saxelmwifo mniSvnelobis dokumentebsac am `enaze~ vqmniT...

da mesame, dasafiqrebelic da sasixaruloc... evropasa da evropelebs, pirvel rigSi, Cven Cveni TviTmyofadobiT _ msoflioSi ganumeorebeli polifoniiT; eniTa da anbaniT, xuroTmoZRvrebiT, stumarTmoyvareobiT, RviniT, puriT da sxva mravaliT xelaxla unda gavecnoT; maTgan ki, maT kulturasTan erTad, evropuli ganaTleba, codna miviRoT da... `Cvens enaze~ vimetyveloT da ukeTesi saqarTvelo vaSenoT!

hoda, gilocavT 2017 wlis 28 marts, saqarTvelodan evropisken uvizod mimosvlis SesaZleblobas!

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Leri Alimonaki Capable of revival like Amiran

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ultura.

Znelia, Zalian Zneli ganmarto, ra ari kultura.

TiTqmis SeuZlebeli. mgonia, sicocxlea kultura. kulturiT fSvens yoveli arsi, yofiereba. da viT ZalmiZs ganvmarto kultura, roca ar vici, viT ganvmarto sicocxle. Tumc vici _ kultura, viT sicocxle, mudmiv ganaxlebadia, viTarca miTiuri amirani. kulturis gamonaSuqia axal epoqebSi amiran-promeTes CiraRdani. da es CiraRdani maradiulia, arasdros qreba, JamiTi Jamad efareba Tvals. iqneb, qmnaa kultura?! kultura RmerTs ar Seuqmnia, adamiani Seqmna. da uboZa azri. kultura adamians unda Seeqmna. azria kulturis deda. amis mowmea kacobriuli cxovrebis aRmarTebi da daRmarTebi. codvisdacemis Semdeg samoTxidan gamoZevebulni vcdilobT raRac imgvari vqmnaT, riTac gamovisyidiT codvas da kvlav vixilavT dakargul samoTxes. daviwyebuli araferia. dakargulis dasabruneblad viRvwiT. samoTxidan eqsoriaqmnilTa modgma qmnis kulturas.

Culture.

It’s very, very difficult to find a clue to the meaning of culture. It’s an almost impossibly difficult task. Perhaps, culture is life.

Culture enters and permeates every creature, every being, existence. And how can I puzzle out the meaning of culture if even the meaning of life is lost on me? Somehow, though, I know that culture is capable of revival – like life, like the mythical Amiran. The torch of Amiran/Prometheus continues to beam down the centuries through culture. The glow of this torch is eternal. It can never be extinguished and only fades from sight sometimes.

Can culture be created?

Only not by God. God created man and gave him knowledge.

Culture was meant to be man’s creation.

Knowledge gives birth to culture.

The history of Mankind can attest to this.

Being cast out of Heaven due to the fall of man, we have since then been pursuing the dream to create something that would free us from the guilt and let us find our way back to where we belong.

Nothing is forgotten. And we are now at pains to gain back what has been lost. Culture owes itself to exiles from Heaven.

What is culture? Maybe repentance?

Or the ability to serve?

An ability which God bestowed on us through the mystery of Golgotha.

iqneb, sinanulia kultura?! msaxurebaa?! amis SesaZlebloba erTxel kidev mogvca ufalma golgoTis misteriiT. saSveli ari! _ unda davuaxlovdeT pirvelqmnilebas. Tumc amaod _ mcdeloba mcdelobad rCeba. amaSi Zevs is dafaruli azri sinanulisa, is saniadago saidumlo Rvwisa, rac kulturis Seqmnis safuZvelTa safuZvelia. arcerT epoqaSi, arcerT erSi saRmrTo Tanalmobis, msaxurebis gareSe kultura ar Seqmnila. gulisxmavyoT Cveni xalxuri simRerebi Tu sagaloblebi, rodisrodindeli, gulisxmavyoT avTandilis anderZi, erT-erTi zeuniversaluri teqsti msoflio literaturisa, da amaSi Tavadve davrwmundebiT. iqneb, rwmenaa kultura?! mowameobaa?! mowameobaSi, riTac gvwadia rwmeniT miveaxloT dakargul samoTxes, monawileobs yoveli eri, mTeli kacobrioba. monawileobs qarTveli eric, rogorc civilizebuli samyaros ganuyofeli nawili. qarTvelTa winareqristianuli kultura gvaZlevs amis Tqmis uflebas. swored amitom warmogzavnes qristes Semdgom, 30-ian, 40-ian wlebSi, saqarTveloSi sjulis saqadageblad andria pirvelwodebuli, rom qarTvelTa eri, rogorc Zveli unikaluri kulturis eri, ukve mzad iyo qristianobis misaRebad. qristianobiT axali era daiwyo am qveynis

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The solution is known! We need to rediscover our original self. All attempts are, however, futile. And herein lies the latent meaning of repentance and tireless efforts which form the groundwork for culture. No culture was ever created without godly sympathy or godly devotion. The best insight of what it means comes from our folk songs and hymns deriving their origin from time immemorial; from Avtandil’s Testament raising one of the universal themes of world literature.

What if culture is faith?!

Or martyrdom?

Martyrdom as a quest for the lost paradise, which involves every nation, all Mankind including Georgian people – an integral part of the civilized world. Pre-Christian culture in Georgia allows us to say that it is the reason Andrew the First-Called was sent to Georgia in the years 30-40 AD to preach Christianity, because the Georgian people, an ancient nation with a unique culture, was ready to receive the religion. With Christianity, a new cultural and humanistic era started in the country. Christian faith made it possible to take down barriers and have nations get to know each other’s cultures. It is the result of Christian cultural and humanistic consciousness that Georgian men have never demeaned other religious beliefs, or persecuted ethnic minorities that have lived in Georgia since ancient times. David Aghmashenebeli, “the Sword of the Messiah”, is a good example, he was the hope of all of Christianity in the East. His hagiographical work

kulturul-humanistur cxovrebaSi. qristianulma sarwmunoebam gaxada SesaZlebeli darRveuliyo aRmarTuli jebirebi, ziarebodnen erebi erTmaneTis kulturebs. swored qristianobis kulturul-humanisturi cnobierebis nayofia, rom qarTvel kacs arasodes Seulaxavs sxvaTa religiuri mrwamsi, arc eTnikurad mcireni daumcirebia odesme, romlebic odiTgan saxloben saqarTveloSi. amis magaliTi, daviT aRmaSenebelia _ `mesiis maxvili~, aRmosavleTSi mTeli saqristianos saso da imedi. misi himnografiuli Txzuleba `galobani sinanulisani~ im mefe-politikosis, im mefe-mxedarTmTavris, im mefe-poetis aRsarebaa, visi gulic qristianuli SemwynareblobiTa da siyvaruliT gaciskrovnebula. iqneb, enaa kultura?! saRmrTo siyvarulis gacxadebaa?!

Tu ena eris kulturis uzenaesi gacxadebaa, rusTvelma qarTuli enis harmoniul sinTezSi diadhyo Tavisi genialuri qmnileba, am eniT mohfina kacobriobas siyvarulis Zalmosileba. iqneb, sadRac gaRwevaa kultura?! miwieri amaoebidan Tavis xsnaa?! baraTaSvilis mernis grigalisebri qrolva gviadvilebs

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am gzaze savals. da axla Cven, misni Semdgomni, vadgavarT am gzas, misganve Telils, da tvirTmZimeni, ar vkargavT imeds _ gavaRwevT gasaRwevelSi. xolo ganuwyvetliv Cagvesmis yurSi sinanulis tragikuli notebi misi sulieri papisa _ guramiSvilisa, da erTxel kidev Segvacnobinebs nostalgias dakargul samoTxeze, daviwyebul samSobloze. iqneb, Suamavlobaa kultura?!

Suamavloba kacisa RmerTTan?! daviwyebul samSoblosTan?! mZimea sawuTro kacisa, vinc itvirTa es Suamavloba. ilia WavWavaZis mesianurma gonebam, viTarca gonebam winaswarmetyvel mosesi, kulturis, sityvis, ganmanaTleblobis STaberviT dauxsna qarTvelT cnobierebis karibWeni, apovnina ers dakarguli samSoblo, dausaxa gzani misi xsnisa. Tumc, ra umaduroba unda iyos, rom dResac gaigonebT nihilistur qirqils am RvTisdari kacisadmi. albaT, jer kidev hyvavis CvenSi social-demokratTa, bolSevik-komunistTa, bosxis am maxinj personaJTa, daTesili RvarZli. saRmrTo kverTxi, riTac naxevari saukune win migviZRoda, kvlavac zecisken aRupyravs, Ze SecTomilT gvafrTxilebs _ ar davuzavdeT eSmaks! iqneb, mociqulobaa kultura?! orTodoqsul samanTa Zlevaa?!

Cveni erovnuli kultura gvmociqulobs sxvaTa kulturebTan. gvmociqulobs Cvensav kulturasTan. ar yofila dro, mis caze saavdro Rrubeli ar mogragniliyos, damangrevel grigalebs ar gadaevlos. da mainc aRmdgara, ganaxlebula. yvela samani uZlevia. ra sulier potencias unda flobdes, Tavisuflebisa da kulturis TviTaRorZinebis ra dauokebel wyurvils, ra mociqulebriv Segnebas, bolSevikur-komunisturi totalitaruli reJimis xanaSi, XX saukunis 60-ian wlebSi, ers rom am wiaRSive ganaxlebis Zala aRmoaCndeba. is sulieri ganaxlebis aucilebloba, kidev erTxel rom Seaxsenebda qarTvel kacs Tavis istoriul misias _ Tavdadebul moRvawebas erovnuli suverenobisa da kulturis gadasarCenad. Tumc am ganaxlebis inspiratori totaluri politikuri ryevebic iyo, Cvens kulturas aRmosavlur, gansakuTrebiT, dasavlur kulturasTan rom aaxlovebda (ufro sworad, aRadgenda am kulturasTan Zvel kavSirs), fesvebi mainc winaredrois klasikur wiaRSive _ XIX saukunis 60-ian wlebSi gaedga, iqidan iRebda maorganizebel impulsebs. es iyo procesi rTuli, mZime, konvulsiuric ki, rogorc dedisa, romelmac axali sicocxle unda Svas. gavixsenoT imJamindeli qarTuli kino, Teatri, mwerloba, mxatvroba, musika, mecniereba, arqiteqtura da amaSi Tavadve davrwmundebiT. Tumc

‘Hymns of Repentance’ sees the confessions of the politician king, the general king, the poet king whose heart was enlightened with Christian tolerance and love.

What if culture is language?

What if it is the declaration of the love of God? If language is the supreme declaration of the culture of a nation, then Rustaveli has elevated his genius work in the harmonious synthesis of Georgian language and spread the power of love throughout humanity using this language.

What it culture is to get away?

To deliver oneself from material futility?

The stormy flight of Baratashvili’s Pegasus makes it easier for us to advance down this road. And now we, his successors, are on this road, paved by him, and despite our heavy burden, we do not lose hope – we will make it to the end. All the while, the tragic notes of regret of his spiritual father – Guramishvili – are constantly in our ears and once again it makes us feel nostalgic for the lost paradise, the forgotten motherland.

What if culture is mediation?

Mediation of man with God? With the forgotten motherland?

Heavy is the existence of the man who took this mediation upon himself.

The messianic mind of Ilia Chavchavadze, like the mind of the prophet Moses, opened the gates of consciousness to Georgians through culture, through words, through education, and he allowed

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sastik reJims ar eZina, iolad arafers Tmobda, Jamgasuli ideologia abrkolebda humanisturi azris aRorZinebas. iqneb, providenciaa kultura?! bedisweraa?! raRac gangebulebiT, bediT Tu bedisweriT, am procesebSi miwevs arcTu martivi nabijebis gadadgma. terenti graneli. es saxeli bevrisTvis maSin, 60-ian wlebSi, ucnobi iyo, bevrs afrTxobda kidec. karga xnis daviwyebuli, swored am orbitze Semodis xelmeored, poeti, vinc myarad gansazRvruli msoflmxedvelobiT, jer kidev 20-ian wlebSive, konfliqtSi aRmoCnda bolSevikur ideologiasTan. misi pirovnul-poeturi krizisi qveyanaSi kulturis, religiis, humanizmis, yovelive sakraluris dekadanss ukavSirdeba. amis miRma darCenili poetisTvis, rogorc sulier emigraciaSi gadaxvewili RvTis maZiebeli euli piligrimisTvis, vinc ar indoma monawileoba mieRo am epoqalur degradaciaSi, xorcieli daRupva garduvali iyo. sagulisxmoa, rom misi gardacvalebidan gaivlis meoTxedi saukune da gaqrobis pirze misul poetis saflavs petre-pavles eklesiis winamZRvari mama Sio (TurqaZe) ixsnis daRupvisagan (1966 wels manve mimagnebina ekalbardebSi mimalul poetis saflavs)... da wlebis

the nation to find its lost motherland, showing the way to its deliverance. Although, however ungrateful it may seem, to this day we sometimes hear nihilistic mockery of this holy man. It must be that some of the spite sowed by Social-Democrats, Bolshevik-Communists, these ugly Bosch characters, still remains. The royal scepter with which he led us for half a century is still held high and he warns those of us who are lost – never make a deal with the devil!

What if culture is to be an advocate?

To vanquish the conventional boundaries?

Our national culture is our advocate to other cultures. It is our advocate for our own culture. There has been no time when there was no dark cloud forming in its sky and no annihilating storms passing over it. And still, it has come back to life, renewed.

All boundaries are indomitable.

What spiritual potency a nation should possess, what unquenchable thirst for freedom and culture, what understanding of advocacy, to have the strength to renew itself in the era of the Bolshevik-Communist totalitarian regime, in the 1960s. That need for spiritual renewal, which once again reminded Georgian men of their historic mission – to give their all to save national sovereignty and culture. Although this renewal was also inspired by total political fluctuations, which made our culture closer to oriental, and, especially, occidental culture (or more precisely, restoring the old connections with this culture), its roots were still mostly grown in the classical period – the 1960s, and that’s where it received its marginalized impulses from. This process was difficult, painful, convulsive even, like that of a mother creating a new life. Let us remember Georgian cinema, theater, literature, art, music, science, architecture etc. of that time and we will be convinced of that. But the cruel regime did not sleep, did not give anything up easily; the outdated ideology creating obstacles to the renaissance of the humanistic thought.

What if culture is providence?

Destiny?

It is some fate, destiny or fortune that makes me take uneasy steps in these processes.

Terenti Graneli.

This name was unknown to many back then in the 60s, and was even scary to many others. Long forgotten, the poet returns to this orbit, a poet who, because of his strictly defined views, came into conflict with the Bolshevik ideology in the 1920s. His personal-poetic crisis has much to do with the decadence of everything sacred in the country - culture, religion, humanism. For the poet left without all that, like a lone pilgrim searching for God in a spiritual emigration, material demise was unavoidable. A quarter century after his death, the poet’s grave was on the verge of disappearing when it was saved by the priest of the Peter and Paul Church, Father Shio (Turkadze), from destruction (he was the one who helped me find the poet’s grave, hidden in the bush wood, in 1966)... and years later, he comes

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Semdeg xelmeored ubrundeba mSobliur mwerlobas da Tavis umrwemess TanamokalmeTa gverdiT, iwyebs axal sicocxles. da me, am qarcecxlian orbitaze moxvedrili, wlobiT vdgavar redaqcia-gamomcemlobebis karTan misive awewil-dawewili cxovrebiT, dro-JamiT gayviTlebuli xelnawerebiT xelSi... da vwer `kviris wirvebs~ _ biografiul romans am mowame poetze. iqneb, uxsovrobis nostalgiaa kultura?! daviwyebulis reinkarnaciaa?! vagnerisa da berliozis musika, rac unda paradoqsi iyos, semantikis aRuricxvel velze damaxetialebda, Zveli qarTuli ezoTeruli teqstebidan `dao de Zinisa” da upaniSadebis yofierebis gadmosaqarTulebel cnebebsa da sityvebs mkarnaxobda. albaT, ar moiZebneba civilizebuli eri, es sakacobrio Txzulebani Tavis enaze ar eTargmnos.

Rrmad rom uwyoda maTi mniSvneloba herman hesem, swored amitom miuCina mis mier Sedgenil msoflio idealur biblioTekaSi `dao de Zins” mexuTe, xolo upaniSidebs meore adgili (bibliis Semdeg). da Tu Cven kulturul erTa ojaxSi gvegulvis Tavi, SeuZlebelia mSobliur enaze ar vimecnebdeT am wignTa RvTaebriv sibrZnes. iqneb, macnea kultura?! dafarulis gamocxadebaa?! imis gamocxadebaa, rac dafarulia da ver vxedavT, Svidgzis beWdiT dabeWduls. mova kaci, gamogvecxadeba,

back to his beloved literature and begins a new life beside his younger fellow writers. And I, also happening to be on this fiery orbit, spent years standing at the doorstep of publishing houses, leading the same messy life as his, manuscripts yellowed from the “Sunday masses,” times in hand…

What if culture is the nostalgia of the immemorial?

The reincarnation of the forgotten?

However paradoxical it may seem, the music of Wagner and Berlioz made me wander in the infinite field of semantics, giving me clues to translate terms and words from the Tao Te Ching and the teachings of the Upanishads with old Georgian esoteric texts. There is probably no civilized nation that has not translated these works into its own language. Herman Hesse knew their meaning deeply, and this is why, in the ideal world library he created, he gave Tao Te Ching fifth place and the Upanishads second place (after the Bible). And if we want to be part of the family of cultured nations, it is impossible without being able to access the godly wisdom of these books in our native language.

What if culture is a messenger?

The revealer of the concealed?

The revealing of the hidden that we cannot see and that has been sealed seven times. A man will come, he will appear, remove the seals and uncover Don Quixote, Dimitri Karamazov, Aluda Ketelauri for

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axsnis beWdebs, gamogvicxadebs don kixotis, dimitri karamazovs, aluda qeTelaurs. gamogvicxadebs da sawuTrosa da sulTa feriscvalebis am idumal misteriaSi, Cvenc gvamonawilevebs. mZimea am kacTa xvedri. mZime iyo sawuTro servantesisa, dostoevskisa, vaJafSavelasi _ miwieri jojoxeTidan tanjviT amohqondaT zecieri samoTxe. da Tu vinme stiroda, pirvelni, zecieris madliT gaciskrovnebulni, albaT, Tavadve stirodnen TavianTi gmirebis xvedrze. ise wavida nikolo paganini wuTisoflidan, sakuTar samSobloSive eqsoriaqmnili, Tvalze cremli ar SeSrobia. am cremlidan gvicxadebda saswaulebs. ise wavida niko firosmanaSvili wuTisoflidan, sakuTar samSobloSive eqsoriaqmnili, Tvalze cremli ar SeSrobia. am cremlidan gvicxadebda sakvirvelebas. gamogvecxada, gaiara miwieri sawamebeli, gviboZa zecieri samoTxe, wavida, aRdga, aq yofnis yvela kvali waSala, saflavic ki _ viTom ar yofila. erTi natvra dagvitova _ mxatvrebma avagoT patara saxli, davdgaT samovari, vsvaT Cai da xelovnebaze vilaparakoTo. es uwyinari natvrac ver avusruleT. maxsendeba Cemi megobris, mxatvar gogi wereTlis sevdiani monaTxrobi: _ amsterdamSi var, van gogis samsarTulian muzeumSi, sixaruliT var savse _ didi mxatvris tiloebs originalSi vaTvaliereb da uneburad samSoblo maxsendeba, Tbilisi,

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us. He will proclaim them and make us participants in this enigmatic mystery of the transfiguration of life and souls.

The fate of these men is a very hard one.

They were hard, the lives of Cervantes, Dostoyevsky, Vazha-Pshavela – they brought up heavenly paradise from material hell, and it was torture for them. And if anyone cried, enlightened by the mercy of the heavenly, they were probably the first ones, crying over the fate of their own heroes.

Niccolo Paganini left this life exiled from his own country, tears never ceasing to run down his face. He granted us miracles from these tears.

Niko Pirosmanashvili left this life exiled from his own country, tears never ceasing to run down his face. He granted us wonders from these tears. He came to us, went through the torture of life, gave us heavenly paradise, left, came back to life, erased all traces of his time here, even his grave – as if he had never existed. He left only one wish – for the painters to build a small house, put a samovar there, drink tea and talk about art. Even this small wish we could not make come true. I remember the sad tale of my friend, painter Gogi Tsereteli: – I am in Amsterdam, in the three-story museum of Van Gogh, full of joy, admiring the original paintings of the great artist, and suddenly I remember my country, Tbilisi, Niko Pirosmanashvili, and tears come to my eyes – what is so wrong with us Georgians that we could not give anything more than a cellar under some stairs to our genius, then he died and a hundred years later, he still does not have a proper museum.

niko firosmanaSvili, Tvalze cremli madgeba _ iseTi ra dagvemarTa qarTvelebs, rom am genialuri mxatvrisTvis sicocxleSi kibisqveSa sardafis meti veraferi gavimeteT, mokvda da, ager asi welia, dRemde erTi sakadrisi muzeumi ver avuSeneTo. iqneb, uxilavi kavSiria kultura?! inspiraciaa?! wlobiT Sevyurebdi `daTvi mTvarian Rames”, am mistiur sakvirvelebas, Cems naxevradmrume oTaxSi, mirza Safis quCaze, meidanSi, vwerdi romans `eliazaris dabrunebas~ da bedkruli eliazaris mTavar prototipze niko firosmanaSvilis (da ara mxolod mis) egzistencialur sawuTroebaze vfiqrobdi. magram es erTi, gare Srea romanisa. eliazari, miTiuri amiranis mxatvruli reinkarnacia, Tumc xelovania, misTvis xelovneba, anu saRmrTo saSromeli, rogorc amiranisTvis _ cecxlismfrqveveli laxti, TviTmizani ki ara, gzaa boroteul ZalTa saZlevad, pirvelkacSi _ genetikur civilizaciaSi dasabruneblad... iqneb, sizmaria kultura?! zRaparia?! sizmarSi, rogorc zRaparSi, yvelaferi SesaZlebelia: ar viciT vin varT, sad varT. varT, ar varT. viTom varT, viTom ar varT. xan vin varT, xan vin. vixsenebT, ver vixsenebT. zogjer gvaognebs gaxseneba. amgvarma gaognebam mogvicva wina saukunis 90-ian wlebSi, roca gamoviRviZeT damoukideblobaSi, TavisuflebaSi. sxvagan CavyvinTeT, sxvagan amovyvinTeT. sxvas velodiT, rwmeniT velodiT, sxva miviReT. viTom _ damoukidebloba. viTom _ Tavisufleba. viTom _ iqca Cveni cxovrebis sizmareul kredod.

Cvens cnobierebas politika ise SemoWdobia, rogorc etlis borbals _ salte, saZraobas ar gvaZlevs. viTom gvRviZavs wafilosofoso ybedobaSi, sinamdvileSi wajequkujeqobaSi vTvlemT, erT wreze davlaRandarobT. politikurad egzaltirebuli qveyana amgvar ybedobaSi ise mofarebia kulturas, rogorc Ruzasaglejili gemi _ nislian navsadgurs. yoveli mxridan sastiki qari gviberavs. pandoras yuTs Tavi aqvs axdili. Tvalze xelebafarebulebi, did facafucSi varT (facafucma icis sindisis, RirebulebaTa devalvacia, facafuciT qmnili kultura vis unaxavs?!). gulisxmayaviT, ra saocrad hgavs genialuri ieronimus bosxis `Tivis gadazidva~ da `yeyeCTa xomaldi~, es universaluri qmnilebani, Cvens dRevandel yofierebas. amgvari cnobierebiT cxovreba, roca Sens caze damokles maxvili hkidia, ar mgonia, Rirseuli iyos (Rirsebaayril kacs ra xeli aqvs kulturasTan!). roca

What if culture is an invisible connection?

Inspiration?

For years, I looked at “A Bear in the Moonlight”, this mystical marvel, in my half-darkened room, on Mirza Shapi Street, Meidani, writing the novel “The Return of Eliazari”, and thinking about the existential struggle of miserable Eliazari’s main prototype, Niko Pirosmanashvili (and not just him). But this is one of the external layers of the novel.

For Eliazari, being the creative reincarnation of the mythical Amiran, though he is an artist, for him art, the holy work, like for Amiran – the fiery whip, is not a goal in itself, but a way to vanquish evil forces, to come back to the genetic civilization of the first man...

What if culture is a dream?

A fairy tale?

In dreams, as in fairy tales, everything is possible: we do not know who we are, where we are, whether we are or not. It’s as though we are there, but we are not. We are this and we are that. We remember and we cannot remember.

Sometimes remembering astonishes us.

This kind of astonishment is what we experienced in the 1990s, when we woke up independent, free. We dove in at one place and came back up in another. We were waiting for something else, believing in something else, and we got something different.

A pretend independence.

A pretend freedom.

Pretend became the dream credo of our lives.

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erTi mxriT _ Sovinistur-dampyrobluri manqana gvitevs, xolo meore mxriT _ nihilisturi manqana, takimasxaroba mgonia liberalizmis mantiaSi SefuTuli konformizmi, romlis saSoc _ SiSia. gavixsenoT nestandarejani _ qajeTis cixeSi datyvevebulsac saxelmwifoze fiqri ar miutovebia. am evropelobiT xom pirdapir agvikles. Caxedon matianes _ neta rodis ar iyo qarTveli evropeli. Tu evropuli kultura qristianobis wiaRSi iSva, Tu qristianobaa evropuli kulturis deda, maSin ganswavlulma evropelma gadafurclos Zveli foliantebi da naxavs, jer kidev romel saukuneebSi uSenebia qarTvels qristianuli eklesia-monastrebi. im axali epoqebis evropul kulturaze ratom sduman, im sakacobrio mniSvnelobis literaturaze, xelovnebaze, mecnierebaze, rasTanac ZvelTaganve arasodes gauwyvetia kavSiri qarTvel kacs. am orientaciiTa da cnobierebiT iyo nakarnaxevi erekle meores politikuri Ziebani evropaSi. vidre is, georgievskSi, 1783 wels ruseTTan iZulebiT traqtats gaaformebda, musulmanuri samyaros ganuwyveteli Tavdasxmebisgan rom exsna Tavisi qristianuli samefo, manam evropasa da evropel monarqebTan eZebda mokavSires.

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Politics are wrapped around our consciousness like the hoop around the wheel of a carriage, not allowing us to move. It’s as if we are awake in the pretend philosophical banter, and in reality we are sitting around snoozing, turning in circles. Our country, politically exalted, has been dragged away from culture in this banter, like a ship that has broken away from its anchor and has been dragged away from the foggy harbor. A cruel wind blows from every side.

Pandora’s box has been opened. With our hands covering our eyes, we are bustling around (bustling is what brings devaluation of the conscience and values – who has ever heard of a culture created while bustling?). Take into consideration how amazingly the universal works “Hay Wagon” and “Ship of Fools” by the genius Hieronymus Bosch resemble our current condition. To live with this consciousness, that the sword of Damocles is hanging in your sky, cannot be honorable, in my opinion (and dishonorable men have nothing in common with culture!). When a chauvinist-conquering tank is attacking from one side and a nihilist from the other side, for me conformism hiding behind a mask of liberalism is nothing but buffoonery, at the heart of which is fear. Let us remember Nestan-Darejan, who never stopped thinking about the State, even while a prisoner in the Kajeti fortress.

And they have talked our ears off about being European. If only they looked at history – when were Georgians not European?

If European culture was born from the hearth of Christianity, if Christianity is the mother of European culture, then the European scholar should open old folios and see from which centuries Georgians were building Christian churches and monasteries. And why do they say nothing of the European culture of the new eras, the literature, art, science of significance of all of Mankind and with which Georgians have never lost contact. This is the orientation and consciousness that moved Erekle the Second during his political research in Europe. Before he signed a forced contract with Russia in Georgievsky in 1783, in order to save his Christian kingdom from unceasing attacks from the Muslim world, he searched for an ally in Europe, asked European monarchs, but in vain. Our great fabulist Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani – enlightener of the nation, political and public figure – also walked the roads of Europe in vain.

In order to not be left with broken pieces of a ship wrecked because it was left on its own, without a harbor, in the swelling waves of the sea, we need to observe the tragedy of what happened in all its depth and instead of wandering back and forth, we have to make sure the ship goes back into the culture of its nation. Of course, this does not exclude common involvement with other cultures. If ancient Greeks traveled to Kolkheti and Iberia to get to know the culture there, why wouldn’t we?!

Will the time ever come when a Georgian, like the American Walt Whitman, will exclaim: O Captain! My Captain!

Our fearful trip is done, The ship has weather’d every rack, The prize we sought is won.

Tumc amaod. amaod daSvra evropis gzebze Cveni didi meigavec, sulxan-saba orbeliani _ eris ganmanaTlebeli, politikuri da sazogado moRvawe. zRvis motortmane talRebSi RvTis anabara mitovebuli unavsayudlo gemidan damsxvreuli naSTebi rom ar SegvrCes, mTeli siRrmiT unda CavxedoT momxdaris tragizms da, waRma-ukuRma ki ar viborialoT, imaze vizrunoT, gemi mSobliuri kulturis wiaRSi davabrunoT. es, rasakvirvelia, sulac ar gamoricxavs sxva eris kulturebTan Tanamonawileobas. Tu Zveli berZnebi ar Takilobdnen kolxeTsa da iberiaSi mogzaurobas, aq imJamindeli kultura rom eZiaT, Cven ra dagvemarTa?! neta dadgeba dro, roca qarTveli kaci, amerikeli uolt uitmeniviT, SesZaxebs: `o, kapitano, Cemo kapitano! xomaldi moadga napirs, man datova Stormi, zvirTebis mrisxane Sexla da yvelaferi damTavrda, morCa!~ magram vidre amis SeZaxebis dro mova, manam msxverplis gaReba mogviwevs, sul mcire msxverplis _ davicxroT vnebani gulisa, mediduroba, sxvaTa zeda aRmateba, gancxromisaken, warmavali mosaxveWelisken amao ltolva. kulturas Tavisi kanonebi aqvs. kulturis kanonebi ar morCilebs arc politikur, arc socialur, arc saxelmwifoebriv kanonebs. formaciebi icvleba, epoqebi icvleba, kulturis kanonebi ar icvleba. Tumc mudmiv ganaxlebadia, misi arsi ucvleli rCeba _ ar dainTqas drois azavTebul mdinarebaSi. geniosebi imitom ki ar swavloben kanonebs, rom daicvan isini, imitom swavloben, rom daarRvion. politikis kanonebs mravalni morCileben, kulturis kanonebs _ mcireni. mcireTa Seupovari muSakobiT ari kultura. misi gamaJamgrZelebelnic mcireni arian. misi mcvelnic. xelisufalT unda uwyodnen, rom umetesni am mcireTagan imitom ki ar iyvnen duxWirni da upovarni, rom Rirseba ar hqondaT, imitom iyvnen duxWirni da upovarni, rom RirsebiT qmnidnen kulturas, RirsebiT miuZRodnen progresisken kacobriobas.

RvTis wyalobiT, mcireTa mekanoneni, qarTuli kulturis caze obol cTomilebiviT moxetialeni, Rrma individualobiT wilxvdomilni (zogi samSobloSi, zognic ucxoeTSi), am mZime xanaSic agrZeleben im klasikur gzas, rac ZvelTaganve Tavganwiruli moRvawebiT dausaxavT winaprebs. unda viqonioT rwmena, amiranis qveyanas aRmoaCndeba Zala gansacdelSi TviTdaunjebisa da ganaxlebisa.

15 Tebervali, 2017 ilustraciebi gogi wereTlis

But before this can be achieved, we will need to make a sacrifice, albeit a small one – we will have to make still the passions of the heart, the haughtiness, the excessive pride, the vain aspirations for comfort, luxury, the fleeting riches. Culture has its laws. Culture does not abide by political, social or state laws. Formations change, eras change, the laws of culture do not change. Although it is constantly renewed, its essence remains the same – not to disappear in the strong current of time. Geniuses study laws not to abide by them, but to be able to break them. Many observe the laws of politics, but few – those of culture. It is by the obstinate work of the few that culture exists. Few are the ones who pass it on and few are the ones who protect it. The rulers need to know that most of these few were not poor and destitute because they were dishonorable; on the contrary, their poverty was caused by the fact that they were creating culture with honor, and leading humanity toward progress honorably.

By God’s mercy, the few makers of culture, like lone sinner wanderers of the sky of Georgian culture, the ones gifted with deep individuality (some in their motherland, some abroad), still keep on walking in these hard times the classical road paved by their ancestors with selfless work. We need to believe that the country of Amiran will have enough strength to guard and renew itself in challenging times.

February 15th, 2017 Illustrations by Gogi Tsereteli

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bolos da bolos, movida dro The time has finally come Tbilisis operisa da baletis Teatris Senoba msoflios saopero Teatrebisgan unikaluri fsevdo-mavirtanuli stiliTaa gamorCeuli. xuroTmoZRvrebis TeoriiT, nagebobis kedlebi didwilad unda ganapirobebdes Senobis suls. dRes misi mimdebare landSafti Secvlilia da Teatri Zveli brwyinvalebiT aRar warmogvidgeba, rogorc es gardasul droTa fotoebze Cans _ gaSlil sivrceze srulyofili proporciebiT aziduli. gasul saukuneSi TeatrSi gaCenilma xanZarma SenobasTan erTad didi mxatvris, sergo qobulaZis mier Sesrulebuli Teatris simbolodqceuli androginis gamosaxulebiani fardac Seiwira da dRes, roca xanZars ukve aTwleulebi gvaSorebs, bevrad vrceli aRdgenili darbazidan qobulaZis mxatvruli da teqnologiuri geniiT Seqmnili fardis nacvlad, qsovilze dabeWdil miseul asls SevyurebT. sabednierod, miuxedavad ganvlili sirTuleebisa, dRes axalgaremontebuli da Tanamedrove teqnologiebiT aRWurvili Teatri gvaqvs, romelic axal sicocxles iwyebs. faqtobrivad, CvenTan opera axlad unda daibados. balets es ar exeba _ nino ananiaSvilis ZalisxmeviT misi dasi uwyvetad ganagrZobda muSaobas Teatris remontis periodSic _ hqondaT premierebi, sagastrolod Camodiodnen ucxouri dasebi... vfqrob, ori mcdari arCevanis Semdeg, operis Teatris sadaveebi bolos da bolos miandes adamians, vinc yvelaze ukeT grZnobs mis arss, mis filosofias. visac SeuZlia iyos principuli maSin, roca profesionalizmis sakiTxi dgeba, da visTvisac operaze zrunva mxolod piradi keTildReobiT ar ganisazRvreba. badri maisuraZes mdidari SemoqmedebiTi biografia aqvs, romelic /dramatuli/ tenorisTvis Seqmnil araerT partias moicavs. vrcelia misi SemoqmedebiTi geografiac: milanis `la skala~, neapolis `san karlo~, venis `Staatsoperi~, madridis `teatro reali~, berlinis `doiCe opera~, moskovis `didi Teatri~ da sxva. qarTvel msmenels kargad axsovs mZime wlebSi Tbilisis operisa da baletis TeatrSi misi da mis mier daarsebuli fondis mier organizebuli ucxoel varskvlavTa gastrolebi; stipendiebi studentebisTvis... Tavad amaze sdums. amjerad mas, rogorc Teatris samxatvro xelmZRvanels vestumreT...

The building of Tbilisi’s Opera and Ballet Theater is distinguished among the world’s opera theaters by its unique pseudo-Moresque style. According to an architectural theory, the walls of a construction are the main factor determining the soul of the building. Today, the surrounding landscape has changed, and the theater doesn’t have the magnificence that one can find in old pictures, it stood with its perfect proportions in an open space. Last century, a fire burned down the theater, together with the curtain by great painter Sergo Kobuladze, which depicted an androgyne and had become a symbol of the theater; today, decades after the fire, instead of the curtain created by Kobuladze’s artistic and technological genius, we can admire a copy printed on textile, in a much larger concert hall.

Fortunately enough, despite the many difficulties the building encountered, we now have a newly renovated theater equipped with the latest technology, and which is now starting a new life. The Opera needs to be reborn. This doesn’t concern ballets – thanks to Nino Ananiashvili’s efforts, the ballet company worked non-stop even during the time the theater was being renovated – they had premieres, foreign ballet companies were touring in Tbilisi…

I think that after two wrong choices, the reins of the Opera Theater have finally been handed to someone who really understands its essence, its philosophy; to one who can be principled when the question of professionalism is put on the table, and who doesn’t consider managing the Opera as a way to enhance one’s own wellbeing. Badri Maisuradze has a rich artistic biography, including several parts created for the thespian tenor himself. The places he performed are also numerous: Milan’s ‘La Scala’, Napoli’s ‘San Carlo’, Vienna’s ‘Staatsoper’, Madrid’s ‘Teatro Real’, Berlin’s ‘Deutsche Oper’, Moscow’s ‘Bolshoi Theater’, and many others. The Georgian audience remembers the visits of famous foreign opera singers at Tbilisi’s Opera and Ballet Theater, which he organized through his own funding during the harsh 1990s, as well as the scholarships he granted to young singers… He doesn’t mention that himself. We visited Badri Maisuradze, the new Art Director of the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theater…

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Teatris marTvis romeli models irCevT? Cemi ocdaCvidmetwliani staJis gaTvaliswinebiT SemiZlia giTxraT, rom yoveli konkretuli saopero Teatri marTvis models imis mixedviT irCevs, Tu ra raodenobis da mentalobis mosaxleoba hyavs im qalaqs da ra finansuri resursis patronia. Cemi pasuxic aqedanaa: Cveni warmodgenili programa efuZneba imas, Tu ra sociumSi vcxovrobT da ra sWirdeba mas. vfiqrobT, rom Cven iseTi modeli avirCieT, romelic yvela musikis, da gansakuTrebiT operis moyvarul adamians surda... bolos da bolos, movida dro, muSaoba daviwyoT, ise rogorc ekadreba qalaqs, romelsac aqvs pretenzia operis Teatri hqondes. miT umetes, im didi tradiciis gaTvaliswinebiT, romelic Cvens Teatrs hqonda. getyviT, rom realurad Teatri ar muSaobda, cameti wlis ganmavlobaSi mxolod sami Tu oTxi premiera Sedga, ar vgulisxmob Zveli speqtaklebis aRdgenas. es ioli periodi ar iyo da arc imas vkiTxulob, Tu ratom ar gakeTda meti. es Cemi saqme ar aris. am viTarebas Teatris saremontod daketvac daerTo. miuxedavad imis, rom aq ar viyavi, vicodi, rac xdeboda. piriqiT, SeZlebisdagvarad, Teatrs vexmarebodi maSin, roca mas yvelaze metad uWirda. wina Taobebi me medgnen gverdSi da mec vedeqi gverdSi maT, vinc dRes ukve msoflios TeatrebSi mRerian da visiTac ase vamayobT. Tavs movaled vTvlidi maSinac da vTvli axlac.

Teatrs aucileblad sWirdeba sxvadasxva stilis mravalferovani repertuari... aucileblad davdgamT qarTul operebs. rac Seexeba ucxours, rogorc ukve vTqvi, gasaTvaliswinebelia Cveni realuri mdgomareoba. pirvel rigSi, aucileblad unda gvqondes is operebi, rac yvelasTvis misaRebia, magram garkveuli standartic unda davicvaT, yvelafers ver davdgamT. SeiZleba amgvari azri yvelasTvis misaRebi ar iyos, magram operis Teatri gasarTobi sivrce araa, es elituri xelovnebis adgilia. Cveni mizania, rom im xalxs, visac opera uyvars, siamovneba mivaniWoT, xolo is vinc pirvelad mova TeatrSi, momaval msmenelad vaqcioT. es gasavleli procesia. dRes, veRar viqnebiT ise, rogorc es 90-ian wlebSi iyo. maSin, TiTqmis cariel darbazSi midioda speqtakli da amisTvis eqvsaskaciani organizmi muSaobda. marketinguli TvalsazrisiT, opera yvela drosa da qveyanaSi, wamgebiani biznesia. imisTvis, rom gavimarToT, gasaTvlelia ras da rogor davdgamT an visTvis, ise, rom es misaRebi gaxdes Cveni msmenelisTvisac da ucxoeTSic gavyidoT. es Teatrs Tundac mcire Semosavals moutans, rasac Semdeg sxva speqtaklis dasadgmelad gamoviyenebT. swored, axla dubaisTan gvaqvs molaparakeba, SemoTavazebuli oTxi operidan, Cven unda avirCioT CvenTvis misaRebi varianti da iq davdgaT. garda amisa, daaxloebiT ToTxmet qveyanasTan vaformebT memorandums. es Cveni reputaciisTvis garkveul

What kind of management model will you choose for the theater?

Taking my 37-years of experience into account, I can tell you that every opera theater chooses its management model according to the demography and mentality of the city’s inhabitants, as well as to the finances of the theater. Therefore, my answer would be that the program we present is based on the society we are currently living in and what it needs. We think that we chose a model that every music enthusiast would have wanted, and especially those who are fond of opera… It is time for us to work as a city worthy of an opera theater. Especially if we consider the great history and traditions of our theater. I can tell you that the theater was not actually functioning these last 13 years – only three or four premieres were staged, if we don’t count restored spectacles. It wasn’t an easy time, and I’m not asking why they didn’t manage to achieve more. It’s not my business.

Apart from that, the theater was closed for renovation. Though I wasn’t here, I knew what was happening. Actually, I was even helping the theater when it was at its lowest, as much as I could. Previous generations were supporting me, and I supported singers who are

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riskebTanaa dakavSirebuli, imitom rom viwyebT nulidan, ar gvaqvs produqti. oqtombrisTvis rumineTSi vgegmavT gasvlas da... ar viciT ra waviRoT. aseve, vapirebT kairos saopero TeatrTan TanamSromlobas, iq davdgamT `aidas~.

TeatrSi moRvaweobis aTvlas, albaT, Tqven mier ganxorcielebuli pirveli premieridan daiwyebT... ra Tqma unda, pasuxismgebeli Cven im speqtaklebze viqnebiT, romlebsac ganvaxorcielebT. magram, Tu `karmens~ gulisxmobT, pasuxismgeblobas verc aq gaveqceviT. masze muSaoba Cemi winamorbedis dros ki daiwyo, magram CabarebiT me Cavibare. Sedegze axla nu vilaparakebT. speqtakli im pirobiT aviReT, rom reJisori masSi garkveul koreqtivebs Seitans. vfiqrob, rom is dro rac speqtaklze daixarja, sakmarisi ar aRmoCnda detalebisa da niuansebi dasaxvewad.

Tumca ver getyviT, ase Tvlis Tu ara, Tavad reJisori, romelic Zalian Rirseuli profesionalia da es misi pirveli cdaa saopero JanrSi. zogadad, speqtaklis Seqmnis procesi kargad vici, radgan saopero TeatrSic mimuSavia da dramatulSic, amitom viTvaliswinebT im xarjebsa da Sromas, rac Teatrma gaswia... da mxolod imitom, rom is SeiZleba Cems xedvas ar emTxveodes, speqtaklze uars ver vityviT. Tumca, SegveZlo gveTqva. miT umetes, rom Cemi azriT saopero reJisura gadaulaxav sirTuleebTan ar aris dakavSirebuli. ubralod, Janrs ufro Rrmad unda gageba da aucilebelia kargi musikaluri ganaTleba. msoflioSi bevri magaliTia, rodesac did reJisorebs wlobiT ar

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now performing in theaters around the world, and of whom we are very proud. I felt in debt then, and I still feel in debt now.

The theater definitely needs a diverse repertoire…

We will stage Georgian operas. Concerning foreign ones, as I’ve already said, we should take our situation into account. In the first place, we should definitely have operas that are acceptable to everyone, but we should also satisfy some standards, and we cannot stage everything. Maybe this kind of stance won’t be accepted by some, but the Opera Theater isn’t an entertainment hall, it is a place for elite art. Our goal is to bring pleasure to people who like opera, and to convert those coming to the theater for the first time into a future audience. This is the process we want to go through. It cannot be like it was in the 1990s anymore. Back then, shows took place in an almost empty hall, and a team of only six persons was preparing them. From a marketing viewpoint, opera has always been an unprofitable business in every country. In order to have more fruitful results, we need to plan what we will stage and how, in order to make it suitable for our audience, but also to sell it abroad. This will bring at least a small profit for the theater which we will then use for the production of another spectacle. We are currently in negotiations with Dubai, and we have to choose the adequate version from four proposed shows to then stage there.

Further, we’ll be signing memorandums with around 14 countries.

This is linked with some risks in terms of our reputation, because we are starting from scratch, without any actual product. We are planning

hqoniaT am xelovnebasTan Sexeba da mibrunebian mas. viskontis an Zefirelis magaliTi gavixsenoT, an Tundac adrei konCalovskis, romelsac manamde arasdros umuSavia am JanrSi, magram mivida peterburgis marias TeatrSi, dadga da gamouvida. mTavaria gesmodes, grZnobde... erTxel eliso virsalaZes vkiTxe, Tu rogor aRwevda mocartis ocdameerTe koncertSi bgeris aseT gamWvirvalebas, sad iyo is sirbile da haerovneba _ es, rogorc vokalists mainteresebda. iciT ra miTxra? _ jer mesmis da mere vukravo. swored, amis Tqma minda, unda gesmodes _ es ar iswavleba, es xelobis miRmaa da Cven ar viciT is, rac RmerTisgan boZebuli niWia. solistebi... qarTvelebs bevri gamorCeuli solisti gvyavs, magram isini gafantulebi arian msoflios sxvadasxva wamyvan TeatrSi. Tundac axla, `aidasTvis~ maTi Tavmoyra Zalian rTuli aRmoCnda. Cven saSualeba ar gvaqvs maT is pirobebi da honorari SevTavazoT, rasac ucxoeTSi sTavazoben. formati, romelic solistebTan saurTierTobod movZebneT, idealuri ar aris, magram am etapze misaRebia. magaliTad aviRoT `aida~ _ momRerlebs miveciT rolebis CamonaTvali da SevTavazeT Tavad aerCiaT partia. Cven ar CavreulvarT, subieqturebi rom ar vyofiliyaviT.

to tour in Romania in October… and we still don’t know what we’ll be performing there. We’re also planning to collaborate with the Cairo Theater, where we’ll be staging ‘Aida’.

You will probably consider your activity at the theater as starting after the first premiere you stage…

Naturally, we’ll be responsible only for the spectacles we have staged ourselves. But if you are talking about ‘Carmen’, we have participated in it, too. Even though they started working on it under my predecessor’s administration, I took over the project when I arrived. Let’s not talk about the result too soon; we were handed a project in which the director will add some correction. I think that the time to prepare the spectacle was not enough to fine-tune some details and nuances. But I cannot say if the director himself thinks this way; he is a very good professional, and it is the first time he is trying his hand at the opera genre. In general, I know the process of creating a spectacle quite well, as I used to work in both opera and drama theaters, so I can take into account the expenses and work that the theater has put into this show… And we won’t abandon a spectacle only because it doesn’t fit my vision, though we could have said no to it. Especially if we consider that directing opera is not linked to unsurmountable obstacles. It’s just that you need to fully grasp the genre and you definitely need good musical

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daaxloebiT ase xdeba ucxoeTSic. am SemTxvevaSi, italiidan Camovidnen profesionalebi, romelTa maRal reputacias da miukerZoeblobas vendobiT. isini, Tavis mxriv CvenTan arian angariSvaldebulni, radgan amaSi honorars vuxdiT. ra Tqma unda, SedegiT yvela kmayofili ver darCeba. Tu mowveulTa kompetenciis sakiTxi dadgeba, vurCev maT kurikulumebs Caxedon _ es is xalxia, vinc msoflios did TeatrebSi kastebs/Semadgenlobebs adgens. samwuxarod mogviwevs kadrebis Semcireba da imavdroulad, TeatrSi axali Taobis miRebac. Tumca, sad, ra sindisiT unda gavuSvaT adamiani, vis kiserzedac wlobiT gadadioda Teatris repertuari. axla, aseTi mocemuloba gvaqvs da veWvob, rom kultura dRes prioritetuli ar aris. da Tu asea, CerCilisa ar iyos, `maS risTvis vomobT?~. qarTul repertuarze ras gvetyviT? gvaqvs `abesalomi~, Semdegi iqneba `qeTo da kote~. Tumca vfiqrobT gadawyvetis esTetikasa da reJisoris arCevaze, radgan marketinguladac da sagastrolo programazec unda gavTvaloT. samomavlod daidgmeba `daisic~, romelic gansakuTrebiT sainteresoa iqneba dasavleli msmenelisTvis, rogorc aziuri da evropuli kulturebis sinTezi.

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education. There were many cases in many countries when great directors didn’t have any contact with this art for years, and then went back to it. Let us remember Visconti or Zeffirelli, or even Andrei Konchalovsky, who had never worked in this genre, but arrived at Saint Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theater, staged a spectacle, and were very successful. The most important thing is to understand it, to feel it… I once asked Eliso Virsaladze how she was able to make Mozart’s Concerto No. 21 sound so transparent, finding this softness and delicacy – as a vocalist, I was interested in this question. And do you know what she answered me? – “I hear it before playing it”. That’s exactly what I wanted to say, you have to hear it – and you cannot learn this; this is beyond art, and we cannot attain by ourselves what is granted by God. Soloists...

We have many distinguished soloists in Georgia, but they are dispersed throughout leading theaters around the world. Even now, for ‘Aida’, it turned out very difficult to gather them here. We don’t have the means to offer them the conditions and remunerations that they are offered abroad.

The format we use to work with our soloists is not ideal, but at this stage, it is good enough. For instance, let’s take ‘Aida’: we gave a list of roles to the singers, and let them choose their parts themselves.

bavSvebisTvis mzadaa meri daviTaSvilis `nacarqeqia~, Tumca, vfiqrob rom dadgmis politika gadasaxedia, radgan, Tu TeatrisTvis Seuferebeli speqtaklis precedents davuSvebT, am talRas veRar SevakavebT. gegmaSi telemanis `skolis maswavlebeli~ da britenis `patara buxris mwmendavic~ gvaqvs. es operebi repertuarSi imitom CavsviT, rom sruldeba im formatiT, rac, vfiqrob, xels uwyobs bavSvis, rogorc msmenelis ganviTarebas. musika am SemTxvevaSi meorexarsxovania da mTavari bavSvebis CarTulobaa _ TamaSi, kameruloba _ radgan did scenaze mimika ar ikiTxeba. sxva saqmea baleti, sadac sxeuli metyvelebs da amdenad did scenazec aRqmadia. sxvagvarad, pataras operas ver moawoneb _ Cven burTi gvindoda, axla kompiuteri undaT. es Canafiqri mSobelze ufroa gaTvlili, vidre bavSvze. mozardis operasTan urTierToba faqizi Temaa _ sawinaaRmdego polusebia... operis mudmivi msmeneli... operis `mudmivi msmeneli~ dResac arsebobs, magram maT Cven ver vxedavT. es is Taobaa, romelsac dRes TeatrSi mosvla uWirs _ janmrTelobis an usaxsrobis gamo. Cven am adamianebs ver davkargavT da maTTvis specialur SeTavazebas

We didn’t get involved in order to avoid any subjectivity. This is roughly the way it happens abroad. In this case, we invited professionals from Italy, in the reputation and impartiality of whom we trust. They have great responsibility, as they are paid for this service. Naturally, the results can’t satisfy everybody, but if their competence is put into question, I suggest you have a look at their curricula – they are the ones who establish the casts of the world’s leading theaters.

Unfortunately, we will have to reduce our staff, and, at the same time, to hire representatives of the younger generation at the theater. How do you dismiss, let’s say, someone on whom the whole repertoire of the theater was dependent for years? This is the current reality in our country – I suspect that unfortunately, culture isn’t a priority today. And if that is the case, like Churchill said, “then what are we fighting for?”

What would you say about the Georgian repertoire?

We have ‘Abesalom and Eteri’, and the next will be ‘Keto and Kote’.

But we are now thinking about the aesthetics and which director to choose, because we also have to attune these spectacles for

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vamzadebT. rac Seexeba studentebs _ iseve rogorc ucxoeTSi, vapirebT, generalur repeticebze (Tu reJisori nebas dagvrTavs) maT Tavisufal daswrebas. am dros modis TeatrSi kritikosi da mediac. sapremiero bileTebze fasis daweviT, Teatris renomes gavaufasurebT. rogorc ukve aRvniSne, axla is dro aRaraa, speqtakli naxevradSevsebul darbazSi midiodes. TeatrisTvis speqtaklebis optimaluri raodenoba unda SevarCioT, parizis `grand operasac~ ki ara aqvs saSualeba speqtakli eqvsze metjer gauSvas.

tours abroad. In the future, we’ll also be staging ‘Daisi’, which will be particularly interesting for western audiences, as it is a synthesis of Asian and European cultures.

The children’s play ‘Natsarkekia’ by Meri Davitashvili is ready, but I think that we have to reexamine the staging policy, because if we allow the precedent of a spectacle that isn’t suitable for theater, we won’t be able to stop the next ones. We’re also planning to stage Telemann’s ‘Schoolmaster’ and Britten’s ‘The Little Sweep’. We included these operas in the repertoire because they are performed in a format

vokalis problemebze... axlaxan gvqonda mosmena im axalgazrdebisa, romlebic mTavarma diriJorma SearCia. arsebul mdgomareobaze warmodgena daaxloebiT mqonda, radgan ori wlis win respublikuri konkursis Jiuris Tavmjdomare gaxldiT. Teatrs hyavs staJiorebic, magram axalgazrdebisgan met dainteresebas veli. amas winaT nino ananiaSvilma miTxra (ramac sul ar ganmacvifra), rom Camosuli iyo Zalian saintereso diriJori, qalbatoni alivtina iofe, moskovis sabavSvo musikaluri Teatris mTavari diriJori, visTanac bevr Cems mowafes umReria, da... Cvens student diriJorebs arc ki gamouxatavT interesi, rom mosuliyvnen da moesminaT.

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that will, I think, contribute to the development of children as an audience. In this case, music is secondary, and the involvement of children is more important – we need playfulness and a small hall, because the expressions of the actors cannot be seen on a large stage. Ballet is a different thing, where performers speak through their bodies, and can also be appreciated on a large stage. You cannot make children fall in love with opera in another way – we used to long for balls, now they want computers. This idea is more directed towards parents than their children. The relationship between teenagers and opera is a delicate theme – they are like opposite poles.

am rangis profesionalebis Camoyvana ara mxolod Teatris prestiJisa da kargi speqtaklis gasaSvebad xdeba, aramed imisTvisac, rom movidnen axalgazrdebi da moisminon, rogor unda simRera, sityvis gamosaTqmelad tonalobis da intonaciis SerCeva da sxv. sakuTar magaliTze mogaxsenebT, raRacis gageba maSin daviwye, roca vnaxe, Tu rogor muSaobdnen Cem gverdiT sxvebi. CvenTan arsebuli problemebi didwilad ganapiroba samusiko teqnikumebisa da skolebis daxurvam. momRerlis cxovreba xom isedac bedisweraa _ sad waxval, vis gadaeyrebi, vin mogismens da vis daujereb. Cemi erT-erTi kredo aris is, rom ar arsebobs kargi pedagogi, arsebobs kargi mowafe. amitomacaa, rom SeiZleba karg pedagogs oci mowafe hyavdes, magram kargad mxolod xuTi mRerodes. ratom? imitom, rom am xuTs SeuZlia im codnis miReba, rasac pedagogi aZlevs. Cven xom SegrZnebebze awyobili `instrumentebi~ varT, romelic raRac unarebiT unda vmarToT, Cven verc TiTs davaWerT klaviSs da verc CavberavT. xom ar iqneba masterklasebi TeatrSi? arsebobs Young Artist Programme, romelic mTel msoflioSia miRebuli. Cven xuT did (saopero tradiciebis)

Regular opera listeners…

Regular opera listeners still exist, but we rarely see them. They are a generation that struggles to go to the theater due to health or pecuniary issues. We cannot afford to lose these people, and we are preparing a special offer for them. As for students, following the example of western countries, we are planning to let them attend dress rehearsals for free when the director allows. This is when critics and the media come to the theater. By reducing the price of tickets for the premiere, we would devaluate our theater’s reputation. As I’ve already mentioned, this is no time to perform in front of half-empty halls. We have to choose the optimal number of spectacles for the theater – the Opéra de Paris itself doesn’t have the means to perform a spectacle more than six times.

Vocal problems We recently had the chance to listen to the young singers selected by our head conductor. I had a notion about the existing situation, as I was the head of jury at the national competition two years ago.

The theater also has trainees, but I expect more interest from the youth. Some time ago, Nino Ananiashvili told me that Alevtina Ioffe, a very interesting female conductor (head conductor of Moscow’s Children’s Musical Theater) had come to Georgia; I knew that many

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qalaqTan movawereT xeli, esenia: vaSingtoni, los anjelesi, vena, berlini da miunxeni. Teatri arc saswavlo dawesebulebaa da arc eqsperimentebis adgili, aq momzadebuli momRerali unda movides, romelsac Semdeg davakavSirebT ucxoel pedagogebTan. es gza mec gaviare, Cemi pedagogisgan damoukideblad vmecadineobdi italiurSi, vmuSaobdi gamoTqmebze. xSirad meubnebian, rom amaSi Cemi pirveli profesiac miwyobda xels, magram vfiqrob, rom dramatuli msaxiobisa da momRerlis sametyvelo ena da Jestikulacia absoluturad sxvadasxvaa. ucxoeTSi moRvawe Cveni yvela momRerlis Camoyvanis saSualeba rom gvqondes, damerwmuneT, Cvenze bednieri Teatri meore ar iqneboda. mzad varT yvela maTganTan viTanamSromloT da es maTi survilicaa. swored guSin gamoTqva survili nino maCaiZem imReros mimis partia puCinis `bohemaSi~, magram radgan es opera uaxloes gegmaSi ar gvaqvs, SevTavazeT violetas partia verdis `traviataSi~. maTi Camoyvana mxolod honorarze araa damokidebuli, maTi grafikic winaswar gawerilia. miuxedavad amisa, Cven yovelTvis veliT Cveni warmatebuli artistebisgan winadadebebs. eqvsi weli mTxovdnen Camosvlas da rigi mizezebs gamo ver Camovdiodi; jer erTi vmRerodi da vmReri axlac, amasTanave ver mivatovebdi dawyebul saqmes. ratomRac megona, rom Teatris bedi Cem gareSec gadawydeboda, magram, roca davinaxe, rom viTareba konfliqtSi gadaizarda,

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of my students had sung with her, and… the students learning conducting at our theater didn’t even attend her lecture. Bringing such professionals to Georgia is not only very prestigious for the theater, and done in order to produce better spectacles, but also for the youth to come and learn how to sing better, how to choose tonality and intonation, and many other technical details. I can say from my own experience that I started understanding much more once I saw how people worked around me. The problems we are facing today in Georgia are mainly due to the closing of musical schools. Singers’ lives are very providential in themselves – it’s about where you go, who you meet, who will listen to you and whom you trust. One of my credos is that there are no good masters, there are only good students. This is why, sometimes, a good master can have twenty students, but only five of them will sing well. Why? Because these five can receive the knowledge the master is giving them.

After all, we are “instruments” assembled by feelings, and we have to play it ourselves with certain skills, though we can never fully control it.

Will there be masterclasses in the theater?

The Young Artists Program is operating worldwide. We signed an agreement with five cities with great operatic tradition, namely Washington, Los Angeles, Vienna, Berlin and Munich. The theater isn’t an educational institution, nor is it a place to carry out experiments; we have to host a skilled singer, whom we will then connect with a foreign pedagogue. I have been along this road myself, I studied

mivxvdi _ kidev erTxel uaris Tqma aRar gamovidoda. axlad gaxsnilma Teatrma, kulturis saminsitros nebam da Seqmnilma problemebma mafiqrebina, rom mecada da momeSuSebina is Ria Wriloba, rac Sua rusTavelze gvqonda. gaixseneT is ocdaCvidmetwliani periodi, rodesac saqarTveloSi ar cxovrobdiT. maxsovs Tqveni kasio verdis `oteloSi~... kasiomde iyo oTar TaqTaqiSvilis `mindia~. am dros saqarTveloSi aRar viyavi da jansuR kaxiZem specialurad mindias samRerlad Camomiyvana. ase Sedga Cemi debiuti TbilisSi. es `mindias~ meore premiera iyo. mogexsenebaT, pirveli zurab anjafariZem imRera, visTvisac daiwera kidec es partia. samwuxarod, Cveni premieris dros batoni oTari ukve gardacvlili iyo. sxvaTa Soris, oteloze gamaxsenda, wels maestro zubin meta Decca Classics-Tan verdis `otelos~ Cawers, sadac otelos partias Sevasruleb, vnaxoT, iqneb kasioc me mamReron (icinis).

Italian and was working on my pronunciation independently from my teacher. They often tell me that my first profession helped me in this, but I think that the languages of drama and singing are completely different. If we had the chance to bring every Georgian singer performing abroad back to our country, believe me, there wouldn’t be a happier theater than ours. We are ready to collaborate with each of them, and they want to return to Georgia, too. Even yesterday, Nino Machaidze expressed her wish to perform Mimì’s part in Puccini’s ‘La Bohème’, but because we are not planning to stage this opera in the near future, we offered her the chance to perform Violetta’s part in Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’. Bringing them to Georgia doesn’t only depend on money, we also have to take their busy schedules into account.

Despite all this, we are always awaiting proposals from our successful artists.

They were asking me to come to Georgia for six years, but for various reasons, I couldn’t; first of all I was singing, and I still am, actually, and I couldn’t leave projects that were already in the making. For some reason, I thought that the destiny of the theater would be resolved without me, but when I saw that the situation

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apirebT TeatrSi simReras? principulad ar vapireb simReras, es Cemi kredoa. cxovrebaSi ramdenime kredo maqvs, romelTagan erTi ukve davarRvie _ gavxdi Teatris xelmZRvaneli. zurab anjafariZe, visi didi damsaxurebacaa simRera rom daviwye _ da romelic Cems pedagogTan, goCa beJuaSvilTan erTad mamzadebda mindias partiisTvis, miTxra _ cxovrebaSi erTi didi Secdoma davuSvi, Teatris direqtorobas rom davTanxmdio. maSin, albaT, Teqvsmeti wlis viqnebodi. is kaTedris gamge iyo Teatralur institutSi, sadac dramis msaxiobobaze Cavabare dodo aleqsiZesTan, paralelurad miSa TumaniSvilTan viyavi TeatrSi.

was evolving into more and more conflict, I understood that I

Teatrs aRar aqvs saamqro, sadac Seiqmneba speqtakli... am etapze Cven araferi ar gvaqvs, amitom iZulebuli varT msoflio bazris mocemulobiT visargebloT da pirvel etapze ucxouri produqcia SemovitanoT. saerTod, gasaTvlelia, ramdenad saWiroa aq Seikeros kostiumi, romlis naWeric TurqeTidan (yvelaze axlos) unda CamovitanoT. es SeiZleba ufro Zviri dagvijdes, vidre maTi gamocdil italiel specialistebTan SekveTa. gvinda Tu ara, dRes globalizaciis pirobebSi gviwevs cxovreba, rac pirvel rigSi gulisxmobs ekonomias. amas, gamomdinare Teatris SesaZleblobebidan vambob, sadac xalxia dasaqmebuli; aq xom mxolod 5% modis xelovnebaze, xolo danarCeni 95 aris organizmi, romelsac yoveldRiuri sazrdooba unda. publika ki im xuTi procentisTvis modis, romlis amoqmedebas is danarCeni 95 sWirdeba.

Teatri SarSan, wlis dasasruls gadmovibare. saqmis dasawyebad es rTuli periodia, dRe-RameSi ocdaoTxsaaTian reJimSi gviwevs muSaoba, rac arc CemTvis da arc TeatrisTvis kargi ar aris.

Zurab Anjaparidze, for whom this part was actually composed.

couldn’t say no anymore. The newly opened theater, the desire from the Ministry of Culture, as well as the existing problems made me decide to try and heal the open wound that we have in the middle of Rustaveli Avenue.

Can you tell us something about the 37 years you spent outside Georgia? I remember you performing Cassio in Verdi’s ‘Othello’…

Before Cassio, there was Otar Taktakishvili’s ‘Mindia’. I wasn’t in Georgia at that time, and Jansugh Kakhidze brought me here especially for this part. This is how my debut in Georgia took place. It was ‘Mindia’s’ second premiere. The first one was sung by Unfortunately, Mr. Otar had already passed when we performed.

By the way, ‘Othello’ reminded me that this year, Zubin Mehta will be recording Verdi’s ‘Othello’ with Decca Classics, and I will perform Othello’s part… Let’s see, maybe they will make me sing Cassio’s part too. (laughs).

Are you planning on singing yourself?

I don’t plan on singing myself, on principle. I have a number of credos, and I have already violated one of them by becoming a theater director. Zurab Anjaparidze (to a large extent, it is thanks to him that I started singing) who was preparing me, together with my master Gocha Bezhuashvili, for Mindia’s part, told me – “I have made one big mistake in my life, and it was to accept the director’s position at the theater”. I must have been 16 years old back then; he was the head of my department at the Theater Institute, where I was studying drama under Dodo Aleksidze, in parallel to working at the theater with Misha Tumanishvili.

The theater doesn’t have a workshop as it did, where spectacles used to be created…

At present, we don’t have anything, and we are forced to use the global market and to import foreign productions to our stage.

In general, we have to figure out if it’s worth creating costumes ourselves, as textiles have to be imported from Turkey (at the closest). This may cost more than ordering them from experienced Italian specialists. Whether we like it or not, we have to deal with globalization, which means, in the first place, with modern economical practices. I’m saying this given the current situation of the theater; only 5% of the staff comes to work on art, while the remaining 95% constitute an organism that needs to be constantly supported. And the public comes for the 5% that needs the remaining 95% to come to life.

I was put in charge of the theater at the end of last year. This is a difficult period to start working, we are forced to work on a 24/7 basis, which isn’t good, neither for me, nor for the theater.

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P.S. intervius Cawerisas operis dasi rigiT meore premierisTvis emzadeboda da erTi Tvis Tavze qarTvel msmenels franko Zefireliseuli verdis `aida~ eloda, romelic Teatrisa da kinos didma italielma reJisorma, verdis mSobliur busetoSi 2001 wels ganaxorciela.

Tanamedrove saopero reJisuris fonze, Zefirelis klasikuri xelwera, SeiZleba erTgvar anaqronizmad mogeCvenoT, magram erTi ram utyuaria _ misi musikaluri alRo. is yovelTvis dgams musikas da dgams momRerlebisTvis. klasikuri dadgmebi ki garkveuli proporciiT aucileblad sWirdeba yvela did Teatrs, risi erT-erTi magaliTi sul axlaxan milanis `la skalas~ scenaze verdis `traviatas~ gaTanamedrovebuli versiis nacvlad, liliana kavaniseuli klasikuri versiis dabrunebaa. `aidas~ pirveli sapremiero dRe qarTveli saopero Tanavarskvlavedis sruli triumfiT Catarda. albaT, daiwyo is didi procesi gansjad rom Rirs, romelsac ase velodiT da romelic aucileblad unda gagrZeldes, radgan gamocdilebam gvaCvena, Tu sadamde SeiZleba miiyvanos Teatri SemoqmedebiTi procesis wyvetam. esaubra Salva cxovrebaZe

P.S. When we were recording this interview, the opera troupe was preparing for its second premiere, and one month later, Franco Zeffirelli’s adaptation of Verdi’s ‘Aida’ would be presented to the Georgian audience – first performed by the great Italian theater and film director in 2001 in Busseto, Verdi’s birthplace. Compared to modern opera directing, Zeffirelli’s classical signature may look like an anachronism, but one thing is for sure: he has a wonderful musical flair. He always underlines music, and directs for the singers. As for the classical character of the performance, it is absolutely necessary to have it in a given proportion in every large theater; a good example of this is the fact that at Milan’s La Scala, instead of presenting the modern version of Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’, they brought back Liliana Cavani’s classical version.

The first premiere evening of ‘Aida’ was a complete success. Perhaps our time has finally come, the one for which we were longing for so long and that definitely needs to last, because experience has taught us into what state the cessation of the creative process can put a theater.

Interview by Shalva Tskhovrebadze

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mariam vaxvaxiSvili-wereTlisa

ilustrirebuli saojaxo qronikebi...

Cemma naTesavma, cxonebulma vasiko javriSvilma, mamamisis, kote javriSvilis arqivSi napovni mariam wereTlis mogonebebis rveuli maCuqa... da Cvens saxlSi fotoebma, wignebma da nivTebma sakuTari biografia SeiZines. mogonebebis rveulebi dedaCemis mamidas, mariam vaxvaxiSvils ekuTvnis (1877-1964ww). misi meuRle iyo cnobili mecnieri da politikuri moRvawe mixeil (mixako) wereTeli, bolSevikebis dauZinebeli mteri, igi emigraciidanac ki ebrZoda maT. miuxedavad amisa, mariami sicocxlis bolomde mxolod wereTlis gvars atarebda.

20-ian wlebSi dediserTa vaJi, 14 wlis oTari, mamasTan gaagzavna germaniaSi, swavlis gasagrZeleblad. 1937 wels ki Tavadac gaemgzavra (maSin ori tiranuli zesaxelmwifo cota xniT damegobrda), magram berlinSi Casuls, qmarSvili safrangeTSi wasuli daxvda. maT erTmaneTis naxva aRar eweraT. oTar wereTeli, ulamazesi vaJkaci, mecnieri, patrioti, germaniis armiis qarTuli diviziis oficeri meore msoflio omSi daiRupa. dedamisma amis Sesaxeb mxolod 60-ian wlebSi Seityo. yvebodnen _ saxlSi Caiketa, aravis Rebulobda, 40 dRis Semdeg ki gamovida mowesrigebuli, TmaSeRebili da yvelas aukrZala oTarze laparakio. mec aseTi maxsovs, mkacri wiTuri qalbatoni, romelTanac TbilisSi stumroba erTerTi saintereso rituali iyo, xolo TelavSi erTad gatarebuli ramdenime zafxuli ki Cemi bavSvobis pirveli mogonebebia.

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vaxvaxiSvilebis gvari erT-erTi uZvelesia saqarTveloSi: „eseni iyvnen pirvel samcxis Tavadni vaxvaxad wodebulni, mefobisa dimitrisasa, welsa 1294sa, xolo ukanasknel movidnen kaxeTsa Sina Telavs da dasaxldnen mun da iwodebian vaxvaxis Svilad, Tavadad, agreTve bazierT xucis Svilebadca, xolo saxlis kacni amaTni iwodebian yorCibaSis Svilebad da kaxis Svilebad. 1. arian zaalis Svilebi, 2. yorCibaSis Svilebi, 3. kaxis Svilebi. yorCibaSis Sviloba gauTvisdaT saxelisa gamo, romel yorCibaSi sparsulad niSnavs abjarTuxucesobas, xolo kaxis Sviloba mameul saxelis gamo gauTvisdaT“.

TelavSi dResac cxovrobs vaxvaxiSvilebis ramdenime ojaxi _ Cemi sayvareli naTesavebi. araTu mogonebebSi aRwerili dro _ mecxramete saukune, aramed maTi daweris TariRic, 1960 weli, dRes Soreuli warsulia. drom saojaxo qronika zogadad istoriis kuTvnilebad aqcia.

SesaZloa msgavsi ram qarTvel klasikosTa nawarmoebebSi wagikiTxavT, magram dokumentur Txrobas vfiqrob sxva eSxi da surneli aqvs, amitomac vifiqre, rom ocdameerTe saukunis mkiTxvelisTvisac saintereso iqneboda miviwyebul winaparTa aCrdilebis gacocxleba. miT umetes, rom yovelma maTganma mxolod keTili saxeli datova. kote mirianaSvili

bebia melania bebiaCemi (mamis deda) melania lamazi, metad gavleniani mandilosani iyo. misi sityva TiTqmis brZanebas udrida _ kneina melaniam brZanao _ im droisTvis bebia sakmaod ganaTlebul qalad iTvleboda. e.i. zepirad icoda `vefxistyaosani~, fsalmuni, daviTni da sxva. agreTve wirva-locvis yvela wesi... bebias Zalian uyvarda kiTxva. me wera-kiTxva maswavla, unda giTxraT rom Zalian gamiZnelda kiTxvis daufleba. ar vici Cemi uniWoebis Tu bebiis meTodis brali iyo. bebia swuxda da ambobda: ra eSveleba, revazs, es bavSvi namdvilad regveni gamovao. bolos daveufle kiTxvas da `vefxistyaosnis~ bevri strofi daviswavle. Tumca bevri sityva da gamoTqma ar mesmoda. magaliTad: `cixes vzi egzom maRalsa~, `vzi~ megona cixis saxeli, an kidev _ `mefe RvTisagan sviani, maRali, uxvi, mdabali~ da sxva. mikvirda, Tu maRali iyo mdabali rogorRa iqneboda?! bebiaCemis ganmartebani ki metad gaugebari, bundovani iyo. bebia Wama-smaSi TavSekavebuli iyo. Tavis Tavs Zalian ufrTxildeboda da uvlida. mzes ar ikarebda. bebiaCemi melania gardaicvala 103 wlis. mis dasaflavebas daeswro mTeli kaxeTis Tavad-aznauroba da ori soflis Sildisa da kurdRelauris mosaxleoba. bebias hyavda eqvsi da, romelnic gaTxovilni iyvnen kaxeTis Tavadebze: WavWavaZeze, andronikaSvilze, jandierze, CerqeziSvilze, jorjajeZe, da savarsamiZeze... am ukanasknel gvarze minda SevaCero Tqveni yuradReba. konstantine gamsaxurdia ikiJinebs, rom Tavadi savarsamiZe ar arsebobdao. es braldeba savsebiT usamarTloa. sofel iyalToSi cxovrobda TavadiSvili savarsamiZe. man bebiaCemis da SeirTo. maT hyavdaT Svili aleqsandre. ruseTis mTavrobam, garusebis mizniT, mokriba Tavadaznaurebis Svilebi da gagzavna ruseTSi saswavleblad. maT Soris mohyva savarsamiZis vaJi. man daamTavra ruseTSi korpusi da daiwyo msaxuri. male man samxedro samsaxurs

mama _ revaz vaxvaxiSvili da deda _ elisabed (babe) vaCnaZe

Tavi daaneba da saqarTveloSi dabrunda (iyalToSi), umetes dros atarebda Cvens ojaxSi, rogorc maxlobeli naTesavi. aleqsandre garTobili iyo nadirobiT. gardaicvala uSvilZirod da amrigad moispo savarsamiZis gvari.

Cemi ded-mama

pirvel rigSi: levan, mixako wereTeli, mariam; meore rigSi: aleqsandre, asi wlis bebia melania, deda babe da melania vaxvaxiSvilebi

mamaCemi, revaz zaalis-Ze vaxvaxiSvili, Wkviani, darbaiseli, gulxmieri adamiani iyo. mas ar uyvarda tyuil-ubralo laparaki. imdroindeli saSualo codna hqonda miRebuli. sakmarisad flobda rusul enas. Zalian bevrs kiTxulobda rogorc qarTulad, ise rusulad. mis magidaze naxavdiT qarTveli klasikosebis garda, rus klasikosebsac: puSkins, tolstois, dostoevskis, gonCarovs da sxv. mamaCemis dros inteligencia gatacebuli iyo politikuri sakiTxebiT. kiTxulobdnen marqsis `kapitals~. darwmunebuli var, rom am wignebma mamaCemze didi gavlena moaxdines. misi azrovneba demokratizmisken gadaixara.

Tavis yofil glexkacebs dauriga Tavisi saxnav-saTesi.

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zogi alagebi waikiTxa da gadmomigdo: `meRore ra aris, imis fsiqologia ra iqnebao!~ me Zalian Seauracxyofili davrCi, radganac vasil barnovi Telavis progimnaziaSi Cemi maswavlebeli iyo.

Tu mamaCemis dros dedaCemi vizitebs da garTobas misdevda, mamaCemis gardacvalebis Semdeg deda Caudga mTel ojaxs saTaveSi (Cemi ufrosi Zmebi wasul-wamosulni iyvnen). unda iTqvas, kargadac awarmoebda am rTul saqmes.

Cveni ojaxi ar daqceula.

Cemi Zmebi raki Cems mSoblebs Sevexe, minda agreTve Cems Zmebze ramdenime sityva davxarjo. kvexniT ar vityvi, kargi Zmebi myavda. amaze, vfiqrob, mkiTxvelnic, vinc ki icnobda maT, dameTanxmebian.

Cemi ufrosi Zma svimoni (siko) swavlobda peterburgSi, daamTavra bunebismetyvelebis fakulteti da Sevida samedicino fakultetze. rodesac meoTxe kursze iyo, universtetSi moxda gaficva da gamosvla. Cemi Zmac, rasakvirvelia, am gaficvaSi iRebda aqtiur monawileobas. studentebis gamosvla Caaqres, rac mosalodneli iyo. studentebi daqsaqses, swavla aukrZales da universitetidan gamorekes, Cemi Zma samSobloSi

svimon (siko) vaxvaxiSvili

TavisTvis daitova mxolod 14 `desetina~ venaxi... mama didi gavleniT sargeblobda ara marto TelavSi, aramed mTel kaxeTSic. iyo kaxeTis Tavad-aznaurobis xelmZRvaneli (marSali). sakvirvelia, rom ase demokratiulad ganwyobil adamians Tan sdevda TavadiSviluri zne-Cveulebani. ezoSi daudioda irmebi, TavlaSi eba ulayi cxenebi. karmidamo savse iyo mosamsaxure-mojamagireebiT: irmebis momvleli calke, cxenebis momvleli calke, mudmivi dalaqi, meurme, kalatozi, puris mcxobeli (xabazi) da sxvadasxva... dedaCemi elisabedi (babe) revaz vaCnaZis asuli saucxoo garegnobis mandilosani iyo. warmosadeg, qera, oqrosTmian qals eZaxdnen. gonebamaxvili, kargi molaparake, iumoristi, magram amasTan didi feodali. aristokratiis moyvaruli: sakuTari etli, TeTri Savxalebiani `risaki~, laqiebi, vizitebi, saRamoobiT garToba, lotos TamaSi da sxva. dedas araviTari ganaTleba ar hqonda, magram wignebis kiTxviT SeiZina sakmao codna. kiTxulobda rogorc qarTulad, ise rusulad. Zalian moswonda lev tolstois `ana karenina~, `omi da mSvidoba~-s ki iwunebda _ omis ambavi mejavrebao. uyvarda romanebis kiTxva: `Taйны петербургского двора“, „Taйны мадридского двора“. erTxel wasakiTxavad mivutane vasil barnovis wigni. gadafurcla,

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aleqsandre (sandro) vaxvaxiSvili

miaSura venaxebs da sxva Tavis nagebobebs...

Cemma meore Zmam, aleqsandrem (saSam, sandrom) ganaTleba miiRo safrangeTSi, saxeldobr monpelieSi. Seiswavla mevenaxeoba da meRvineoba. metad keTili, guluxvi da mxiaruli kaci iyo. xSirad gviambobda safrangeTis ambebs. erTi aseTi ambavi mogviyva: _ uceb momesma karebis kakuni da Tanac kari SemoaRo viRac kacma. Cems gaocebas sazRvari ar hqonda. karebSi idga viRac nabadSi gaxveuli qarTveli kaci. wamovxti, mivegebe, Semoviyvane, davsvi da

zemodan pirveli giorgi (JorJi) vaxvaxiSvili

gamoistumres. am ambavma Tavzari dasca Cems mSoblebs.

Cemi Zma siko ufro mSvidad Sexvda am dadgenilebas.

Camovida saqarTveloSi, daamSvida mSoblebi da gaeSura sofel SildaSi. SeakeTa Tavisi orsarTuliani saxli,

marjvnidan pirveli: levan vaxvaxiSvili

konstantine (kowo) vaxvaxiSvili

vinaoba gamovkiTxe. Cems win idga gamxdari, gayviTlebuli, datanjuli adamiani. es iyo egnate ingoroyva (mwerali egnate ninoSvili). maSin me mas ver vicnobdi da arc gagonili mqonda misi saxeli, rogorc mwerlis. qarTveli kacis naxvam Zalian masiamovna da isic gamixarda, rom saswavleblad Camosula. saubris dros gamoirkva, rom man arc franguli icis da arc fuli aqvs jibeSi. rasakvirvelia, me xels ver vkravdi am gaWirvebul kacs da egnatec iZulebuli gaxda CemTan dabinavebuliyo, ramac didad gaabraza Cemi diasaxlisi _ me mTel azielebs erT oTaxSi ki ver Sevinaxavo! _ buzRunebda da imuqreboda. safrangeTis diasaxlisebi metad Zunwi, fulis moyvaruli xalxia. me didi moferebiT, xvewniT, dapirebiT da motyuebiT davamSvide is.

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axla meore saqmes Sevudeqi _ egnates mowyobas romelime saswavlebelSi. es saqme ufro Zneli gamodga. egnates araviTari dokumentacia aRmoaCnda. gadavwyviteT jer cotaodnav ena Seeswavla da Semdeg mogvexerxebina rame. aq tansacmlis sakiTxic wamoiWra. ase garTulda Cveni saqme. me viRebdi TveSi as maneTs, ra Tqma unda, es Tanxa or adamians ar gvyofnida. xandaxan vSimSilobdiT, magram mainc guls ar vitexdiT. monpelies tyeebi savse iyo xurmiT. frangebi am xurmiT asuqebdnen Rorebs. Cvenc gaWirvebis dros mivaSurebdiT tyes da siamovnebiT SeveqceodiT. frangebi icinodnen da TviTonac miirTmevdnen. am rigad Cven SevaCvieT frangebi gareuli xurmis Wamas. agreTve Zalian bevri leRvia da esec did daxmarebas gviwevda me da egnates.

mariam (maro) vaxvaxiSvili da mixeil (mixako) wereTeli.

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Cemma Zmam daamTavra Tu ara saswavlebeli, gamoeSura saqarTveloSi. muSaobda saufliswulo mamulSi (winandalSi) frang musonasTan erTad meRvine-mevenaxeobis ufros agronomad. SemdegSi ki sazogadoeba `kaxeTSi~ da sasoflo-sameurneo bankSi. Cemi Zma konstantine samxedro piri iyo. emxroboda eserebis (maqsimalistebis) partias. Cemi deidaSvili kote javriSvili da Cemi Zma samxedro pirTa da `saldatTa~ Soris propagandas eweodnen. mTavrobas es maTi moRvaweoba ar gamoeparaT. orive daapatimres da daumtkices mavnebloba. kote javriSvili gaagzavnes katorRaSi. kote vaxvaxiSvils, rogorc samxedro pirs, ori wlis vadiT gamasworebel razmSi yofna miusajes. kote javriSvilma katorRisagan moaxerxa sazRvargareT

nino (nuca) vaxvaxiSvili

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gadasaxlebis vadis damTavrebis Semdeg Camovida saqarTveloSi, magram didxans ar darCenila samSobloSi. dasaxlda qalaq andiJanSi, iSovna Sesaferisi samuSao da SeirTo coli, estoneli qali. magram usamSobloba ver aitana da gardaicvala frunzeSi. kidev erT umcros Zmaze _ giorgize minda ramdenime sityva vTqva. giorgi gimnaziis moswavle iyo. studentTa da moswavleTa gamosvlebSi miiRo monawileoba. jalaTebma ar daindes es axalgazrda da tyviiT gaugmires guli.

sadili Cvens ojaxSi nino, anastasia, melania, mariam, levan vaxvaxiSvilebi (Telavis saxlis ezoSi).

gaparva. Cemma Zmam ori weliwadi gamasworebel `rotaSi~, baqoSi gaatara... levani _ social-demokrati, kaxeTis erobis Tavmjdomare gadaasaxles ruseTSi sami wliT.

erTi ram kargi Cveuleba iyo Cvens ojaxSi _ sadilis Semdeg, xilis Wamis dros imarTeboda patara gasarTobi saubari. Tu sadilze aravin ucxo stumari ar iyo, Cven, bavSvebs ufleba gveZleoda saerTo sufraze vyofiliyaviT. Cven Cveni maswavleblebiT calke vsadilobdiT.

marcxnidan sxedan: giorgi da konstantine vaxvaxiSvilebi, solo jorjaZe, sandro vaxvaxiSvili...

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firom stumrebi Camoiyvana...

Sinauri sadilis Semdeg deda gvetyoda: aba, vin icis zepirad rogor aris naTqvami `vefxistyaosanSi~ megobrobaze, siyvarulze, qalTa da vaJTa Tanasworobaze, guluxvobaze da sxva. Cvenc vcdilobdiT, vigonebdiT, Secdomebic bevri iyo, deda ver gvisworebda, radganac naklebad icoda zepirad `vefxistyaosani~, magram mamida liza agievas verafers gamovaparebdiT... Cven, bavSvebs ufro gvaxarebda varjiSi anbanze. anze _ saidan moxval? avlabridan; sad mixval? aTons; visi yma xar? andronikaSvilis; saxeli ra gqvian? andro; mSvildi risa gaqvs? alublisa; isari? atmisa; ras mohklav? aqlems; sad moartyam? artalaSi. xSirad bavSvebi viZleodiT ucnaur pasuxebs. atydeboda xmauri, sicili, Zneli iyo xeebis, cxovelebis, sxeulis nawilis SerCeva ama Tu im asoze. magram male SeveCvieT xeebis, cxovelebis, qalaqebis, gvarebis dasaxelebas. mxolod sxeulis nawilebis dasaxeleba gviWirda.

Cveni Sinayma firo ar SemiZlia ramdenime sityviT ar Sevexo iseT saintereso pirovnebas, rogoric iyo Cveni Sinayma firo. is iyo Suaxnis, maRali, gamxdari kaci, metad sasiamovno Sexedulebis, Wkviani, dinji da gulxmieri adamiani. mamaCemi didad afasebda firos. mas Caabara Cveni ojaxis Sinasaqmeebi: mojamagireebis daqiraveba, maTi yoveldRiur samuSaoze ganawileba, fqvilis da mindis gacema. firos gankargulebaSi iyo puris mcxobeli (xabazi), dalaqi, kalatozi, urmebis gamTleli da sxva saojaxo saqmeebi.

Cven, bavSvebs es keTili adamiani Zalian gviyvarda. me, rogorc yvelaze umcros (im dros), firo didad mmzrunvelobda.

Cveni ezos erT mxares gaSenebuli iyo qviTkiris didi gomuri, sadac saqonels abinavebdnen: xar-kameCs, cxenebs, Zroxebs. gomuris erTi nawili amaRlebuli iyo da ficrebiT dafenili. erT kedelSi datanebuli iyo

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Telavis Tavad-aznaurTa marSlis revaz vaxvaxiSvilis saxli TelavSi

karga mozrdili buxari. mis pirdapir iatakze qeCa eSala da zed eyara mwviriani muTaqebi. am qeCaze isxdnen da iZinebdnen mojamagireebi. gomurSi saSineli suni idga saqonlis, qalamnebis da oflis. Taroze ki mudam bolavda SuSagamuruli lampa. Cven, bavSvebs sastikad akrZaluli gvqonda gomurSi Sesvla. xom mogexsenebaT, rac akrZalulia, is ufro sainteresoa. Cvenc, rasakvirvelia, sul gomurisken gveWira Tvali. roca ufrosebi saxlSi ar iyvnen, didi xvewnis Semdeg firo wamiyvanda gomurSi. xbos tyavs gamiSlida buxris win da zed damsvamda. Cem sixaruls sazRvari ar hqonda. buxarSi ixarSeboda burvakis an dekeulis xorci. firo moxarSul xorcs alagebda xonCaze, Seazavebda mariliT, nivriT, xaxviT da blomad daayrida mwvanils. yvela didi siamovnebiT SeveqceodiT saerTo purTan erTad. xandaxan firo Rvinosac gaaCenda. biWebi gamxiaruldebodnen, xumrobdnen, cekvavdnen, Sairobdenen da mRerodnen. unda gamogitydeT, rom aseTi gemrieli kerZi Cem dReSi aRarsad miWamia.

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Cveni gadia sabedo da misi ojaxi Cvens ojaxs Semoekedla lailaSidan Camosuli sabedo Tavis qmar-SviliT. sabedos bavSvebis movla Caabares, sofronas mezvreoba, maTi Svili aleqsi jer mzareulis TanaSemwe iyo da SemdegSi mTavari mzareuli.

Tu firo metad gulkeTili, saTno kaci iyo, sabedo piriqiT, gaborotebuli, gulqva, uxeSi qali aRmoCnda. misi laparaki ar gvesmoda, vinaidan qarTul enas Zalian amaxinjebda. bavSvebs es ualerso adamiani ar gviyvarda. misi Svili aleqsi, lamazi, oci wlis vaJkaci iyo. is male dagvimegobrda da did mzrunvelobas gviwevda. me aleqsisi didi motrfiale viyavi, masze lamazi mamakaci dedamiwis zurgze ar mepoveboda.

Cveni ezos erT mxares ekvroda buCqnari da gauvali tye, sadac budobdnen turebi, meliebi, kurdRlebi, mglebi da mravali sxva nadiri, romelnic Zalian gvawuxebdnen, musrs avlebdnen Sinaur frinvels da saqonels. magrad dauxvda aleqsi Cvens `mtrebs~. is kargi, uSiSari

monadire gamodga. TiTqmis yovel dRe Cvens derefanSi ekida ori-sami kurdReli. ezoSi egdo xan mela, xan tura da iSviaTad mgelic ki. aleqsis aseTi gmiroba CvenSi iwvevda did gatacebas da sixaruls. bavSvebs akrZaluli gvqonda megobroba, laparakic ki mojamagire biWebTan, magram wavidoda Tu ara TbilisSi dedaCemi, rac xSirad xdeboda, me da Cemi da nuca gavaCaRebdiT TamaSs biWebTan: vjiriTobdiT ubelo cxenebiT, `yruxevSi~ davdiodiT tyeSi Txilze. zRmartlze, kunelze da sxva. xSirad me da aleqsi mivdiodiT sanadirod. me dambaCiT xelSi romelime buCqSi Cavjdebodi, aleqsi ki Tavisi ZaRliT Sedioda tyeSi da damibarebda _ Tu nadiri Sensken gamoiqces, dambaCa esroleo. unda gamogitydeT, rom arc erTi nadiri Cemken ar gamoqceula da arc erTxel dambaCa ar gamisrolia, Tumca vikvexidi _ es melia me movkali, es kurdReli me daviWire-Tqo. aleqsi icinoda da irwmuneboda _ marTalia, marom melia moklao. ramdenime wlis Semdeg sabedom da sofronam, roca cotaodeni fuli moagroves, dabrundnen lailaSs. Cven bavSvebi moxarulni

sofio modestovna bakunina

viyaviT, magram mamaCemi swuxda, sofrona kargi, patiosani momuSave iyo. aleqsi ki darCa TelavSi, SeirTo Telaveli qali da sikvdilamde mzareulad iyo CvenTan.

wminda ninos saswavlebeli da sofia modestovna bakunina

mamida _ liza agieva (agiaSvili) aRmzrdeli

jer kidev rva wlisa ar viyavi, rom Cem Tavisuflebas frTebi Seekveca. aRarc firo, aRarc sabedo da aleqsi (Tavis nadirobiT) aRar arsebobdnen. me mimabares wminda ninos saswavlebelSi. vijeq klasSi (rac CemTvis Zalian Zneli iyo), Sevyurebdi maswavlebels da araferi mesmoda. swavleba rusul enaze mimdinareobda da me ki rusulad arc erTi sityva ar mesmoda. ramdenime xnis Semdeg dedam mkiTxa _ aba, miambe, skolaSi ras gaswavliano. _ ar vici, veraferi gavige. _ rogor, sul veraferi? qarTulad ar gixsnian? _ ara. am saubris Semdeg, rogorc etyoba Cemma mSoblebma moilaparakes da moiwvies rusuli enis mcodne maswavlebeli. es iyo marTa solomonovna beroeva. beroeva apaCininis ojaxSi aRzrdili iyo (apaCininis meuRle iyo WavWavaZis qali). man rusuli ena kargad icoda, magram rogorc aRmzrdeli moisustebda, Zalian cdilobda, bavSvebs kargad gveqceoda, vuyvardiT

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nela mec daveufle rusul enas. Cems umcros das metad uZneldeboda saRvTo rjulis swavla (katexizmis) da mTel teqsts zepirad swavlobda. katexizisi sityva-pasuxiT Sedgenili iyo. maxsovs aseTi suraTi: nuca dadis aivanze, maRlaxmiT izepirebs _ Кто была дева Мариам? „deva mariam bila“ da amis Semdeg modis iseTi ganmarteba, rom aramcTu bavSvi, eSmakic verafers gaigebs. saswavlebelSi Cemi yofnis dros `naCalnikad~ iyo sofia modestovna bakunina. bakunina didad ganaTlebuli qali iyo, ramdenime evropul enaze laparakobda. radganac saswavlebelSi naCalnicasTvis ar iyo gamoyofili

parizi, mariam vaxvaxiSvili-wereTlisa megobrebTan

kidec. saubedurod, Cveni pativiscema ver daimsaxura. male Cvens ojaxs moevlina axali maswavlebeli _ ana stefanovna sokolovskaia, Cveni Soreuli naTesavi. is sakmarisad ganaTlebuli, darbaiseli qali iyo, kargad erkveoda aRmzrdelobiT sakiTxebSi. erTgvari reJimi daamyara bavSvebisTvis: gansakuTrebul dros mecadineoba, TamaSi, dasveneba, Wama-sma da Zili. es didi momTxovni maswavlebeli agreTve metad gulisxmieri adamiani iyo. man bavSvebis pativiscema da siyvaruli daimsaxura. nel-

debi _ taso, maro, melo da nuca vaxvaxiSvilebi

parizi, mariam vaxvaxiSvili-wereTlisa megobrebTan

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sacxovrebeli oTaxi, amitom sofia modestovna dasaxlda CvenTan da male daumegobrda dedaCems da cdilobda qarTuli enis Seswavlas, xSirad irTveboda qarTul tansacmelSi. ase morTulma suraTic ki gadaiRo. TelavSi Cumad laparakobdnen _ did bakuninis Zmiswuliao... sofia modestovna bakunina metad Taviseburi adamiani iyo. mas srulebiT ar ainteresebda arc Cveni saswavlebeli, arc bavSvebi da saerTod arc pedagogika.

vaxvaxiSvilis qalebi

erT mSvenier zafxulis dRes man Sekra Tavisi bargi, dautova dedaCems da gaswia _ roca misamarTs Segatyobineb, es bargi gamomigzavneo. kargma xanma gaiara da dedam miiRo werili sofia modestovnasagan, romelSiac naCvenebi misamarTi iyo. dedam dauyovnebliv bargi gaugzavna sparseTSi. dedam sTqva _ axla davrwmundi, rom es ubeduri qali mudam devnili iyo, rogorc didi bakuninis naTesavi. am werilis Semdeg yovelgvari miwer-mowera Sewyda. sad iyo bakunina an ra mouvida mas, amaze araferi icoda dedam.

aleqsandre III Telavis progimnaziaSi yofnis dros damamaxsovrda erTi araCveulebrivi dRe.

saswavlebels ewvia ruseTis imperatori aleqsandre III. skolis xelmZRvanelebi winaswar Seudgnen mzadebas. iSoves saCuqrebi, bavSvebs Seaswavles sityvebi, romlebic unda eTqvaT imperatorisTvis, sagangebod morTes skola da Cvenc TeTrebSi gamowyobilni davxvdiT imperators. taso abaSiZem aleqsandre III miarTva didi, mSvenieri Taiguli da raRaca uTxra. taso abaSiZe (vaso abaSiZis qali) maSin iyo mosamzadebeli jgufis yvelaze patara tanis moswavle. oTx ufrosi klasis moswavleT gveWira mSvenieri, oqromkerdiT da TvalmargalitiT moqarguli.

Cven maRla xmiT warmovTqviT _ Не дорог нам подарок, но дорога наша любовь _ imperatorma gaiRima da raRaca sTqva.

debi _ mariam vaxvaxiSvili-wereTlisa da melo vaxvaxiSivili-veziriSvilisa

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uceb aleqsandres gverdidan gamoCnda viRac Cia, qera, gayviTlebuli axalgazrda, mogviaxlovda da sufras sinjva dauwyo. Cven gagvikvirda. imperators axldnen mundirebSi gamowyobili, Cin-medlebiT, aqselbantebiT da lentebiT mokazmuli generlebi da uceb es ubralo, gamxdari ymawvili. TviTon imperatori maRali, lamazi kaci iyo. Cveni STabeWdileba am ymawvilis Sesaxeb gavuziareT Cven `klasni damas~ da ramdenime epiTetiT SevamkeT. vai Tqven mters, rac Cven dagvadga. maswavlebeli saSinlad gabrazda, dagvtuqsa da dagvemuqra, Tqven laparaks gadavcem `naCalnicas~ da yvelas gagacimbirebTo. iciT, vin iyo is ymawvili? _ imperatoris memkvidre nikoloz II. unda gamogitydeT, Cven Zalian SevSindiT da

guramiseuli da ilia WavWavaZe sofel kurdRelaurSi Cven gvekuTvnoda 14 desetina venaxi. am venaxSi SeWrili iyo patara nakveTi, romelic ekuTvnoda olRa guramiSvils _ ilia WavWavaZis meuRles. mamam ilias sTxova: es nakveTi momyideo. iliam uari sTqva: ar SemiZlian, es patara venaxi olRasia da misi gayidvis ufleba ar maqvso. SemdegSi, rogorc etyoba, mama da ilia SeTanxmdnen. mamas yovel wels iliasTvis unda gaegzavna cxra Cafi Rvino. ilia WavWavaZe, rogorc mogexsenebaT, Zalian punqtualuri kaci iyo _ dapirebas droze Sesruleba unda. mamaCemi ki agvianebda, vinaidan qvevrs ar axdida, manam pirian myidvels ar iSovida. ilia biZaCemi titikos piriT SemouTvlida xolme _ revazs moagone pirobao.

sul cimbiri gvelandeboda.

bankis TanamSromlebi: marjvnidan mesame dgas aleqsandre vaxvaxiSvili, centrSi ilia WavWavaZe

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baTumi da kote mesxi biZaCemi aleqsandre vaCnaZe, samxedro piri, cxovrobda baTumSi. man SemomiTvala, rom baTumSi ninaobis dRes ewyoba didi zeimi da ueWvelad Camodio. babale, balo vaCnaZis meuRle iqneba am zeimis momwyobio. am zeimis gagonebam aRtacebaSi momiyvana da 14 ianvars Tavi amovyav baTumSi. saRamoze movikazme, yelze Sevibi briliantis kolie (imitacia тетевские бриллианты) da mTeli ojaxiT gamovcxaddi sazeimo darbazSi, romelic didad morTuli da gaCiraRdnebuli iyo. ismoda Sopenis valsi, qalvaJni gamalebiT cekvavdnen. mec SevuerTdi mocekvaveebs.

12 saaTamde gastana cekvaTamaSma. karg mocekvaveebs ajildovebdnen JetoniT. mec miviRe Jetoni (`broSka~), romelzedac gamoWrilia wm. ninos vazi (axlac maqvs Senaxuli). cekvaTamaSis Semdeg moewyo didi saerTo vaxSami. rogorc miRebulia, gaCaRda sadRegrZeloebi. baTumis sazogadoeba erTmaneTs kargad icnobda. mxolod me viyavi ucnobi. ikiTxes Cemi gvari _ vaxvaxiSvili. ho, me gamigia legenda am gvaris warmoSobis Sesaxeb _ sTqva viRac metad simpaTiurma darbaiselma kacma. ai, legenda: Turme mefes nadirobis dros gauSvia mimino da uTqvams: visi miminoc daeweva da gauswrebs, mas mivcem

TavadiSvilobas da imden miwis farTobs, ramdenzedac gafrindeba misi mimino. amalidan erTma ymawvilma gaafrina Tavisi mimino. mifrinavs mimino Sors, Zalian Sors, Zlivs daewia mefis miminos da gauswro kidec. vax-vax! vaxvax! ra did alags iWers Seni mimino! _ iZaxian monadireebi. ese warmoSobila gvari vaxvaxiSvili. me uceb wamoviZaxe, xom mogexsenebaT, siymawviles Tan sdevs siTamamec (me maSin ar vicodi vin iyo kote mesxi): ara, batono, eg legenda uvargisia. arsebobs ufro misaRebi da simarTlesTan ufro axlo. _ erTxel mefes gaumarTavs didi wveuleba. mSvenivrad gaCiraRdnebul darbazSi SemobrZanebula silamaziT ganTqmuli mandilosani vaxaxi. mas Tan xlebian erTerTmaneTze ulamazesi vaJiSvilebi da qaliSvilebi. es vaxaxia, magram es vinRa arian? _ ukiTxavT. eseni vaxaxis Svilebia. vaxaxisSvilebia, diax, diax, vaxaxisSvilebia. ai, rogor warmoiSva Cveni gvari. Cemma legendam didi sicili da mxiaruleba gamoiwvia. kote mesxmac bevri icina da sTqva: es qalebi metad eSmakni arian, legendebsac ki Tavis sasargeblod iyenebeno. rudkovskim daiZaxa _ dagamarcxa, kote, dagamarcxa! davlioT eqstra mis sadRegrZelod.

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Let’s play!

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remiera, `zafxulis Ramis sizmarisa~, 1992 wlis 24 dekembers dainiSna. wina dRe, rogorc xSirad xdeba TeatrSi, daZabuli gamodga. gvqonda SegrZneba, rom speqtakli Cavarda. _ ra ubedurebaa, bebrebiviT daZunZulebT scenaze! es qafiviT speqtakli unda iyos, zeaweuli, botiCelis unda hgavdes! _ SeniSvnebiT da sayvedurebiT dagvxunZla... meore saRamos, saTamaSod rom mivediT, samsaxiobo SesasvlelSi, kedelze misi werili dagvxvda: `piter peni mofrinda bavSvebTan fantaziis jadosnur samyarodan, aswavla maT, rogor unda moaxte qars zurgze da gaaqrolo meore Sesaxvevamde, marjvniv da kidev imis iqiTac, sul dilamde _ warmosaxvisa da TamaSis SesaniSnav samyaroSi. da vidre bavSvoba ar damTavrda, isini dafrinavdnen (rogorc Cveni Svilebi da SviliSvilebi), Semdeg gaizardnen, daojaxdnen, daiviwyes rasac akeTebdnen... axla piter pens maTi Svilebi mihyvebian Tavis fantastikur kunZulze, sadac piratebi, jujebi, feriebi, wiTelkanianebi da sxva saocrebebi arian. nu daberdebiT! namdvili artistebi mTeli cxovreba dafrinaven!~ aseT sityvebs rom dawers adamiani, es niSnavs, rom Tavad igi jer kidev dafrinavs da miuxedavad `daTovlili~ garegnobisa, ar daberebula! did adamianebs xSirad bavSvs adareben, `didi bavSviao~ _ ityvian xolme da masSic Zalian Warbad iyo bavSvuri... metic,zogjer megona, rom is marTla bavSvi iyo, bavSvi xnieri kacis sxeulSi... ai, imgvari, cnobil filmSi romaa... oRondac, es misi saidumlo iyo, romelsac malavda da romelic zogjer `Jonavda~-xolme... quCaSi, portfeliT xelSi, skolisken mimaval sevdian mowafes hgavda, gansakuTrebiT zamTarSi, akuratulad rom hqonda kaSne Cafenili paltos sayeloSi... repeticiaze xom _ iyo da iyo bavSvi! aTasnairi... anci, gabutuli, meocnebe, urCi, Wirveuli, xumara, TamaSiT garTuli! xSirad eubneboda msaxiobebs:

The premiere of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ was announced on the 24th of December 1992. As often happens in theater, the day before the premiere was quite tense. We had the feeling that it would be a flop. “What a disaster! You’re moving around the stage like elderly people! This show needs actors to be like champagne bubbles; ethereal, it needs to look like Botticelli!” – he fired us with these and other reprimands. The next evening, when we were about to perform, we found a letter he had put on the wall of the actors’ entrance: “Peter Pan flew to the children from the magic world of Neverland, and he taught them how they needed to jump on the back of the wind and fly to the second star to the right, then straight on till morning – in the wonderful land of imagination and games.

And until the end of their childhood, they were flying (like our children and grandchildren), then they grew up, got married, and forgot what they were doing… Now, their children are the ones following Peter Pan to his wonderful island, where pirates, dwarfs, fairies, redskins and other wonders await them. Don’t grow up! Real artists fly their whole lives!”

When people write such words, it means that they are still flying themselves, and that despite their appearance, they have not aged.

The elderly are often compared to children, “big kids”, as they say, and one could find a lot of childishness in him too… I sometimes thought he really was a child, a child in the body of an old man… Like in this famous movie… It was his secret, one that he would hide from others, but one that would sometimes come to the surface… In the streets, his briefcase in hand, he would look like a sorrowful pupil going to school, especially in winter, with his scarf carefully arranged at the collar of his overcoat…and in rehearsals, he was a complete child! One of a thousand faces: mischievous, sulky, dreamy, unruly, capricious, joking, full of playfulness! He would often tell the actors: “Bring your children along. If you don’t find a place for them to stay, they can come and play here.” He established shifts for playing with the kids while the parents were working… And if a parent would reprimand a playing child, he would stop them: “Leave the kids alone, let them play, don’t disturb them. Look at how passionate they are – you need to be exactly like them…”

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`wamoiyvaneT Tan Tqveni Svilebi, Tuki veravisTan tovebT da aq iTamaSono~. bavSvebTan TamaSis morigeobac daawesa, roca mSoblebi muSaobdnen... da Tu TamaSiT garTul bavSvs mSobeli SeniSvnas miscemda _ aCerebda: daanebe Tavi, iTamaSos, xeli ar SeuSaloT. naxeT, rogoraa gatacebuli, ai, ase unda iyoT Tqvenco...

Rehearsals were his passion: he saw them as inviolable, sacred rituals with which to shift to a magical world. He would sit at the table, open his briefcase, and like from an ancient chest, he would pull the play, pencils (he loved pencils), his rubber, sketches, notes, his favorite Kakhetian hat… He would put it on his head, knock and wave his bamboo stick like a conductor, and the game of losing oneself would begin. Rehearsals were his “game”.

repeticia misi stiqia iyo, xelSeuxebeli, jadosnur samyaroSi gadasvlis wminda rituali. magidas miujdeboda, portfels gaxsnida da iqidan, rogorc bevrismnaxveli skivridan amoalagebda piesas, fanqrebs (fanqrebi uyvarda), saSlels, Canaxatebs, Canawerebs, Tavis sayvarel kaxur quds... daixuravda, bambukis wkirs daakakunebda diriJoriviT da iwyeboda TamaSi-Tavdaviwyeba!!! repeticia `misi TamaSi~ iyo!.. erTxel `trenaJze~ etiudi _ `gamdnari nayini~ SemogvTavaza... Zalian saxalisod da sasacilod gamogvivida. TviTonac Cvens gverdiT Camojda rampaze da `gadna~... uceb sicili autyda (ai, bavSvs rom gakveTilze ecineba da maswavleblisgan saxes rom malavs, ise) da wamoiZaxa: `he-he! axla Cemebs saxlSi hgoniaT, rom samsaxurSi var!~ 70 wlis iyo maSin, profesori, saxalxo artisti, sxvadasxva premiebis laureati...

Once, he put forward the “melted ice cream” etude... both amusing and entertaining. He sat on the ramp with us and “melted”… He suddenly burst out laughing (he was exactly like a child holding in his laugh and hiding his face from the teacher during a lesson) and said: “Haha! At home, my family thinks I’m at work!”

He was 70 then, a professor, a People’s Artist, and the laureate of several awards.

When he was staging ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, we didn’t know the cast for two months.

We gathered every day and played whichever role we wanted- kings, queens, men, women, demons, animals, fairies… We invented different variations, exchanged roles, composed

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`zafxulis Ramis sizmars~ rom dgamda, ori Tvis ganmavlobaSi, rolebis gadanawileba ar vicodiT. yoveldRe vikribebodiT da vTamaSobdiT, visac ra undoda, mefeebs, dedoflebs, kacebs, qalebs, Winkebs, cxovelebs, feriebs... vigonebdiT sxvadasxva variants, rolebs vcvlidiT, vTxzavdiT biografiebs, mokled _ vTamaSobdiT... gareT ki omi iyo, gvcioda da gvSioda, magram, sulac ar `dumdnen muzebi...~ imitom, rom Cven vTamaSobdiT! `nataZralzes~ dgamda... roli ar moucia, Tumca, yvela repeticiaze mibarebda. mec, cota gakvirvebuli, yoveldRe morCilad daviarebodi.

biographies, in short – we were having fun. There was civil war outside, and we were cold and hungry, but the inspiration was there… because we were having fun!

He was staging ‘Natadzralze’... He didn’t give me a role, but he insisted I come to every rehearsal. And, a little be surprised, I did – every day.

One day, I had something important to do and I decided to ask him to let me go. I was planning to ask him, but he looked at me and told me to wait until the end. What choice did I have? “Young girl, let’s create a new character, and if it becomes alive enough, let’s put it in the play, let’s see what it can do!” We sat on the floor of the rehearsal

erTxelac, gadaudebeli saqme mqonda da gadavwyvite gaTavisufleba meTxova. is iyo davapire Tqma, rom gamomxeda da _ repeticiis mere darCio, miTxra. raRas vizamdi, davrCi. `gogo, modi Cven axali personaJi gamovigonoT da Tu gacocxldeba _ speqtaklSi SevuSvaT, vnaxoT, ras izams!~ ori saaTi sarepeticioSi, iatakze visxediT da bavSvebi rom qviSaSi TamaSoben, ise vTamaSobdiT, `vfantaziorobdiT~... gons rom movediT,

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hall for two hours and played like children play in the sand, “building castles in the air”. When we came to our senses, it was already late in the evening. We had the same route home and he said, “I’ll get off the bus at your stop and buy flowers for Leila- she’ll forgive me for coming home late.” We were like truants.

At the end of October, we were coming out of the theater together.

“You know, horse-chestnut is very healthy. They say it regulates blood pressure… There are many of them on your street, could you bring me some?”

“Of course!”

That night, I gathered a whole bag of “freshly hatched”, smooth chestnuts, and brought it to him at the theater the next day. He was very happy. About ten days later, I asked him: “Mr. Misha, what about the chestnuts?

How’s your blood pressure?” mosaRamovebuli iyo. saxlisken erTi gza gvqonda: `Sens gaCerebaze Camoval, leilas yvavilebs vuyidi, saxlSi misvla rom davagvianeo...~ `Satalodan~ dabrunebuli bavSvebiviT daviSaleT... bolo oqtomberi iyo, Teatridan erTad gamovediT. _ gogo, cxenis wabli ra sasargeblo yofila, Turme, wnevas awesrigebs... Sens quCaze xom bevri yria, SegiZlia momigrovo? _ ki, ra Tqma unda! imave Rames movagrove mTeli parki `axlad gamoCekili~ priala wablebi da TeatrSi mivutane. gauxarda. aTiode dRis mere vkiTxe: _ batono miSa, rao wablebma? wnevis saqme rogor aris? _ gadasarevad, ai! portfeli gaxsna... es Cemi wablebi ise koxtad hqonda Cawyobili fanqrebis da kaxuri qudis gverdiT, rom sicili ver Sevikave: _ es ra aris? portfelidan rogor mogiwesrigeben wnevas? xelSi unda geWiroT, an jibeSi mainc geyaroT, rogorc amboben. _ moica erTi! Sexede, ra lamazebia, ra feria, ra formebi! ici, ra kargad vTamaSob? imis mere, oqtomberSi, Cems quCaze cxenis wabls vagroveb... marto, magram mainc... TamaSi grZeldeba... Cven vTamaSobT!

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“Perfect, just perfect!”

He opened his briefcase… My chestnuts were so neatly placed next to his pencils and Kakhetian hat that I couldn’t help but laugh: “What’s this? How can they regulate your blood pressure from your briefcase?

You have to hold them in your hand, or at least place them in your pockets!”.

“Just look! They’re so beautiful, with this color and these shapes! I have so much fun with them!”

Since then, I’ve collected horsechestnuts on my street every year. Alone, but still… The game goes on and we are playing!

And when he left us a card reading “Now, the curtain!” on his desk, wasn’t it also a game? He was telling us playfully that the game was over…

`axla ki farda~-o, baraTi rom dagvitova sawer magidaze, esec xom TamaSi iyo! TamaSiT gviTxra _ TamaSi damTavrdao... ramdenime TviT adre, Teatridan gamodioda, karebSi SevefeTe. rogorc yovelTvis, vagvianebdi da Tavis gasamarTlebeli teqsti davatriale tvinSi momentalurad (damgvianeblebi gamigeben!). magram mas arc ufiqria sayveduri. Zalian sevdiani meCvena. SeCerda _ SevCerdi. uceb, gamomicxada: _ me mivdivar... ise ucnaurad Tqva es, rom gamacia, meqanikurad

A few months earlier, I’d stumbled upon him at the door of the theater. As always, I was late, and I was thinking about an excuse (stragglers will understand me!). But he wasn’t even thinking about scolding me. He looked very sad. He stood still, I stood still. Suddenly, he told me: “I’m leaving”.

He said this in such a strange way that I became cold, and I mechanically muttered: “Home?”

He moved his face closer to mine, as if to make me understand better, and repeated slowly: “Young girl, I am lea-ving.” He waved his hand and I understood what he was telling me. Yes, he was going home, but on a farther, more mysterious road, to his friend, the Little Prince…

waviluRluRe: _ saxlSi? saxe axlos momitana da TiTqos unda ukeT gamagebinoso, dinjad gamimeora: _ gogo, miv-di-vaar... _ da xeli damiqnia... maSin ki gavige, ra wasvlazec melaparakeboda! ho, saxlSi midioda, oRond ufro Soreul, ufro idumal gzaze, Tavis megobar patara ufliswulTan... `amfitrioni-38~ misi bolo speqtakli gamodga. finalSi, iupiteris gardauval nebas damorCilebuli merkuri, dedamiwaze droebiT Camosuli, emSvidobeboda personaJebs, msaxiobebs, mayurebels, Teatrs da ukan, zecaSi brundeboda... ai, ra sityvebiT mTavrdeboda speqtakli, ai, ra gamodga misi didi TamaSis damamTavrebeli sityvebi: `siCume! sruli siCume!.. mzeo, Caaqre Seni farani!.. gavqreT yvelani!..~

‘Amphitryon 38’ was the last play he staged. In the last scene, Mercury, subject to the unavoidable will of Zeus, was on a temporarily visit to Earth and had to bid farewell to the characthers, the actors, the spectators, the theater, and return to the heavens…

The the final word of the play, and the last words of his great, lifelong game: “Silence! Absolute silence!.. Sun, switch off your lantern!... Let us all disappear!”

P.S. Zalian gamiWirda am werilis dawera... yvelas Tavisi TumaniSvili hyavs, me _ Cemi movigone... da radganac piter peni da patara ufliswuli vaxsene, am werils aseT miZRvnas davumatebdi: `baton miSas, rodesac igi patara biWi iyo...~ rusudan bolqvaZe mixeil TumaniSvilis Canaxatebi

P.S. It was very hard for me to write this letter… Everybody has their own Tumanishvili, and I have invented my own. And because I mentioned Peter Pan and the Little Prince, I will add this dedication: “To Mr. Misha, when he was a little boy…”

Rusudan Bolkvadze Illustrations by Mikheil Tumanishvili

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im kldis ukan WaWkaria...

Behind that cliff is Chachkari... msoflio mniSvnelobis kldeSi nakveTi kompleqsis _ varZiis axlos, uZvelesi sofeli WaWkari mdebareobs. mdinare mtkvris es xeoba landSafturi mravalferovnebiTa da maRali istoriul-kulturuli mniSvnelobis arqeologiuri da arqiteqturuli Zeglebis simravliT gamoirCeva. aq aris saros megaliTuri citadeli, darbazuli tipis sacxovreblebi, nijgoris nasaxlari, xerTvisis cixe-simagre da mimdebare terasebi; wundis eklesia, kumurdo, berTa yanebis nasaxlari, varZiis kldeSinakveTi kompleqsi, vanis qvabebi, Tmogvi da sxv. axlaxan, regionis kulturuli landSaftis umniSvnelovanesi nawili mesxuri terasebic gaxda,

Near the world-famous cave city of Vardzia, an extremely old village named Chachkari can be found. The diversity of its landscapes and the multitude of historically and culturally significant archaeological and cultural sites is what sets this valley apart on the river Mtkvari.

Among those are the Saro megalithic citadel, “Darbazi” type housing, Nijgori former settlement, Khertvisi fortress and the terraces around it; Tsundi Church, Kumurdo, Berta Kanebi former settlement, Vardzia cave city complex, Vani caves, Tmogvi, and others.

Recently, after the company Terraces of Vardzia rehabilitated the area and began cultivating unique grape species from SamtskheJavakheti, the Meskhuri terraces also became a very important part of the region’s cultural landscape.

megaliTuri kulturis naSTebi, sof. saro / REMAINS FROM THE MEGALITHIC CULTURE, SARO VILLAGE

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romelic kompaniam „varZiis terasebi“ aRadgina da samcxejavaxeTis vazis unikaluri jiSebi moaSena.

2015 wels „xerTvisi-varZia-olodas kulturuli landSaftis qalaqTmSeneblobiTi dokumentacia“ damuSavda, romlis mixedviTac CamoTvlil gamorCeul RirSesaniSnaobebs aqvT turistuli marSrutebis erTian qselSi gaerTianebis udidesi potenciali. am qselis kidev erT, mniSvnelovan Semadgenel nawilad qcevis perspeqtiva sofel WaWkarsac gaaCnia. is mtkvris orive napirzea gaSenebuli. varZiis mopirdapired _ gamoRma WaWkaria, romlis restavrirebuli siZveleebi (IX saukunis II naxevris kldeSi SeWrili wm. marines eklesia, kldeSi nakveTi auzi, senakebi da sxv.) dRes integrirebulia axladaSenebul sastumro kompleqsSi. sastumros ezos SemaRlebuli adgilebidan mosCans mdinaris meore mxares, viwro xeobaSi gaSenebuli gaRma WaWkaric. gaRma WaWkari varZiis kldes Crdilo-aRmosavleTidan esazRvreba. Zeglis statusis mqone sofeli istoriuli mniSvnelobiTa da kulturuli memkvidreobis nimuSebis simravliTac gamoirCeva. sofelSi aris kldeSi gamokveTili sacxovrebeli darbazi da wm. giorgis eklesia. aseve xalxuri sacxovreblis sxva nimuSebi _ miwur-baniani saxlebi, mesxuri darbazebi, nakalovebi, Cvenamde moRweuli 400 wlovani vazi, vazisa da xexilis terasebi da daxloebiT 50-amde kldeSi gamokveTili sawnaxeli, romelTagan erT-erTi 4 tona yurZens itevs. samecniero literaturaSi dadasturebuli cnobebi da adgilze SemorCenili arqeologiuri masala cxadyofs,

In 2015, the “Khertvisi-Vardzia-Oloda Cultural Landscape Urban Development Documentation” was drafted, according to which the remarkable sights listed above have great potential to become part of a united network of touristic trails. Another location that could also be considered for this network, and as one of its most significant elements, is Chachkari village.

wminda giorgis kldeSi nakveTi eklesia, sof. WaWkari ST GEORGE CHURCH, CARVED INTO THE CLIFF, CHACHKANI VILLAGE

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varZia / VARDZIA

rom WaWkari uZvelesi meurneobis mqone sofeli da meRvineoba-mexileobis kera iyo. soflis saxelwodebac meRvineobasTan asocirdeba _ WaWkari, anu „WaWis kari“. gadmocemis mixedviT, soflidan varZiis sameurneo maragi ivseboda: kldeSi nakveT sawnaxelebSi Rvino didi raodenobiT iwureboda. is tikebiT varZiaSi SehqondaT, sadac qvevrebSi ayenebdnen, WaWa ki _ sofelSi rCeboda. swored aqedan modis soflis dasaxelebaco, hyvebian adgilobrivebi, romlebic dRes WaWkarSi cotaniRa darCnen. saqarTvelos mravalferovani, mdidari miwa-wyali, qveyanaSi meurneobis sxvadasxva dargis ganviTarebas odiTganve uwyobda xels. mesxeTic is erT-erTi uZvelesi kuTxe iyo, sadac wamyvani adgili miwaTmoqmedebas ekava da mevenaxeoba-meRvineoba maRal doneze iyo ganviTarebuli. am mxareSi aRmoCenili araerTi terasis naSTi Tu gagareulebuli (aborigenuli) vazis jiSi, sawnaxeli, marani, qvevri, uZvelesi vazis naSTi da sxva faqtobrivi masala amis dasturia. cnobebs mesxeTSi vazis kulturis mniSvnelobasa da mis adgilze qveynis sameurneo yofaSi inaxavs Canawerebi „gurjistanis vilaieTis did davTarSi“, sadac imdroindeli daraionebis mixedviT, aRniSnulia yvela sofeli, romelSic mevenaxeobas misdevdnen, aRnusxulia soflebze dakisrebuli gadasaxadebi da maTi raodenoba; qarTuli materialuri kulturis eTnografiul leqsikonSi WaWis sawnexi xalxuri `manqanis~ _ saqajavis (meorenairad _ saqaCvelis) aRwerisas miTiTebulia, rom javaxeTis soflebSi (WaWkari, fia, axCi) SemorCenili sakidi qvisa da wnexis naSTebi X-XIII saukuneebs periods unda ganekuTvnebodes. warsulSi didi farTobebis venaxebis

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The village spreads along both embankments of the River Mtkvari.

Across from Vardzia is Gamogma Chackari with its restored antiquities (St. Marine Church, carved into the rock and dated late IX century, cave pool, Senakis and others), and an integrated part of a recently built hotel complex. From the heights of the hotel yard, you can see the rest of Chachkari (Gagma Chachkari), in a narrow valley on the other side of the river.

Gagma Chachkari is close to the north-eastern part of Vardzia rock.

The village has monument status and its historical importance and number of cultural heritage sites is impressive. There is a Darbazi housing caved into rock and St. George Church, as well as other historic sites, including mud-terrace houses, Mekhuri Darbazis, “Nakaloebi” ruins, a 400-year-old grape vine, wine and fruit tree terraces and approximately 50 winepresses carved into rock, one of which has a capacity of 4 tons of grapes.

Scientific literature sources and archaeological artefacts on location indicate that in ancient times, Chachkari was a fully functioning village and a cradle for winemaking and fruit culture. The name of the village itself relates to winemaking – “chacha” meaning grape pomace used to distill and make strong alcohol, “kari” meaning door. They say that the village was the main supplier of Vardzia: huge quantities

vanis qvabebi / VANI’S CAVES

sof. WaWkari / CHACHKARI VILLAGE

arsebobis Sesaxeb toponimikac miuTiTebs. magaliTad, sofel gurkelSi arsebobs ferdobi „navenaxari“, sadac XX saukunis 50-ian wlebSi miwaSi Camarxuli Zveli qvevrebi aRmoaCines. sofel aralSia ferdobi `nazvrevi~, sofel sayuneTs ki adre „saRvineTi“ erqva da sxv. gansakuTrebuli aRniSvnis Rirsia mesxeTis miwaTmoqmedebisTvis damaxasiaTebeli _ terasuli meurneoba. „gverda adgilze Tu xis Cayra undaT (xes unda wyali, iq xe ar gaCerdeba uwylod, garda amisa, qva goravs), gverda unda moiTxaros da gakeTdes baqani. baqnebi erTimeoreze aris xolme, amas duqnebs vetyviT. erTimeores eubnebodnen xolme: daduqneo...“ _ es cnoba akademikos giorgi Citaias sofel WaWkarSi mTxrobelebisgan Cauweria (giorgi Citaia, `eTnografiuli masalebi terasuli miwaTmoqmedebisTvis javaxeTSi.~). duqnebs, darijebs da Tarafebs mesxebi vazisa da xexilis gasaSeneblad, zogjer _ saxlis asagebi moednisTvisac specialurad mowyobil terasebs eZaxdnen, romelTa ganviTarebas _ geografiuli Taviseburebebis garda, morwyvis gansakuTrebuli sistema edo safuZvlad. garda amisa, baqan-baqan daWrili ferda setyvis dros wamosuli Rvarebisgan niadagis dazianebas da erozias aferxebda. mzis gulze saterased SerCeul ferdobebze nargavebi mzes adre gazafxulidanve iRebdnen da droulad

of wine would be made in the winepresses caved into the rock. The wine would be transported to Vardzia and kept in Qvevris there, while the chacha (pomace) would stay in the village – this is what one can hear from locals, of which there are not many remaining in Chachkari today.

The diversity and richness of Georgian land always gave rise to the development of various cultures in the country. Meskheti was one of the oldest regions, with highly developed agriculture and winemaking. Many findings confirm this, such as the discovery of traces of wine terraces, species of local grapes gone wild after having

aRdgenili mesxuri terasebi da vazi, sof. xizabavra RESTORED MESKHETIAN TERRACES AND VINE, KHIZABAVRA VILLAGE

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sof. WaWkari / CHACHKARI VILLAGE

mwifdebodnen. xexilis garda, ulamazesi sanaxavi iyo venaxi, gansakuTrebiT _ dablari (e.w. „fexis vazi“), romlis gasaSenebladac vazs miwaSi awvendnen da rqas ramdenime mtkavelis moSorebiT, terasis sayrdeni kedlis pirze amoayofinebdnen. vazi terasis napirze Caefineboda

miwurbaniani nagebobis interieri, sof. WaWkari UNDERGROUND STRUCTURE (INTERIOR), CHACHKARI VILLAGE

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been cultivated, winepresses, wine cellars, Qvevris, ancient wine traces and other factual proof.

Writings in the ‘Gurjistan Vilayeti Inventory’ tell us of the importance of the winemaking culture in Meskheti and its role in the country’s agriculture, and lists all the villages that were involved in winemaking according to the regions at the time, as well as all the taxes imposed on the villages and their amounts. According to the Georgian Material Culture Ethnographical Dictionary, in the description of the machine used to press chacha – “Sakajavi” (also known as “Sakachveli”), is mentioned that in Javakheti villages (Chachkari, Pia, Akhchi), the hanging stone and press artefacts are dated X-XIII century. Toponyms also indicate that wine was cultivated on large territories. For example, Gurkeli village has a hillside called Navenakhari (meaning “former vineyard”), where old Qvevris were discovered underground in the 1950s. In Arali village, there is a hillside called Nazvrevi (meaning “former large vineyard”), Sakuneti village was formerly called Sagvineti (meaning “place of wine”), etc.

The culture of terraces for vineyards or orchards, which is characteristic for Meskheti, is worth mentioning in more detail.

“If one wants to plant trees on a slope (trees need water, they will not survive without water, and, also, stones roll down the slope), he needs to dig and create platforms. Platforms are usually made one on top of the other, and we sometimes call them “dukanis”. One would tell another: make some dukanis” – this information was recorded from village Chachkari inhabitants by academician Giorgi Chitaia (Giorgi Chitaia, “Ethnographical Material on Terrace Agriculture in Javakheti”). People in Meskheti would call dukanis, darijis and tarapis the terraces made for cultivating vineyards, fruit orchards or sometimes for building houses, and in addition to geographical characteristics, its development was also marked by a special

da kedelze mixunZluli mtevnebi mwifobisas SesaniSnavi sanaxavi iyo. terasebi sofel WaWkarSicaa, Cvenamde dazianebuli saxiT moRweuli. maTi mSralad nagebi kedlebi msxvili bazaltisa da kldis sxvadasxva zomis qvebiTaa mowyobili. funqcionirebis bolo periodSi maTze xexili yofila gaSenebuli, magram sofelSi SemorCenili 50-aTamde sawnaxeli da uZvelesi vazis jiSebi imaze metyvelebs, rom aq mevenaxeoba saukuneebis ganmavlobaSi meurneobis wamyvani dargi iyo da sofelsa da mis SemogarenSi yurZeni didi raodenobiT iwureboda. ase Tvlida giorgi Citaiac da soflis ganviTarebis maRali donis dasturad didi xnovanebis vazebi, odesRac moqmedi, wylis auzebiani rTuli sarwyavi sistema da Zveleburi sacxovrebeli darbazi mohyavda, xis qandakebebiT. xsenebuli darbazi XVII saukuniT TariRdeba da is 1971 wels sofel WaWkaridan Tbilisis eTnografiul muzeumSi gadmoitanes. muzeumi 1966 wlis 27 aprils gaixsna TbilisSi, rogorc pirveli eTnografiuli muzeumi kavkasiaSi. manamde ki, ori aTeuli wlis ganmavlobaSi,

darbazi sof. WaWkaridan (gadmotanilia Tbilisis eTnografiul muzeumSi) FOYER FROM CHACHKARI VILLAGE (MOVED TO THE TBILISI ETHNOGRAPHIC MUSEUM)

watering system. Further, slopes cut in a series of platforms slowed down erosion and damage caused to the soil by hail and heavy rain.

On hillsides chosen to create terraces, plants would be in the sun from early spring and ripen in good time. In addition to fruit orchards, the vineyards were a beautiful sight, especially the Dablari (so-called foot vine), which was spread on the ground with the top attached a bit higher on the small wall of the terrace. The vines would hang off the wall and the bunches of ripened grapes were a unique and very enjoyable thing to see.

There are also terraces in Chachkari, although what remains of them is quite damaged. Their dry walls were built with large pieces of basalt and rocks of various size. Their most recent function was the cultivation of fruit, but the 50 winepresses and ancient grape types still found in the village indicate that, for centuries, winemaking was an important part of the local agriculture and a lot of grapes were pressed in the village and its surroundings. Chitaia thought the same and confirmed the high level of development of the village with the kldeSi nakveTi sacxovrebeli, sof. WaWkari CAVE DWELLINGS, CHACHKARI VILLAGE

ancient vines, the complicated irrigation system with its water pools and the old darbazi housing with wooden statues.

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muzeumis damfuZneblis, giorgi Citaias xelmZRvanelobiT, eTnografTa da arqiteqtorTa didi jgufi atarebda Teoriul-kvleviT da savele samuSaoebs eqsponatebis mosaZieblad. erT-erTi aseTi eqspediciis dros miakvlies xuciSvilebis darbazs sofel WaWkarSi, romelic dResac did STabeWdilebas tovebs mnaxvelze. xuciSvilebis darbazi samcxe-javaxeTis Zveli sacxovreblis tipuri nimuSia. is sami saTavsosgan Sedgeboda, nawilobriv kldeSi iyo SeWrili da mxolod erTi fasadi hqonda, Sesasvlelis mxridan. darbazi moliT dafaruli terasiT yofila daxuruli. kedlebi naSeni iyo mSrali wyobiT, riyis uxeSi msxvili lodebiT, romlebic alag-alag interierSi iyo CarTuli. klde iatakSic Canda.

ZiriTadi saTavsos rvakuTxa gvirgvinian gadaxurvaSi, fiWvis morebi iyo gamoyenebuli. gvirgvini eqvs, or rigad ganlagebul boZs eyrdnoboda. boZebi qvis baliSebze idga. darbazis xis nawilebs eCos (xis dasamuSavebeli tradiciuli iaraRi) kvali etyoboda. ornamenti interierSi Zunwad iyo gamoyenebuli, magram Tavisi arqaulobiT,

aspaniZeebis darbazi sof. saroSi / FOYER OF THE ASPANIDZE FAMILY IN SARO VILLAGE

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The darbazi in question is dated XVII century and was moved to the Tbilisi Ethnographical Museum from Chachkari in 1971. The museum opened in Tbilisi on April 27th, 1966, and was the first ethnographical museum in the Caucasus. And for two decades until then, a large group of ethnography researchers and architects, led by museum founder Giorgi Chitaia, searched for exhibits through theoretical and field work. During one of these expeditions, they discovered the Khutsishvili darbazi in Chachkari village, a place that to this day leaves an unforgettable impression on every visitor.

The Khutsishvili darbazi is a typical example of old SamtskeJavakheti housing. It comprised three spaces, was partly caved into rock and only had one facade, from the entrance side. The darbazi was covered by a grass terrace. The walls were built with dry stone, large irregular river rocks, some of which are features inside the rooms as well. The rock was visible on the floor. Pine logs were used for the construction of the octangle-shaped crowning roof of the main room. The crown was placed on six wooden pillars in two rows. The pillars stood on large stones. The wooden parts of the darbazi show traces of echo (a traditional tool for working wood) use. There were

sof. nijgori /Â NIDJGORI VILLAGE

unaklo proporciebiT, uxeSad damuSavebuli xis masiuri koWebiT, romlebic uzadod exameboda bunebrivi qviT nageb kedlebs, darbazi mainc saocar efeqts axdenda mnaxvelze. darbazs amSvenebda gverdiTa konsolebze xeSi gamoTlili verZis Tavebi. keriaze sistematurad danTebuli cecxlis gamo xis nawilebs lamazi muqi feri hqondaT miRebuli. mTavari saTavsos gvirgvins TerTmeti rigi hqonia. gadmotanisas mxolod Svidi maTgani iyo SerCenili, ukana saTavsos gadaxurvaSic _ mxolod ramdenime koWi, sakuWnaos gadaxurva ki saerTod aRar arsebobda. ukanasknel xans darbazSi aRaravis ucxovria da mouvlelobiT dazianebuli, ganadgurebis safrTxis winaSe idga. swored amitom gadauwyvitavT misi TbilisSi, muzeumis teritoriaze gadmotana. magram muzeumSi xuciSvilebis darbazis mxolod xis detalebi iqna gadmotanili (sul 400-amde detali), kedlis qvis masala adgilze darCa da dResac xeluxleblad dgas sofelSi. aman darbazis muzeumSi aRdgena gaarTula.

Zeglis mTliani xasiaTis SesanarCuneblad aucilebeli iyo darbazis kedlebis iseTive qvebiT ageba, rogoriTac WaWkarSi idga, Tbilissa da mis SemogarenSi ki aseTi Znelad moipoveboda. Tumca, qvis ostatis mixeil pSeninisa da regionidan mowveuli xis ostatebis, mama-Svil vladimer da iuri lomiZeebis maRali profesionalizmisa da SeTanxmebuli muSaobis wyalobiT, dRes pirvandelTan miaxloebuli saxiT aris muzeumSi warmodgenili da isev gaocebaSi mohyavs damTvalierebeli. sofelSi tradiciuli sacxovreblis Tu sameurneo nagebobaTa sxva bevri nimuSicaa darCenili, romlebic aqamde Seswavlili ar aris. arada sofels aqvs udidesi

few ornaments inside the darbazi, but with its archaic style, flawless proportions, roughly worked huge wooden pillars that are a perfect match for the natural stone-built walls, the darbazi still amazes and astonishes visitors. Ram heads carved into the wood decorated the

oTx toniani sawnaxeli sof. WaWkarSi FOUR-TON WINEPRESS, CHACHKARI VILLAGE

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varZia / VARDZIA

potenciali, regionSi erT-erT mniSvnelovan mizidulobis wertilad iqces.

2016 wlis ivnisSi saqarTvelos kulturuli memkvidreobis dacvis erovnuli saagentos, Tibisi fondisa da kavSiris „qarTuli saxli“ erToblivi iniciativiT da saqarTvelos kulturisa da ZeglTa dacvis saministros monawileobiT, daiwyo muSaoba WaWkaris xelaxali gacocxlebis (revitalizaciis) proeqtze, romlis upirvelesi mizani WaWkaris materialuri da aramaterialuri kulturuli memkvidreobis nimuSebis dacva da aRdgenaa. amas garda, proeqtis mizania saqarTveloSi ekosoflis pirveli precendentis Seqmna da misi aqtiuri CarTva xerTvisivarZia-olodas kulturul landSaftSi. am etapisTvis proeqtis farglebSi mimdinareobs sayrdeni gegmis momzadeba (Catarda topografiuli da arqiteqturuli

Tmogvis cixe / TMOGVI FORTRESS

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side consoles of the darbazi. Because a fire was constantly burning in the hearth, the wooden parts had a beautiful dark coloring. The crown of the main room had 11 rows. At the time of its move to Tbilisi, only seven remained, and the roofing of the back room also only had a few logs left, while absolutely nothing was left of the pantry roofing. No one had lived in the darbazi in the time before its move and as it had been left neglected, there was the risk it would collapse.

This is why it was decided to move it to Tbilisi, to the territory of the Museum. But only the wooden details of the Khutsishvili darbazi were transported to Tbilisi (about 400 details in total), the stone material of the wall stayed there and can still be seen in the village. This made the reconstitution of the darbazi in the museum very difficult. In order to maintain the style of the monument, it was necessary to rebuild the walls of the darbazi with stones similar to the ones originally used in Chachkari, and such stones were hard to find in Tbilisi or its surroundings. But thanks to the professionalism and joint work of

azomvebi, foto fiqsacia, samganzomilebiani skanireba Cautarda soflis kldis nawils da masSi ganTavsebul gamoqvabulebs). soflis Seswavlisa da sxvadasxva kvlevis (saxelovnebaTmcodneo, eTnologiuri, tradiciuli ekonomikuri arealis da sxv.) analizis Semdeg, damuSavdeba soflis gacocxlebis koncefcia da menejmentis gegma. dazianebuli Zeglebis restavracia-reabilitaciis,

stone mason Michael Pshenin and two carpenters brought from the region, father and son Vladimer and Iuri Lomidze, the results of the reconstruction of the darbazi in the museum are very similar to the original version and amazes visitors to this day.

Many traditional household or agriculture tools that have not yet been studied can still be found in the village, which has huge potential for become one of the main attractions of the region.

In June 2016, as a joint initiative, the National Agency for Preservation of Cultural Heritage of Georgia, TBC Fund and Georgian House Union, with the participation of the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia, began working on a project to revive Chachkari village, its main purpose being the protection and restoration of Chachkari’s material and non-material cultural heritage.

In addition, the project aims to create the first ecovillage in Georgia with active involvement in the Khertvisi-Vardzia-Oloda cultural landscape. At this stage, a support plan is being prepared in the frame of the project (topographical and architectural measurements, photo fixation, three-dimensional scanning of the rock part of the village and the caves). Once the study of the village and various other studies (in terms of history of art, ethnology, traditional economy, etc.) have been concluded, a concept for the revival of the village and a management plan will be created. After activities in the frame are

xerTvisis cixe / KHERTVISI FORTRESS

tradiciuli meurneobis dargebis aRdgenis, turizmisTvis saWiro infrastruqturis mowyobis, mcire biznesis stimulirebis da sxva, proeqtis Sesabamisi aqtivobebis ganxorcielebis Semdeg, sofeli SeZlebs `gacocxldes~, daibrunos mosaxleoba da weliwadis nebismier dros aqtiur, turistebisTvis sayvarel adgilad iqces. ulevi imedi WaWkars... nana mefariSvili

carried out, such as the restoration and rehabilitation of the damaged monuments, the renewal of traditional cultures, building of the necessary infrastructure for tourism, stimulation of small businesses, etc., the village will be able to come back to life, become populated again and turn into an active and beloved destination for tourists any time of the year.

We have unending hope for Chackhari.

Nana MeparishviliI

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Tu diriJorma icis risi gakeTeba surs If conductors know what they want to achieve Tbilisis simfoniur orkestrs gaisad ocdaxuTi weli usruldeba _ saukunis meoTxedi. orkestris biografiisTvis es TiTqos bevri ar aris, magram arc cotaa. am drois ganmavlobaSi xom Taobebi icvleba da iwrToba orkestrebSi _ musikaluri samyaros am yvelaze rTul organizmSi. didi simfoniuri orkestrebis Sesrulebis unikalur stils, msoflios didi diriJorebi, ramdenime aTeuli wlis ganmavlobaSi ayalibebdnen... amitomac aRvniSneT, rom Tbilisis simfoniuri orkestris ocdaxuTwliani istoria bevri ar aris. is SedarebiT axalgazrdaa. es monologi maestro vaxtang kaxiZesTan TebervalSi, jansuR kaxiZis saxelobis musikalur centrSi CaviwereT. Sexvedrisas visaubreT musikalur, kulturul Tu saganmanaTleblo sferoSi arsebul viTarebaze da masSi musikaluri centris rolze. aseve, orkestris ganvlil gzaze, maszed Tu ra Seicvala misi daarsebidan dRemde...

Next year, the Tbilisi Symphonic Orchestra will celebrate its 25th year of existence – a quarter of a century. It may not seem long for an orchestra’s biography, but it isn’t short, either. In that period of time, generations change and become proficient in orchestras – the most difficult organism in the musical world. Establishing the unique performing style of a symphonic orchestra needs decades, even for the most accomplished conductors… This is why we mentioned that 25 years of history isn’t that much for Tbilisi’s Symphonic Orchestra.

It is relatively young. We recorded the following monologue with maestro Vakhtang Kakhidze in February, in the Jansugh Kakhidze Music Center. We spoke about the situation in the musical, cultural, and educational fields, and the role of the Music Center in their development, as well as about the history of the Orchestra, and the transformations that have taken place since its creation…

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ufro mniSvnelovania ra ar Seicvala, _ ar Seicvala orkestris done. mamas gardacvalebis Semdeg, mTavari amocana im maRali Tamasis SenarCuneba iyo, romelic man datova. raimes miRweva Znelia, magram kidev ufro Zneli misi SenarCunebaa. es ara mxolod subieqturi azria, aramed im musikosebis da musikis moyvarulebisac, vis Sefasebasac vendobi. mkrexelobSi Tu ar CamiTvliT, garkveuli TvalsazrisiT orkestris done dRes kidev ufro amaRlda. ra maZlevs amis Tqmis uflebas? _ magaliTad, axla bevrad naklebi dro sWirdeba axali nawarmoebis aTvisebas, mniSvneloba ara aqvs, ucnobi Tanamedrove musikaluri Txzulebaa, Tu aqamde Seusrulebeli klasika... da dRes, interpretaciis Camoyalibebis procesisas, orkestri Zalian mgrZnobiare gaxda. es niSnavs, rom Tu diriJorma icis risi gakeTeba surs, isini absolutur sinqronSi mihyvebian mas. repertuari orkestris repertuari gamdidrda pirvelad Sesrulebuli nawarmoebebiT. amisi neba mamaCemsac hqodna. man pirvelma Seasrula gustav maleris meore, Semdeg mecxre da bolos pirveli simfoniebi, karl orfis kantata `karmina burana~, romelic dResac gvaqvs repertuarSi. maSin, gasagebi mizezis gamo, saorkestro partiebi Znelad moipoveboda. im dros partiturebs mama ucxoeTSi yidulobda. sabWoTa periodSi, did qalaqebSi, iyo biblioTekebi, saidanac iwerdi saorkestro partiebs da Semdeg amravlebdi. 90-ian wlebSi, es kavSiri dairRva. Semdeg ukve me vcdilobdi sxvadasxva gziT gamemdidrebina orkestris biblioTeka; SeviZineT prokofievis yvela simfonia da ramdenime, saqarTveloSi pirveladac SevasruleT. aseve, SeviZineT SostakoviCis simfoniebis didi nawili, romelTa uflebebi gabneulia meuRlis, Svilisa da `sikorskis~ gamomcemlobebs Soris. es procesi dRes bevrad gaaiola eleqtronuli biblioTekebis arsebobam. yovel sezonze, garkveuli dro, qarTuli musikis propagandas eTmoboda. ocwlian monakveTSi, rodesac mama saxelmwifo simfoniur orkestrs xelmZRvanelobda, qarTveli avtorebis 170-ze meti nawarmoebi Sesrulda da zogi araerTxel. faqtobrivad, 70-iani wlebidan moyolebuli sul premierebi imarTeboda. tradicia axlac grZeldeba da qarTuli musika repertuarSi isev gvaqvs. ori koncerti qarTul kinomusikasac mivuZRveniT. kerZod, arCil kereseliZis da sulxan cincaZis Semoqmedebas, radgan vfiqrob, rom am periodis qarTuli kinomusika arafriT Camouvardeba holivudisas. orive SemTxvevaSi gamoviyene originaluri partiturebi. radgan kinomusika filmSi gabneulia, maTi mTlianobaSi, filmisgan damoukidebel nawarmoebad aRsaqmelad saWiro gaxda TiToeuli filmis saundtrekis siuitebad gadakeTeba.

Perhaps what’s most important is what didn’t change – the level of the orchestra. After father passed, the main challenge was to preserve the high performing quality that he had established. It is difficult to achieve a high level, but it is even more difficult to preserve it.

This isn’t my subjective conception, it is shared by all the musicians and music enthusiasts whose judgment I trust. If you don’t take it as a blasphemy, the level of the orchestra has even improved. What gives me the right to say this? – For instance, we need much less time to master a new piece, regardless of whether it is an unknown contemporary musical work, or an already performed musical piece… And today, the Orchestra has become very sensitive during the interpretation process, which means that if the conductor knows what he wants to achieve, they are in absolute harmony with him.

Repertoire The Orchestra’s repertoire was enriched with compositions that we were the first to perform in Georgia. This was also the wish of my father. He was the first to perform Gustav Mahler’s second, then ninth, and finally first symphonies, as well as Carl Orff’s cantata ‘Carmina Burana’, which we still have in our repertoire. Back then, for understandable reasons, scores for orchestras were difficult to find, and father had to look for them abroad. During the Soviet Union, in large cities, there were libraries where you could copy orchestra scores and then duplicate them. In the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, I tried to enrich the Orchestra’s library from various sources. We purchased all of Prokofiev’s symphonies, and even performed some of them for the first time in Georgia. We also purchased the majority of Shostakovich’s symphonies, the rights of

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sxvaTa Soris, sulxan cincaZes, gardacvalebamde ramdenime wliT adre, Tavad hqodna momzadebuli Tavisi konomusikis organyofilebiani koncertis partitura.

Tumca, me Tavs ufleba miveci Cemeburad damelagebina. siamovnebiT davukravdi bruknerisa da maleris musikas. Tumca, didi moculobis germanuli simfoniebis damkvidreba dRes rTulia. zogadad, klasikuri koncerti, axali formebis Ziebas saWiroebs _ uvertiuris, instrumentuli koncertisa da simfoniisgan Semdgar akademiur programas dRes cota uWirs, gansakuTrebiT kritikuli msmenelisTvis, vinc yovelTvis siaxles elis. amitom, dRes ukve sxvagvarad vudgebi repertuaris dagegmvas. yovelwliurad, agvistos Sua ricxvebidan, viwyebT mzadebas festivalisTvis `Semodgomis Tbilisi~, rasac daaxloebiT erT Tves vandomebT. Tumca, ufro datvirTuli festivalebic gvqonia, risTvisac es mosamzadebeli dro sakmarisi ar aRmoCenila. `Semodgomis Tbilisi~ 20 seqtembrisTvis iwyeba da oqtombris bolomde grZeldeba. radgan Cveni TanadamfuZnebeli Tbilisis meriaa, finansurad swored am dros gvaqvs saSualeba meti megobar-Semsruleblisa da axali saxelebis mosawvevad.

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which are divided between his wife, child, and the music publishing group ‘Sikorski’. This process was much facilitated by the appearance of electronic libraries.

Each season, we dedicate part of our time to the popularization of Georgian music. During the 20 years my father was directing the National Symphonic Orchestra, more than 170 pieces by Georgian composers were performed, some of them several times. From the 1970s, it was practically one premiere after another. We still abide by this tradition, and we have Georgian music in our repertoire, too. We also dedicated two concerts to Georgian film music, namely Archil Kereselidze and Sulkhan Tsintsadze’s works, as I think that the film music of their time has nothing to envy of that of Hollywood. In both cases, I used the original scores. Because music is scattered in films, it was necessary to transform the soundtrack of each film into suites in order to grasp the music independently from the film. By the way, a few years before the passing of Sulkhan Tsintsadze, he had prepared a concert of his film music in two parts himself – but I have taken the liberty to arrange it in my own way.

I would gladly perform music by Bruckner and Mahler, though it is difficult to stage long German symphonies nowadays. In general, we need to find new forms for classical music concerts – academic programs consisting of an overture, instrumental

amas mosdevs noembrisa da dekembris filarmoniuli sezoni; kargad avamuSaveT mcire darbazic kameruli koncertebisTvis. saSobao festivals ar vakeTebT, Tumca, saxelmwifo kapelis SemoerTebisa da organis damontaJebis Semdeg, pirvelad mogveca saSualeba Segvesrulebina nawyvetebi baxis `saSobao oratoriidan~, aseve hendelisa da telemanis musika. gazafxulze, 7 marts, mamaCemis gardacvalebis dRes, yovelwliurad vmarTavT koncerts, maisSi ki axaldafuZnebuli `jansuR kaxiZis saxelobis festivali~ gvaqvs, romelsac 25 ricxvSi vasrulebT, radgan 26 maisi misi dabadebis dRea. es gansxvavebuli mimarTulebis festivalia, romelzec Cvens orkestrTan erTad sxvadasxva stilis Semsruleblebs an jgufebs viwvevT. gasul wels gvyavda vokalur jaz-seqsteti Take Six da brwyinvale brazilieli kompozitori, pianisti da momRerali ivan linsi, ori wlis win ki Manhattan Transfer da New York Voices. zogi maTgani manamdec yofila Tbilisis jaz-festivalze Camosuli, Tumca mcire SemadgenlobiT da sxva programiT. Cveni festivalis Rirseba da ganmasxvavebeli niSani ki isaa, rom maT simfoniur orkestrTan uwevT gamosvla, rac arc Tu xSiria maT

concert and symphony aren’t that popular anymore, especially for critical audiences, which always expect something new. Therefore, I approach the repertoire somewhat differently now.

Each year, in the middle of August, we start preparing for the festival ‘Autumn Tbilisi’ for about a month, though we have busier festivals, for which this preparation time wouldn’t have been enough. ‘Autumn Tbilisi’ starts on the 20th of September, and lasts till the end of October. Because Tbilisi’s City Hall is its co-founder, we have the opportunity to invite more of our friends, musicians, and music enthusiasts thanks to their financing. This is followed by the philharmonic season in November and December; we have also made good use of the small hall for chamber music concerts. We don’t do Christmas concerts, but after joining forces with the national a cappella group and installing an organ, we were able to perform parts from Bach’s ‘Christmas Oratioro’, as well as Handel and Telemann for the first time. In spring, on the 7th of March, the anniversary of my father’s passing, we perform a yearly concert; in May, we also have the newly-founded ‘Jansugh Kakhidze Festival’, which is performed on the 25th, as his birthday in on the 26th. It is a particular festival, and we invite many musicians or groups of various styles to perform with us. Last year, we had the a cappella jazz sextet ‘Take 6’ and the brilliant

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sakoncerto karieraSi. rogorc Manhattan Transfer-is wevrebma miTxres, Svidi welia orkestrTan ar gvimReriao, Take Six ki _ xuTi. dRes nebismieri ucxoeli artistis Camoyvana, did xarjebTanaa dakavSirebuli, rac Cveni biujetiT gaTvaliswinebuli ar aris. adre, `goskoncertidan~, uamravi solisti Camodioda. maT hqondaT gegma, romlis mixedviT ama Tu im Semsruleblis sakoncerto turneSi sabWoTa kavSiris did qalaqebTan erTad Tbilisic Sedioda. es ki imas niSnavda, rom honorarsa da gzas `goskoncerti~ afinansebda. mxolod sastumros xarjebs faravdnen adgilobrivi organziaciebi. ase iyo 90-ian wlebamde. axla, Cveni mTavari problema sakoncerto Tanxaa, anu yoveldRiuri fuli koncertebis gasamarTad. centris erTgul msmenels vcdilobT bileTi ar gavuZviroT, amitom koncertidan Semosuli saxsrebi gastrolioris xarjs ver faravs. amisTvis saWiroa damatebiTi Tanxebis qona, riTic davabalansebdiT biujets da... CamoviyvandiT rikardo mutisa da daniel barenboimis rangis diriJorebs. CvenTan damatebiTi Semosavlis

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Brazilian composer, pianist and singer Ivan Lins; and ‘Manhattan Transfer’ and ‘New York Voices’ visited us two years ago. Some of them had already been in Tbilisi in the framework of the Tbilisi Jazz Festival, but not in their full composition, and in a different context. The strong point and distinctive feature of our festival is that they are performing with a symphonic orchestra, which doesn’t happen that often in their careers. As ‘Manhattan Transfer’s’ members told me, they had not sung with an orchestra for seven years, as for ‘Take 6’ – for five years.

Today, inviting any foreign artist is linked to large expenses, and our budget can’t cover them all. Formerly, numerous soloists were coming from the soviet ‘Gosconcert’. They had a schedule according to which Tbilisi was among the large soviet cities in which this or that performer had to visit in his/her tour. And this meant that their honorary and travel expenses were covered by ‘Gosconcert’, while only the accommodation charges had to be covered by local organizations. This was the situation until the 1990s. Today, one of our main problems is the lack of funds for concerts, or in other words, money to be able to stage concerts. We try to not to raise the prices of the tickets for our faithful concertgoers and therefore, the resources coming in from ticket sales cannot cover the charges of performers we would like to invite. For this, we would need more

Semodineba or SemTxvevaSi xdeba: Tbilisis meriis dafinansebul festivalze `Semodgomis Tbilisi~ da maisis festivalze, romelsac kulturis saministro afinansebs. vcdilobT, orive SesaZlebloba gamoviyenoT da CvenTvis nacnobi Tu ucnobi solistebi CamoviyvanoT, radgan Cvens movaleobad vTvliT, msmenels nacnob saxelebTan erTad, axali saxelebic SevTavazoT. Cveni msmeneli, erTi mxriT musikaluri sazogadoeba da meore mxriT, sruliad ucnobi, magram Zalian sasiamovno axalgazrduli seqtoria; rac gansakuTrebiT maxarebs, isini xom xvalindel msmenelad yalibdebian.

funds, with which we would be able to balance our budget. I would invite conductors such as Riccardo Muti and Daniel Barenboim. We receive additional support on two occasions: first, the festival ‘Autumn Tbilisi’, which is financed by Tbilisi City Hall, and then the festival in May, which is financed by the Ministry of Culture. We try to use both occasions to invite soloists, both known and unknown, because we feel that it is our duty to present new artists to our audience together with famous ones. Our audience is composed, on the one hand, by the musical society sector, and on the other hand, by a very pleasant youth that is completely unknown to us. I am particularly glad of this, as they are the ones who will become tomorrow’s audience.

sadiriJoro skolis problema gamarTuli saorkestro sadiriJoro skola, venisa da peterburgis skolebis msgavsad, CvenTan arasdros yofila.

Tbilisis konservatoriaSi aris sagundo sadiriJoro fakulteti, romlis damTavrebis Semdeg, visac orkestris diriJoroba unda, cdilobs swavla sazRvargareT gaagrZelos. Tavad radgan sagundo sadiriJoro ganxriT davamTavre musikaluri saswavlebeli, darwmunebiT SemiZlia giTxraT, rom diriJorobis zogadi safuZvlebis miuxedavad, gundisa da orkestris diriJorobis wminda manualuri teqnika sul sxvadasxvagvaria. diriJoris adgili xom yvelaze cudia orkestrSi, yvela xmis anarekli swored misken modis da garkveul periodSi saerTod ar gesmis instrumentebi, ver igeb xmaTa balanss.

Semdeg TandaTan eCvevi, yuric `iwmindeba~ da garkveuli warmodgena geqmneba JReradobaze; mere SegiZlia ukve Tavad izruno JReradobis Seqmnaze, magram amisTvis kargi sadiriJoro teqnikaa aucilebeli, vgulisxmob orkestrTan saurTierTobo enas. Tu orkestrs yovel taqtze aCereb, aZlev SeniSvnas da amis gakeTeba xeliT ar SegiZlia, saqme

The conducting school issue There has never been a proper orchestral conducting school like those of Vienna or Petersburg in Georgia. Tbilisi’s Conservatory includes a choral conducting faculty, and if students who have graduated from it want to become orchestra conductors, they have to continue their studies abroad. Because I have graduated in choral conducting myself, I can confidently tell you that despite general conducting bases, the pure manual techniques of choral and orchestral conducting are completely different. The place of conductors is the worst one in an orchestra; every sound reflection is directed towards them, and for some time, you cannot hear the instruments at all, you cannot assess the balance of the sounds.

Then you gradually get used to it, your ear “cleans up”, and you can have a general idea of the sonority; then you can already start to take care of creating this sonority yourself, but you need to have good conducting skills, I mean, to find a common language with the orchestra. If you are stopping the orchestra at every measure to give them your remarks and can’t do it with your arms, then it simply won’t work. There are conductors who make introductions before the rehearsal, telling the biography of the composer, or talking about the

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gaTavebulia. arian diriJorebi, romlebic repeticiis win Sesavals akeTeben, hyvebian kompozitoris biografias an saubroben mis stilze; orkestrs es naklebad ainteresebs, misTvis ramdenime taqti sruliad sakmarisia, rom mixvdes, rogori klasis diriJori dgas pultTan, es auftaqtidanve cxadi xdeba. amis Semdeg, orkestri an mihyveba diriJors, an ukravs ise, rogorc manamde bevrjer daukravs. vrceli Sesavali imisTvis damWirda, rom yovelive es viRacam unda gaswavlos. me, Tavad, jansuR kaxiZis skolis gamgrZelebeli var. mama Tavs igor markeviCis mowafed Tvlida, romelic erT-erT saukeTeso manualur teqnikas flobda da Zalian mkacri swavlebis meTodiT gamoirCeoda. markeviCTan swavlamde igi saxelmwifo kapelis mTavar diriJorad dainiSna, magram orkestris diriJoroba surda da sxvagan rom ar wasuliyo, specialurad misTvis gaxsnes saopero-simfoniuri diriJorobis fakulteti, romelic aspiranturaSi iswavleboda da romelsac maSin TbilisSi dabrunebuli odisei dimitriadi Caudga saTaveSi. ase gaxda jansuR kaxiZe misi pirveli mowafe. batonma odiseim mas bevri ram misca emociis da musikis codnis TvalsazrisiT. Semdeg, mama moskovSi myof markeviCiTan gaemgzavra, romelTanac ramdenime Tve intensiuri datvirTviT iswavla. es is droa, roca moskovSi igor stravinskic Cavida, romelic Tvlida, rom ernst ansermes Semdeg, markeviCi misi musikis saukeTeso Semsrulebeli iyo. Tavidan kursze ramdenime aTeuli diriJori Caewera, bolos ki erTeulebi darCnen. moskovidan mama `sxva~ diriJorad dabrunda. sadiriJoro pultTan, pirvelad 1989 wels Tbilisis operisa da baletis Teatris orkestrTan davdeqi da Cemi baletis, `amorZalebis~, ori premiera vidiriJore. diriJoroba imitom gadavwyvite, rom ramdenjerme gamouval mdgomareobaSi Cavvardi; aravinaa kompozitorze ufro Sesabrali, romelic darbazSi cudad, arasworad Sesrulebul missave nawarmoebs ismens. maSin gadavwyvite, rom sjobda Tavad meswavla diriJoroba.

Cvens orkestrSi, bolo 25 wlis ganmavlobaSi, ramdenime Taoba Seicvala. rogori sistemac ar unda dainergos swavlebaSi, orkestrSi mosuli studenti mainc gamoucdelia. miuxedavd imisa, rom konservatoriaSi arsebobs studenturi orkestri, axalgazrdebi cdiloben Tavi aaridon repeticiebze siaruls. SesaZloa, CvenTan mosuls kargadac exerxebodes notebis kiTxva, magram gasagebi iqneba ki misTvis diriJoris xeli? miT umetes, roca yvela diriJori gansxvavebulia. orkestrSi, sakuTari Tavis povnas, wlebi sWirdeba, aq xom marto ar xar, irgvliv sxva orkestrantebi gisxedan, romlebic xelis erT Jestze arian damokidebulni. es xom urTulesi procesia teqnikuri Tu fsiqologiuri TvalsazrisiT. vfiqrob, studenturi orkestri maRali xarisxisa unda iyos da sam rames emsaxurebodes: pirvel rigSi

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style of the composition, but the orchestra isn’t so interested in that, they only need a few musical phrases to understand what kind of conductor they have in front of them, it is clear to them from the very anacrusis. After that, the orchestra either follows the conductor, or plays in the way it has played before.

I needed a long introduction, because you need to be told all this.

Personally, I am from the Jansugh Kakhidze school. Father considered himself a pupil of the Igor Markevitch school, which mastered some of the best manual skills and was known for its very strict educational methods. Before studying with Markevitch, he was named the main conductor of the national a cappella ensemble, but he wanted to be an orchestra conductor, and because they didn’t want him to go somewhere else, they opened an opera and symphonic conducting faculty specially for him; it was a post-graduate faculty, and upon his return, Odysseas Dimitriadis became its dean. This is how Jansugh Kakhidze became his first student. Mr Odysseas provided him a lot of things in terms of emotion and musical knowledge. After that, father went to Markevitch in Moscow and studied with him very intensively for several months. Igor Stravinsky was also in Moscow at the time, and he considered that after Ernst Ansermet, Markevitch was the best performer of his music. At the beginning, about ten conductors enrolled for the course, but only a few were left by the end. Father returned a “transformed” conductor from Moscow.

My debut as a conductor took place in 1989, with the orchestra of the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theater, and I performed two premieres of my ballet ‘Amazons’. I decided to become a conductor because I found myself in uncomfortable situations several times; nobody is more heartbroken than a composer listening to his pieces being performed badly. So, I decided to learn conducting myself.

Over the last 25 years, several generations have succeeded each other in our orchestra. Whatever educational system there is, a student entering an orchestra is always inexperienced. Despite the fact that there is a student orchestra at the Conservatory, young people try to avoid going to rehearsals. It is possible that they can read notes very well, but will they understand the movements of the conductor’s hand? Especially when every conductor is different. One needs years to “find one’s place” in an orchestra; you are not alone there; you are surrounded by other musicians who all depend on one movement of the conductor’s arm. This is a very difficult process, both in terms of technique and psychology. I think that the student orchestra should be one of high quality and serve three purposes: in the first place, the formation of instrumentalists in an orchestra – at some point, they need to forget about their ambitions as a soloist (not everybody can be Casals or Heifetz) and establish themselves in a very good orchestra, which is also a rare thing. Secondly, the orchestra should serve as a training program for aspiring conductors of the conservatory, and act as a place where mistakes, discussions and such things are allowed. And thirdly, it needs to be performing the pieces of student composers so that they can listen to the mistakes made in the “laboratory” that is the student orchestra, and correct them right there.

instrumentalistis Camoyalibebas orkestrantad _ garkveul etapze Tmob solistobis ambicias (yvela kazalsi an heifeci xom ver gaxdeba) da Zalian karg orkestrantad yalibdebi, rac aseve iSviaTobaa. meore, orkestri unda emsaxurebodes konservatoriis studenti diriJorebis treningis programas, sadac dasaSvebia Secdomac, gaCerebac da a.S. da mesame, is aucileblad unda iyos studenti kompozitorebis nawarmoebebis Semsrulebeli, raTa maTac hqondeT saSualeba Secdomebi orkestris `laboratoriaSi~ moisminon da iqve gamoasworon. miuxedavad imisa, rom Cveni centri saswavlo dawesebuleba ar aris, vcdilobT student diriJorebs orkestrTan urTierTobis saSualeba mivceT. ukve ramdenime welia, sasesio gamocdebisas, studentebs saSualeba aqvT udiriJoron orkestrs da axla ukve gundsac. samwuxarod, es maT, gamomdinare swavlebis arsebuli sistemidan, gamocdad ar eTvlebaT da mxolod Cven keTil nebad rCeba. sabednierod, orkestric mogvyveba, maT ician da mzad arian SecdomebisTvis; damwyeb diriJors SeiZleba xeli aerios, an sulac gaCerdes da xSirad, isini orkestris imedad ufro arian,

Despite the fact that our Center isn’t an educational institution, we try to give student conductors the opportunity to interact with the orchestra. For several years already, students have had the opportunity to conduct our orchestra, and now also our ensemble, during their exam preparation period. Unfortunately, because of the existing educational system in music, this isn’t considered a proper exam by the Conservatory, and only depends on our good will. Thankfully, the orchestra knows the situation and is ready for the students’ mistakes; an inexperienced may get confused, or even freeze, and they are often counting on the orchestra more than on themselves. However, they get used to this difficult process – to conducting an orchestra and an ensemble.

Tours in Israel and Berlin The current season was highlighted by very important tours in Israel and Berlin. Israel rarely invites orchestras; they remember the visit of the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra long ago, which didn’t fill the concert hall. After that, they stopped inviting orchestras – they were seen as unnecessary in Israel. Despite this, my longtime contacts with Israeli musicians and orchestras brought results, and thanks to the support of the Ministry of Culture, at the beginning of December 2016, we carried out a very successful tour in three cities in Israel – Herzliya, Ashdod,

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vidre sakuTari Tavisa. samagierod, eCvevian am didi da rTuli procesis warmarTvas; imas, rasac orkestrisa da gundis diriJoroba hqvia. gastrolebi israelsa da berlinSi mimdinare sezoni aRiniSna ori Zalian mniSvnelovani gastroliT israelsa da germaniaSi. israeli Zalian iSviaTad iwvevs orkestrebs, axsovT berlinis filarmoniuli orkestris gastroli, romelmac darbazi ver Seavso, es didi xnis win iyo. amis Semdeg orkestri aRar daupatiJebiaT, radgan israelSi amis aucilebloba ar dgas. miuxedavad amisa, Cvenma mravalwlianma SemoqmedebiTma kontaqtebma israelis musikosebTan da orkestrebTan Sedegi gamoiRo; amas daerTo kulturis saministros mzaobac da SarSan, dekembris dasawyisSi warmatebuli turne gavmarTeT israelis sam qalaqSi _ herceliaSi, aSdodsa da ierusalimSi. rodesac gastrols vgegmavdiT, maT sxvadasxva stilis xuTi programa SevTavazeT; vinaidan Soba axlovdeboda, airCies stravinskis siuita `faskunji~, gerSvinis simfoniuri suraTi `porgi da besi~, misive `cisferi rafsodia~ fortepianosa da orkestrisTvis da Cemi safortepiano koncerti, romlebic giorgi miqaZem daukra. Cems safortepiano koncerts Tavad vukravdi xolme, mamasTan erTad, magram diriJoris amplua amjerad Zalian momewona. israelTa arCevani CvenTvisac misaRebi iyo, radgan msoflioSi cota orkestri meguleba, romelic am repertuarSi Segvedreba, masSi Tavs, rogorc Tevzi wyalSi, ise vgrZnobT. turne ierusalimSi mocartis `rekviemiT~ davasruleT. orkestrebis ara, magram ramdenad gasakviric ar unda iyos, israelSi gundebis problema aris. Cvenma kapelam 60 kaciani SemadgenlobiT ise imRera, rom sruli aRfrTovaneba daimsaxura da aRniSnes kidec, rom amgvari gundi am qveyanas ar hyavso. israelis Semdeg Zalian male berlinis droc dadga. ra Tqma unda, gverCivna gastrolebs Soris orTviani intervali

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and Jerusalem. When we were planning the tour, we offered them five programs of various styles; because Christmas was approaching, they chose Stravinsky’s ‘Firebird’ suite, Gershwin’s symphonic picture ‘Porgy and Bess’ and ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ for piano, as well as a piano concert of mine that was performed by Giorgi Mikadze. I used to play my piano concert myself with my father, but I prefer conducting it now. We were very happy with Israel’s selection, as there are not many orchestras in the world that can perform this program like us- we feel we are in our element with it. We finished our tour in Israel with Mozart’s ‘Requiem’.

There is no orchestra problem in Israel, but surprisingly enough, they have an ensemble problem. Our a cappella ensemble of 60 singers performed wonderfully, impressing the audience – they said that an ensemble of this level couldn’t be found in Israel.

Not long after Israel, we visited Berlin. Naturally, we would have preferred an interval of at least two months between these two tours, as it is very difficult to work simultaneously on two programs in a short period of time. But the Berlin Philharmonic Hall was only available on the 7th of January. The tour was produced by our German partner HansPeter Memo Rein and several companies gathered around him. They wanted us to perform my ‘Christmas Trilogy’ in the Philharmonic Hall.

This is how we coincided the theme of Christmas with the 7th of January and the cultural days dedicated to the 25th anniversary of GeorgianGerman relations. Apart from the German side, the Georgian embassy also worked hard to make all of this possible – Mr. Lado Chanturia and the Georgian cultural attaché in Germany, Dudana Mazmanishvili, who was also a soloist during our performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3. I feel somewhat uncomfortable talking about this, but the feedback from the audience could be read the next day… As a composer, I was particularly glad that our German partners expressed the wish for us to perform our ‘Christmas Trilogy’ each year in various German cities. I wrote these pieces to celebrate the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Christ, on an order from the Swiss Army, and for an aerophone ensemble and a men and boys’ choir – since the very start, it was performed by the ensembles ‘Rustavi’ and ‘Mdzlevari’. After that, I also created an orchestral version, which enriched the pieces even more. The ‘Christmas Trilogy’ is written in various languages, the third part being in Georgian and German, and finishing with the popular German Christmas song ‘O du fröhliche’. During the performance of this last, I turned to face the German audience… the whole hall was on its feet and singing with us.

At this year’s May Festival, Bob James and Patti Smith will be performing with our orchestra. In September and October, we will organize the 25th ‘Autumn Tbilisi’, and Beethoven’s ‘Missa Solemnis’ will be performed for the first time in Georgia. We are also planning a concert with Lekso Toradze, who will be playing Gogi Chlaidze’s piano concert, which will be a world premiere. The same concert will include Guguli Toradze’s symphony ‘Nikortsminda’, which was only presented once, in the 1970s, by my father. Many other interesting concerts are planned, with famous or lesser-known musicians and singers.

As for next year, we have interesting projects to celebrate the 25 years of existence of the Tbilisi Symphonic Orchestra…

mainc yofiliyo, radgan drois mokle monakveTSi or gastrolze paralelurad muSaoba Znelia. magram, berlinis filarmoniis darbazi, mxolod 7 ianvars iyo Tavisufali. gastroli Cveni germaneli partnioris, hanspeter memo rainis da mis garSemo gaerTianebuli ramdenime kompaniis dagegmili gaxldaT. maT surdaT, rom filarmoniis darbazSi aucileblad Sesrulebuliyo Cemi `saSobao trilogia~. ase davamTxvieT saSobao Tema 7 ianvars da saqarTvelogermaniis urTierTobis 25 wlisTavisadmi miZRvnili dReebis kulturuli programis gaxsnas. germanelebTan erTad didi Sroma gaswia saqarTvelos saelCom, elCma batonma lado Wanturiam da saqarTvelos kulturis ataSem germaniaSi dudana mazmaniSvilma, romelic imavdroulad solistad mogvevlina beThovenis mesame safortepiano koncertSi. uxerxulia amaze saubari, magram gamoxmaureba koncerts meore dResve mohyva... CemTvis, rogorc kompozitorisTvis, gansakuTrebiT sasixaruloa, rom germaneli partniorebis mxridan gamoiTqva survili, `saSobao trilogia~, germaniis sxvadasxva qalaqSi yovel wels Sesruldes. es nawarmoebi qristeSobis 2000 wlisTavis aRsaniSnavad Sveicariis armiis SekveTiT davwere liTonis Casaberi instrumentebis ansamblis da mamakacTa da biWunaTa gundisTvis, romelsac

Tavidanve ansamblebi `rusTavi~ da `mZlevari~ asruleben.

Semdeg, gavakeTe saorkestro versiac, ramac kidev ufro meti simdidre misca am nawarmoebs. `trilogia~ sxvadasxva enazea dawerili, mesame nawili qarTul-germanuladaa da mTavrdeba germanuli popularuli saSobao simReriT «O du fröhliche», romlis Sesrulebis drosac movubrundi berlinel msmenels... mTeli darbazi fexze amdgari mReroda. wels, maisis festivalze, bob jeimsis da pati ostinis koncertebi gveqneba orkestrTan erTad. seqtemberoqtomberSi saiubileo, 25-e `Semodgomis Tbilisi~ unda gavmarToT. saqarTveloSi pirvelad Sesruldeba beThovenis Missa Solemnis; vgegmavT koncerts leqso ToraZesTan erTad, romelic gogi ClaiZis safortepiano koncerts daukravs, es iqneba msoflio premiera. amave koncertSi Sesruldeba guguli ToraZis simfonia `nikorwminda~, romelic mxolod erTxel, 70-ian wlebSi aris gaJRerebuli mamaCemis mier... da kidev bevr saintereso koncerts vgegmavT ukve nacnobi Tu axali saxelebis monawileobiT. momaval wels ki Tbilisis simfoniur orkestrs 25 weli usruldeba...

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67-e berlinale

67th Berlin International Film Festival

berlinis saerTaSoriso kinofestivali yvelaze politizirebul kinofestivalad iTvleba. is, meore msoflio omis mokavSireebis _ amerikis SeerTebuli Statebis, didi britaneTis da safrangeTis TaosnobiT, 1951 wels daarsda. swored am qveynebis meuerveobis qveS imyofeboda maSin dasavleT berlini. wlebis ganmavlobaSi `berlinale~, garkveulwilad, kulturuli xidis funqcias asrulebda dasavleTsa da aRmosavleTs Soris. dResac, berlinis kinofestivali yvelaze mniSvnelovani kulturuli movlenaa germaniaSi da erTerTi centraluri _ evropaSi. `berlinales~ direqtorma diter koslikma wlevandeli festivalis mTavar devizad _ `adamianis brZola cxovrebiseuli sirTuleebis winaaRmdeg da bednierebis Zieba~ _ gamoacxada. am Temas metnaklebad

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The Berlin International Film Festival is considered to be the most politicized. It was created on the initiative of the Allies (the USA, Great Britain and France) in 1951, the countries in control of West Berlin back then. For years, the ‘Berlinale’ acted as a cultural bridge between East and West. Today, too, the Berlin Film Festival is the most important cultural event in Germany and Central Europe. Berlinale’s director, Dieter Kosslick, announced the main motto of this year’s edition: “The struggle of humans against difficulties in life and their search for happiness”. Every film presented at the festival was more or less related to that theme.

This year, 24 films were presented in Berlinale’s official program, from which 18 were in competition. The most successful was Hungarian female director Ildikó Enyedi’s psychological drama ‘On Body and Soul’. The film tells a paradoxical love story with an unusual setting: a slaughterhouse. The protagonists work in the meat processing factory unaware that they are united by their emotions and physical longing. They have the same dreams… A most beautiful scene of a deer in the forest is seen several times, representing their imagination. “This film will be understood only by kind and considerate persons,” the director said when presenting the film. The jury members turned out to be just the right kind, headed by famous American-Dutch director, Paul Verhoeven. If we take Berlinale’s traditions into account, this decision was quite an unexpected one as the Hungarian film is totally exempt of any political or social message.

During the opening of the festival, Verhoeven declared: “I came to Berlin to watch cinema, and not to dwell on the current political situation. I hope to see diverse, controversial, doughty films that will

yvela safestivalo filmi exmianeboda. wels berlinSi oficialuri programiT 24 filmi iyo warmodgenili da aqedan 18 konkursSi monawileobda. yvelaze didi warmateba ungreli reJisori qalis ildiko enedis fsiqologiur dramas _ `sxeulis da sulis Sesaxeb~ xvda wilad. filmi mogviTxrobs siyvarulis paradoqsul istorias, romelic budapeStSi, saqonlis sasaklaos arc Tu ise romantikul fonze viTardeba. xorcis gadamamuSavebel saamqroSi momuSave martosulma gmirebma ar ician, rom maT emociisa da fizikuri survilis saerTo sfero aerTianebT. isini erTnaer sizmrebs xedaven... rogorc warmosaxva, ramdenjerme spark many arguments among the jury members.” Apart from the Golden Bear, the main prize of the festival, ‘On Body and Soul’ also won the FIPRESCI (from the International Federation of Film Critics) and the German ecumenical (Christian) jury awards.

The clear favorite of the journalists accredited at the festival was famous Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki’s ‘The Other Side of Hope’, which held the pole position of the competition program’s ratings right after its screening. The jury awarded Kaurismäki a Silver Bear for Directing. Yet, many think that the political message of the Finnish film wasn’t properly assessed. The author described the latter as such: “Europeans, it’s true, help refugees, but without these people who appeared from other worlds, European civilization would have continued its anemic life for a long time. I don’t see any Islamization problem in Europe. It’s an ordinary cultural exchange.” The director didn’t hide his discontent. He was drunk when he came to the festival’s closing ceremony and didn’t go on stage to receive his prize. The organizers themselves had to go down into the audience to award it to him. At the press conference, the 59-year-old director declared that he had decided to retire from cinema for good: “I’m tired. I want to start living my own life at last. I’ve said this before, but this time it’s really ‘adios’.”

meordeba tyeSi irmebis ulamazesi kadri. `es filmi mxolod keTili da gulisxmieri adamianebisaTvis iqneba gasagebi~ _ ganacxada reJisorma filmis wardgenisas. swored aseTebi aRmoCndnen Jiuris wevrebi, romlebsac cnobili amerikel/holandieli reJisori pol verxoveni xelmZRvanelobda. Jiuris es gadawvvetileba, `berlinales~ tradiciebidan gamomdinare, bevrisaTvis moulodneli aRmoCnda. ungruli filmi sruliad moklebulia raime politikur Tu socialur gzavnils. Tumca, festivalis gaxsnis dRes pol verxovenma ganacxada: `berlinSi kinos sayureblad Camovedi da ara dRevandeli politikuri koniuqturis gasaTvaliswineblad. vimedovneb, rom

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vnaxav mravalferovan, winaaRmdegobriv, SesaZlebelia, mrisxane kinos da es Jiuris wevrebs Soris kamaTs gamoiwvevs~. festivalis mTavari prizis `oqros daTvis~ garda `sxeulis da sulis Sesaxeb~ kidev ori priziT _ kinokritikosTa saerTaSoriso asociaciis (fipresi) da ekumenikuri (qristianuli) Jiuris prizebiT dajildovda. festivalze akreditebuli Jurnalistebis aSkara favoriti, cnobili fineli reJisoris aki kaurismiakis (filmi sirieli ltolvilis Sesaxeb) `imedis meore mxare~ gaxda, romelic CvenebisTanave sakonkurso programis reitingis saTaveSi moeqca. Jiurim kaurismiakisaTvis saukeTeso reJisurisaTvis mxolod `vercxlis daTvi~ gaimeta. bevrma CaTvala, rom saTanadod ar dafasda finuri filmis politikuri gzavnili, romelic avtorma ase Camoayaliba: `evropelebi, marTalia, exmarebian ltolvilebs, magram sxva samyarodan movlenili am adamianebis gareSe, evropuli civilizacia kidev didxans gaagrZelebda anemiur arsebobas. Tanac, me ver vxedav evropaSi islamizaciis problemas. es Cveulebrivi kulturuli gacvlaa~. reJisors wyena arc daumalavs. is festivalis daxurvis sazeimo ceremoniaze nasvami gamocxadda da prizis misaRebad scenaze ar avida. ase rom, Tavad organizatorebs mouwiaT darbazSi Casvla da prizis gadacema. presis wirmomadgenlebTan Sexvedrisas 59 wlis reJisorma ganacxada, rom sabolood gadawyvita kinokarieris dasruleba: `daviRale. minda, rom sakuTari cxovrebiT vicxovro. ra Tqma unda, adrec vambobdi amis

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Chilean director Sebastián Lelio’s surrealistic film ‘A Fantastic Woman’ was also very successful. Its main protagonist is a transsexual who has to struggle after the death of her beloved to have the right to mourn him as others would. One could say that ‘A Fantastic Woman’ was the most unexpected and original film of the festival competition program, both in terms of theme and style. The jury awarded its director and co-author Gonzalo Maza with a Silver Bear for Best Script.

For the remaining awards, the jury tried to not neglect any cinematographic region. The Grand Jury Prize went to an African film, Congolese director Alain Gomis’ ‘Félicité’. Its main character sings in a bar, and has to face disorder and corruption after her son has an accident.

Sesaxeb. magram, axla zustad geubnebiT _ adios~. aseve, didi mowoneba xvda wilad Cileli reJisoris sebastian lelios surealistur dramas `fantastikuri qali~. mTavari gmiri transseqsualia, romelsac Seyvarebulis sikvdilis Semdeg brZolis dawyeba uwevs, raTa sxvebTan erTad masac mieces sayvareli adamianis glovis ufleba. SeiZleba iTqvas, rom `fantastikuri qali~, rogorc Tematurad, aseve stilisturad sakonkurso programis yvelaze moulodneli da originaluri filmi aRmoCnda. es garemoeba Jiurimac gaiTvaliswina da saukeTeso scenarisaTvis `vercxlis daTvi~ gadasca reJisorsa da mis Tanaavtors gonsalo masas.

danarCeni prizebis ganawilebisas Jiuris wevrebi Seecadnen uyuradRebod arc erTi kinemitografiuli regioni daetovebinaT. Jiuris didi prizi afrikul kinos xvda wilad. is kongoelma reJisorma alen gomisma daimsaxura filmisaTvis `felisite~. mTavari gmiri Ramis baris momRerali qalia, romelsac avtoavariaSi daSavebuli Svilis gadasarCenad ganukiTxaobasa da korufciasTan uwevs brZola. berlinis kinofestivalis erT-erTi damfuZneblis, alfred baueris saxelobis priziT polonuri filmi `mxecis kvali~ dajildovda. es prizi, rogorc wesi, avtorebs kinoSi axali perspeqtivebis aRmoCenisaTvis gadaecemaT. reJisori agneSka holandi mTeli Tavisi SemoqmedebiT udavod pativiscemas imsaxurebs, magram, misi axali namuSevari kinematografiuli Txrobis tradiciuli sqemiTaa agebuli, aq arc sxva novaciebi SeimCneva da

The Alfred Bauer Prize, named after one of the founders of the Berlin Film Festival, was awarded to the Polish film ‘Spoor’. In general, this prize is awarded to authors in order to open new perspectives for them. Director Agnieszka Holland definitely deserves much respect for her creation, but it is made with a very traditional cinematographic storytelling scheme, without really innovating anything, and the strange decision of the Jury can only be explained by their wish to praise the Pole director’s overall cinematographic merit.

South Korean actress Kim Min-hee defended the honor of Asian cinema. She received the Silver Bear for Best Actress for her performance in director Hong Sang-soo’s melancholic film ‘On the Beach at Night Alone’. The Silver Bear for Best Actor was awarded to Austrian actor Georg Friedrich, for his performance in German director Thomas Arslan’s psychological drama ‘Bright Nights’.

American cinema wasn’t much represented in the competition program of the Berlinale. There weren’t many Hollywood stars either, who, in general, cause much fuss and agitation at the festival. For some reason, Americans only submitted one film for the competition, the clearly weak ‘The Dinner’ directed by Oren Moverman, the most memorable feature of which is the participation of Richard Gere.

Together with Alejandra Silva, his beautiful partner of 33, the 67-yearold actor performed a real love scene on the red carpet. Richard Gere was also in Berlin for more “serious” matters. He visited the Bundestag, where he met the Chancellor Angela Merkel and several deputies. As

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Jiuris ucnauri gadawyvetileba mxolod poloneli reJisori qalis Rvawlis dafasebis didi surviliT SeiZleba aixsnas. aziuri kinos Rirsebis dacva samxreT koreel msaxiobs kim min-his xvda wilad. man daimsaxura prizi qalis rolis saukTeeso SesrulebisaTvis reJisor hong sangsus melanqoliur filmSi `RamiT, martodmarto plaJze~. prizi mamakacis saukeTeso rolisaTvis gadaeca avstriel msaxiobs georg fridrixs germaneli reJisoris tomas arslanis fsiqologiur dramaSi `naTeli Rameebi~ monawileobisTvis. wels berlinis sakonkurso programaSi sakmaod uferulad iyo warmodgenili amerikuli kino. arc holivudis varskvlavebis simravle SeimCneoda, romlebic, Cveulebisamebr, ganapirobeben xolme safestivalo eiforias da aJiotaJs. amerikelebma konkursisTvis ratomRac mxolod erTi, reJisor oren movermanis aSkarad susti filmi `sadili~ gaimetes, romlis mTavar Rirsebas riCard giris monawileoba warmoadgenda. 67 wlis msaxiobma Tavis 33 wlis SeyvarebulTan, espanel lamazman alexandra silvasTan erTad wiTel xaliCaze namdvili sasiyvarulo perfomansi moawyo. riCard giri ufro `seriozuli~ saqmeebiTac iyo berlinSi dakavebuli. is ewvia bundestags, sadac Sexvda kancler angela merkels da parlamentis ramdenime deputats. rogorc

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claimed by the German press, they discussed current political issues and the situation in Tibet – Richard Gere is well-known for practicing Buddhism and fighting for Tibet’s freedom.

For political reasons, the Soviet Union boycotted the Berlin Film Festival until 1977. The first time a Georgian movie appeared in the Berlinale’s competition program was in 1986. Giorgi Shengelaia’s film ‘The Journey of a Young Composer’ won the Silver Bear for best directing that year. In 1993, the jury also awarded a Silver Bear to Temur Babluani for ‘Udzinarta Mze’ (‘The Sun of the Sleepless’).

germanulma presam Segvatyobina, saubris Tema mimdinare politikuri situacia da... tibetis problemebi iyo _ cnobilia, rom msaxiobi budizmis mimdevaria da tibetis ganTavisuflebisTviis ibrZvis. sabWoTa kavSiri 1977 wlamde politikuri motiviT boikots ucxadebda berlinis kinofestivals. qarTul kinos, pirvelad, 1986 wels mieca SesaZlebloba monawileoba mieRo berlinis festivalis sakonkurso programaSi. am wels giorgi Sengelaias filmi `axalgazrda kompozitoris mogzauroba~ saukeTeso reJisurisaTvis `vercxlis daTviT~ dajildovda. 1993 wels Jiurim aseve `vercxlis daTvi~ gadasca Temur babluanis films `uZinarTa mze~. bolo wlebSi, mas Semdeg, rac aSkarad SeimCneva qarTuli kinematografis mier krizisis daZlevis tendencia, `berlinales~ paralelur programebSi _ `panoramasa~

da `forumSi~ _ araerTi qarTuli filmi iqna naCvenebi.

2013 wels warmatebuli aRmoCnda nana eqvTimiSvilisa da simon grosis sadebiuto filmis `grZeli naTeli dReebis~ premiera `forumis~ programiT. wels, `forumma~ kvlav miiwvia reJisorebi axali namuSevriT `Cemi bednieri ojaxi~. filmi sami Taobisgan Semdgari erTi qarTuli ojaxis Sesaxeb mogviTxrobs. mTavari gmiri, 52 wlis qarTuli enisa da literaturis maswavlebeli, manana mxeiZea (msaxiobi ia SuRliaSvili), romelsac mtkiced aqvs gadawyvetili gaarRvios ojaxis wevrebis mier mis irgvliv Seqmnili Caketili sivrce, sxvagan, Tundac gareubanSi, gadavides sacxovreblad da damoukidebeli cxovreba daiwyos. swored es garemoeba aZlevs suraTis avtorebs saSualebas qarTuli ojaxi, tradiciebi, mSoblebsa da Svilebs Soris urTierTobebi zedmiwevniT realistur da, amave dros, tragikomikur

In recent years, after it clearly appeared that Georgian cinematography is overcoming the crisis period it was facing, a number of Georgian films have been screened at the Berlinale’s parallel programs ‘Panorama’ and ‘Forum’. In 2013, the premiere of the debut film ‘In Bloom’ of Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Gross was very successful in the ‘Forum’ program.

This year, the directors were invited again, with their new film ‘My Happy Family’. It tells the story of three generations of a Georgian family. The lead character is Manana Mkheidze (actress

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planSi warmoaCinon. yvela _ mSoblebi, Svilebi, naTesavebi _ ewinaaRmdegeba mananas swrafvas moipovos Tavisufleba da is piradi sivrce, romelic swored uaxloesma adamianebma daakargvines. veravin xvdeba, riTia is ukmayofilo da maT Soris, meuRlec (msaxiobi merab niniZe), romelic Tavad arsad gadasvlas ar fiqrobs da colis wasvlis Semdeg mis mSoblebTan apirebs darCenas. films ar aklia siTbo da iumori, yofiTi damajerebloba, masSi Cadebulia is erovnuli kulturuli kodi, romelic qarTul kinos sxva

kinematografiebisagan ganasxvavebs. mokled, qarTuli kinos saukeTeso tradiciebSia Sesrulebuli. amave dros, igrZnoba ruminuli kinos, e.w. `ruminuli realizmis~ gavlenac. avtorebs, iseve rogorc `grZel naTel dReebSi~, rumineli operatori hyavT mowveuli (amjerad timor panduru), romlis kamera emociurad damuxtuli atmosferos gadmocemisa da daxSul sivrceSi myof personaJebTan, TiTqmis fizikuri kontaqtis damyarebis saSualebas iZleva. aseve, `forumis~ programiT iyo naCvenebi reJisor rati onelis dokumenturi filmi `mzis qalaqi~. SeiZleba iTqvas, rom es WiaTuris, erT dros saqarTvelos mniSvnelovani

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Ia Shughliashvili), a teacher of Georgian language and literature, who has firmly decided to free herself from the confines created by her family members, and to move somewhere else, even into the suburbs, to start a new and independent life. These circumstances allow the authors to present the Georgian family, traditions, parentchildren relations in an utterly realistic, and at the same time tragicomic way. Everybody – the parents, children, relatives – opposes Manana’s aspirations to find her freedom and her personal space, which she lost precisely because of them. Nobody understands her dissatisfaction, including her husband (actor Merab Ninidze), who doesn’t plan on moving anywhere, and will stay at his wife’s parents’ house after she leaves. The film doesn’t lack tenderness and humor, is very convincing, and skillfully uses the national cultural code that distinguishes Georgian cinema from others. In short, it was done in accordance with the best traditions of Georgian cinema. At the same time, we also feel the influence of Romanian movies, especially that of so-called “Romanian Realism”. Just as they did in ‘In Bloom’, the authors invited a Romanian DOP (this time, Tudor Panduru), whose camera gives the effect of an almost physical contact with the characters, revolving in an emotionally-charged atmosphere and restrained space.

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samrewvelo qalaqis, dRevandeli ubadruki mdgomareobis zedmiwevniT realisturad, TiTqmis naturalisturad warmoCenisa da am mocemulobis filosofiurad gaazrebis mcdelobaa. saqarTvelos sxvadasxva regionis realoba namdvilad iZleva krizisuli xedvis, xSir SemTxvevaSi ironiuli interpretaciis sababs. qarTveli reJisorebic cdiloben xelidan ar gauSvan kinematografiuli TvalsazrisiT momgebiani Temebi, romlebic, marTalia, arc Tu ise kargad warmoaCenen Cvens qveyanas, magram mayurebeli, gansakuTrebiT ucxoeli, jer kidev iCens interess droSi Cakarguli postsabWoTa sivrceebisa da arqauli yofis mimarT. `panoramas~ programiT aCvenes rezo gigineiSvilis socialuri drama `mZevlebi~, romelic 1983 wels Tbiliseli axalgazrdebis mier TviTmfrinavis gatacebis mcdelobasa da amis Semdeg ganviTarebul tragikul movlenebs exeba. filmma didi interesi da azrTa sxvadasxvaoba gamoiwvia. miklemetraJiani filmebis programaSi festivalis organizatorebma CarTes naTia nikolaSvilis animaciuri suraTi `lile~. ase mravalmxrivad iyo warmodgenili qarTuli kino berlinis 67-e kinofestivalze. imedia, uaxloes momavalSi qarTuli filmi konkursSi miiRebs monawileobas da warmatebasac miaRwevs. arCil SubaSvili

Another Georgian film presented in the ‘Forum’ program was director Rati Oneli’s documentary film ‘City of the Sun’. One could say that it transmits the miserable current condition of Chiatura, once an important industrial city, in a very realistic, almost naturalist way, attempting to rethink the situation from a philosophical point of view. The situation in various Georgian regions certainly allows for ironic interpretation. In general, Georgian directors try to not let cinematographically popular subjects slip past them; even if it means depicting the country in a less than appealing way; audiences, and foreign audiences in particular, are still very interested in postsoviet spaces that are lost in time.

Rezo Gigineishvili’s social drama ‘Hostages’ was presented in the ‘Panorama’ program. It tells the story of a group of young Tbilisians who attempt to hijack a plane, and the tragic events that ensued. The film sparked a lot of interest and divergent opinions. Natia Nikolaishvili’s animation film ‘Lile’ was included in the Short Film section of the festival. Overall, we can say that Georgian cinema was well represented at the 67th edition of the Berlinale.

And we can hope that Georgian films will continue to participate in the competition and will gain further success in future.

Archil Shubashvili

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meThi valerski:

„Cems balets konkretuli gzavnili ara aqvs“

medhi valerski frangi qoreografia, saintereso dadgmebis avtori, warsulSi irJi kilianis dasis wamyvani mocekvave. igi aTi welia muSaobs rogorc damdgmeli qoreografi da ukve miiqcia sabaleto kompaniebis yuradReba. Petite Ceremonie vankuveriSi, britanuli kolumbiis sabaleto dasisTvis, 2011 wels dadga. warmatebuli speqtakliT saqarTvelos saxelmwifo baletis samxatvro xelmZRvaneli nino ananiaSvili dainteresda da qoreografi a.w. ianvarSi TbilisSi moiwvia. operis TeatrSi premiera 4 Tebervals Sedga. medhi valerskis premieris win vesaubreT:

Tanamedrove qoreografiis mimarT CvenTan interesi TandaTan izrdeba. amas Teatris repertuarSi warmodgenili bevri saintereso sabaleto dadgma da axalgazrda qoreografebis Ziebebi uwyobs xels; ramdenime welia TbilisSi Tanamedrove qoreografiis samxreTkavkasiuri festivalic ki daarsda. amjerad Tbilisis operisa da

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baletis TetarSi mayurebeli Tqvens dadgmas ixilavs, rogorc erTgan ambobT _ „balets imaze, rogor aRmovCndiT yuTSi“... asea mokled gadmocemuli Petite Cermonie-is arsi. ra aris Tqveni baletis mTavari saTqmeli? ra gindodaT geTqvaT am dadgmiT? Petite Ceremonie CemTvis, rogorc qoreografisTvis,

Medhi Walerski:

“My ballets don’t have specific messages” Medhi Walerski is a French choreographer, author of many interesting ballets, and former leading dancer of Jiří Kylián’s troupe. He’s been working as a stage choreographer for the last ten years, and has already gained much respect from ballet companies. ‘Petite Cérémonie’ was staged in 2011 in Vancouver, for the British Columbia ballet company. Nino Ananiashvili, art director of the Georgian State Ballet, got interested in the successful performance, and invited the choreographer in Tbilisi in January 2017. The premiere took place in the Opera Theater on the 4th of February. We spoke to Medhi Walerski before the premiere:

The staging of many interesting ballets of the local Theater’s repertoire and the hard work and research of young choreographers has seen the appearance of a notable rise in interest in contemporary choreography in Georgia. The South Caucasus Contemporary Dance Festival was created in Tbilisi a few years ago. Today, the audience of the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet

Theater will watch your piece. As you’ve described it yourself in a nutshell, ‘Petite Cérémonie’ is “a quirky essay on the way we box ourselves in”. What is the main message of your ballet? What was the subject you wanted to convey?

‘Petite Cérémonie’ was a debut for me, as a choreographer. When I started working on it, I didn’t have a clear message that I wanted to

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share with the audience, what I wanted more was to ask questions.

The ballet is a study of the idea of the difference between man and woman, as well as of the idea of confinement, which is why we worked on the idea of what life in a box was like. My interest is to show the contrast between chaos and order. As a choreographer, I am also interested in feeling that I am free to interpret the piece I am watching in whatever way I want. It is like watching a painting: someone standing next to me might see something completely different than me. We can have different ideas about what it means, so I don’t want everyone to see the same thing in my works, I just want people to feel free to see what they think that is. Therefore, there’s not a clear message, and the feelings of the audience after the show should be very personal. debiuti iyo. roca misi dadgma daviwye ar mqonda raime garkveuli gzavnili mayureblisadmi, ufro kiTxvebis dasma msurda. baleti SeiZleba iTqvas, ufro mamakacsa da qals Soris gansxvavebis ideis kvlevaa, ise, rogorc Caketilobis problemisac. swored amitom mivmarTe „yuTSi“ cxovrebis ideas. Cemi samuSaos interesi qaoss da wesrigs Soris kontrastis Cveneba iyo. rogorc qoreografs mainteresebs vuyurebde dadgmas da interpretaciis Tavisuflebas vgrZnobde. rodesac naxats vaTvaliereb, dasaSvebia, rom Cem gverdze mdgomi masSi sul ar xedavdes imas, rasac me aRviqvam; SesaZloa sxvadasxva ideebi gagvaCndes namuSevris arsze. amitom,

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Librettos aren’t a frequent source of inspiration for contemporary dance choreographers anymore; they get more inspired by music, feelings, dreams, or even private lives. There are probably many more sources of inspiration. What was yours for this particular ballet?

We actually started by watching a speech from Mark Gungor; it was a speech about a scientific study looking into male and female psychology. As I’ve already told you, this subject is very interesting to me. When I work with large groups in the studio, the approach of men and women is very different. I couldn’t say which one is better. There are simply moments when these differences clash, and moments when they match. This is precisely what sparked my interest, and what I used while working in the studio.

sulac araa aucilebeli Cems dadgmas yvela erTnairad aRiqvamdes. ubralod, minda, adamianebma igrZnon Tavisufleba, dainaxon masSi is, rasac Tavad fiqroben.

Sesabamisad, balets raime konkretuli gzavnili ara aqvs, misi naxvis Semdeg mayureblisTvis gancdebi Zalian piraduli unda iyos.

The work is staged on music by Mozart, Bellini, Rodgers & Hart and Vivaldi – in other words, compositions from entirely differing eras, styles and directions. What was the unifying factor that brought them together in your score?

It’s true that it’s made of many different works, genres and eras of music and that’s what I enjoy. The challenge lies precisely in putting various artistic eras or music together. I also would relate to the idea of ceremony as a process or ritual. For example, when we celebrate something, one of the main attributes is the music that is played.

Somewhere else, there’s a totally different music, but both places are connected by the idea of celebrating something. For me, working on this piece also gave me great pleasure from its music, it’s music that I like very much. We could understand this music as a ceremony that is taking place throughout the night at different places, but only for 25 minutes.

You staged ‘Petite Cérémonie’ in Vancouver for specific artists – specific individuals with their own bodies and abilities. Did you encounter any difficulties while working with our company? Was there any need to amend your ideas?

Tanamedrove qoreografebi naklebad muSaoben libretoze, maTTvis STagoneba ZiriTadad musika da... grZnobebi, ocnebebi, piradi cxovrebaa. albaT, bevri ram aris kidev rac STagonebas gaZlevT. am konkretuli dadgmis SemTxvevaSi ram STagagonaT? sxvaTa Soris, muSaoba mark gangoris gamosvlis naxviT daviwye, romelic mamakacis da qalis fsiqologiis mecnierul kvlevas exeba. es Tema CemTvis, rogorc giTxariT, sainteresoa; sabaleto studiaSi did jgufTan vmuSaob, romelSic mamakacebi da qalebi sakuTar samuSaos gansxvavebulad udgebian. ver vityvi, rom romelime midgoma ukeTesia. ubralod, aris SemTxveva, rodesac es sxvaoba winaaRmdegobas aCens da aseve aris momenti, rodesac is erTmaneTs emTxva. swored esaa, rasac sainteresod vTvli da viyeneb studiaSi muSaobisas. baleti mocartis, belinis, rojersisa & hartis, vivaldis musikazea dadgmuli. dameTanxmebiT sul sxvadasxva epoqa, stili, mimarTulebaa _ ris mixedviT gaaerTianeT isini Tqvens mier Seqmnil kompilaciaSi? marTlac mravali gansxvavebuli Janris da epoqis musikaa gaerTianebuli da swored es momwons. gamowveva, swored, sxvadasxva sasceno periodis an drois musikis gaerTianebaSia. meore idea, romelsac es midgoma ukavSirdeba, ceremoniaa, rogorc procesi. roca romelime sazeimo movlenis aRsaniSnavad mivdivarT, mogexsenebaT, misi mTavari atributi musikaa, romelic iq sruldeba. imave dRes, sxva adgilze sul sxva musika ismis, Tumca orive adgils erTi movlenis aRniSvnis idea aerTianebs.

CemTvis es dadgmac ubralod, sasiamovno procesi iyo im

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When Nino Ananiashvili invited me here and I read some information about your company on the internet, I spent some time pondering. You mainly perform classical ballets, and I was nervous about how your dancers would adapt to my style. But actually, I didn’t encounter any difficulty. The challenge for me was to adapt the work to the company, and almost recreate some parts, especially the one in which a man is juggling while others are talking on the scene. The thing is that ballet dancers may not know how to juggle. That’s why I thought that I had to be close to the company and work with them for a little bit longer. It was a pleasure to use the talent of the people for whom the piece was recreated. So more than difficulties with the company, the challenge was to change and adapt the piece. I think that we constantly need to be ready to change what we create, even if it’s difficult. It’s actually a positive challenge.

musikiT, romelic metad momwons. is SeiZleba gavigoT, rogorc ceremonia, romelic Ramis ganmavlobaSi sxvadasxva adgilze imarTeba, oRond mxolod 25 wuTis ganmavlobaSi. Petite Cermonie vankuverSi dadgiT _ konkretul mocekveveebze, konkretul sxeulebze da maT monacemebze.

TbilisSi, saxelmwifo sabaleto dasTan muSaoba xom ar gagiZneldaT. Cveni mocekvaveebis monacemebis mixedviT xom ar mogiwiaT raimes Secvla CanafiqrSi? roca nino ananiaSvilma aq momiwvia da internetiT Tqveni dasis Sesaxeb informacia wavikiTxe, cotaTi davfiqrdi. ZiriTadad, klasikur baletebs asrulebT da vRelavdi, rogor moirgebdnen mocekvaveebi Cemeul stils. sxvaTa Soris, sirTuleebi ar Semxvedria. CemTvis aq gamowveva baletis dasze morgeba da zogierTi nawilis TiTqmis Tavidan Seqmna iyo, gansakuTrebiT iq, sadac mamakaci msaxiobi Jongliorobs, sxvebi ki scenaze

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Talk us through your team, the people with whom you staged the ballet in Tbilisi.

At first, I came with my assistant, Ballet master Sylvain Senez. We’ve been working together for a long time, and he knows my work very well. By the way, when i created ‘Petite Cérémonie’ a few years ago for the Ballet British Columbia in Vancouver, I actually only watched the two first shows, and I didn’t see the further performances in Canada and the US. Sylvain is the expert of this ballet, he knows it inside out, including what I have already forgotten myself. Honestly, I sometimes don’t remember choreographies and I have to rediscover them in the studio. I am more a man of casting, deciding who is more suitable for which part. So I only spent a few days selecting the performers, and then left Sylvain to work on the staging. It’s like creating a structure, the foundations of a building. He’s very good at creating solid structures, so that I can come back and destroy everything again. I only bring my spirit into the work. As for the other members, the costume designer was Linda Chow. This is also an important process, as costumes are tailor-made for each dancer, so that they feel comfortable, and of course, look good. She flew from Canada and was

saubroben. sirTule isaa, rom baletis msaxiobi SesaZloa aseT samsaxiobo unars ar flobdes. swored amitom vifiqre, rom dasTan axlos muSaoba da maTTan erTad cota ufro meti drois daxarjva iyo saWiro. sasiamovno iyo im adamianebis niWis gamoyeneba, romelTaTvisac es naSromi Tavidan Seiqmna. ase rom, sirTuleze metad cvlilebebi da morgebaa xolme gamowveva. vfiqrob, rom im yvelafris gaTvaliswinebiT, rasac vakeTebT, mudmivad mzad unda viyoT cvlilebebisTvis, maSinac ki, Tu amas sirTules vuwodebT. es mxolod dadebiTi gamowvevaa.

Tqveni gundi gagvacaniT, visTan erTadac dadgiT es baleti da vinc TbilisSic CamogyvaT samuSaod?

Tavdapirvelad silven senesTan erTad Camovedi, romelic Cemi asistenti da baletmaisteria. swored masTan erTad vmuSaob xolme da is kargad icnobs Cems dadgmebs. sxvaTa Soris, rodesac Petite Ceremonie ramdenime wlis win, vankuveris Ballet BC-s dasisTvis Sevqmeni, mxolod pirveli ori dRis sapremiero warmodgenas vuyure da kanadasa da SeerTebul StatebSi gamarTuli Semdgomi warmodgenebi dRemde ar minaxavs. am baletis eqsperti silvenia, swored man icis es dadgma Tavidan bolomde, maT Soris isic, rac qoreografs ukve aRar axsovs. gulwrfelad vambob, rom studiaSi Cemi qoreografiis Tavidan aRmoCena miwevs xolme. me ufro `kastingis~ mimarTulebiT vmuSaob _ imis gansazRvraze, vin romeli rolisTvisaa ufro Sesaferisi. amitom, mxolod ramdenime dRiT miviRe msaxiobTa SerCevaSi monawileoba, Semdeg ki silveni davtove, raTa dadgmaze emuSava. es yvelaferi Senobis struqturis, saZirkvlis Seqmnas hgavs. silveni kargad flobs myari safuZvlis Seqmnis unars, raTa Semdeg me davbrunde da yvelaferi isev davangrio. me ubralod naSromSi Cemi suliskveTeba Semaqvs. rac Seexeba danarCen wevrebs, kostiumebis dizainze linda Cou muSaobs. es

very happy with the costumes. Bonnie Beecher was working as the lighting designer.

You have a lot of experience working with many choreographers including Jiri Kylian, William Forsythe, Mats Ek, Sol Leon and Paul Lightfoot, Emio Greco, Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite and many more. Would you say your choreographic language is close to theirs? Are there any influences?

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procesic mniSvnelovania, radgan kostiumebi TiToeuli mocekvavisTvis calke iqmneba, raTa komfortulic iyos da ra Tqma unda, kargadac gamoiyurebodes. is kanadidan Camovida da kostiumebiT kmayofili darCa. ganaTebis dizainze boni biseri muSaobs da sxv. bevr qoreografTan muSaobis gamocdileba gaqvT. Tqvens biografiaSi aRniSnulia, rom cekvavdiT irJi kilianis, uiliam forsaitis, mats ekis, sol lionis da pol laitfutis, imio grekos, ohad naharinis, kristal faitis da sxvebis dadgmebSi. rogor fiqrobT, Tqveni qoreografiuli ena axloa maTTan? gavlenas xom ar ganicdiT? CemTvis SeuZlebelia imis Tqma, rom Cemi ena maTTan ar aris axlos _ rodesac ojaxs ekuTvni, es genebSi gaqvs.

Tumca vfiqrob, rom maqvs sakuTari enac, romelic sxva qoreografebTan muSaobis gamocdilebam momca. Cemi karieris garkveul monakveTSi amisgan Tavis daRwevas vcdilobdi, Tumca sabolood, piriqiT, `moveqeci~ da Sevecade, es yvelaferi mimeRo da gamocdilebidan sakuTari azri gamometana imaze, Tu ra viswavle am qoreografebisgan.

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It would be impossible for me to say that my language is not close to theirs – when you belong to a family, it’s in your genes. But I think that I have my personal language as well, which is made of my experience with these diverse choreographers. This is something which I was trying to get away from at some point in my career, but I decided to do the exact opposite, to embrace it, and to develop my own vision from what I’ve learned from these choreographers.

Ballet enthusiasts are fascinated with the idea of seeing the creative laboratory of a choreographer from the inside, to see what happens beyond the show... Do you always have an idea of what you will be staging when entering the studio, or is the process dictated by music and dancers’ bodies?

Actually no, every process that I go through is different – sometimes I come with a very clear concept and I have a clear musical score in mind. For ‘Garden’, the last creation I made for the NDT (Nederlands Dans Theater), I knew exactly what I wanted and had chosen the music in advance. Even though I was thinking about each movement of the choreography for a long time and was often changing them, I had a clear idea in mind. Sometimes, I enter the studio armed with a strong sensation or a dream, but this process doesn’t follow any rule.

baletis moyvarulT ainteresebs Seixedon qoreografis SemoqmedebiT laboratoriaSi, gaigon isic, rac speqtakls iqeT xdeba... roca darbazSi SedixarT ukve iciT ras dadgamT? Tu am process yovelTvis gkarnaxobT musika da mocekvaveTa sxeuli? ara, procesi gansxvavebulia _ zogjer Zalian naTeli koncefcia da musikaluri gadawyveta maqvs.

ND-Si (niderlandebis cekvis Teatri) dadgmuli Cemi axali naSromisTvis, romelsac Garden ewodeba, zustad vicodi, ra msurda da musikac adreve avarCie. marTalia, qoreografiul teqstSi TiToeul moZraobaze didxans vfiqrobdi da vcvlidi maT, Tumca idea kargad mqonda gaTavisebuli. zogjer studiaSi warmosaxviT an sizmriT SeiaraRebuli mivdivar, Tumca am azrebs kanonebi ar aqvT. zogjer, naxevari samuSaos Catarebis Semdeg vicvli azrs, im adamianebidan gamomdinare, romelTanac vmuSaob studiaSi, an imis mixedviT, ra ganaviTarebs naSroms organulad, ise, rom is cocxali iyos. mzad unda iyo cvlilebebisTvis da imisTvis, rom rac dadgi SeiZleba imas male gamoeTxovo. es rTulia, magram swavlis process warmoadgens _ gadawyvetilebebis Secvla cocxali da realuri procesia. zogjer karg gakveTilsac viReb imaze, rom ukeT unda movmzadebuliyavi, an ar unda SemSineboda im ideebTan gamoTxoveba, romlebic Tavidan mqonda. magram es yvelaferi im daszea damokidebuli, romelTanac vmuSaob.

Sometimes, halfway through the working process, I change my mind because of the people I work with at the studio, or how it develops into something organic, something more alive. You have to be ready for change, and to let go of what you have already done. This is hard, but it’s an educational process – changing and letting go of decisions is a live and actual process. I have learned some good lessons about the fact that I should have been better prepared, or should not have been afraid of letting go from all the ideas I originally had. But it’s very dependent on the company I’m working with.

You have been a choreographer for what, ten years? Is this a long time? What are your plans for the near future? Where have you worked? What will your next projects be?

Ten years is not that little for a choreographer. In the near future, I’m planning to work on a choreography for the NDT. I am preparing a new ballet there for August. Before that, I have decided to do yoga, so that I can relate more to the body. I am interested in learning yoga from a physical viewpoint. As for choreography, I also have future projects, including a big production to prepare for 2018, as well as some courses – I intend to study light, costume and set design in London, in order to enrich my choreography work. I will also have acting courses, because I am focusing on dialogues in my creations.

Have you worked on classical pieces, or are you interested in delving into them? Do you have ideas of staging your adaptation of any classical works?

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rac qoreografi xarT, dgamT, albaT, aTi welia? es didi droa Tu ara da... Semdegi uaxloesi nabijebi? sad imuSaveT? ras dadgamT? aTi weli arc ise mcire droa qoreografisTvis. samomavlod NDT-sTan qoreografiaze muSaobas vapireb. agvistoSi, NDT I-isTvis axal balets vdgam, manamde ki mtkiced maqvs gadawyvetili, iogaTi davkavde, raTa sxeulTan kavSiri aviTviso. iogas fizikuri kuTxiT Seswavla CemTvis saintereso Temaa. rac Seexeba qoreografias, maqvs samomavlo gegmebic _ masSi Sedis didi dadgma 2018 wlisTvis, iseve rogorc ramdenime kursis gavla. es kursebi ganaTebis, kostiumisa da scenis dizains Seexeba da isini londonSi unda gaviaro, riTac qoreografiaSi Cemi muSaobis gamdidreba SevZlo. aseve gavivli samsaxiobo kurss, gamomdinare iqidan, rom Cems SemoqmedebaSi saubris aspeqtic mainteresebs. klasikuri baletebis dadgmaze Tu gimuSaviaT an xom ar gainteresebsT, xom ar fiqrobT rom romelime maTganis Tqveneul versias dadgamT? scenarze damyarebuli dadgmebi da didi baletebi Cemi cxovrebis mniSvnelovani nawilia _ maT ukve didi xania vasruleb, anu vcekvav. Tumca maT dadgmas garkveulwilad veridebodi, radgan maT bevri saTqmeli aqvT, rasac dro da sxva unari sWirdeba, romelic vfiqrob, aqamde ar mqonda. Tumca axla maqvs SeTanxmeba, romelic „romeo da julietas“ exeba. detalebs jer ver vaxmaureb, radgan molaparakebebi araoficialuria. vfiqrob, rom klasikuri baleti imsaxurebs axal midgomas _ SeiZleba iTqvas, axal sicocxlesac. Tumca, aseve vfiqrob, rom klasikis dRevandeli saxiT datovebac saWiroa, radgan saocrebaa, rodesac aseTi memkvidreobis SenarCuneba SeiZleba. meore

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I think classical ballet deserves to be revised, almost given a second life, even though I think classical ballet should also be kept the way it is, because actually it’s fantastic to keep this heritage. But giving it a revision is always interesting and I enjoy watching how people do it.

Performances and long ballets based on storytelling are an important part of my life, and I have been performing, or in other words dancing, them for a long time. But I’ve always been afraid of

mxriv, axali midgoma dasaSvebad mimaCnia da CemTvis sainteresoa imisTvis Tvalis midevneba, Tu rogor axerxeben amas sxvebi. mravali weli NDT erT-erTi mTavari solisti iyaviT da muSaobdiT kilianTan. ra mogcaT masTan muSaobam rogorc mocekvaves da rogorc qoreografs? irJi kilianTan muSaobam Tavmdabloba, moTmineba, mocekvavesa da qoreografs Soris urTierToba maswavla. ase rom es procesi orive mxridan aviTvise. miseuli zrunva mocekvaveebze marTlac rom unikaluria. ra Tqma unda, kilianTan SemoqmedebiTi muSaoba da baletebis dadgmac Zalzed saintereso iyo, Tumca am yvelafris miRmaa is adamianuri mxare, ramac gansakuTrebuli STagoneba momca. esaubra ilia TavberiZe merab nikolaiSvilis da lado vaCnaZis fotoebi

them in a way, because they have a lot to say, which demands time and other skills which I think I used to lack. But right now, I have a commission for ‘Romeo and Juliet’. I can’t tell you much about it, because the discussion is still at an unofficial level.

You were one of the leading soloists at NDT for many years, and you worked with Kylian. What did working with him give you as a dancer and a choreographer?

Working with Jiri Kylian taught me to be humble, patient, as well as the relationship between a dancer and a choreographer. So I learned the process from both sides, so to say. The way he takes care of his dancers is truly unique. Of course, working on the creative side and staging ballets with Kylian was also very inspiring, but above all, it’s his human side that was particularly interesting and motivating.

Interviewer: Ilia Tavberidze Photographers: Merab Nikolaishvili and Lado Vachnadze

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axali, axali talRaœ ” New “New Wave”

qarTuli animaciis bedi arasdros yofila martivi, piriqiT _ avtorTa didi nawili, xSir SemTxvevaSi, sakuTari enTuziazmis imedad rCeboda da rCeba.

1929 wels kote miqaberiZis mier Seqmnili „Cemi bebia“, pirveli filmia qarTuli multiplikaciisa da kinos istoriaSi, romelSic reJisori filmSi animaciur CanarTebs iyenebs. avtorma kombinirebuli gadaRebis meTods mimarTa da erT kadrSi realuri msaxiobis TamaSi, naxati da Tojinuri personaJebi moaqcia. kinos istorikosTa garkveuli nawili, qarTuli multiplikacia/animaciis ekranul aTvlas, odnav mogvianebiT, 1935 wlidan iwyebs... lado mujiri, lado gudiaSvilTan erTad gamomsaxvelobiTi xerxebiTa da TematikiT im periodisTvis umniSvnelovanes suraTs _ `argonavtebs~ qmnis. am films win uZRoda ramdenime agitfilmi _ „gazafxuli“, `Zirs akvani“, „dedis xeli~. 30-ian wlebSi lado mujirma enTuziasti xelovanebi Semoikriba da qarTuli animaciis ganviTarebas kinostudiis bazaze Seqmnil `multstudiaSi~ cdilobda.

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The fate of Georgian animation films was never one of peace. Quite the contrary– in many cases, the majority of authors had only their own enthusiasm to work with, and unfortunately, this is still the case today.

In 1929, Kote Mikaberidze’s ‘My Grandmother’ was the first film in the history of Georgian cinema in which the director used animated insets. The author used a combined filming method and united real acting, drawings and puppet characters in the same frame.

Some cinema historians consider Georgian animation to have started a little later, in 1935… Together with Lado Gudiashvili, Lado Mujiri created ‘The Argonauts’, a most important film for that period in terms of expressive technique and theme. It was preceded by several ‘agit-films’ (propaganda films) – ‘Spring’, ‘Down with the Cradle’, ‘Mother’s Hand’. During the 1930s, Mujiri gathered a number of enthusiastic artists and began developing Georgian animation around “Multstudio”,

mogvianebiT, `multstudiis~ ganaxleba, vaxtang baxtaZis saxels daukavSirda. Svid seriad Seqmnili filmi `xelmarjve ostatis Tavgadasavali~ (1957) qarTuli multiplikaciisTvis novacia gaxda. nalebis, qanCebis, WanWikebis, kbilanebisagan awyobili liTonis kacuna bavSebis da mozardebis megobari gaxda da `xelmarjve ostati~ ocdaaTamde qveyanam SeiZina. kargi iqneba, Tu am personaJs isev vixilavT Tanamedrove qarTul animaciaSi, Cvens drosa da sivrceze morgebuls

created on the basis of the Film Studio.

Later, Multstudio’s renewal would be linked to Vakhtang Bakhtadze.

The seven-series film ‘Skillful Master’ (1957) was an innovation in Georgian animation. The character, made of horseshoes, wrenches, screws and prongs, became the best friend of children and

teenagers, and ‘Skillful Master’ was bought by around 30

da... saganmanaTleblo funqciiTac datvirTuls. animaciiT bavSvi ufro advilad ecnoba ama Tu im konkretuli sakiTxs, xSirad sxvams kiTxvebs da cdilobs pasuxic miiRos.

countries.

It would be great if we could see this character once again, in contemporary Georgian animation, adapted to our time and space, and loaded with an educational function. With animations, children learn more easily- they often ask questions and try to get answers.

In the Georgian mythos, parables (‘The Wolf and the Lamb’, ‘The Wise Man and the Donkey’, ‘The Forest Quartet’), folk tales (‘Komble’)

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qarTuli miTosi, igav-arakebi _ `mgeli da kravi~, „brZeni da viri~, „tyis kvarteti~; folklori, zRaprebi _ „komble~, Tu klasikos mweralTa calkeuli nawarmoebebi _ „erTi qila erbo~, „mxsneli~, „CxikvTa qorwili~, „saTaguri~, `xmeli wifeli~, `monadire~ _ qarTvel reJisorTa STagonebis wyaro araerTxel gamxdara. albaT, gadauWarbebeli iqneba Tu vityviT, rom qarTuli animaciaze saubrisas erT-erTi pirveli rac gvaxsendeba, arkadi xinTibiZis mier 1961 wels Seqmnili „wuna da wruwunaa“. qarTulma animaciam wyvetisa da xelaxla `dabadebis~ ramdenime mniSvnelovani etapi gaiara, ris paraleluradac gamomsaxvelobiTi xerxebi mdidrdeboda, Temebi ki _ icvleboda. aRniSvnis Rirsia XX saukunis 60-70-iani wlebis gamomsaxvelobiTi da Janrul-stilisturi Ziebebi. am dros Seiqmna oTar andronikaSvilis `oqro~ da karlo sulakauris „sazamTro“ _ miuziklis JanrSi gadawyvetili Tojinuri kino, ramdenime personaJiTa da jansuR kaxiZis gamorCeuli musikiT; qarTuli saxviTi xelovnebis saxasiaTo Strixebs vxvdebiT mixeil baxanovis animaciur filmSi `ranina~ (mxatvari: mamia malazonia). avtori satiruli Janris elementebiT pesonaJTa ganzogadebul krebiT saxeebs qmnis, romelTa sawyisebi calsaxad erovnulia, es yovelive misikalur kompoziciaSic vlindeba folklorisa da metyvelebis intonaciis mravalferovnebiT. 80-iani wlebSi reJisor gela kandelakis xelmZRvanelobiT qarTuli animaciis „axali talRa“

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or separate works from classic writers (‘A Jar of Butter’, ‘The Savior’, ‘Jay Wedding’, ‘Mousetrap’, ‘Dry Beech’, ‘The Hunter’) have often become sources of inspiration for Georgian directors. It would be no exaggeration to say that when talking about Georgian animation, one of the first things that comes to mind is Arkadi Khintibidze’s ‘Tsuna da Tsrutsuna’ (1961).

Georgian animation underwent several important stages of interruption and “resurrection”, in parallel to which expressive techniques were developed, and themes changed.

The expressive genre and style-related research carried out during the 1960-70s is also worth noting. This is when Otar Andronikashvili’s ‘Gold’ and Karlo Sulakauri’s ‘Watermelon’ were created – puppet animations with a strong musical presence, few characters and Jansug Kakhidze’s outstanding compositions; and we see touches of Georgian fine arts in Mikheil Bakhanov’s animation film ‘Ranina’ (animator: Mamia Malazonia). Using elements from the satire genre, the author creates generalized, collective characters clearly rooted in the national spirit which can also be heard in the diversity of the folk songs and speech intonation in the musical composition.

In the 1980s, under the leadership of director Gela Kandelaki, we see the appearance of the “New Wave” of Georgian animation. Dato Sikharulidze, Davit Takaishvili, Rezo Gvarliani, Levan Chkonia, Lado Sulakvelidze… This is a very distinctive period in which innovations came up not only in themes, but also in the genre and style: Lado Sulakvelidze’s ‘The Earth Demands its Own’; Dato Sikharulidze’s ‘Ephemera’, ‘Goose Tasiko’; and Dato Takaishvili’s ‘Plague’ which won the Grand Prix at the 1980 Cannes International Film Festival in the short films section.

modis. daTo sixaruliZe, daviT TayaiSvili, rezo gvarliani, levan Wyonia, lado sulaqveliZe... es is calsaxad gamorCeuli periodia, sadac novacia rogorc Temis arCevanSi, ise Janrul-stilistur maxasiaTeblebSic gamovlinda. lado sulaqveliZis `miwa Tavisas moiTxovs~; daTo sixaruliZis `efemera~, `gulubryvilo bati tasikos Tavgadasavali~; daTo TayaiSvilis „Wiri“ (romelmac kanis saerTaSoriso kinofestivalze 1980 wels, moklemetraJiani filmis nominaciaSi „gran pri“ miiRo).

90-ani wlebis cnobil movlenebs verc qarTuli animacia gadaurCa da mis `gacocxlebas~ ramdenime weli dasWirda. saukunis miwuruls ekranul kulturaSi damkvidrda axali informaciul teqnologiebi. 2000 wels ganaxlda studia `qarTuli filmi~ da 2008 wels, daviT sixaruliZem gadaiRo `gavardnilebi~, Tumca manmade, 2001 wels, krizisisas reJisorma nodar begiaSvilma Seqmna `ponto, Savi Savi zRva~. qarTuli animaciis istoriis ganmavlobaSi, sul 400mde filmia Seqmnili da aqedan CvenTan mxolod 70 dedani an misi aslia Semonaxuli. ZiriTadi nawili ruseTis centralur arqivSia daculi. animatorTa gildiis Tavmjdomaris, prodiuseris qeTevan janeliZes TqmiT: araerTi animaciuri filmia, romelTa arsebobis Sesaxeb mxolod gadmocemiT gvsmenia. am filmebis dabrunebiT animaciis istoria xelaxla daiwereba, dazusteba personaliebis monacemebi titrebis doneze da dRis

Georgian animation did not survive the disastrous events of the 1990s, and its “revival” took several years. The end of the century saw the appearance of new information technologies. The studio ‘Georgian Film’ was refurbished in 2000, and in 2008, Davit Sikharulidze created ‘The Outlaws’; before that in 2001, in the middle of the crisis, director Nodar Begiashvili created ‘Pontos – the Black, Black Sea’.

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wesrigSi maTi arqivSi Senaxvis sakiTxic dadgeba“.

Tanamedrove animaciis araerT problemas Soris umTavresi _ arasakmarisi dafinansebaa. animacia Sromatevadi procesia da mas ramdenime aTeuli adamianis titanuri da Tavdauzogavi Sroma sWirdeba da, amas garda, is „Zviri“ xelovnebacaa. Cvens realobaSi erTaderTi instancia, sadac avtorebs Tanxebis moZieba SeuZliaT saqarTvelos kinematografiis erovnuli centria. mis mier am sferosTvis gamoyofili Tanxa wlis ganmavlobaSi 150 000 lars Seadgens, rac evropaSi erTi moklemetraJiani animaciis biujetis mesamedic ar aris. aRarafers vambobT, dasavlur tarifebze, sadac amerikuli animaciuri filmis „madagaskaris“ mogeba _ 41 milioni, filmis warumateblobis indikatoria. maSin roca „Sreki“ 441 milion dolars, xolo „volli“ 223 milion dolar mogebas iTvlis. am filmebis Seqmnis biujeti 14-60 milionamde meryeobs, mogeba ki lamis gaaTmagebulia. cxadia es astronomiuli Tanxebi animaciis mega-studiebis „disneis“ da „piqsaris“ sivrceSia. Cven realobaSi ar arsebobs informacia, Tu romel qarTul multfilms mogebis ra maCvenebeli hqonda an aqvs.

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There are about 400 films in the history of Georgian animation, and we only have 70 of their original film stocks or copies. The majority is kept at the central Russian archive. According to producer Ketevan Janelidze, head of the Animators’ Guild, “We know of the existence of many animation films only by word of mouth. With the return of these films, the history of Georgian animation will start a new stage, information about the creative teams will be available in the titles, and the question of their preservation in our archive will arise.”

Among the many problems faced by contemporary animation, the most significant is lack of funding. Animation is a consuming process, and needs the hard and dedicated work of several dozen individuals. Apart from that, it is an “expensive” art. Today, the only institution from which authors can get money is the Georgian National Film Center (GNFC). The yearly amount dedicated by the GNFC to animation films is GEL 150,000, which isn’t even a third of a short animated film’s budget in Europe. We won’t even mention the prices in the West, where the profits of the American animation film ‘Madagascar’ – 41 million USD, are considered to indicate the film’s lack of success. ‘Shrek’ raised 441 million USD at the Box Office, and ‘WALLE’ 223 million USD. The budgets for creating these films span from 14 to 60 million USD, which means that their profits have been

xSirad ismis kiTxva, ra Rirs qarTuli animaciuri filmi? qeTevan janeliZis TqmiT: `es yvelaze xSirad dasmuli araswori SekiTxvaa, jer unda ganvsazRvroT ra gvinda da Semdeg daviTvaloT xarji. standartulad, „qarTuli tarifebiT“, erT srulmetraJian animaciur films Sesaqmnelad 3 weli sWirdeba da xarjis aTvla 3 milionidan iwyeba. Tanamedrove animaciuri filmis Seqmnis procesSi axali kadrebis momzadeba/gadamzadebaa saWiro. aucilebelia, mxatvrebis daintereseba dargis ganviTarebisTvis. kargi mxatvari, romelic xatavs ilustracias da pirobiTad, minimalur N lars iRebs, mas es anazRaureba, kolosalur Sromad ar uRirs. 8 wuTiani xeliT naxati animaciisTvis, daaxloebiT 15 aTasi naxati Seqmnaa saWiro...~ saqarTveloSi xarisxiani animaciuri kinos keTebis erT-erTi alternativa ko-produqciis arsebobaa. amis warmatebuli magaliTia axalgazrda qarTveli avtoris daviT kiknaveliZis moklemetraJiani, 3D sivrceSi Sesrulebuli animaciuri filmi _ „jino“. 2013 wels avtori robert boSis kinoprizis mflobeli gaxda; 2017 wels mayurebeli pirvel qarTul-germanul koproduqciasac ixilavs. ekologiis problemaze Seqmnili TviTmyofadi, avtoris individualuri xedviT da saTqmeliT gamorCeuli suraTi, mozardebisa da ufrosi TaobisaTvis Tanabarzomierad sainteresoa. filmis saqarTveloSi warmoeba pirveli dadebiTi precedentia, imeds gviCens, rom CvenTanac SesaZlebelia xarisxiani, konkurentunariani animaciis Seqmna. kvalificiuri kadrebis arasakmaris raodenobasTan erTad, problema ukve mza produqciis gavrcelebis arealia. lokaluri festivalebi „Tofuzi“ (baTumi, aWara), „niqozi“ (niqozi, Sida qarTli“) yovelwliurad ucxoeul avtorebs maspinZlobs, es erTaderTi sivrcea sadac axali qarTuli animaciis xilvaa SesaZlebeli. „niqozis“ festivalis erT-erTi organizatori, germaniaSi moRvawe reJisoris mariam kandelakis TqmiT _ `festivali

almost ten times higher. Naturally, these astronomical amounts are relevant only in the field of animation mega-studios such as Disney and Pixar. In Georgia, we have no information about what profit this or that local animation film has made.

We often hear questions about the cost of a Georgian animated film, though. According to Ketevan Janelidze: “This reoccurring question isn’t asked in the right way. We first have to define exactly what we want, and then count the expenses. As a standard, with “Georgian tariffs,” the creation of one feature animation film needs three years, and the expenses start at three million. We need to prepare/train new professionals to create contemporary animation films. It is absolutely necessary to raise the interest of artists in the development of this field. A good artist who draws good illustrations and is paid the minimum wage for it, won’t feel it is worth time working on a colossal project. For an eight-minute hand drawn animation film, you need around 15,000 drawings…”

One of the alternatives to creating quality animation films in Georgia is co-production. One successful example of this is Georgian author Davit Kiknavelidze’s short 3D animation film ‘Geno’, which won the Robert Bosch Film Prize in 2013. We will be able to see this first Georgian-German animation film in 2017. This picture distinguishes itself by the author’s individual vision and stance on the subject of environmental problems, and will be equally interesting for teenagers and adults. The fact that it was produced in Georgia is a first precedent, and shows that here, too, it is possible to create a highquality, competitive animation.

Together with the lack of qualified professionals, there is also the problem of distributing the finished product. Local festivals ‘Tofuzi’ (Batumi, Achara), ‘Nikozi’ (Nikozi, Shida Kartli) host foreign authors each year, and are the only spaces where it is possible to watch Georgian animation films. According to Mariam Kandelaki, a director working in Germany and one of the Nikozi Animation Film Festival organizers, “the festival tries to develop the field of animation film in Georgia with the active help of other, partner festivals. In 2015, with the support of the Annecy Animation Film Festival and the GNFC, we initiated a workshop for animation projects. The winner, Ana Chubinidze, was given the chance to present her project to producers

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cdilobs sxva damegobrebul festivalebTan aqtiuri TanamSromlobiT erToblivad ganvaviTaroT animaciis sfero saqarTveloSi. 2015 wels Cveni iniciativiT, „ansis“ festivalis da saqarTvelos kinematografiis erovnuli centris TanadgomiT, daviwyeT animaciuri proeqtis `vorqSofis~ Catareba. gamarjvebuls, ana CubiniZes saSualeba mieca „ansis“ bazrobaze prodiuserebis da distributorebis winaSe waredgina proeqti. swored prezentaciis Semdeg dainteresda cnobili franguli kompania `folimaJi“ da... qarTul studia `kvali XXI~-Tan TanamSromlobiT, pirveli qarTul-franguli erToblivi animacia _ „jibis kaci“ Seiqmna. animaciis scenari yvelaze xSirad erTi idea, erTi azria, romelic Tavis formas fanqris pirveli monaxazis gakeTebisTanave iZens. „jibis kaci“ xeliT naxati

and distributors at the Annecy market, which resulted in her catching the interest of famous French studio Folimage in the project, following which, in collaboration with Georgian studio Kvali XXI, the first Georgian-French animation, ‘Pocket Man’, was created.”

Animation scripts often stem from one idea, one thought that takes shape with the very first line that is drawn. ‘Pocket Man’ is a hand drawn, original short animation film in pastel colors, in which the idea and expression means harmonically fitting the prescribed dramaturgy. The premiere of the young author’s debut film took place in February, during the New York International Children’s Film Festival, and will be screened at 11 other prestigious festivals.

Mamuka Tkeshelashvili’s animation film ‘Sunset’ had a successful start in festival life, selected by the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in 2016. In 2017, the premiere of Natia Nikolaishvili’s ‘Lile’

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pastelur ferebSi gadawyvetili, gamorCeuli xelweris moklemetraJiani animaciuri filmia, romelSic idea da gamomsaxvelobiTi formebi harmoniulad ergeba, zustad gaweril dramaturgias. axalgazrda avtoris sadebiuto filmis premiera TebervalSi niu iorkis festivalze Sedga da 11 sxva prestiJul festivalzea miwveuli. warmatebuli safestivalo starti hqonda mamuka tyeSelaSvilis animaciur films „mzis Casvla“, romelic 2016 wels `ansis~ saerTaSoriso moklemetraJiani filmebis festivalma SearCia. 2017 wlis naTia nikolaiSvilis „lile“-s premiera berlinis 67-e saerTaSoriso kinofestivalze Sedga. filmi erovnuli kinocentris proeqtis ganviTarebis farglebSi dafinansda. avtori 4 wlis ganmavlobaSi damoukideblad ganagrZobda filmze muSaobas. bolo periodis qarTuli animaciebidan aRsaniSnavia: paata Sengelias `van gogi~; petre TomaZis `pomidori~; ilia aglaZis „saTaguri“, sandro qaTamaSvilis `bebo~, mariam kandelakis `vefxvi da moyme~ da sxv.

2017 wels mayurebeli ixilavs nana samaniSvilis „zolemias“, sadac pirovnebis identobis sakiTxia win wamoweuli. avtoris TqmiT, animaciis Seqmnis procesSi Zveli da axali Taobis warmomadgenlebi erToblivad muSaodnen, rac Tavis mxriv, pozitiuri precendentia.

Zveli Taobis, 80-iani wlebis „axali talRis“ warmomadgenlis lado sulaqveliZis „frani“ gansakuTrebuli aRniSvnis Rirsia. or ganzomilebian sivrceSi rotoskopiis teqnikiT Seqmnili moklemetraJiani filmi ramdenime epoqas aerTianebs. minimalisturi Txrobis maneras musikaluri xazi met damajereblobas sZens. Txrobisas avtori feris dramaturgias mimarTavs, Sav-TeTr monoqronulobaSi wiTeli feris uecari SemoWra filmis kulminaciuri momentia. wels kidev erTi axal qarTul animacias ixilavs mayurebeli. mamuka tyeSelaSvilis „meTevze da gogona“ _ Janrul-stilisturi TvalsazrisiT originaluri Tojinuri animaciaa, mama-Svilis urTierTobaze.

2000 wlidan dRemde animaciaSi saintereso procesebi mimdinareobs, bolo 3 wlis ganmavlobaSi ki qarTuli produqcia warmatebiT imkvidrebs Tavs sxvadasxva saerTaSoriso festivalze. animaciis ganviTareba, rTuli da kompleqsuri procesia. problemebis mTel jaWvs, mxolod calkeuli avtorebis filmebis warmateba ver gadaWris. saWiroa saxelmwifos da kerZo seqtoris mxridan meti mxardaWera, televiziis rolis gazrda, materialur teqnikuri bazis gaZliereba da axalgazrda kadrebis gadamzadeba, axali animaciuri filmebis qarTvel mayureblamde mitana. iqneb, yvela procesis pozitiurma cvlilebam Tanamedrove animaciis axali `axali talRac“ ki dabados. neno qavTaraZe

took place at the 67th Berlin Film Festival. The development of the film was funded by the GNFC. The author worked on the film by herself for four years.

Among others, the following Georgian animation films are also noteworthy: Paata Shengelia’s ‘Van Gogh’; Petre Tomadze’s ‘The Tomato’; Ilia Agladze’s ‘Mousetrap’, Sandro Katamashvili’s ‘Granny’; Mariam Kandelaki’s ‘The Tiger and the Man’.

In 2017, the public will be able to watch Nana Samanishvili’s ‘Zolemia’, in which she investigates the question of individual identity.

According to the author, the old and new generation of animators worked hand-in-hand in the process of creating this film, which is a positive aspect in itself.

‘Kite’, by Lado Sulakvelidze, a representative of the older generation’s “New Wave” from the 1980s, is particularly worth noting. This short animation film was created with a rotoscope and unites several epochs. The musical score underlines the minimalistic storytelling method with the author using color dramaturgy in his narrative, suddenly introducing red in the monochrome during the film’s culmination.

Yet another new Georgian animation film will be made available to the public this year: Mamuka Tkeshelashvili’s ‘Fisherman and the Girl’ – an original puppet animation in terms of style, revolving about the relationship between a father and his daughter.

Since the year 2000, many interesting processes have come to light in the field of animation films, and Georgian animation has been successfully establishing itself at various international festivals over these three last years. The development of the field is a difficult and complex process. There are a lot of problems, and the success of a few independent authors won’t be able to overcome them. More support is needed from the State and the private sector, the role of television needs to be expanded, the material and technical capabilities strengthened, new professionals trained, and new animation films shown to the Georgian audience. With luck, a positive change in all these processes will bring about a new “New Wave” in contemporary Georgian animation.

Neno Kavtaradze

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rom mReroda maCabeli ivane maCablis saxelobis cxinvalis qarTuli dramatuli Teatri ucnauri bedisaa; mas daarsebidan 140 weli Seusrulda da... ukanaskneli 26 weli devnilobaSia! albaT, msoflioSi ar arsebobs Teatraluri dasi, devnili rom iyos Tavissave mamulSi, usaxlkarod da mainc agrZelebdes speqtaklebis TamaSs. scenaze TamaSis survili xom dauZleveli vnebaa!..

That Machabeli sang The Ivane Machabeli Tskhinvali Georgian Drama Theater has a strange history: it now counts 140 years of existence and... has been internally displaced for the last 26! There is probably no other theater company in the world that is displaced in its own country, has no home but still continues staging plays. Acting on stage really is an irresistible passion, it seems!

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diax, swored 140 wlis win Camoyalibda cxinvalSi Teatri. pirveli speqtaklebi ivane da zaal maCablebis TaosnobiT imarTeboda. mogvianebiT Teatrs ivane maCablis saxeli mieniWa, romelsac Rirseulad atarebs dRemde. rom ar yofiliyo ivane maCabeli, qarTuli Teatri ver ametyveldeboda Seqspiriseuli eniT! rom ar yofiliyo Sida qarTlis, kerZod ki samaCablos wminda qarTuli geni, mixeil javaxiSvili ar miaSurebda mas ZarRviani qarTuli enis Sesaswavlad! rom ar yofiliyo cxinvalis ivane maCablis saxelobis qarTuli Teatri da misi gonieri, gmiri msaxiobebi, saqarTvelos sulierebisa da kulturis oaziss erTi xasxasa feri moakldeboda. samaCablos saamayod mxolod krwanisis gmirebic eyofa. mefe erekles karis Teatri, _ maCablis Teatri, laSqris wina xazze rom idga da xelSi xmliTa da simReriT egebeboda sikvdils.

TiTqmis ori saukunis Semdeg ki maCablis dasi Ralatis, dapirispirebis da omis msxverpli gaxda... maT iZulebiT daatovebines mSobliuri kuTxe, saxl-kari, Teatris ulamazesi Senoba (romelic cota xanSi nangrevebad da nacrad iqca mTeli Tavisi Teatraluri simdidriT). im avbediT dros Teatrs axalgazrda xelmZRvanelebi hyavda: samxatvro xelmZRvaneli _ gogi gabilaia da direqtori, _ zaal TediaSvili, romlebmac SeZles _ dasi dabinaves da Teatris cxovreba axali, `mZime~ furclidan dawyes. rTuli iyo es gza _ rekvizitis, garderobis, teqnikuri aRWurvilobis Tavidan Segroveba, axali repertuaris Seqmna; amas Tan mcire biujeti da Senobidan SenobaSi momTabare cxovreba (Teatrma TbilisSi sami Senoba

It’s been 140 years since a theater was founded in Tskhinvali- the first plays staged by Ivane and Zaal Machabeli. Later, the theater was named after Ivane Machabeli and proudly carries the name to this day.

Had it not been for Ivane Machabeli, Georgian Theater would not have begun conversing in Shakespeare’s words! Had it not been for the pure Georgian genes of Shida Kartli and specifically Samachablo, Mikheil Javakhishvili would not have gone there to study the sinewy Georgian language! Had it not been for the Ivane Machabeli Georgian Theater and its intelligent, heroic actors, one bright color would be missing from Georgia’s spiritual and cultural oasis!

The Krtsanisi heroes alone are enough for the Samachablo region to pride itself on- the Theater of King Erekle’s Court, the Machabeli

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gamoicvala) erTvoda, magram miuxedavad yovelisa, miRweuli SemoqmedebiTi warmatebebi malamod edeboda jer kidev mouSuSebel Wrilobebs... dRes cxinvalis Teatri erT-erTi warmatebuli Teatria, romelsac ukve eqvsi welia gamorCeuli reJisori, _ goCa kapanaZe xelmZRvanelobs. umZimes pirobebSi, SenobaSi, sadac gapartaxebul scenaze wvims da ufro metad civa, vidre

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Theater, was on the frontline of the battle and welcomed death with sword in hand and singing all the while.

Almost two centuries later, the Machabeli Company fell victim to betrayal, dissent and war... and the actors were forced to leave their native region, their home, their beautiful theater building (soon reduced to rubble and dust, its theatrical treasures destroyed within).

In those dark times, the Theater had young directors: its artistic

gareT, batoni goCa, dasTan erTad, saocar speqtaklebs qmnis... „bednierebaa, rodesac Teatri Tavis saTqmels erovnuli dramaturgiis saSualebiT gadmoscems“, _ ambobs Tamaz WilaZe. batonma goCam eqvsi speqtakli ganaxorciela da eqvsive qarTuli: giorgi erisTavis „uCinmaCinis qudi“, daviT kldiaSvilis „aznaurebi?!“, daviT turaSvilis „matarebeli“, nodar dumbaZis „me, bebia, iliko da ilarioni“, mixeil javaxiSvilis „jayo“ da „kvaWi“. aRsaniSnavia, rom 2014 wels speqtakli „jayo“ wlis saukeTeso reJisorul namuSevrad, xolo amave speqtaklis musika _speqtaklisaTvis Seqmnil wlis saukeTeso originalur musikad dasaxelda. 2016 wels, TurqeTis qalaq sideSi speqtakli „jayo“ saerTaSoriso Teatraluri festivalis mTavari prizis mflobeli gaxda. baton goCas ki Jiuris Tavmjdomarem, speqtakliT aRfrTovanebulma qalbatonma Stefani luknerma, gansakuTrebuli prizi gadasca. cxinvalis Teatris msaxiobma cotne xubutiam gaimarjva „wlis saukeTeso Teatraluri qmnilebis“ nominaciaSi, _ „wlis saukeTeso axalgazrda vaJi“ _ kvaWis rolis SesrulebisTvis speqtaklSi „kvaWi“ da qarTuli Teatris kvlevis centris 2016 wlis Semajamebeli konkursis nominaciaSi, _ „saukeTeso debiuti“.

director Gogi Gabilaia and director Zaal Tediashvili were able to find a new home for the Company and start Theater life again from a new, difficult place. It was a hard life – gathering new props, a new wardrobe and technical equipment from scratch, creating a new repertoire; in addition, dealing with a tiny budget and moving from one building to another (the theater changed buildings three times in Tbilisi), but despite all the obstacles, the achieved creative successes were like a soothing balm for wounds still unhealed.

Today, Tskhinvali Theater is one of the most successful, and for the last six years, it has been managed by Gocha Kapanadze, an exceptional director. In the most difficult conditions, in a building where it rains on the ravaged stage and the air within is colder than outside, Kapanadze stages amazing plays with his company.

“It brings me such happiness when a theater expresses itself using national dramaturgy,” says Tamaz Chiladze. Kapanadze has staged six plays and they are all Georgian: ‘Cap of Invisibility’ by Giorgi Eristavi, ‘Noblemen?!’ by Davit Kldiashvili, ‘Train’ by Davit Turashvili, ‘Me, Grandma, Iliko and Ilarion’ by Nodar Dumbadze, and ‘Jako’ and ‘Kvachi’ by Mikheil Javakhishvili. The 2014 play ‘Jako’ was nominated for Best Play Direction of the Year and for having the Best Original Play Score of the Year. In 2016, ‘Jako’ received the main award at the International Theater Festival of the city of Side in Turkey. A special

95

qebis Rirsia yoveli msaxiobisa Tu reJisoris,

prize was given to Gocha Kapanadze by Stephanie Luckner, the head

teqnikuri personalisa Tu administraciis, mayureblisa

of the voters’ committee, who was enchanted by the play. Tskhinvali

Tu kritikosis Sroma, vinc sxvadasxva dros ase

Theater actor Tsotne Khubutia won the Best Theatrical Creation of the

TavdadebiT emsaxura erovnul saTeatro kulturas

Year in the Best Young Male Actor category for his portrayal of Kvachi

am metad rTulsa da saxifaTo kuTxeSi. qarTuli

in the play ‘Kvachi’ and was also elected ‘Best Debut’ in the summation

enisa da erovnuli xelovnebis sadarajoze yofna,

competition of 2016 by the Georgian Theater Research Center.

xom niSnavs samSoblos, qarTveli eris, qarTuli kulturis msaxurebas, amiT ki, Zalze sagulisxmo misiis aRsrulebas. cxinvalis Teatri, kavkasionis qedis msgavsad, bastioniviT iyo aRmarTuli da medgrad icavda saqarTvelos sazRvars, mSobliur enas!

Tavisi xangrZlivi arsebobis ganmavlobaSi Teatrs warmatebac bevrjer ugemia da marcxic, erTgulebac da Ralatic... magram isini arasodes saubroben amaze. arc gasaWirze Civian da arc warmateba axvevT Tavbrus.

Rirseulad xvdebian cxovrebis yvela gamowvevas. radgan Rrmad swamT, rom adre Tu gvian, aucileblad daubrundebian mSobliur cxinvals, maT „ZiZa-miwas“, rogorc amas mixeil javaxiSvili ityoda, kvlavac amayad dadgebian sanukvar scenaze da xmamaRla, mTeli qveynis gasagonad ityvian: `hopla, Cven vcocxlobT!~.

Due praise should go to the work of each actor and director, technical staff and administration, audience member and critic, everyone who dedicated themselves to the national Theater culture in different times, in this very difficult and dangerous region. To promote the Georgian language and national art means to serve one’s country, people, culture and thus accomplish a very significant mission. The Tskhinvali Theater, not unlike the Caucasian Ridge, stood tall and defended Georgian borders and its mother tongue valiantly!

During its long existence, the Theater has seen much success and much failure as well, faithfulness and betrayal... but they never talk about this. They never complain about the hard times, nor does the success go to their heads. They face each challenge life presents with dignity, because they strongly believe that sooner or later they will be able to go back to their native Tskhinvali, their “nursing-land”, as Mikheil Javakhishvili would say; that they will stand proudly once again on the stage they have been longing for and say loudly, for the entire country to hear: “Hopla, we live!”

P.S. dRevandeli mdgomareoba ki aseTia: cxinvalis ivane maCablis saxelobis profesiuli saxelmwifo dramatuli

P.S. The current situation is as follows - the Tskhinvali Ivane Machabeli

Teatri kvlav Senobis gareSea, magram imediT uyurebs

Professional State Drama Theater once again has no building to

momavals, radgan sjera, rom kulturis saministro

function in, but it looks to the future with hope, as it believes that

izrunebs am Teatris dabinavebaze da kvlavac xels

the Ministry of Culture will give the Theater a place and continue

Seuwyobs mis SemoqmedebiT winsvlas.

promoting its further creative growth.

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