TEDxTbilisi - John Wurdeman - Tradition: How The Ancient Becomes Cutting Edge (tedxtbilisi.com)

(tedxtbilisi.com) John Wurdeman discusses his life's journey seeking out traditional folk music, dance and ways of life and argues that children of more "closed" cultures have more freedom of expression, and in the "freer" world often creativity is limited.

John Wurdeman was born in 1975 into a family of artists in Santa Fe, New Mexico and is himself an artist and painter. He studied painting at the Maryland Institute of Art in 1991 and completed his graduate studies in painting at the Surikov Institute in Moscow in 1998. His works have been exhibited worldwide and form part of multiple museum collections.

John is also an avid ethnographer and has conducted fieldwork in Georgia, collecting Georgian folk music and songs, ceramics, carpets and kilns since 1995. He has given lectures on Georgian ethnography at Princeton, Yale, Cornell, and other prestigious educational institutions.

In 2007, John co-founded Pheasants Tears, a boutique winery focused on traditional Georgian grape varietals and qvevri wine-making methods. His wines are currently available in 10 countries and have become popular in Georgia as well. He also started a side wine tourism business, sharing his love for Georgian wine, food, and music with others.

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