ART: Georgian Artist Levan Mindiashvili, Works in Blurb (blurb.com)

Web Site www.levan-m.com
Location New York

(blurb.com) Levan Mindiashvili was born in 1979 in Tbilisi, Georgia and lives and works in New York. In 2003 he graduated from Tbilisi State Academy of Arts and the same year started intensively exhibiting his works in Europe. He had participated in numerous international exhibitions and art fairs and was twice awarded with the 1st prize (Impulse 2005, Osnabrueck and OW_Art 2007, Buchen).

In 2008 - 2012 he lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina where he realized his master degree in the field of crossed media art at the National University of Art of Buenos Aires. He was awarded with the 3rd prize for drawing by the Museo Metropolitano (Bs.As.) and together with other twelve artists was selected as emerging artist of 2012: Movistar Arte Joven 2012.

Currently, parallel to his solo career and as a continuation of his curatorial practice which he started in Buenos Aires, Levan organizes international group projects investigating the cultural heritage and identity issues in contemporary societies.

Levan Mindiashvili by Levan Mindiashvili | Make Your Own Book

Book description: Recent works by Levan Mindiashvili. 

Introduction text by Dr. Wolfgang Till Busse - “Urban Identities” is a personal, subjective investigation of urban space, architecture and city structure based on living experiences in New York, Buenos Aires and Tbilisi. It is a private diary, in which “public space” becomes a playground for revelations of personal approaches, intimacies and memories. Overlapping silhouettes are creating a time-space continuum for this extended journey into constructions of a very complex, almost puzzle-like, structure named Identity." (Levan Mindiashvili) 

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Levan Mindiashvili RECENT WORKS by Levan MIndiashvili | Make Your Own Book

Levan Mindiashvili - recent works
Introduction texts in English and German

About the Author
Levan Mindiashvili

Levan Mindiashvili was born in 1979 in Tbilisi, Georgia and lives and works in New York. In 2003 he graduated from Tbilisi State Academy of Arts and the same year started intensively exhibiting his works in Europe. He had participated in numerous international exhibitions and art fairs and was twice awarded with the 1st prize (Impulse 2005, Osnabrueck and OW_Art 2007, Buchen).

In 2008 - 2012 he lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina where he realized his master degree in the field of crossed media art at the National University of Art of Buenos Aires. He was awarded with the 3rd prize for drawing by the Museo Metropolitano (Bs.As.) and together with other twelve artists was selected as emerging artist of 2012: Movistar Arte Joven 2012.

Currently, parallel to his solo career and as a continuation of his curatorial practice which he started in Buenos Aires, Levan organizes international group projects investigating the cultural heritage and identity issues in contemporary societies.

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: Professor for Caucasus Studies at the FSU Jena (tenured position, W3) at the earliest possible date. (h-net.org)

(h-net.org) Friedrich Schiller University in Jena is seeking to fill a position as Professor for Caucasus Studies (tenured position, W3) at the earliest possible date.

The University Professor will be required to cover Caucasus Studies from an interdisciplinary perspective both in teaching and research; to continue and develop existing teaching and research collaboration with the chair; to master one or more languages of the Caucasus region and to hold a record of third-party funds acquisition. The candidate is required to develop a teaching concept that will strengthen the position of the University's existing BA- and MA education, and he or she must be able to successfully teach students of other disciplines who choose to take courses in Caucasus Studies.

We are looking for a candidate with an academic background in Philology, History or Ethnology who has conducted in-depth research in the region and who is connected to a regional academic network in the Caucasus. Furthermore, we expect the candidate to have experience in interdisciplinary integrated research projects (Verbundforschung) and he or she must have a proven record of the ability to use innovative research designs in outreach activities and publications.

Friedrich Schiller University is an equal opportunity employer, striving to increase the share of women in the university and we strongly encourage women to apply. In case of equal qualifications, applications from challenged persons are favored.

In case of a first-time professorial appointment, employment will be on tenure-track basis.

Please submit your application with the usual documentation (cover letter, curriculum vitae, documents) electronically to jobs_facultyofarts@uni-jena.de.

Applications are accepted in German or English. All applications must entail the application form that can be downloaded at uni-jena.de.

Should you have any queries regarding the position or the selection procedure, please do not hesitate to contact Managing Director (Geschäftsführer) Dr. des. Matthias Braun

phone: +49.3641.9.44000

mail: matthias.braun@uni-jena.de
Website: www.uni-jena.de/Universität/Stellenmarkt
Primary Category: Area Studies
Secondary Categories: Anthropology
Asian History / Studies
Contemporary History
Cultural History / Studies
Ethnic History / Studies
Humanities
Intellectual History
Languages
Linguistics
Literature
Russian or Soviet History / Studies
Posting Date: 12/19/2013
Closing Date: 01/31/2014

TBILISI: Festival – Restaurant Divan: experiencing new authentic cuisine. By Baia Dzagnidze (georgiatoday.ge)

(georgiatoday.ge) The newly reopened Restaurant Divan under the management of the Kala Group, offers European and Asian cuisine on its ground floor and lounge area, with a special touch from chef Konstantin Tedeluri.

The venue has not been radically changed under the new management and still has three floors and features a restaurant, lounge and club. According to Tazo Davarashvili, the manager, they altered the lounge area and brought a new menu and dishes. Maia Sumbadze’s scorched and embossed paintings on wood decorate the lounge walls.

Tedeluri notes that the meals they offer are unique and unusual, seldom found in other Georgian restaurants. European cuisine on the ground floor features dishes like shrimp spring rolls, French baguette, pizza, spaghetti, chicken fillet with Dutch cheese, and berries and creamy sauce. Meanwhile the Asian menu covers Japanese, Thai and Chinese classics like sushi, Kung Pao and Teriyaki Chicken.

The chef revealed that the beef fillet sautйed in red wine and plums served with wild rice was the restaurant’s most special dish. “We also have Georgian desserts made in a European way, such as Kada baked in puff pastry served with ice-cream and cherry jam,” he explains adding that the kitchen offers home-made lemonades of various flavors including ginger, pomegranate and lemon.

Chef Tedeluri also notes that he uses only fresh ingredients and home-made dressings, and has completely removed mayonnaise and ketchup from his kitchen.

“As the owners are Ukrainians, they requested to have seven traditional dishes in the menu, including Pelmeni [dumplings], Borsch and cutlet. However, I completely broke from tradition. For instance, Pelmeni are not served in clay pots, but in Chinese plates and with chopsticks,” he clarifies.

Teleduri acquired his culinary experience and knowledge in Berlin, where he worked in two Georgian restaurants, Mimino and Genatsvale as well as in Gacha and Pasternatti. He is fully proficient in Georgian cuisine but packages meals in a more modern style. “Cooking is not only my profession, but I enjoy it to the fullest,” says Tedeluri adding that he pays high attention to the quality of a meal, and would rather wait an extra ten minutes for a high quality meal, than be presented an inferior dish but in a shorter time.

During his nine years in Berlin, he participated in several international festivals including Grune Woche [Green Week] presenting Georgian meals to the German capital’s public. Since his return to Georgia last year, he has been working at Maestro TV in the MagtiFun project and now has his show on Thursdays on Dgis Show on Imedi TV.

Each Friday and Saturday the venue puts on different events, live music and DJs. In addition, special cultural evenings are planned on Thursdays and Saturdays. 

links: 
de.foursquare.com/festival--restaurant-divan
facebook.com/divantbilisi  

Konzertgelände · Lounge · Nachtclub
3/5 Tabidze Street, Tiflis 
+995 599 01 88 84

INTERVIEW: Stalin-Kult in Georgien: "Wir müssen uns trauen, auch unangenehme Fragen zu stellen" (Lasha Bakradze) (tagesspiegel.de)

(tagesspiegel.de) Das Gespräch führte Jana Demnitz 

Bildergalerie: Stalin-Verehrung in Georgien

Lasha Bakradze, Historiker und Leiter des georgischen Literaturmuseums in TiflisFoto Jana Demnitz

 
In der Ukraine wurde eine Lenin-Statur erst kürzlich vom Sockel gerissen. In Georgien soll nach nur drei Jahren eine Stalin-Statur wieder aufgestellt werden. Ein Interview über die Stalin-Verehrung mit dem georgischen Historiker Lasha Bakradze.

In Stalins Geburtsstadt Gori erlebt der Besucher ein bizarres Schauspiel. Stalin-Büsten, Stalin-Portraits, Stalin-Fotos. In diesem "Erinnerungsmuseum" werden weder Stalins Verbrechen noch die der kommunistischen Herrschaft ausführlich aufgearbeitet und thematisiert. Dabei wurden allein zwischen 1921 und 1941 72.000 Georgier erschossen und 200.000 deportiert. Wie beurteilen Sie als Historiker das aktuelle Verhältnis der Georgier zu der 70-jährigen sowjetischen Okkupation und Stalin selbst?

Ich glaube, zunächst muss man die kommunistische Ideologie bis zur georgischen Unabhängigkeit 1991 und die Stalin-Ära bis 1953 von einander trennen.

Meiner Meinung nach hat die in Georgien sehr verbreitete Stalin-Verehrung weniger etwas mit einem nostalgischen Rückblick auf die Sowjetzeit und der kommunistischen Herrschaft zu tun als vielmehr mit der Tatsache, dass Stalin ein Georgier war. Das sind ganz primitive Gründe und Verhaltensweisen. Da müssen wir uns gar nichts vormachen. Er war ein starker Georgier, der über ein großes Reich herrschte. Für viele Georgier ist das immer noch ein Grund, stolz zu sein. Sogar die Georgier, die antikommunistisch und antisowjetisch eingestellt waren, haben Sympathien für ihn. Ich habe oft Georgier sagen hören, wir wurden von Stalin unterdrückt und geknechtet, aber zumindest hat er auch das restliche Imperium geknechtet. Das ist einer dieser idiotischen Gründe, warum die Menschen ihn heute immer noch verehren.

Können Sie konkrete Zahlen über die Stalin-Verehrung in Georgien nennen?

Im vergangenen Jahr wurde von der Carnegie Stiftung für internationalen Frieden eine soziologische Umfrage in Russland, Armenien, Aserbaidschan und in Georgien zur Einstellung gegenüber Stalin durchgeführt. In Georgien war das bisher die erste wissenschaftliche Untersuchung dieser Art überhaupt. Demnach haben 45 Prozent der Georgier eine positive Einstellung gegenüber Stalin, 69 Prozent bezeichnen ihn sogar als einen "weisen Anführer". Ich hatte erwartet, dass viele Menschen ihn immer noch sympathisch finden, aber ich hatte nicht erwartet, dass es mehr Georgier als Russen sind. Die Stalin-Verehrung in Russland von rund 28 Prozent hat aber andere Gründe, die zudem vom Putin-Regime sehr gefördert wird. Putin betrachtet Stalin als Hauptfigur der alten Sowjetunion, um den Mythos des starken Führers aufrecht zu erhalten. Für ihn ist das ein Mittel des eigenen Machterhalts.

Wie erklären Sie sich diese mehrheitlich positive Einstellung gegenüber Stalin in Georgien?

Die Georgier haben sich bisher nicht ernsthaft mit Stalins Verbrechen auseinandergesetzt. Es gibt so gut wie keine Bücher auf Georgisch, die Stalin als Massenmörder und seine Verbrechen behandeln. In der Schule lernen die Kinder nicht, was detailliert das Totalitäre an dem Stalin-System war. Dabei forcierte Stalin gerade hier in Georgien auf brutalste Weise die Sowjetisierung. Er wollte Moskau beweisen, er ist kein georgischer Patriot.

In Deutschland begann gleich nach dem Fall des Hitler-Regimes mit den Nürnberger Prozessen die Aufarbeitung des Naziregimes. In den 1960er Jahren fragten die Jungen die Alten, was habt ihr damals eigentlich getan. So etwas gab es weder in der Sowjetunion noch in Georgien nicht. In den 1990er Jahren hatten wir hier fundamentale Probleme. Für diese kritische Aufarbeitung war keine Zeit. Aber auch heute wollen sich immer noch nicht viele Menschen mit dieser traumatischen Stalin-Zeit auseinandersetzen. Es gibt viele Bücher darüber auf Russisch und in anderen Sprachen, aber eben nicht auf Georgisch. Es gibt dazu so wenig Literatur, dass es schon peinlich ist. Wenn an den Schulen, in den Universitäten und auch im Fernsehen ausführlicher über die Verbrechen informiert werden würde, wäre schon viel getan in diesem Land.

Direkt im Zentrum von Tiflis gibt es seit wenigen Jahren das "Museum der sowjetischen Okkupation". Ist dieses Museum, wenn es um eine kritische Auseinandersetzung mit der georgischen Geschichte geht, also nur ein Tropfen auf dem heißen Stein?

Absolut! Zudem findet in diesem Museum der Okkupationsgeschichte eine komplette Schwarz-Weiß-Malerei statt. Dafür habe ich das Museum auch schon mehrfach kritisiert. Schon der Name sagt ja, wir sind nur okkupiert worden. Das stimmt auch. 1921 wurde Georgien okkupiert und annektiert. Aber alles was danach kam wie die Kollaboration – darüber wird geschwiegen. Aber man kann der Sowjetzeit in Georgien nicht gerecht werden, wenn man sagt, wir sind nur okkupiert worden und ich habe meine Hände in Unschuld gewaschen. Dieses Museum wird der Realität nicht gerecht. Hier in Georgien waren 70 Jahre die Kommunisten an der Macht. Mit Ausnahme von wenigen Menschen haben die meisten mit ihnen kollaboriert. Eine Aufarbeitung wird nicht glücken, wenn wir Georgier uns nicht selbst kritisch fragen, warum das so war.

Sehen Sie dennoch Tendenzen einer schrittweisen Annäherung an dieses Thema?

Es scheint langsam ein Interesse daran zu geben. Vor allem auch in diesem Jahr, wo in verschiedenen Dörfern und Städten Stalin-Denkmäler wieder aufgetaucht sind. Ich habe selbst an mehreren Diskussionen dazu teilgenommen. Solche Debatten und Gesprächsrunden erlebe ich in dieser Form zum ersten Mal in Georgien. Ende der 1980er Jahre während der Perestroika wurde kurzzeitig schon einmal viel darüber geschrieben. Für viele waren das schockierende Geschichten. Mehr als zwanzig Jahre sind seit dem Zerfall der Sowjetunion vergangenen, vielen Menschen geht es langsam wirtschaftlich besser. Jetzt könnte die Zeit für die Aufarbeitung gekommen sein. Wir haben aber auch viel Zeit verloren. Heute leben nur noch sehr wenige Opfer und Täter, die über die Verbrechen in der Stalin-Ära sprechen können. Zusammen mit ein paar Mitstreitern habe ich deshalb die Gruppe "Topographie des Terrors" gegründet. Wir bieten Führungen zu Häusern hier in der Altstadt von Tiflis an, wo wir den Menschen erzählen, was unter der kommunistischen Herrschaft hinter diesen Fassaden passiert ist.

Wie zu besten Sowjetzeiten wird im Stalin-Museum in Gori mit diversen Exponaten an den Diktator erinnert. Was denken Sie über diese Art der Erinnerung?

Es ist ein schockierender Ort. Man überlegt schon seit Jahren, was man mit diesem Museum machen soll. Meiner Meinung nach gibt es jetzt unter der neuen Regierung tatsächlich den politischen Willen, etwas in Gori zu verändern. Im Kulturministerium wurde eine kleine Gruppe von Historikern und Ministeriumsmitarbeitern gegründet, die ernsthaft überlegt, was mit dem Stalin-Museum passieren soll. So grotesk dieses Museum auch ist, in der seit Jahrzehnten nicht veränderten Ausstellungsform ist es auch einmalig. Und diese Einmaligkeit muss bewahrt werden. Aber neben dieser primitiven, geschichtsfälschenden Stalin-Darstellung muss es in Zukunft auch eine parallele Ausstellung dazu geben. Es muss gezeigt werden, wie Geschichte zu Propagandazwecken genutzt wird. Wenn wir das schaffen, dann wird dieses Museum wirklich einmalig sein. Die internationalen Besucher werden auch weiterhin dorthin kommen, aber vor allem wird es eine Bildungsstätte für die Georgier sein.

In wenigen Tagen soll direkt vor dem Museum eine Stalin-Statur aufgebaut werden, die erst vor drei Jahren entfernt wurde. Wird ein in Stein gemeißelter Stalin bald wieder auf die Menschen in Gori hinunter schauen?

Die Statur wurde vor drei Jahren in einer Nacht- und Nebelaktion beseitigt. Ich war damals dagegen, weil ich der Meinung war, die Menschen müssten erst über Stalins Verbrechen aufgeklärt werden, weil sonst genau das passieren könnte, was jetzt droht. Nach drei Jahren wird Stalin aus irgendeiner dunklen Ecke wieder vorgekramt. Der jetzige Wiederaufbau wäre noch peinlicher, als wenn die Statur bis heute dort stehen geblieben wäre.

Ich hoffe dennoch, dass mehr und mehr Menschen beginnen werden, über die Rolle von Stalin und die Rolle der Georgier im Kommunismus zu diskutieren. Vor allem die jungen Leute müssen verstehen, aus welcher Realität wir kommen. In der Bevölkerung sind immer noch sehr stark die sowjetischen Verhaltensmuster wie Obrigkeitsdenken und Kritiklosigkeit verankert. Über viele Themen wird nach wie vor nicht gesprochen. Daran merkt man, wie viel Sowjetisches in den Köpfen noch vorhanden ist. Wenn wir uns damit nicht auseinandersetzen, werden diese Verhaltensweisen immer weiter fortgesetzt. Man darf vor diesen zum Teil traumatischen Geschichten nicht die Augen verschließen. Wir Georgier müssen uns trauen, auch unangenehme Fragen zur unserer jüngeren Geschichte zu stellen. Wir können nicht in die Zukunft gehen, wenn wir uns dieser Zeit nicht stellen.

ARTIKEL: Homophobie in Georgien. "Wir verstecken uns nicht mehr". Von Jana Demnitz (tagesspiegel.de)

(tagesspiegel.de) Im Frühjahr 2012 demonstrierten in Tiflis zum ersten Mal eine Handvoll Aktivisten gegen Homophobie. Als sie dieses Jahr wieder auf die Straße gingen, stellten sich ihnen Zehntausende in den Weg - organisiert von der Orthodoxen Kirche.

Informationsbroschüre der georgischen Organisation für Menschen- und LGBT-Rechte „Identoba“.

Krisensitzung im großen Besprechungsraum der LGBT-Aktivisten von der georgischen Organisation "Identoba" im Zentrum von Tiflis. Die Nachricht ist erst wenige Stunden alt, dennoch sind sie alle schnell hergekommen. Die Sozialarbeiter, Juristen und Menschenrechtsaktivisten von anderen georgischen NGOs wollen sich mit den Lesben und Schwulen solidarisieren und beratschlagen, wie es weitergehen soll. Der Patriarch, das Oberhaupt der Georgischen Orthodoxen Kirche, hat mal wieder gegen die Homosexuellen gewettert. Dieses Mal wirft er den Aktivisten vor, in einer geplanten Notunterkunft Kinder und Jugendliche zu Homosexuellen umerziehen zu wollen.

"Was soll ich auf solch einen Blödsinn antworten?", fragt Anna Rekhviashvili, Mitarbeiterin von "Identoba". Der Winter steht vor Tür, es gibt gerade unter Homosexuellen und Transgender in Georgien viele Obdachlose, daher hätten sie sich entschieden, für diese hilfsbedürftigen Menschen eine Notunterkunft zu eröffnen. Dort sollte es warme Kleidung, etwas zu Essen und ein paar Schlafplätze geben. Eine Frau hatte sich bereit erklärt, Räume zur Verfügung zu stellen. Seitdem ihre Nachbarn ihren Namen genannt haben, bekommt sie Drohanrufe. "Wir wollten erwachsenen Menschen ab 18 Jahren helfen", erklärt Anna Rekhviashvili. Von Kindern und Jugendlichen hätte als erstes die Kirche in der Öffentlichkeit gesprochen, und damit in der mehrheitlich konservativen und christlich orientierten georgischen Gesellschaft massiven Protest erzeugt. Für heute ist die Notunterkunft der Menschenrechtler erst einmal gescheitert.

Seit Monaten macht die Orthodoxe Kirche in Georgien öffentlich mobil gegen die Homo-Aktivisten. Am 17. Mai dieses Jahres, zum Internationalen Tag gegen Homophobie, organisierten sie sogar einen Massenprotest gegen eine angemeldete Demonstration von rund 100 LGBT-Aktivisten. Nach 2012 ging die kleine Gruppe erneut mit Plakaten am Freiheitsplatz im Zentrum von Tiflis auf die Straße, um für Menschenrechte und gegen Ausgrenzung zu protestieren. Homosexualität ist in Georgien immer noch ein großes Tabuthema. Viele haben Angst, von der Familie verstoßen oder am Arbeitsplatz gekündigt zu werden, wenn jemand von der Liebe zum gleichen Geschlecht erfährt.

Die Kirche hatte an diesem Tag mindestens 20.000 religiöse Gegendemonstranten geschickt. Die Aktivisten wurden angeschrien, bespuckt und bedroht. Die Polizei schritt zunächst gar nicht ein, später war sie mit der aufgebrachten, religiösen Masse völlig überfordert. Nur mit Mühe konnte sie die Menschenrechtsgruppe in Sicherheit bringen. Immer mit dabei Fernsehkamerateams, die live von der Hatz berichteten.

Die ehemalige Sowjetrepublik Georgien ist zwar laut Gesetz ein säkularer Staat, aber die Kirche füllt seit Anfang der 1990er Jahre, wie in vielen anderen Ex-Sowjetrepubliken auch, das mentale Vakuum aus, das nach dem Ende des Kommunismus bei vielen entstanden war. Die Menschen strömen wieder in die Kirchen. Vor allem die Jungen versuchen, Halt und Orientierung im christlichen Glauben zu finden.

Seit Jahren vermitteln die Kirchenleute auch zwischen den politischen Lagern im Land. Und wenn dem Patriarch und den Priestern etwas nicht passt, können sie, wie am 17. Mai geschehen, kurzerhand zehntausende Menschen oder auch mehr mobilisieren. Weil der georgische Klerus zudem finanzielle Zuwendungen vom Staat erhält und keine Steuer zahlen muss, sehen manche die Georgische Orthodoxe Kirche bereits als ein Staat im Staat.

Die Macht der Kirche sei in der Tat ein großes Problem, sagt Natia Gvianishvili. "Wir sind in den letzten Jahren sichtbar geworden und verstecken uns nicht mehr. Das macht einigen Angst und führt zu heftigen Reaktionen." Die 27-Jährige ist Programmdirektorin bei "WISG", einer Initiative, die sich speziell für die Rechte von Frauen und Lesben in Georgien engagiert. Mit Schrecken erinnert sich die junge Frau an den 17. Mai und vor allem auch daran, was danach passierte. Einem Freund wurden die Haare abgesenkt, weil er einen "schwulen" Haarschnitt hatte, eine Freundin wurde aus dem Bus geworfen, weil sie "androgyn" aussah.

"All das passiert am helllichten Tag in der gesamten Stadt und die Regierung guckt weg und ignoriert diese Übergriffe," empört sich Natia Gvianishvili. Sie seien auch nicht zur Polizei gegangen, die Community habe kein Vertrauen in die Beamten, erklärt sie. "Viele haben homophobe Erfahrungen mit der Polizei gemacht. Oder sie haben Angst, dass sie von den Polizisten gegenüber der Familie geoutet werden." Jeder in der Community könnte solch eine Geschichte berichten.

Laut Gesetz ist in Georgien Homosexualität seit 2000 zwar entkriminalisiert, es gibt gesetzliche Regelungen zum Schutz vor Diskriminierung am Arbeitsplatz wegen der sexuellen Orientierung und seit 2012 stehen auch sogenannte Hass-Verbrechen gegen LGBTs (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual und Trans) unter härterer Strafe. Aber das änderte bisher nichts daran, dass die georgische Bevölkerung weiterhin mehrheitlich homophob eingestellt ist. So sprechen sich seit Jahren in Umfragen des "Caucasus Research Resource Centers" mehr als 90 Prozent der Befragten gegen die Anerkennung von Homosexualität aus.

Neben dem immer stärker werdenden religiösen Einfluss der Kirche sieht die Gender-Forscherin Natia Gvianishvili noch zwei weitere Gründe für diese Ablehnung. Zum einen leben die Menschen in dem seit 25 Jahren wirtschaftlichen und politischen instabilen Georgien in einer permanenten Angst und Anspannung, das habe sie aggressiv gemacht. Zum anderen hätten viele einfach eine schlechte Bildung, sagt sie. „Kaum einer hat hier jemals etwas über sexuelle Orientierungen gehört oder gelernt, was das ist. Viele denken, Homosexualität kann wie ein Virus verbreitet werden.“

Von der Politik erhoffen sich die Aktivisten auch nicht viel Unterstützung. Zwar hatten sich im Vorfeld der Großdemonstration der bis vor kurzem amtierende Premierminister Bidsina Iwanischwili, die georgische Außenministerin sowie der Justizminister gegen die Diskriminierung von Homosexuellen ausgesprochen. Nach dem Aufmarsch der mehr als 20.000 Gegner waren von Mitgliedern der Regierungspartei aber gleich wieder homophobe Töne in den Medien zu hören, sagt Natia Gvianishvili.

Dennoch habe sich in den letzten Jahren in Georgien auch einiges zum Positiven entwickelt. Durch das Internet könnten sich die Menschen viel besser informieren und miteinander in Kontakt treten, zumindest in der Hauptstadt Tiflis gibt es einige homofreundliche Bars und Kneipen und zum aktuellen Zeitpunkt sei auch kein Gesetz gegen "Homosexuelle-Propaganda" wie in Russland zu erwarten.

Die Aktivisten können also auch weiterhin für ihre Rechte in der Öffentlichkeit demonstrieren und das werden sie im kommenden Frühjahr auch tun. Jetzt erst recht. "Jede Sichtbarkeit ist ein Schritt vorwärts und das treibt uns zurzeit an", sagt Natia Gvianishvili. Außerdem sei eine öffentliche Debatte in Gang gekommen. Das wäre vor vier Jahren noch undenkbar gewesen.

Mittlerweile haben sich auch die Gesichter der LGBT-Aktivisten von "Identoba" wieder entspannt. Das Krisentreffen war ein voller Erfolg. Mehr als 20 georgische Nichtregierungsorganisationen haben sich zusammengeschlossen. Sie werden jetzt alle gemeinsam die Notunterkunft für die Obdachlosen in Tiflis eröffnen.

ESSAY: Short overview of wine in Georgia. Written by Ulrica Söderlind (heritagedaily.com)

(heritagedaily.com) According to a Georgian legend, God took a supper break while he was creating the world.

He became so involved in his meal that he by accident tripped over the high peaks of the Caucasus and as a result he spilled his own food onto the land below. The land below blessed with the scarps of Heavens table was Georgia.

Georgia (Sakartvelo) is a transcontinental country in the Caucasus region, situated at the dividing line between Europe and Asia. The country´s geographical location with borders to the Black Sea, the modern Russian federation, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan, has meant that through pre-history and history it has been a crossroad between the East and the West.

Due to its location, the country has been invaded several times over the course of history by for example the Greeks, Persians and the Ottomans, to name just a few. The invasions mean that much of the antique and Islamic worldview still exists at the country’s borders- which are a unique cultural situation. The invasions have also left its footprints on Georgia’s food- and drinking habits and traditions. This has resulted in the existence of many different gastronomical and culinary branches in the foodway’s of today’s Georgia.

Wine

The beginning of human civilizations is closely connected to the development of agriculture and the history of cultivated plants, and Georgia played a crucial role in this process. One of the reasons for that is that wine culture in Georgia can be traced to early prehistoric times. The research of linguists indicates that the root of the Indo-European term for ‘wine’ – u(e/o) iano which means wine – might derive from the Georgian word Rvino [Rvino].

These linguists are of the opinion that the word would have been transferred into the Proto-Indo- Europian language before this language started to separate into its various branches in the fourth millenium B.C. The separation transformed the word in different ways, leading to the English ‘wine’, Italian ‘wino’, and Russian ‘vino’, to give but a few examples.

The archaeological discovery of cultivated vines in Georgia supports the linguistic theory of the origin of the word ‘wine’. Cultivated grape pips have been found on the archaeological site ‘Shulaveris Gora’ (situated in the trans-caucasus region of modern Georgia). The site is dated to sixth – fourth millienium B.C. and belongs to the Shulaveri-Shomu Tepe chalcolithic culture.

Even if there is a large time span for the culture itself C14 (Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that uses (14C) to determine the age of carbonaceous materials up to about 60,000 years old) analyses of the cultural layer where the pips were found gives a dating of 6625±210 years millenium B.C. At other sites belonging to the Shulaveri-Shomu Tepe culture a ceramic vessel which had ornamentation in relief was found. The ornamentation appears to show grapes and could very well be the earliest ‘label’ for grapes and wine that it is known of today. In the vessel also sediment was found that after analysis showed too consisted of wine residue.

After the initial evidence of cultivated grapes and of wine-making. cultivated grape pips were found in many other archaeological sites dating to the Bronze Age, Antiquity, and the Middle Ages. This indicates a situation of continuity in the cultivating grapes of Georgia. It is not until the Bronze Age that table grapes for eating are found which indicates that humans in the earlier chalcolitic societies cultivated vines and grapes for wine-making and not for eating.

Wine was, therefore, the primary reason why the vine was cultivated.

It is not only grape pips that appear in the archaeological sites that can be linked to wine. At a site belonging to the Trialeti Culture (third – second millenium B.C.) a superb example of toreutic art, a silver wine cup richly decorated, was found. This cup has become known as the “Silver Cup Of Trialeti”. There is ongoing debate about what the scene depicted on the cup means.

Some researchers state that it is a depiction of the God Mithra surrounded by worshipers, and of the tree of life. Others, however, are of the opinion that the depiction is that of the God Mithra surrounded by hops and worshippers drinking haoma . Mithra means ‘contact’ or ‘pact’ and these terms are closely associated with a God known among the Persians around 1200 B.C. Mithra was understood as a personification of the sun and a God of justice. The God Mithra is often described as a forerunner of the God Mithras who became known as a very important God in Greece and Rome during Antiquity. The people of Georgia worked not only in silver during their middle Bronze Age period; they also mastered the art of working in gold as is evident from the discovery of a wine cup made of a gold sheet dating from that period. The cup, which has a double wall and hollow legs, is richly decorated with sardonic, lapis lazuli, red jasper, agate, and amber stones. The cup is a stunning example of glass- pasted filigree work.

During an archaeological excavation in 2006 (Mtskheta, the old capital of Georgia) a small bronze figurine depicting a ‘Tamada’, holding a drinking horn in his right hand, was found. The figurine is dated to the beginning of first millennium B.C . To this day; the Tamada is the toastmaster at banquets or special dinners in Georgia. The occasions on which the Tamada is present are called ‘supra’ (table).The Tamada’s main task at the supra is to salute the toasts. The Tamada is elected at the beginning of the supra and it is considered a great honour to be so selected for this function. A supra goes on for hours and the Tamada gives the toasts in a special order.

The first toast is for the host and his family; thereafter follows a toast for the mother country of Georgia, then toast to the memory of the deceased heroes of the country and families of Georgia, followed by a toast to parents (especially mothers), friends, relatives, and the future of Georgia, to name a few of the toasts performed at a supra. Usually the guests empty their wine glasses on each toast and the glasses are filled again for the following toasts. No wine is drunk between the toasts. When the Tamada has given the last toast and rises up from the table the banquet or dinner, this is a signal that the event is over.

A special kind of artifact known as a ‘kvevris’ has been found in the course of many excavations. A kvevri is a wine vessel which became known as an amphora during Antiquity in Greece and the Roman Empire; In Georgia, however, this kind of vessels has always been termed ‘kvevris’and still is. It is known from sites that can be dated as far back as Antiquity, that the kvevris was placed up to its neck in the ground and then filled with grape juice.

The kvevris was sealed with a lid and the juice was left to ferment. The wine-farmer looked after the fermentation process until the wine was ready. The wine was then transferred to bags made of animal skins. In Georgia, there is no tradition of carrying wine in kvevris; skin bags have been used for this purpose since antiquity – perhaps even at an earlier period also.

There are many reasons for this, including the fact that it was easier to carry a skin bag full of wine on one’s back than to transport a hard kvevris. Furthermore, the skin bags did not break as easily as the kvevri did during transportation on ships or in chariots. The kvevris was mainly used for during the fermentation process of the wine. However, it is evident from several archaeological sites that, during Antiquity the kvevris were also used for non-cremation burials.

Georgia was one of the world’s first Christian countries, and dates such as 337 A.D. and 319 A.D. have been put forward for the country’s adoption of Christianity . Georgia’s conversion to Christianity is closely linked to St. Nino. According to one tradition, St. Nino was from Kolastra, Cappadocia (in today’s Turkey) and she was a relative of St. George (the patron saint of Georgia). She was said to have come to Georgia from Constantinople. Other sources claim that she came from Rome, Jerusalem or Gaul. According to legend, St. Nino saw the

Virgin Mary in a dream and she told Nino that she should enter Georgia with a cross made of the wood of vine stocks. When Nino woke up from her dream she found herself holding two pieces of wood from vine stocks and she tied them together with her own hair. With this cross made of wine she fled Roman persecution in Cappadocia and made her way into Georgia and started to teach Christianity.

The legend also tells that she performed miraculous healing and converted the Georgian queen, Nana, and eventually the pagan king, Mirian III, of Iberia. Mirian III declared Christianity an official religion in c. 327 A.D. and Nino continued her missionary activities among Georgians until her death in 338 or 340 A.D.

St. Nino’s tomb is still shown at the Bodbe Monastery in Kakheti – which is also the main wine region– in eastern Georgia. She has become one of the most venerated saints of the Georgian Orthodox Church and her attribute, a Grapevine cross, is a unique cross in the Christian world. Since, according to the legend, it was the Virgin Mary, who told St. Nino to go to Georgia and teach Christianity, the Grapevine cross became a symbol for and of Georgian Christianity.

Wine also plays a very important role in the daily lives of the Georgians (not only in a religious worship) that can be classified as sacred. One example of this is when for example a family is moving from a homestead and there is land connected to it. The family or a member of the family makes sure that a jar of wine is left in the soil and family members comes back to attend it.

As mentioned earlier in the text, Georgia as a nation has been invaded several times and other times been under occupation; for example under the Soviet era. The politics of the statesmen of the Soviet Union tried to forbid wine in Georgia during a period. This did not turn out very well since the Georgians always found a way to drink wine, both on a day to day basis and at festivas.

One way was for example to serve the wine from teapots etc. Even today the Russian government are using wine export as a mean of control since there is an embargo against Georgia to export wines to Russia and the Kremlin, even if there has been some discussion lately about letting Georgia export wine once again to Russia.

Header Image : Kvevris during an excavation at Atskuri church, Georgia , 2006. © Söderlind, Ulrica

Written by Ulrica Söderlind

HeritageDaily : Archaeology News : Archaeology Press Releases

© Copyright 2013 Ulrica Söderlind, All rights Reserved. Written For: HeritageDaily - Archaeology News

ESSAY: What can be learned about the Georgian cuisine through the paintings of Nikolos Pirosmani? Written by Ulrica Söderlind (heritagedaily.com)

(heritagedaily.com) Since most of the research that has been done regarding Pirosmani and his work has been carried out by Georgians most of the research has also been published in Georgian.

Since I do not have enough knowledge in the Georgian language it means that the language barrier does not make it possible to read the books in Georgian. However there has been some attempt to present Pirosmani and his work in English and some new publications has been published in three languages, namely Georgian, Russian and English. There is also some websites dedicated to Pirosmani in English. I have due to the fact of the language barrier choosed to use three books that deal with Pirosmani in English.

Pirosmanis life, an overview

Among the researchers there are different opinions about Nikoloz Piromanashvili (Pirosmanis) birth and death dates and the place of his birth. Some mean that he was born in 1853 and others mean that he was born sometime during the years 1865-1866. Some researchers say he was born in the village of Mirzaani in the region of Kakheti in eastern Georgia, others mean that he was born in Shulaveri after the father Aslan Pirosmanashvili moved from the village Mirzaani to work in Shulaveri in the 1860`s as a hired hand at Akhverdi Kalantov´s vineyards. Aslan brought his already existing family with him to settle down at the Kalamtov´s, the family consisted of his second wife Tekle Toklikasvili, the elder son Ivane (Giorgi) and two daughter, one of the daughters was born before the move and Nikoloz eldest brother Giorgi passed away at the age of 15 in Shulaveri and the father soon followed. Shortly after the passing of the father Nikoloz mother fell ill and pasted away after a short while.

The researchers also parts what happened to Pirosmani after his father’s passing, some say he left for Tbilisi before his mother’s passing, while others say he left after her passing. Regardless of which Nikoloz and his two sister was left orphaning’s after the passing of both parents. One sister got married and the other sister, named Peputsa returned to Mirzaani. The information about Nikoloz childhood is scares but it is believed that the boy was taken into the Kalantrov`s family and they took him to Tbilisi in the mid 1870´s and the family treated him more like a child of their own then a servant, he even had his own room. He was taught to read, Georgian at first and then Russian and was often taken to the theatre and around this time he started to draw. Nikoloz read newspapers and magazines in the family library and listen to conversations that took part about politics, art and literature when the family had guests.

It seems like Pirosmani made his first steps towards independence at the age of 26 or 27 when he started a workshop and started to paint signboards along with Georgy Zaziashvili, the business ended in bankruptcy. Some researcher means that Pirosmani left his host family after having fallen in love with a young widow of the family and when he told her about his feelings in a letter and that they were not answered by the young woman he decided to leave the household.

After the business had failed Pirosmani accepted a work at the railway as a brakeman. He kept this job for three and a half years and because of his self-neglect and the hard working conditions on the platform of goods wagons ever open to winds, he undermined his health severely, he left the railway at the turn of 1893 or 1894. After the railway Nikoloz started up a new business a market for dairy products, milk, butter and cheese, first from a barrow and then from a small shop of his own. He decorated his shop with his own signboards. As earlier Nikoloz took in a partner into the business and for some time it looked like the business was in bloom and very fruitful, however several years later the both partners where ruined, this time totally. It is not known for sure or not if Nikoloz had a romantic relationship with a French chanteuse by the name of Margarita.

The documentation regarding Nikoloz life and whereabouts are scares after he went into bankruptcy but it is believed that he went to see his sister Peputsa in Mirzaani from time to time and build a new house for her. Nikoloz whereabouts in Tbilisi varied from time to time, it seems like he did not care much where he was living, for some time he stayed with his friend Bego Yaksiyev and other time he stayed at the places where he worked. This places was taverns and restaurants where he worked and painted the walls with different kind of motifs, he also painted a lot of billboards for the restaurant and shopkeepers. At time he rented so called lodgins, as a rule a cellar, a cubicle beneath a flight of stairs or a shed. An upended crate served as a table, and a few brick-propped planks as a bed.

A stump of a candle or a kerosene lamp furnished light. Eyewitnesses to his poor homes states that the walls was hanged with his paintings. Since there is a lot of uncertainty regarding the painter’s life the researchers are not in agreement over if the artist carried out his work at restaurants and taverns for food and drink, especially vodka in the latter case and if he was under constant intoxication of alcohol or not while he was working. Some say that he could not have been, since it would not be possible to paint the way he did under constant influence of alcohol. It seems however that he was a poor man that had found his calling and that he painted from his heart, mind and soul and did not take a lot of money for his work, he mainly asked the owners of the restaurants and taverns to pay what they thought the work was worth, most of the time the payment was low and he gave away a lot of his work for free as well. It seems sure however that he got paid in food and meals, at least for as long it took him to finish his work a part from the cost of the paint and other working material.

It seems like Pirosmanis first official recognition came in 1913 when some of his paintings was exhibit in Moscow, and in 1916 there was an one day exhibition of his work in Tbilisi, it seems like this two exhibitions was the only ones that was given during the artists lifetime. As well as there is different opinions about the birthdate of Pirosmani the date of his passing is also under debate, some say he passed away on the 14th of March 1919 at Aramiants hospital and was put to rest at the Petre-Pavle´s cemetery while other says the day of his passing was the night before Easter, 4th of May 1918 at the Mikhailov Hospital and was buried on the 9th of May at the Kukia cemetery, in a separate place for unknown diseases. Exhumation works have been undertaken at both the cemeteries twice in order to locate Pirosmanis grave, in 1963 and 1969, both search has been proofed to be unsuccessful. Since Pirosmanis grave seem to be lost he has been given a symbolic grave with a memorial in the Mtatsminda cemetery. What is agreed upon is that Pirosmani died miserably poor. Pirosmani is today considered to be the great national painter of Georgia and has inspired a lot of artist and painters after him such as for example Picasso. After his passing Pirosmanis paintings has been on exhibition 76 times between the years 1919-2008 all around the world.

Pirosmanis art

It is very uncertain how many works Pirosmani produced during his lifetime. According to eyewitnesses that claims to have seen a lot of the works that the painter carried out in Tbilisi he could have produced as much as two thousand pieces, these reports of the eyewitnesses are of course impossible to verify. Most of the work the artist did directly on the walls of the restaurants and taverns are most likely gone forever if there are not found under some whitewash when the restaurants or taverns will be under reconstruction.

For the moment there is no telling in how many frescos that has been lost by the artist hand due to the fact that they were done straightly on the walls of the establishments. Up on till this day a little over 200 paintings has survived and it might be so that more will come to the surface in the future among them paintings that today are considered to be lost. The artist himself seldom dated his own works, there is however an exception in the group of paintings between 1916-1917 that the artist himself dated.

Pirosmani did not have any special schooling and empirically he created and evolved his own style. It seems like that one of the sources that inspired the artist was rustic folk arts and crafts of Georgia that was transformed into the painters colour range, rhythm and spatial concept. It also seems like the artist was in some extent influenced by the Iranian influences that could be found in Tbilisi during his lifetime. It seems like Pirosmani took what inspired him and absorbed it into his own perspective and talent.

The tempo the artist painted in and which is the second factor of Pirosmanis style depended not only on the artist creative requirements and mentality, but on such purely external circumstances as the need to paint as much as possible and consequently to paint quickly. Judging from the few known facts Pirosmani painted with fantastic speed. For the smaller portraits he needed about 30 minutes, for the average size paintings three or four hours and for the bigger works, he needed but a day or two, it did not take him more than five or six days to paint his epics though they were several meters long and were populated with dozens of personages. The speed which Pirosmani painted is considered to be all more amazing in that he never had the time to prepare, to give thought to concept, composition and detail, to do any primary sketches and so on.

Pirosmani used for the bulk of his work Russian or foreign, primarily British factory made oil paints of high quality and standard except during the first world war when he was forced to work with white powder colour which he mixed with frying oil in jars in much the same manner as a house painter. All the artwork is made in oil, except the murals which he made in distemper straight onto the stuccoed and whitewashed wall devoid of any special treatment to ensure permanence.

He also used oils when decorating window panels. It is hard to say if he used wooden panels for support, there is nothing to suggest that he did. Most of the very few paintings done on an ordinary primed canvas were produced at an earlier stage, which shows that thought Pirosmami was familiar with canvas and could obtain it, he rejected it for certain practical reasons, painting mostly on sheet iron, oilcloth and cardboard. All of the painter’s signboards as well as two of his still life were painted on sheet iron. Though able to withstand heavy pressure the thick roofing iron used was powerless against corrosion which gradually eroded the paintings. Due to the erosion of the signboard the shop and restaurant keepers preferred to have new signs painted on an old one that had been scraped clean. During wartimes privation and ruin some of the signboards were torn down to make stovepipes. Pirosmanis own favorite medium was the black oilcloth that was not cheap.

The paintings on oilcloth has survived not only because the paints were of top quality and so swiftly applied without any over painting, but also because the oilcloth´s chemical composition is very similar to that of oils. In many of the artist’s paintings the black of the oilcloth has even been integrated into the picture itself. In such cases, either slightly touched up or not at all, it serves to bring out details that were to have been painted black in the first place. This represents a peculiar manner of what can be termed as topsy-turvy painting, not in dark colour`s on a light background but in light colours on a dark background. The colour frame Pirosmani used might seem to be narrow; sometimes he used five or six colours in a painting, sometimes only three. In general it can be said that Pirosmanis total palette consisted of cobalt blue, ultramarine, zinc or lead white, chromium oxide, pale ochre, cadmium yellow, strontium yellow, cadmium orange, English red, green, umber and black.

It is under discussion how many of Pirosmanis paintings that have survived, but at least 217 have been attributed to the artist, apart from these 217 paintings there are other paintings that are under scrutiny if they are made by Pirosmani or not. In the following I have only used the 217 survival paintings that has been attributed to the artist and not the once that are still under scrutiny. A part from the remaining 217 paintings there is also an existing inventory of paintings believed to be lost today, their number is 57.

 

Graph 1. The number of representation of foodstuff and categories in the 217 official Pirosmani paintings that are remaining today.

Graph 1 show the number of representations of foodstuff and the categories in the 217 official Pirosmani paintings that are remaining today, out of the 217 paintings 71 of them have depictions of foodstuffs in them.

The foodstuffs have been divided into the following categories; milk, chicken/birds, meat/animals, wine, grapes, sugar, tea, fish, drinking, dining, fruits, eggs, cakes, waterbarels, cook, mtsvadi, bread, pumpkin, nuts and vegetables. The depictions of wine and wine drinking are most frequently represented in the paintings with a little more than 30 times, depictions of drinking and dining follows closely after wine. Chicken/birds and bread are also in the top of depicted foodstuff by Pirosmani. Followed by foodstuff such as grapes, fish, vegetables, fruit, cakes, meat/animals, egg, pumpkin, milk, waterbarells, mtsvadi, nuts, beer, sugar and tea.

Graph 2. The number of representation of foodstuff and categories in the 57 paintings of Pirosmani that is believed to be lost today.

 

Graph 2 show the numbers of presentation of foodstuff and categories in the 57 paintings of Pirosmani that is believed to be lost today. The categories of foodstuff is as follows: Shaslyks (Shaslyks is the same dish as Mtsvadi in Georgian), chicken, snacks, fruit, wine, sugar, tea, fish grapes, drinking, dining and beer. Out of the 57 paintings that are believed to be lost today, out of the 57 paintings 14 have depictions of foodstuff according to the existing descriptions of the paintings.

If one compare Graph 1 and 2 it is a different between the different food categories, in the missing paintings fruit and dining is in the lead, followed by wine, drinking, shaslyks, chicken, fish, snacks, sugar, tea and beer. As well as for graph 1 and 2 the same painting can have several components of different group of foodstuffs in them so each category has been counted separately. There is a difference between the categories of foodstuff in the remaining paintings and the missing ones, there is 21 categories in the remaining paintings and 12 categories in the missing paintings. All of the categories in the missing paintings are also represented in the remaining paintings except the category snacks. It is not possible from the existing inventory of the lost paintings to try to find out what the snacks category existed of. Interesting to see in the two graphs is that sugar, tea and beer are amongst the categories that are the least depicted just once or twice.

When one is discussion the categories of egg and cakes, they appears in the same kind of motivs in Pirosmanis works and the overall theme is Easter. The most common combination is red eggs, easter cake, a table and the easter lamb. One of the remaining paintings with eggs and cakes that differs from the others is Pirosmanis version of Christs ascending to Heaven, in the foreground the eggs and cake is in focus.

To the left one of Pirosmanis version of Easter with the lamb, cake, eggs and table and to the right the artist version of Christ’s ascending to heaven with the cake and eggs in the foreground.

A difference between the paintings is that on the one to the left there is no wine as it is on the one to the right.

The Easter lamb painting is done with oil on oilcloth and Christ’s ascending is oil on tin (after Kobakhidze, without year:102, 110).

Two paintings that in this article have been chosen to illustrate Pirosmanis way of depicting feasts, both paintings are oil on oilcloths (after Kobakhidze, without year:169, 186).

What is interesting in the context of feasting is how Pirosmani choose to lay out the different foodstuffs on the table or the tablecloth.

If one study the compositions of the foodstuff and dishes in the remaining paintings Pirosmanis compositions are very similar to each other in this

category of paintings. Around the laid out tablecloth on the ground or on the table a group of guests or family members are gathered for a feat.

The beverage on this occasions is always wine, depicted either in big kvevris or in carafe, animal skins filled up with wine or/and from drinking horns. There is always bread on the tablecloth and then the different dishes can vary from each other in the paintings in numbers but there is always roasted bird (most likely chicken), some form of vegetables (in most cases radishes and pumpkins, sometimes cucumbers and spring onions), some kind of fish, mtsvadi (barbeque) and sometimes some other meat dish. The selection of dishes and foodstuff by Pirosmani is small and narrow in these paintings.

There is not that many still lifes by the artists hand that has survived that are categorized as still life, the number of them are only five. They are made with either oil on oilcloth or oil on tin and they differ from each other in size and contents. The still life in illustration 6 shows a lot of foodstuffs, mostly not processed, such a suckling pigs, birds, different kind of fishes, bodies of smaller animals such as lamb, mtsvadi, fresh grapes, pears, radishes but one also finds processed food such as sausage’s and wine in bottles. There is one still life that differs from the others since the depiction on that still life clearly is connected to Easter with the red eggs, Easter cake, fishes and wine.The major part of the paintings with grapes is from grape harvest and pressing the grapes directly after the harvest.

Closing discussion

This paper has been about how Georgia’s national painter Nikoloz Pirosmani depicted the nation’s food and beverage in his art and the paintings has been studied solely from a food and beverage perspective and not from an art critic’s point of view. Regardless of his own poverty Pirosmani did by no means use cheap paint or art material for his work. It seems like his employers paid for the material that was expensive foreign oil colours and the black oilcloth that he preferred to paint on if he was not painting straightly on the walls of the taverns or restaurants or if the employers wanted some other material for their signboards, such as tin.

As have been mentioned earlier in the text, it is an ongoing debate on how many of Pirosmanis paintings that has survived, but it seems that 217 of them have been acknowledge to his hand and at least 57 have gone missing that there is an inventory of.

Graph 3. The different kind of food categories in percentage in the remaining paintings by the hands of Pirosmani.

 

Graph 4. The different kind of food categories in percentage in the paintings believed to be lost according to inventory by the hands of Pirosmani.

 

Graphs 3 and 4 show the different kind of food categories in percentage in both the remaining paintings and the ones that are believed to be lost. The categories are made by me, maybe someone else would have made another kind of categorization for the paintings. Since Pirosmanis paintings are very rich in details most of the paintings contains more than one category of foodstuff, like the paintings of feast or/and dining and drinking or grape harvesting. Among the remaining paintings wine is peaking over the other categories while the peak in the lost paintings belongs equally to fruits and dining.

Grapes comes in a number six among the paintings that still remains among us today. I would have thought that grapes would have had a higher place since grapes are so vital to the Georgian nation as a whole, especially in the wine producing areas of the country. Still today the young members of the families take great pride and joy in participating in the grape harvest and the following event of pressing the grapes barefooted, I can imagine that it was the same or maybe even more so during Pirosmanis time period. The country itself has a very long history of winemaking, the oldest evidence of cultivated grapes dates to the sixth – fourth millienium B.C. (Shulaveri-Shomu Tepe chalcolithic culture).

Bread comes in as the third category in the remaining paintings and is totally absence in the missing ones. Bread is very common in Pirosmanis paintings, especially in the ones that are depicting feasts or dining and drinking. The most common bread that is depicted is what is called tone bread. Even today among the Georgians a meal is not considered to be complete if there is no bread on the table, regardless of the number of dishes that are placed on the table. The only times when bread is not served is when one eats Khachapuri, Khinkali or Rhomi.

The tone bread is baked in a special oven called ‘tone’ . This kind of oven is designed to provide very high, dry heat. Fuel for the fire is provided by charcoal which lines the bottom of the structure. In order to produce temperatures approaching 900 degrees Fahrenheit (480 degrees Celsius), bakers maintain a long vigil to keep the oven’s coals continually burning. At such high temperatures, the bread made in a Tone oven develops a very crisp outer layer without sacrificing moistness on the inside, the tone bread is mainly made when the customer’s order it. As well as winemaking have a very long history in Georgia, so does bread, wheat has been found at the same sites as the mentioned cultivated grape pips above.

The categories of eggs and cakes are missing in the paintings believed to be lost even if they can be found among the remaining ones. What are meant here is the red Easter eggs and Easter cakes that accompany each other in the paintings together with the Easter lamb in all the paintings accept Pirosmanis version of Christ ascending to Heaven, where there is no lamb, but wine, eggs and cakes. The paintings with the Easter lamb have been a subject for the researchers to comment on. Georgia was one of the world’s first Christian countries, and dates such as 337 A.D. and 319 A.D. have been put forward for the country’s adoption of Christianity, only Armenia was Christianized before Georgia. Even with the early baptism of the nation some say that the Georgian kept the pre-Easter custom of bringing home a lamb which they would adore with gaily coloured ribbons and feed on fresh, green grass; only for later to slaughter the animal for the Easter table. This custom which can be traced back to the pre-Christian era was integrated into Eastern Christianity´s rituals.

The lamb was viewed as the redemptive sacrifice. Today Easter is considered to be one of the most, if not the most important feast or holiday in the Orthodox Church and the main religion in Georgia and more than 65 % of Georgia´s inhabitants confess themselves to the Georgian Orthodox Church and the Patriarch is held in very high regard.

How religious Pirosmani was himself is hard to say since there is no records that tells about it and why he painted Easter in several paintings is hard to say, either he received an order to do so or he did it only for himself and by his own mind, regardless of the reasons it is difficult to assume that he was not a believer in the Christian faith. The tenderness that can be seen in the Easter paintings can be a clue or an indicator of Pirosmanis own personal believes. From the food perspective I find it very interesting that the artist painted the religious holiday of Easter but not for example Christmas.

Something that is striking in both graphs nr 3 and 4 is how few times Pirosmani depicted categories such as sugar, tea and beer, one can wonder why that is? Either he did not like this foodstuffs or he did not get any more orders to paint them, just one or two in each category exists today and specially tea is interesting since Georgia has been nation with a lot of tea farmers, especially during the Soviet era and has exported large quantities of tea. Georgians in general still drinks a lot of different kinds of teas.

Another thing that is striking when one study Pirosmanis painting from a food perspective, specially the paintings of the feasts or dining and drinking is that in those paintings no one drinks beer, only wine and that the composition of the meal in itself is more or less the same with bread, wine, some kind of vegetables, meat dish, birds. The selection of dishes in the meal of feast is very limited and that is surprising considering how a Georgian table is laid out today and it seems like the very large and big feast called “Supra” has a very long history in Georgia. What was the reason for Pirosmanis limited selection of dishes in this kind of paintings?

Not an easy question to answer at all, it might be so that the ones who ordered the paintings settled with this limited selection and considered the dishes to be genuine Georgians or the artist himself had no wish to depict a larger selection of dishes even if he could. But if this selection was considered to be representative for the genuine dishes of the country why are the national dishes such as Khachapuri or Khinkali and the sauce Tkhemali missing? That is a question that still remains to be answered. Today when one walks the streets of for example Tbilisi replicas of Pirosmanis paintings hangs at the door of Khinkali restaurants and also inside the establishments. Of course economy and money can be one valid reason for the limited selections of the dishes, simply that there was not enough money to pay for more paint to fill out the feast with. However I do not really believe in that since a lot of the feast paintings are large in size and have required a lot of paint and cloth.

Since some of the paintings that have survived are so called still life it is beyond any doubt that the artist was able to depict other foodstuff then the ones on the feast paintings, the still life´s differs somewhat from the feast paintings in that the food stuff on them mostly are raw and not processed in any way. One finds, raw fish, bodies of smaller animals such as lamb, fresh vegetables, nuts, pumpkin and fruits but also wine but no beer on them. The still life´s are stunning in its simplicity since the black oilcloth is what gives the foodstuff it´s glow, they foodstuff really stands out from the paintings due to the artists technique of using the black oilcloth, the contrast from the black background and the colour´s are really eye catching and that is most likely the idea in order to lure customers into the shops, restaurants and taverns.

Another thing that is striking in the remaining paintings is that there is no restaurant or tavern environments depicted even if Pirosmani spent as it seems most of his time in this kind of establishments. To conclude one can say that by studying Pirosmanis remaining paintings from a food perspective one get a small glimpse of Georgia´s vivid food and drinking culture, the glimpse that either the painter himself or his employees or both choose to show for their own reasons and there is no traces of the restaurant or/and tavern environments. To study Pirosmanis paintings from the above mentioned perspective gives an introduction to the foodway’s of Georgia and if one want´s to learn more about it one should continue towards other sources or go and pay a visit to the country.

My analyze and discussion of Pirosmanis work from a food perspective shall not be seen as a definitive results and I do not claim it to be since there is always an opportunity that more paintings will rise to the surface and can be acknowledge as work by Pirosmanis hand.

Written by Ulrica Söderlind

more:
Georgia’s food and drinking culture in the eyes of Nikoloz Pirosmani [pdf]
The Gastronomic Man And Georgias Food Culture [pdf]
An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Foodways of Georgia [pdf]
Introduction to the Foodways of Georgia [pdf] 

References

Chorgolashvili, Mamia, Pirosmani-so life begins with death, Tbilisi, 2011.

Kobakhidze, Nino (ed), Pirosmani, Tbilisi, without year.

Kuznetsov, Earst (ed),Niko, Pirosmani, Leningrad, 1983.

© Copyright 2013 Ulrica Söderlind, All rights Reserved. Written For: HeritageDaily - Archaeology News