Heritage

I suggest reflecting together with the viewer on a very specific place in mountainous Georgia. Svaneti is situated on the southern slopes of the central Caucasus Mountains. One of the highest populated villages in Europe-Ushguli, located in Svaneti, is preserved by UNESCO’s historical heritage fund. Various narratives retell multiple interesting stories about its people and their customs, which reveal how strong Svan people are, their sense of identity and the will to protect their land were. For enemy it was difficult to conquer this region for its geographical location and vernacular architecture that was expressed in architectural complex, Svanetian Towers (traditionally used for defense) with Machubi (Svanetian houses). Until Christianity entered into this region Svaneti was cradle for pagan beliefs. They perished Sun and the bull was the holly animal. At the same time, Svaneti was the only region in Georgia, where the democratic system of communities was established. It was economically wealthy, where main source of income was gold mining and its export, but still the main activity remained agriculture and cattle-breading which was not only source of financial income, but represented the sacred-pagan rituals as well. After Sovietization in the first half of the 20th century, but especially after the collapse of the Soviet Union dramatic changes emerged in most of the Georgia’s regions. From 90s Svaneti started to undergo transformation processes in many aspect of its everyday life, be it rural exodus, aging of population, deterioration of roads and infrastructure and loosening ties to traditional customs and sense of identity. Today, the problems of Svaneti are partly solved with initiating tourism development in the region. Slowly, Svans are starting to return to their ancestral ties and to adapt to the changing world. On the one hand this phenomenon can solve some issues, but on the other it creates danger for traditional cultural expressions. Through the project “Heritage” I try to show, as a Svan myself, but also an architect-urbanist and freelance photographer based in Paris, the customs of this mountainous region. The main goal of my project is to tell the viewer about everyday life challenges and difficulties of transformation for Svans, revealed through poetry of customs and demands of neo-liberal world. Therefore, in this work I attempt to depict Svanetian culture as Pagan-Christian mix, which today is vanishing from our memories.