Newsletter September 2024: FILM ABOUT SVANETI
Topics:
1. Film
2. Courses
3. Prayer Request
FILM
Dear Friends,
This text is not just an article, – it’s also a call for a combined effort. We invite you to join our project to preserve Svaneti’s invaluable treasures of Orthodox Christianity for centuries to come: support our documentary film on Svaneti frescoes and the dedicated people who maintain them. We invite you to invest 1 dollar or 1 euro in our film about Medieval Georgian Frescoes. We seek donations to cover travel, accommodations, and filming costs for our crew of five, who have received all requisite permissions for access to Svaneti’s churches and the Mestia Museum.
In 2022, my wife, Olga, and I moved to Tbilisi, Georgia, from our home in Saint Petersburg, Russia, after the invasion of Ukraine. As iconographers living among the Georgian people, we have made it our mission to make monthly visits to different regions of Georgia to admire its medieval churches and view their frescoes, icons and carved reliefs. We took hundreds of photographs, thrilled with what we saw and… We cried about the conditions in which these churches and frescoes are now. Georgian church art reflects exceptional artistry and skill in both painting and embossing technique. Stunning in the flickering light of candles and oil lamps, Svaneti’s heritage of exquisite beauty is little known outside the region. We will film the most distinctive representations of regional Svaneti churches, interviewing their caretakers and community members, so that people all over the world can appreciate the magnificent gifts of Svaneti frescoes and church art.
Svaneti—a mountainous region dotted with ski resorts and hiking trails—is also particularly rich in medieval Orthodox art dating back to the 10th to 14th centuries. Unlike most churches around the world, for centuries Svaneti’s churches have belonged to local families, each designating a family member as caretaker. The Svan community is very guarded—they will not open their churches to visitors unless or until they deem them trustworthy. Some church doors sport new modern locks, while others are secured with relics from the Middle Ages; caretakers open them with a dedicated prayer, noting each visitor. If a stranger should enter a church unallowed, the news will spread like wildfire, with a dozen armed men descending on the spot to warn of serious repercussions if the violator fails to observe local rules.
We hope to be able to film them in their natural environment, conveying the richness of materials and textures. Only a few small representations of Svaneti’s church frescoes are known outside the area due to its remoteness.
The people of this region, known as the “Svans” were long independent, immune to rule by outside emperors or monarchs, from whom the forbidding landscape protected the people and lands. Access to Svaneti remained limited until very recently both because there were no passable roads (just paths), but also because the surrounding canyons (Martvili, Balda, Kirzala) exposed any invading army to vulnerability and all but certain defeat trying to cross treacherous gorges from below, while the region’s protectors watched armed and ready in Svaneti’s highlands. This kept the Svans safe, and their treasures largely unknown, with the notable exception of several icons from Svaneti located at the monastery of Saint Catherine on Mount Sinai.
However, the cumulative effects of extreme climate conditions now threaten the churches and their precious contents. Despite several efforts both in Soviet times and more recently, to restore Svaneti’s historic churches, the majority are in dire need of repair. Some Svan families have acted to protect some of the removable objects by removing them for safe keeping in the recently renovated Museum in Mestia. Notably, many of these objects do not belong to the State of Georgia, but are on loan from the families who still own the churches and their contents. The Museum of Mestia and museum of Ushguli now house dozens of icons, both painted and adorned with silver rizas, or “revetments,” plus hundreds of other artifacts dating to the 10th to 16th centuries.
Visiting Svaneti a second time last year, Olga and I were fortunate to gain entry to many churches, together with a film director, Alla Savina, in hopes of gaining access that would enable us to convey our love for Georgia and Svaneti’s church treasures by featuring them and their caretakers in a documentary film. We plan to return for seven days on October 20, 2024 with Ms. Savina and a professional film crew of others who cherish medieval church art, and to capture the rare beauty of several area churches, highlighting the dedication of their owner-families, two priests, and the cultural and spiritual riches of the Mestia Museum.
The medieval art of Svaneti is unique in its variety of styles and schools. Svans converted to Christianity in the VIII century, and we can still see some of the earliest churches in their almost intact state and frescoed soon thereafter.
The most famous Svaneti artist, Tevdore, is known to have painted at least three churches in the 12th century, still in comparatively good condition. We will film his works and other artists of his circle, as well as other frescoes often overlooked by professional iconographers.
Most of these latter images were painted between the XIV and XVII centuries by local artists who had little or no formal training, yet possessed exceptional powers of artistic expression.
Untouched by conventionality, their unique character and expressiveness points to a most inspiring aspect of Christian art.
Our estimates are following:
Here is a little teaser we made as a preview. We hope you like it and consider our project worthy.
Any size donation will be appreciated, even one dollar will help.
Please provide your email so we can keep you posted on this project and its progress.
Thank you!
COURSES
In just a few days we start one of our most interesting programs. It consists of 3 courses, starting from Garments, continuing with Blessing Gestures and finishing with the Composition for half-figure icons. We think it is really a good one, and we are thrilled to see, that today it's almost full, give it a look if you are interested. It's a joy to see how our students use their knowledge, especially those who do the Study Group, as their final works look really professional and thoughtful.
During the last week we had several inquiries about our program for 2024, so we have finally made it. We did not add all options directly to the pages with descriptions to avoid confusion with the courses we teach now, so, if you are interested in a particular course dates for 2025, check the calendar.
. Off-line courses are now in a special section, we named it "In-Person Workshops". So far we have the Australia and the US, very soon hope to add Italy too.
Alternatively, if you are interested in extending your theoretical knowledge about iconography in the Early Christian period, welcome to my course Theology of the Icon. This course investigates the origins of our tradition, introducing the course participant to several most fundamental concepts of iconography. It's a series of 6 zoom lectures, performed and recorded on every second Saturday, starting on October 5, 2024. Every lecture provides an opportunity to ask questions, which are shared in Google Classroom within several hours after the registration.It's a second edition of this course, and I think it gives a great introduction to the context of Early Christian art from the point of view of iconography.
PRAYER REQUEST
We continue to work as much as we can, and once again we decided to apply for a Georgian Residence Permit for Olga. Please, say a prayer for her during this month, as we shouyld hear the answer before the end of September. Chances are said to be much better now, so we have some hope.
Thank you for your invaluable support of all kinds!
With warmest wishes and gratitude,
Philip and Olga
P.S.1 Page to make a donation for Documentary Film about Svaneti: https://gogetfunding.com/filmsvaneti/
P.S.2. If you missed our August Newsletter, here it is: Make the Right Mess
Earlier Newsletters:
- August 2024
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- December 2023
- October 2023
- August 2023
- June 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- December 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- April 2022 Easter
- April 2022
- December 2021
- August 2021
- 12 May 2021
- 20 December 2020
- 27 September 2020
- 24 June 2020
- 30 March 2020
- 15 January 2020
- 19 November 2019
- 21 October 2019
- 06 August 2019
- 18 July 2019
- 26 April 2019
- Newsletter 28 March 2019
- Newsletter 25 November 2018
- Newsletter 8 November 2018
- Newsletter 30 July 2018
- Newsletter 24 May 2018
- Newsletter 31 March 2018
- Newsletter 18 February 2018
- Newsletter 30 November 2017
- Newsletter 2 September 2017
- Newsletter July 2017
- Newsletter 2 of May 2017
- Newsletter 14 of March 2017
- Newsletter 9 of February 2017
- Newsletter 24 of December 2016
- Newsletter 14 of November 2016
- Newsletter 19 of August 2016
- Newsletter 30 of April 2016
- Newsletter 07 of March 2016
- Newsletter 25 of January 2016
- Newsletter 31 of December 2015
- Newsletter 24 of December 2015
- Newsletter 20 of November 2015
- Newsletter 23rd of September 2015
- Newsletter 9th of May 2015
- Newsletter 13th of March 2015
- Newsletters 22nd of January and 6th of February 2015 on one page
- Newsletter 2nd of December 2014
- Newsletter 4th of November 2014
- Newsletter 2nd of October 2014
- Newsletter 24th of July 2014
- Newsletter 4th of July 2014
- Newsletter 28th of May 2014
- Newsletter 15th of May 2014
- Newsletter 13th of May 2014
- Newsletter 25th of April 2014
- Newsletter 25th of March 2014
- Newsletter 05 February 2014
- Newsletter 23rd of December 2013
- Newsletter 12th of November 2013
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