When Kyle Daniels moved from California to Atlanta, Georgia, he didn’t know many people around the area. Thus, he set out on a quest to find new acquaintances. He had an old MySpace account which he decided to use to locate new friends within the state of Georgia. However, as fate would have it, the search results accidentally gave him both the state and the country of Georgia, and an interesting woman who seemed to have the same interests as him, but hailed from the latter. A conversation sparked: “So I’m busy talking to the woman of my dreams who is on the other side of the world, in a country I had no clue even existed until I met her. Three weeks into the relationship, we started to bond; she spoke better English than I ever did, which made it even harder for me to fathom what I discovered later. I actually approached her with the following words: let me come down and see you once you’re out of school in a few months.” Her reply was: “Unless your vehicle has a speed boat attached to it, it’s not going to happen.” So Kyle decided to surprise her. He did not have a speed boat, but instead he bought a plane ticket and flew all the way to the country of Georgia, to see the woman he was strongly in love with. “This was before you guys had a real airport; it was just a little office warehouse instead,” Kyle explains.

After going back and forth for four years from this Georgia to that Georgia, Kyle decided to get married to his chosen one, and settle for a while in the Georgia that is a country, not a state.

Since he received certification in massage therapy in the US, he found a job here in Tbilisi at the Aura Plus Weight and Body-Modeling Center. Shiatsu, deep tissue, and effleurage are just some massage techniques which Kyle practices: “Fatigue alleviation, overall relaxation, improving blood circulation, and pain relief - it’s all incorporated into massage. It can serve both medical and relaxation purposes, while muscle manipulation is the heart and mind of massage therapy,” Kyle explains, and continues: “You’ve got to think about your muscles like a piece of gum; when you’re chewing on it, it can be molded however you want. If you were to put the piece of gum in the freezer, it would harden and remain solid and inflexible until you chew it again. In short, in cold weather your muscles become tight. They need to be warmed up to be molded again in a way you want them to.” Kyle sheds the light on to how to relieve certain areas of pain through massage. His word of advice is to get into a hot tub or a sulphur bath, have your muscles warmed up to a certain degree, and then apply pressure as hard as one can take onto the areas that are painful. What Kyle gave special emphasis to during the interview was to never get a massage while one is drunk: “Massage contributes to increased circulation of alcohol through the bloodstream, thus it can cause very dangerous alcohol poisoning,» he says, probably based on the observations he has made about the Georgian people and their fondness of drinking.

In fact, Kyle has discovered that Georgians are missing a very significant element of mass culture: “Since Georgia has given me so much, I want to give something in return. Something that you guys unfortunately don’t have yet but have definitely seen and heard of before - a comic book. Especially, a comic book story about a Georgian character.” Thus, Chanchika’s character was born (“chanchiki” means “bolt” in English, and the character was inspired by a real-life person - a friend of Kyle’s). The story so far is as follows: a young man, who has recently lost his parents, goes through trials-and-errors as he tries to care for his younger brother, and survive a perilous fight with unknown evils that plague his world. Later on, he discovers he is not alone and there are others willing to help. Hopefully, Kyle, just like his character, will find friends and collaborators in a country he hopes will be receptive to his creative ideas. For that to happen sooner, he has opened a Facebook page titled “Creative Comix Tbilisi” meant to unite artists and people who are simply interested and willing to create comics together to contribute to the development of the industry. “I hope through this, I can inspire other people in Georgia to create their own stories and artwork, and put them together to develop something beautiful, for the young and the old alike,” says Kyle.

Meanwhile, Kyle enjoys his time in Tbilisi. Going together with his wife to Mtatsminda Park, where they fervently play a game called “Pump it Up” (a likeness of “Dance, Dance Revolution”) and then visiting a restaurant colloquially called “The Pink Mingrelian,” where he may eat up to 20 khinkalis in one sitting - a true deed of a superhero -, he probably feels a bit like a comic book character himself. Being an African-American by ethnicity, Kyle admits: “I feel like an exotic object here in Tbilisi,” a notion he seems to like and emphasize through demonstrating even more exotic touches to his appearance, such as wearing an afro-pick or comb in his hair (for which he constantly gets strange looks from passersby), and skater gear, for instance. “I want people to get used to what we may bring along from America,” Kyle elaborates. At the same time, he is eager to learn Georgian fluently. The first words he learned are those of politeness. “I want to be respectful to the people I meet, and convey a message that through me, they are gaining a friend, and a new member of this great and hospitable family that is Georgia.”


18.06.2010

Tango Desde el alma de Tbilisi (right from the soul of Tbilisi)

Susanne Kihm, German, first arrived in Georgia seven years ago. Three years later, she came back and ever since she’s been continuously living in Georgia. Being a multilingual, Susanne first taught English to orphans in SOS kindergarten, now she teaches German to students at the Goethe Institute and the Tbilisi State University. Also, Susanne has a translation work in progress. She translates a novel by one of the significant Georgian authors - Guram Dochanashvili from Georgian into German.

Languages as a mean of communication seem to be a true passion in Susanne’s life. For it is not only a verbal language that she’s fond of but also profound and subtle language of music and dance. In fact, this is why she came to the radio show, to reflect upon her passion for Tango.

It was two years ago, that Susanne together with her friends started a Tango Argentino scene in Georgia. This is what is written on their homepage: “Tango Argentino in Tbilisi started when some tangueros and tangueras – Nika, Tobias, Katja, Franziska, Susanne, Nino and Tom gathered in Tobias’ apartment, and decided that Tango was the one thing missing in Tbilisi.

That was in mid January 2008 and two weeks later, on the 31st of January, the first Milonga took place in the JR’s Night-Club in Sheraton.”

Ever since, there has been Milongas twice a week in various cafes in town. Milonga is a word that has two meanings. First is the name for a special music form, which evolved prior to Tango and is a more cheerful and quicker predecessor of the latter one and the second meaning is the name for the Tango evenings and sessions. Now together with Milonga sessions in different cafйs of Tbilisi town Susanne and her friend Nika Lomtadze give lessons in a small studio on Sulkhan-Saba Str. They already have about 20 regular students and twenty more that drop in from time to time.

“The main principle of Tango Argentino is really based on communication. It is the thing about the two partners. It never gets boring. Every dance would be different, depending on whom you dance with, to what music, what mood you are in and it’s completely based on improvisation. There is no choreography, like in the ball room dances.” – explains Susanne.

Even though there are few basic elements to name a few like ocho (figure 8 step) and cruzada (the crossing step) the core idea is still improvisation. However, for a dance not to be chaotic and to be beautiful, woman partner has to be very attentive and to follow every motion and intention of a man as he leads. According to Susanne, it takes approximately half a year of learning before you get the feeling that you are actually dancing Tango.

For that to happen sooner, it is probably better to understand the meaning of Tango as a dance. Tango has soaked in many different cultures and social contexts before it became what it is today and it is still evolving together with society.

“Tango evolved in the end of 19th century in Buenos Aires and Montevideo and it combined different influences. It is mostly derived from African dance called Candombe, a ritual dance based on pantomime. The Gauchos Argentinean cowboys picked it up and modified it. Then immigrants, mostly Italians added their own touch to Tango. For them, it was a mean to express nostalgia and melancholy they often felt to their homeland and also a mean to get away from mundane reality.”-explains Susanne.

“The Tango Argentino is a sad thought, which can be danced”- once said Enrique Santos Discйpolo, Argentinean musician and composer.

Indeed, the melodies and lyrics of Tango are mostly sad and sorrowful. They often tell unhappy stories of love, where men are mostly abandoned by women. The lyrics of Tango often contain special slang vocabulary called lunfardo. According to one source it is a special coded language used by the criminals, while other sources claim that the immigrants have made a verbal blend to add a mysterious flavor to Tango.

Nowadays Tango has become so popular, that festivals are held in just about every big city of the world. The reference point still to be Buenos Aires.

Susanne Kihm together with her friends is looking forward to bringing a tradition of Tango festival to Tbilisi. They were thinking of fulfilling the initiative in June, with special guests from Argentina to perform and hold workshops, however due to scarcity of funding they had to postpone the festival idea to a late fall and to limit themselves to two-day-event for now.

On 17th, there will be a presentation of the video by Nino Dzamashvili about Tango in Tbilisi. A video is dedicated to the 2nd anniversary of Tango in Tbilisi.

On the 18th a special retrospective show will illustrate the history of Tango Argentino. About 6 couples will demonstrate various phases of development of the dance by performing and encompassing different forms of it like Milonga, Canyenge and Tango de salon together with more modernized forms of Tango.


Susanne Kihm, talks to Ruso Strelkova, host of radio show FilterFree
11.06.2010

Casjen Ohnesorge a German Poet Gradually Stirring up Poetry Slam in Georgia

Poetry slam which is believed to be originated from Ireland, became rather popular throughout the world within recent years. The format of it allows people with poetic inclines to express themselves freely through performing, recital of poems, story-telling or even hip-hop. The places where poetry slams are held vary from bars to cinemas and meadows. Casjen Ohnesorge, a German teacher and poet who came to Georgia several months ago is one of the fervent followers of poetry slams. He remembers to have written a first poem on a train and gotten a chance to recite it on one of such gatherings. The concept and the atmosphere appealed to him. Ever since, he admits to have become addicted to it. On a stage he is able to be someone else, a character of his poem: “I shout, I sing, I dance, I yell” he admits. By Now, on his account are over 100 poetry slams he took part in. Casjen often travels around from one German city to another, for one single reason, to attend and to participate in poetry slams. Now that he is in Georgia, he feels somewhat nostalgic about performing, being devoid of such possibility. Two of his flat-mates however to be most frequent and regular audience to whom he recites his new creations.

The last name of Casjen, Ohnesorge is literary translated from German to English as “without worries”. A poet is always asked whether it’s his artistic name, however it is not. Casjen looks up to his last name and enjoys every bit of life, nevertheless he believes that people who write poetry are never only on the “light side of life.” In fact, according to Casjen, to be a good performing poet one should be a bit paranoid and have a divided character. On one hand, a person should be an extravert and outgoing, but on the other, he should be able to enjoy sad, lonely and calm moments, to observe and to reflect upon the things he sees in everyday life. What appeals to Casjen the most in poetry is a possibility to feel emotions and situations that one would not be able to experience otherwise. Then, to return to real life and look at it with different eyes.

In Georgia, Casjen started two initiatives, one to be the translation of Georgian poetry into German. As a German teacher he involved his students first into this activity, then people from outside gradually started to join in. Every month people who are willing and interested gather at Goethe institute’s cafй and have spontaneous translation evenings. Georgian poets translate and German native speakers help them out to structure their works. Casjen believes that poetry is easier in a foreign language than prose. No special knowledge is required to be able to create fascinating sentences. The structure of poetry gives way to free self-expression. One can suffice with a simple phrase, perhaps repetitive, with a bit of variations to produce interesting results. Casjen himself is fond of so-called hybrid poetry, where he mixes and rhymes different languages with each-other. He has not used any Georgian words as text material yet, although the sound of Georgian resembles him Spanish, Polish, Arabic and Turkish all together. Living in Georgia however, became a source of inspiration to him to such extent he wrote 1.5 hour worth of poems to recite and he did too in one of the prestigious stages in Germany. The evening was dedicated to Georgian impressions and encounters.

Yet another initiative of Casjen is to stir up the poetry slam in Georgia. In his opinion, he would make a good MC (master of ceremony) for such events. But most of its success will depend on Georgian poets being active of course. The rules of poetry slams are as follows: the piece of text should be produced by an author and participant, the contest has a time limit, so a performer should be able to fit in that time frame, and then the audience decides who the winner is. Normally the scores are from 1 to 10. The contest is open to everyone. The poetry slam could be dedicated to one certain subject, like a detective poetry slam for instance. However, for Georgia, it would still be irrational to set any genre limits until the movement has developed enough.

Casjen believes that Georgia already has interesting poetic traditions and he could not but contribute to development of such events to expand expression possibilities for Georgians poets in the future, because the poetry slams is an immediate chance to promote yourself, to be heard and have the audience listen to your works.


A Poem written by Casjen Ohnesorge dedicated to a Malaysian “princess” seen in a tube.


Human Touch


Looking at you, I see so much beauty

That if I was at work

I’d let go of my duty


Maybe a sailor with the best crew on his boat

Could withstand you

By hitting the road


Or the guys at the Oil tanking site

Who love their girls, like their wives

After work, at night


Or a guy so stressed and ambitious

That all would stay dry

The days, the nights, even the luring issues


But there’d be some firemen keeping up the fighting

Fighting the fire,

Lit by your lightning

Since they are the men bedevilled with doubt

Struck by you transformed to stone they’d stand

Cold, ridiculous but proud

And may only be revived by this

Your tender hand


Singapur, March 2002


4.06.2010

If you iron Georgia then it will be as big as France

Hans Heiner Buhr talks to FilterFree radio show host Ruso Strelkova

Hans Heiner Buhr, an artist, teacher and adventurer arrived in Georgia 14 years ago. Hans’s grandfather was also an adventurer who traveled to France and had a business in Turkey. Perhaps due to strange genetic consequences Hans settled in Georgia, married a Georgian woman and together they created a Georgian-German family.

Here in Tbilisi Hans teaches German to children at the so-called “German School.” At the same time, his son teaches him Georgian by writing words on paper for him, the ones, Hans finds difficult to memorize by sound. Hans is a visual artist, therefore perceives Georgian language visually.

Not long ago, Hans together with his friend and artist Nugzar Natenadze rented a studio in the heart of Tbilisi, with windows facing Matchabeli Street. According to Hans, the place reminds him of his hometown Berlin, especially when it’s gloomy outside. Hans is looking forward to June to make an exhibition in his studio together with few friends and colleagues. One of the most recent paintings the artist is still working on is called Mamluk. Men of war, daggers, horses, Caucasian characters, stories he was a witness of as well as different attributes affiliated with military theme often are the source of his inspiration.

Recently, he read the memoires of Rostom Razmadze (Roustam Raza) a person with an interesting destiny, who was sold as a slave seven times, a bodyguard of Napoleon Bonaparte, who married a French countess and declined to follow the emperor in his exile to Elba. Even though Hans would not admit, still, somehow the horseman on the canvas in his latest work reflects the story of that famous Mamluk. Occasionally some Georgian collectors purchase his artworks, sometimes he collects paintings himself. More often, he exchanges his works with friends. In his studio, a book of works by Kazimir Malevich and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec can be found. At this stage of his artistic explorations the two artists seem to interest him. Hans likes the freedom of flowing lines of Lautrec and the well defined structure in the works of Malevich and seeks to achieve the combination of the two in his works. Hans likes to work with mixed media technique, however sometimes gets tired of mundane artistic explorations and goes to explore nature.

One of his favorite places is the Algeti National park, which is only 60km away from Tbilisi and a wonderful place to escape the city for the weekend. Hans likes to travel and seven years ago he established a small travel agency called “Caucasus Reisen.” First it was meant to show friends the beauties of Georgia but gradually he became a guide to unknown tourists. Being an adventurer himself, Hans tries to come up with innovative tourism and travel possibilities according to season and interests of tourists. Hans believes that Georgia gives enough of room for explorations and discoveries and jokes about the country’s size pointing out it could be as big as France if ironed.

In his tourism “a la carte” one may find wine tourism, or the one related to exploration of Georgian flora. Probably the most innovative tour Hans has offered to his customers and to the Georgian tourism market so far is an art tour. Where people get a chance not only to visit and observe the sites but also paint their immediate impressions on canvas. These could be streets and churches of Old Tbilisi or animals from the Kakheti region. Hans himself made several sketches of a small house he purchased in the region, in the gorge of the Cabali river.

Even though the number of tourists has grown recently and Hans is happy to see more backpackers from Israel, Poland and the Baltic region, there are still very few who come for an art tour.

To promote Georgian art abroad and to spread the word about Georgian culture, Hans founded the “Art Club Caucasus,” an initiative meant to bring foreign artists to Georgia and to stir up the interest into Caucasus as an art region. The August events of 2008 became an obstacle for this project, many of his friends and colleagues are rather cautious about traveling to Georgia. However, Hans would not give up and as mentioned before he is working on an exhibition to be presented in June.

The artworks by Hans Heiner Buhr can be found on http://heinerbuhr.de/ and http://facebook.com/heiner


30.04.2010