Last year, while working on the project of cataloging archival folklore material in the National Archives of Georgia, Sandro Natadze, the head of the project, and I came across photographs depicting Svan dances and perkhuli (round dances), which were unknown to us. They were stored in an album dedicated to Giorgi Nikoladze’s 1925 mountaineering expedition. In this essay, we present one of the photos from this collection.

It all began with a group of young mountaineers who left Georgia for the North Caucasus under the leadership of Giorgi Nikoladze, a successful mathematician and metallurgist, with a doctorate from the Sorbonne, a leading figure in the Geographical Society of Georgia, and the founder of the legendary sports movement known as “Shevardeni.” The members of the expedition were mainly students and graduates of Tbilisi State University. Their main goal was to climb Mount Elbrus, the highest peak of the Caucasus. At the same time, along with mountaineering, some members of the groups were interested in researching the natural resources of the Caucasus. One of these young scholars was Niko Ketskhoveli, who would go on to become quite famous, later writing a book about this journey, In the Snowy Mountains, published in 1967.

On July 26, 1925, the group traveled by train from Tbilisi to Pyatigorsk (a city in Russia, in the Stavropol region) and from there made its way to the highest peak of the Caucasus. The adventure-filled trek lasted more than a month. During this time, young people crossed many villages of the North Caucasus, the valley of the Baksan River, camped on Mt. Elbrus, climbed over Babis Mta (Donguzorun), which separates Georgia from Kabardino-Balkaria, hiked through Upper Svaneti, and finally continued their journey to Abkhazia. The expedition ended in Sukhumi on September 8, 1925.

Behind this simple retelling of the expedition route hide many exciting stories, which you can read in the book by Niko Ketskhoveli mentioned above. But for now let’s turn to the history of the photos.

These photos was taken in Svaneti, possibly by Nikoladze himself. Unfortunately, the exact location and the identity of the people depicted on it are unknown. In Ketskhoveli’s expedition diaries, however, we read descriptions of the Svan dances and perkhuli, which bring these images to life, serving as a kind of artistic annotation, even if the details about these individuals have been lost.

According to these diaries, the friendship between the Svans and the members of the group began in Kabardino-Balkaria. In the village of Kachkarovo in the Baksan valle,y, they met several young people working there: Gela Kaldani and two men whose surnames are not given, Romanoz and Grigol.. The Svans welcomed the young people who were hiking to Elbruswith great joy. Particularly emotional was the moment when the guests joined in on the bani  or bass part of the Svan song “Lile”:

That night our Svans stayed with us, we sat by the fire and told each other stories. The song changed the conversation. Grigol was the first to sing “Lile”, a great Svan song. It was slow and quiet at first, but when they heard our bani, their eyes lit up and the slow humming turned into a powerful roar. (1)

The Svan youths guided the members of the expedition on the way to Svaneti, crossing the difficult and dangerous paths of Babis Mta.  And they were warm and hospitable hosts in Svaneti itself, guiding the group through the Nakra Valley as well.

When reminiscing about the days spent here, Niko Ketskhoveli focuses on the religiosity of the locals, their loyalty to traditions, toughness, and hospitality. It clearly shows us the atmosphere of a Svan village a century ago, accompanied by singing, playing instruments, and dancing:

“They set the table. It turns out that Gela had killed a calf for us, the women had baked khach’ap’uri and a hearty feast broke out. Gela is with us all the time and serves us tirelessly. His neighbors have also come—they want to entertain us. They are happy that we overcame Hingitau [the Svan name for Mt. Elbrus]  so easily and peacefully. They tell us that Georgians will be known everywhere. The Svan ‘Lile’ is already roaring, loudly and deeply. The cheerful and beautiful ‘Hou Buba Kakuchela’ runs through the mountain ravines and crevices. It is surprising that such an elegant and playful song arose from a place surrounded by suchsteep cliffs, where every step is a struggle for existence. Even in this playfulness, however, bitterness and sadness can sometimes be heard. ‘Shaimodi Shamarera,’ the choir sings, and Gela spins on his toes, Grigol following lightly.” (2)

In another part of the book, the author recounts how the villagers spend their time together, describing traditional sports, round dances, couples’ dances, and women's games, featuring dancing on tiptoes:

In pairs, they put their arms around each other and passed by evenly, in an orderly manner. The rhythm is unusual. If even one of them fails, the game falls apart. One round is fast-paced. The whole circle should be done in pairs. Women’s games and dances, standing on tiptoe, are graceful and captivating. (3)

In this photo, we see Svan men, women and children standing in a row, clapping for the dancing women in front of them, and presumably singing as well. The image gives us an idea of the clothing style of the rural population at that time. Men wear the traditional Svan hats, the shape of which changed significantly in later years. Women are wearing the characteristic white headscarves which were usually worn by Svan women on special days and occasions. Interestingly, only one year after Nikoladze’s expedition, in the summer of 1926,  two American travelers, William and Marion Wasserman, captured on film men and women dancing a perkhuli together, also dressed in this manner. Giorgi Nikoladze also appears in this unique footage, since he served as a guide for the Americans in Svaneti. The guests were surprised to see, in this traditionally-minded place, tucked away in the impassable mountains of the Caucasus and guided by strict rules, men and women would dance in such close proximity to one another. The photo selected for our column confirms the validity of the existing narratives about the active involvement of women in Svan singing, dancing, and perkhuli.

On a final note, I would like to mention that young women also appear in the photo collection as active participants in the mountaineering. On August 12, 1925, according to Niko Ketskhoveli, five women—Maro Bezhanishvili, Maro Tkavadze, Eliko Lortkipanidze, Asmat Nikolaishvili, and Lidusi Chkheidze—reached Mt. Elbrus together with the men. They were the first women to conquer the highest peak of the Caucasus.

References

• 1.Ketskhoveli, Niko. 1967. Tovlian Mtebshi (In the snowy mountains). Tbilisi: Nakaduli, 30.http://environment.cenn.org/app/uploads/2016/10/niko_ketskhoveli_tovlian_mtebshi.pdf
• 2.Ketskhoveli, Tovlian Mtebshi, 39.
• 3.Ketskhoveli, Tovlian Mtebshi, 41.