#LataliRecords | On Abandoning Iphkhi and its meaning – Geographien

Free Svanetians and equal society

Dadeshkeliani Landlords always wanted to dominate the village, and the whole Latali swore an oath to protect their freedom, because Latali belongs to free Svaneti and there is an equal society, you have no right to prevent this. According to definitions, Tali means equal (in Georgian – Toli), but I think that it is a gate, some kind of sanctuary which one can use to protect oneself. It gives you something regarding the society – they are the most reliable people, because here I am, I came here for a shelter you will host me, do not betray me or take my life. That’s why there are so many treasures in the territory of Balskvemo Svaneti, Dadeshkelians took out everything in Svaneti and gave it to the Russians who came here. And we kept this treasure and protected it as our own.

Svaneti is searching for a sustainable future in a continuous field of friction between an emerging local economy and the region‘s rich traditions. Against the background of the region's emerging tourism, the region faces severe changes: An unregulated mass tourism would step by step destroy the ecological heritage of the region and decrease the possibilities of the population to contribute to their self-sufficiency through agriculture. Also, land use has always been closely connected with agricultural and forestry work – so tourism alone cannot contribute to landscape conservation. In an interdisciplinary field trip, founded by BOELL foundation, students from the German University Ostfalia, Tbilisi State University, and Tbilisi Free University visited Latali/Svanetia for 5 days to document peoples’ ideas, beliefs, and prospects. In addition, traditional objects, houses, and sacred spaces are mapped and presented in a web project. As one of the first approaches to set Latali on the map, this project seeks to envision a sustainable future for Latali’s participation in tourism.

When I am free, then I divide the time according to the calendar, then I divide the space into the sacred and profane, then I have the right to be with you as a human being, but sometimes as I should be with God. Every single stone here tells a story, the main thing to do is to know this story and talk about it. You have to revive the history, otherwise, the towers and buildings are everywhere and they themselves have no importance. You should feel how much energy it takes to build such towers. The histories are told by everything: the tower, the Lemziri bread and nature per se. Latali remains all the traditions and past days – 255 days are sacral here and it comes from an ancient time. For me, this place is a starting point for everything.