The Artist, Fridon

Svaneti's koshkis or stone towers protected entire families from invasions.

Ushguli is a village tucked away in Georgia’s corner of the Caucasus Mountains – the fabled region known as Svaneti. Located at an elevation of over 2000 metres, this remote village also happens to be Europe’s highest inhabited village. Georgia’s highest mountain, Mt. Shkhara towers above the village in all its snow-peaked glory. On one side of the village, the glacier fed Enguri River thunders down a deep gorge, frothing and seething. The houses, sturdy structures of wood and stone, stand stoically next

Ushguli is one of the highest inhabited villages in Europe.

to Koshkis or defensive stone towers, each 20 - 25 metres tall. Towers that protected families from blood feuds and invasions. The residents, numbering about 200, are mostly farmers. As they tended to their crops and animals, children played to their heart’s content in the flower-bedecked alpine meadows. The all-too-brief summer needs to be enjoyed to the hilt. Winters last six months with temperatures regularly plummeting to -35 degrees Celsius. There are times when severe snowfall cuts this village off from the rest of Georgia. I met Fridon Nizharadze, a reclusive artist, in this isolated mountain refuge. 

Fridon's time in the sun is almost meditative.

Our host, Temraz, was sharpening a hoe with an electric sharpener. His elder brother, Fridon, stripped down to his waist, stood nearby, enjoying the sun’s warm rays on his bony back. Every now and then, his rheumy eyes would focus on the sparks emitted by the sharpener. Fridon’s time in the sun was important. It was almost meditative. Observing him from the first floor landing, I felt that the high-pitched whine of the sharpener was disturbing his time in the sun. Not that he voiced an opinion about it. Fridon had suffered a lot in his life for his opinions. Forget about expressing his thoughts, nowadays he barely speaks.

The moment one enters Gamarjoba Guest House; it was quite evident that the place houses an

Fridon's paintings can be seen throughout the house. This is the hallway.

artist. Paintings that could at best be described as belonging to a surrealistic school of thought hung in the hallway and rooms. These were all Fridon’s creations. His brother had stated in an interview to Georgian Today that Fridon has been painting since he was a small child. He used to head outdoors and paint landscapes. A painter from Tbilisi, Bela Berdzenishvili came to visit Svaneti. She was highly impressed by Fridon’s paintings and gifted him his first palette. In the 1970’s, Fridon served in the army for a while in Kazakhstan (those were the Soviet days) and later joined the Tbilisi Academy of Arts. However, after his graduation, he returned to Ushguli to practice his art. Fridon paintings were a mix of Georgian motifs and symbolism. They were difficult to comprehend. Having seen a bit of the world, he exhorted his community to think beyond growing potatoes. Unfortunately, his paintings, views and opinions clashed not only with those of the villagers but also went against the beliefs of the communist regime at that time. Like many other ‘free thinkers’, he was also sent for ‘treatment’ at a mental asylum. Where Fridon claims lots of blood was drained and plenty of pills were given. Was the ‘treatment’ successful? Hard to say. But Fridon became highly disillusioned. Nobody really understood him or his paintings. His own brother, fearing for his sanity, asked him to draw ‘safe’ work – flowers and mountains. Slowly but surely, Fridon went into a shell.

Fridon has only a few paintings left.

I kept bumping into Fridon in and around the house. He’d shuffle around the house doing odd jobs. His eyes fascinated me. The flowing beard came a close second. His body might be frail, his spirit broken, but his eyes still had a sparkle in them. It was during the third day of our stay when somehow during the course of a conversation full of hand gestures and repeated words such as India and Raj Kapoor (always an ice breaker in Eastern Europe), when Fridon started taking an active interest in us. He sang snatches of Raj Kapoor’s immortal song from the blockbuster hit ‘Shree 420’ – Mera joota hai Japani – and also recited in no particular order the following words – Afghanistan,

Pakistan, India, Indira Gandhi, Shiva and Dalai Lama. He even showed a well-thumbed book that had ‘Indien’ on the cover and several mythological references inside it.

Fridon, an undiscovered artist.

I usually like photographing friendly people. They make good subjects. I find it difficult to capture sad or withdrawn people. It feels like a selfish intrusion into a private world. But after the India and Raj Kapoor exchanges, I could see that Fridon was more relaxed and even enjoying the interactions. I took out my camera and gestured whether I can take his photographs. He smiled and a glint appeared in his eyes.