Our horizon shifted entirely, the surroundings took on a new expanse and grew quiet. In other directions too, perhaps in accordance with this shift, our thoughts wandered as Krzysztof Czyżewski invoked the fundamental cultural transition from polytheism to monotheism. The Greek world of many gods filled the space with presence, and myth illuminated the meanings embedded in daily contact with the world. This reality of multiple streams attuned to humanity was directly immersed in the source, flowing through time in a cyclical manner. With monotheism came a boundary, space divided into a barren, empty void and another that opened the doors of temples only to the chosen. Time shattered its wholeness, and in place of humanity serving something eternal, a new subject emerged: the author. However, the dichotomy of these worlds is merely a starting point; almost immediately, the imagination flows, seeking a practice that tells a different story. This requires courage to open one's space, to ask questions without knowing the answers yet. For Georgians, Medea has always been a bridge to Europe, interpreted in various ways over the years, sometimes radically and in accordance with nationalist boundaries. The multiplicity of narratives turns this story away from Eurocentrism; perhaps only encounter and shared reflection can preserve its true meaning. By invoking the Greeks and ancient polytheism, the accusation of nostalgia arises, a sentiment strongly present in conservative, one-sided narratives. Although myth is always about the future, about building a new world, this dynamic is also fraught with dangers, leading to fascist narratives based on a return to the source that will enchant the coming tomorrow. There are no easy ways out here, but art always serves to break the impasse, instantly shifting perception to alternative sides. Pier Paolo Pasolini's film "Medea" moves within these poles. Based on Euripides' drama, the story goes far beyond the framework of classical interpretations of the text. The film reflects on time, but also on a culture that does not become an opposition but rather an alchemy of nature, repeating transformation and encounter to compose a living whole from fragments of the world. In an alternative encounter with Medea, only suggested by Pasolini, reality renews itself, and time becomes a space of possibilities and change that transcends our previous imagination.
Our afternoon seminar that day took a slightly different path, with Archil Kikodze's story about Mikheil Javakhishvili's forgotten masterpiece, "Lambalo and Kasha." In accordance with the Dilemmas project, the book was invoked as an unfamiliar text that tells of the relationship between the empire and the Orient. Although written in the 1920s, it becomes a reservoir of meanings and narratives today, a source of thought about otherness and encounter on the Black Sea.
Text: Piotr Szroeder
Photos: Narek Dallakyan
