Cracks in the kvevri: High stake poker in Georgia
I just came back from a trip to Georgia. I walked the streets, I talked to people, I drank the wine, I saw the flags and I listened. There is a game on, don’t show your hand and plan for different scenarios. And it’s all about what will happen in Ukraine.
An ancient land on the crossroads between the Middle East, the Far East and Europe, its own language and alphabet, unique wine traditions and beautiful scenery. Famers and singers, rich in stories. The kvevri, the large ceramic containers shaped like drops where the wine is allowed to ferment organically whilst semi-buried. The supra, the feast at the traditional long table, where conversations are allowed to ferment and ideas to grow. There are many layers to Georgia, many things to discover. And not all is what it looks like on the surface.
Tblisi is worn down. Many houses desperately need repair. And most people are worn down from the ongoing occupation of a fifth of its territory, going back to 2008 and even 1993. The gnawing and nibbling of the Russian state on the territories, the politics, the business, life. Is this limbo or purgatory? Will entropy always win over gaiety? How long can people keep living under this uncertainty?
Tblisi is filling up with Russians, and people ask themselves who they are. Are they running away to keep they money, are they afraid, are they spies, or Wagner group mercenaries? The way people quickly gauge when in public spaces who is friend or foe, the eyes that look for signs, the feet that speed up just a little bit to make it back into the safety of the shadows.
There is a power struggle in the ruling elite going on. It seems like the government and the ruling party is trying to stay friendly with Russia, whilst the president, who largely holds a ceremonial role, has stepped forward to take a stand in the other direction. In a jail in Rustavi outside Tblisi sits the previous president Saakashvili in solitary confinement and is being tried in a case that is not recognised internationally. He is a hot potato and a formidable force even weakened by the hunger strikes and the treatment he is receiving in jail. And on the hill sits the man who will be deciding in all this, the powerful oligarch Ivanishvili funded by Russia but that is seemingly hedging his bets on the outcome of the war in Ukraine. Everyone know who sits in the futuristic villain-from-a-bond-movie castle that overlooks the city. Everyone knows where his money came from. No-one knows what he is thinking. Possibly not even himself.
You are allowed to put ip Ukrainian flags and many do so. Often combined with Georgian and EU flags. The Russian invasions from 1992 and 2008 is an open wound and now you can indirectly make your voice heard without speaking specifically about the situation in Abzkazia and South Ossetia. Indirectly this is a criticism of their own government. There is graffiti showing clear messages and viewpoints in different languages and in no uncertain terms, and some cafes clearly spell out that if you don’t agree to calling Putin a war criminal you will not be served. Even with a pro Russian government there is still an office dedicated to the integration with Nato and EU on the Freedom Square. It is both a clear and a confusing message coming out of Tblisi.
I heard a clear challenge when I talked with a former minister who did not describe himself as artistic: we need artists to step forward. This is a time of confusion, I am confused myself he said, but we need stories and artistic input in this chaos. I also met artists that needed politicians to step forward. The police is keeping people under control. Higher polices in other countries keep politicians under control. Who will take the first step? Keep your options open, hedge your bet, play the game, dance the dance. Manage the risk and adjust your values accordingly. But like a man I met from Kutaisi said it is a complex situation that will take a long time to untangle, we need many small brave steps.
Corruption eats your soul and destroys countries, it is allowed to fester when you don’t have solid values that look to the long term gain of a society and where you don’t see yourself as an integral part of it. Now we see the real world consequences of this in the quality of the Russian army and we all are taking notes. It is a battle of values in Eastern Europe, of world views. Most definitively I saw hopelessness and short term thinking in the electrical wiring and fasades in Tblisi that crack so visibly. But the game is very much on and things might shift quickly on all levels when the time is ripe. Because Georgia has deep roots that are not so easily undone, and soon the tree might blossom again, and the song they carry does not die. Because a culture of fear cannot build a country, only give it sadness and lethargy which also powerful oligarchs will suffer from. And the cracks in the kvevri can be mended.
The future of Georgia is being decided in Ukraine right now.
