Famous gay French painter ‘seals’ France - Armenia state friendship in the very heart of Yerevan

Continuing the topic of French-Armenian relations... This morning, presidents Sarkozy and Sargsyan participated in the unveiling ceremony of Rodin’s sculpture of Jules Bastien-Lepage. The statue was France’s gift to Armenia, and was appropriately placed in France square, the very heart of downtown Yerevan, that is, in front of Opera and Liberty sq.

*source of picture - Tert.am

Everyone knows Rodin. But I bet until today not many of you would have heard of French painter Jules Bastien-Lepage. Even less people, including participants of the ceremony, would be aware that this famous French painter was gay.

I have to say, this choice of gift from the French side was perhaps unintentional but considering the circumstances turned into hilarious twist to 'seal' Sarkozy’s Yerevan visit, and will forever be associated with a (prominent) display of friendship between two countries.

“This generous gift will symbolize the eternal and inviolable friendship between Armenia and France,” RA President said [...]

Mr. Sarkozy, in turn, thanked the Armenian community for its important role in his country’s life. “Long live Armenia, long live France, long live brotherhood!” he said. (source)

Jules Bastien-Lepage joined gay Armenian icons Parajanov, Charents & co as a must-see landmark for art loving locals and tourists, and could be added to an itinerary of gay travel agencies.

On surface, Yerevan is enhancing its reputation as a host of queer culture representation of world-wide importance.

Now, if only individuals and society manage to catch up...

'Lesbian corner', Parajanov, British Film Institute, LLGFF

*British Film Institute (BFI), South Bank, London, Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, 2 April 2011


P.S. Btw, I was pleasantly surprised to spot quite a few DVDs of films by Parajanov at BFI store (e.g. see the first picture above)

Parajanov: imprisonment and prison art, British Film Institute, London

Pictures from an intimate exhibit at the British Film Institute, part of Parajanovian Festival in London, March 2010 (from my archives). They detail his imprisonment and prison art.

Parajanovian London: Yuri Mechitov photo exhibit at the National Theatre (+ Mat Collishaw at BFI)

Highly recommend this exhibit at the National Theatre in London of rare or unseen photos by Yuri Mechitov, who was a close friend of Parajanov. Photos were taken by Mechitov during their 11-year friendship.

When I entered the foyer where the exhibit was located, this intimate photo of Mechitov and Parajanov (1st photo, below) grabbed my attention, and I started taking pictures. Then someone from behind said: "Why not taking pictures with the photographer himself?" I turned around and saw Yuri Mechitov. It was such a pleasant surprise and was great meeting him in person, so I took his photo (as per below). He was holding his recently published book: "Sergey Parajanov. Chronicle of the Dialogue."

*Parajanov with Yuri Mgoyan

*Parajanov with Tarkovsky

***

Also worth checking an installation (multimedia) by contemporary British artist Mat Collishaw, inspired by Parajanov, at the British Film Institute (BFI), which is literally next door to the National Theatre on the South Bank.

Parajanov at London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival

Must see!

Sergei Paradjanov: The Rebel + Ashik Kerib

A special screening to celebrate the distinctive voice of rebellious auteur Sergei Paradjanov.

This fascinating documentary is not a straightforward portrait of Paradjanov's life, but rather a fluid celebration of his talent and creativity. Focusing on the collages he produced during his years in prison, and featuring interviews with the director himself, Cazals' film demonstrates the scope of Paradjanov's artistic vision, lovingly commemorating this rebel of art cinema.

Director: Patrick Cazals
Country: France
Running time: 52min
Year: 2003

-Screening with-

Ashik Kerib
Paradjanov's final film is the story of a handsome lute player forbidden from marrying his true love, and sent away for 1001 nights to earn enough riches to satisfy her father. Inspired by Azerbaijan Folklore and packed with lush imagery, Ashik Kerib is a fitting swansong from a master. As with most of Paradjanov's films, there is no obvious homosexual content, although many critics have read Ashik's nomadic trek as a metaphor for the director's own banishment at the hands of the government, adding a fascinating personal layer to the film. MB

Director: Sergei Paradjanov, Dodo Abashidze
Cast: Yuri Mgoyan, Sofiko Chiaureli, Veronica Metonidze
Country: USSR
Running time: 76min
Year: 1988

Screening:
Wed 24 March | 18:10 | NFT3

In March, BFI Southbank celebrates the work of Sergei Paradjanov with a film season and symposium as well as a new commission for the BFI Gallery by acclaimed visual artist Mat Collishaw, whose new installation poetically conveys the spirit of Paradjanov's artistic endeavor. The exhibition continues until 9 May 2010. For further information please visit bfi.org.uk/gallery or bfi.org.uk/whatson.

*source: 24th BFI London & Gay Film Festival 17-31 March 2010

**More about Parajanov festival in London - see my earlier post here

Armenian gay icon Parajanov festival in London (February - May 2010)

He is one of my all time favourite film directors. For me, he is an Armenian gay icon. And not only for me... for many LGBT Armenians, Georgians, Ukrainians, Russians.... world-wide.

It's with great pleasure, I'd like to let you know that for the first time, a large scale Parajanov festival will be staged in London (+ Bristol) over February-May 2010.

Paradjanov won countless awards, including the British Academy Award for his film Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. He is highly acclaimed worldwide, yet his work remains virtually unknown in the UK. The Paradjanov Festival will be an important event in the cultural scenes of London and Bristol, being the first complete showcase of Paradjanov’s films and art. The film programme will be enriched with a photographic exhibition; a contemporary art installation; a symposium; a workshop for kids and adults; a concert; meetings and talks. The events will take place at the British Film Institute (BFI Southbank), the National Theatre (NT), Ciné Lumière, Pushkin House, St. Yeghiche Armenian Church, Arnolfini (Bristol), The Bristol Gallery and will be introduced by distinguished guests that have had first-hand experience of working with Paradjanov.

The Paradjanov Festival is curated in conjunction with the BFI Southbank.

For more information, visit Parajanov (or as they put it, Paradjanov) festival website.


British Film Institute (BFI) Southbank

There will be a retrospective of Parajanov’s films at BFI Southbank (1-17 March 2010).

BFI Southbank will host a season of Sergei Paradjanov’s films that will include his acclaimed features, short films and a number of documentaries about his life and work by renowned filmmakers from Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany. Some of the screenings will be followed by Q&A sessions with friends, collaborators and experts.

Contemporary artist Mat Collishaw exhibition: “To coincide with our wider celebrations of the work of Paradjanov at BFI Southbank taking place this month, Collishaw has created a mesmerising new exhibition for the Gallery inspired by the work of the Armenian director.” (26 Feb - 9 May 2010)

Also, a symposium on Parajanov’s legacy (6 March 2010) and workshop of “creating artwork à la Paradjanov” (13 March 2010) will be organised.

National Theatre

Sergei Paradjanov through the lens of Yuri Mechitov
22 February – 28 March

To Yuri Mechitov, Paradjanov was not only one of the world’s greatest filmmakers but also a close friend, an inspiring teacher and, quite simply, an extraordinary man. This exhibition is composed of rarely seen photographs taken by Mechitov during their 11-year friendship.

The moments captured by Mechitov’s camera reveal a kaleidoscope of amusing situations, contrasting moods, remarkable filmmaking occasions and expressive backdrops. Yuri Mechitov has exhibited all over the world and has recently published Sergei Paradjanov: Chronicle of the Dialogue. This is the first showing of his work in the UK.

Pushkin House

A presentation of Mechitov’s album will be at Pushkin House on 26 Feb.

Roman Balayan (5 March 2010): "An Armenian filmmaker, who made most of his films at the legendary Dovzhenko Film Studios. Roman Balayan considers himself a student of Sergei Paradjanov. Although different in his aesthetic approach, he undoubtedly shares with Paradjanov a belief in cinema as a form of art, which is amply demonstrated in the films he has created over a period of some four decades."

Guard Me, My Talisman
1986, 74 min
Starring: Oleg Yankovsky, Tatyana Drubich, Aleksandr Abdulov and Aleksandr Zbruev. Set against the backdrop of the Pushkin autumn festival in Boldino, the film tells the story of a love triangle between Aleksei, his wife and Dmitri. As their passions get out of control, Aleksei, inspired by the occasion, decides to put an end to it all in the manner of his favourite poet. The film will be introduced by the director and a Q&A session will follow the screening.

Using the occasion, Cine Lumier in London will showcase few films by Roman Balayan on 9-10 March 2010.

There will be a Parajanov’s film retrospective and photo exhibition in April in Bristol too.

St Yeghishe Armenian church in London

Glad to see Parajanov related events to be supported by the Armenian church in London, as reported by festival’s website.

The concert at St Yeghiche church commemorating the Maestro’s life and work will reveal the distinctive spirit of Caucasian music, enriched by the visual accompaniment of Paradjanov’s photographs and films extracts. The concert is organised with the blessing of HG Bishop Nathan Hovhannisian.

However, Bishop Nathan Hovhannisian is retiring (there will be a farewell concert in his honour on 24 January 2010), and as of today, there is no indication of above event on church’s website.

Btw, today is Parajanov’s birthday. Happy bday, Parajanov!! x

*I made this pictures outside the museum of Parajanov in Yerevan, Armenia

Armenia marks 85th bday of Parajanov

Public Radio of Armenia reports:

Renowned Armenian film director of the 20th century, People’s Artist of Armenia and Ukraine Sergey Parajanov would turn 85 today. On this occasion his relatives and art lovers visited the Komitas Pantheon to pay tribute to the memory of the great aesthete.

The whole life of the famous and wonderful director was an amusing and tragic, attractive and sometimes very dangerous game, especially in a Soviet country. His first important film was the “Shadows of forgotten ancestors” shot in 1964.

One of Parajanov’s masterpieces is the film “The color of pomegranate” telling about Sayat Nova. Both films were, however, criticized during Soviet times. “Being the king of clowns, he never became the clown of the kings.” These words are perhaps the most characteristic of Parajanov.

According to Director of Parajanov’s home-museum Zaven sargsyan, his greatest value was that he was trying to have no controversies with his own conscience, say what he thinks and what he considers to be right.

In 1973 the Soviet government sentenced Parajanov to five years of imprisonment, accusing him of homosexuality. Many artists, writers, directors from different sides of the world reacted to his imprisonment. Despite that, only in four years Parajanov was set free due to mediation of Louis Aragon, a world-known French writer.

For many years he was prohibited from shooting films. Only in 80s he was allowed to shoot the “Legend of the Surinam Tower” and “Ashug Gharib.”

During the last years of his life Parajanov was shooting the autobiographic film “Confession,” which remained uncompleted and was later used for Michael Vardanov’s documentary titled “Parajanov’s last spring.” Parajanov died of cancer in July 1990 in Yerevan. 2009 is a jubilee year for the great artist.

Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosyan assures that the occasion will be used to present the greatest Armenian director to the world.

*image from Namakani film; /emphasis mine/

Yeghishe Charents unzipped – nation’s favourite gay Armenian poet

One of the greatest, most prominent, nation’s favourite Armenian poet… These are only few of epithets widely used to describe Yeghishe Charents.

Armenians are proud of their famous representatives. They are proud of Parajanov, they are proud of Charents...

Still, only minority is aware of Parajanov’s sexuality. Even less people, very few in fact, are aware that their favourite poet is gay. It’s not ordinary Armenians’ fault. They simply do not know. It’s a classic example of hypocrisy of those in literary circles or so who for decades shut out this fact from his biography. Luckily, we have taboo breaking literary Inqnagir magazine (editor Violet Grigoryan), and we have taboo breaking journalists/writers like Vahan Ishkhanyan, who never shy away from tackling ‘difficult’ subjects, minority issues, alternative scene. I would also add here Armeniapedia which was the first Armenian online publication to post a list of famous LGBT Armenians.

Vahan Ishkhanyan is working with ArmeniaNow. Recently he started blogging on Tert.am. I recommend his blog (in Armenian).

In his latest entry, Vahan Ishkhanyan writes about hypocrisy in Armenian literary circles and gay Charents posting an extract from never before published in Armenia gay-themed poem by Yeghishe Charents. Full story with gay-themed poems by Charents are available in Inqnagir literary magazine (5th edition). It’s not available online yet, but you may get its printed copy.

Below is an extensive extract from Vahan Ishkhanyan’s blog post (in Armenian). Essential reading!

[…] Մի շաբաթ առաջ, հինգշաբթի, Ինքնագիր 5-ի շնորհանդեսն էր, ու ես գիտեմ որ շուխուր հանողը Չարենցի միասեռական բանաստեղծություններն են։ Մի հատված.

Հիմա, լսիր, սկսում եմ իմ ինտիմ
Պոեմն, անհուն, եւ մեղսական, եւ թովիչ։
Սիրում եմ ես, ինչպես գիտես, կոկաին,
Հայտնի եմ ես, որպես անբուժ մորֆինիստ։
Սիրում եմ այլ արհեստական եւ անհայտ… [մեկ բառ ջնջված է]
Հրապույրներն, ալկոհոլից մինչեւ հաշիշ
Բայց, ինձ համար լուսե ցնորք է անհաս
Վեշտասնամյա պատանու սերն արևոտ
Եվ ոչ մի կին, գեղեցկուհի լինի, թե
Մի տրփուհի աստվածածին կրքերն
Չարժե սիրած մի պատանու մանկատես
Բարով մարմինն, աստվածային ու գերիչ։

Վեշտասնամյա գրաբար է, նշանակում է՝ տասնվեց։ Բայց բանաստեղծության ընթացքում ցանկության տարիքն իջնում է.

Չկա ոչինչ, որ գեղեցիկ լինի, քան
Ոսկեցողուն մարմինը մերկ տղայի,
Տասնևչորսից մինչեւ տասնհինգ տարեկան։

Մարկ Նշանյանը, սփյուռքահայ գիտնական, պատմում էր Կոլումբիայի համալսարանում իր կազմած գրքի մասին՝ «Չարենցը հեղափոխության բանաստեղծ»։ Ու կոպերը փակելով որպես որակի բարձր նշան գովեց գրքում հրապարակված Ջեյմս Ռասելի «Չարենցը մարգարե» հոդվածը։ Եթե էդքան լավն ա, արժի՞ թարգմանենք ու Ինքնագրում տպենք։ Այո, իհարկե, բայց մի հատ Ռասելից թույլտվություն վերցրեք։

Նամակ գրեցի, Ռասելը ուրախացավ, որ Հայաստանում իր գրածներն հետաքրքրութուն են առաջացրել ու առաջարկեց նաև Չարենցի վերաբերյալ ևս 2 նյութ՝ մեկը հայկական կոնտրկուլտուրան ու Չարենցը, մյուսը Չարենցի անտիպների իր հրապարակումը։

Իսկ ես անտիպները կարդացել էի հենց Ռասելի գրքում։ Էն ժամանակ մտքովս չանցավ հրապարակման տեքստը թարգմանել՝ դե եթե անտիպներ են ուրեմն մի օր կվերցնենք կտպենք, իսկ Ռասելի մեկնաբանությունները կարելի է և չթարգմանել։ Ես մի պահ ուզեցի օգտագործեմ անտիպներից։ Հակոբ Մովսեսը Գարունի 2006 թ. 6-րդ համարի ինքնահարցազրույցում գրել էր թե անթույլատրելի է երբ բանաստեղծ է համարվում մեկը ով հոմոսեքսուալ սեր է ներկայացնում, նկատի ուներ Ալեն Գինսբերգին ու մի 2 տող մեջբերում էր արել նրանից՝ նրա հակումը պատանիներին։ Ու նույն ինքնահարցազրույցում մի քանի տեղ Չարենցին հանճարեղ է անվանում։ Ես մեջ բերեցի Չարենցի միասեռկան պոեզիան, ու հռետորականով հարցնում էի՝ խի Չարենցը, որ Գինսբերգից 15 տարի առաջ է միասեռական բանաստեղծություններ գրել, հանճարեղ է, իսկ Գինսբերգը՝ ոչ։ Դե հայ մտավորականի երկակի ստանդարտներն են, մի կողմից Փարաջանովին երկինք հանում մյուս կողմից մոլագար հոմոֆոներ, միասեռկանությունը վերացնելու կոչեր անում։ Որ հայ միասեռական չլիներ էսօր աշխարհում ո՞նց էին Փարաջանովով գլուխ գովալու ու մեկ էլ՝ ո՞նց են Փարաջանովի հոմոսեքսուալությունը թաքցնելով «Նռան գույն» վերլուծում։

Իսկ Գինսբերգին Չարենցի հետ համեմատելով քյասար ստացվում էր «երբ հայերը հոմոսեքսուալ էին, ամերիկացիք չգիտեին թե սեքսը ինչ բան է» ։ Հետո անտիպների մասը հանեցի, հիմա Մովսեսի ամեն բառը հո չէի հերքելու, Իսկ տեքստս տպվեց Ինքնագիր 2-ում։

Ռասելն էլ է համեմատում Չարենցին Բիթնիկների հետ։ Էս հավելվածը ափսոս Ինքնագրում չենք դրել՝ պատճառը, որ չգտանք Գևորգ Էմինի մի բանաստեղծությունը, որի համար գրված էր հավելվածը։ Ռասելը գրում է. «Չարենցն իր ուղնուծուծով կատարյալ մոդեռնիստ էր և նրա ստեղծագործությունների ու կյանքի մեծ մասը նախանշում է Երկրորդ Աշխարհամարտին հաջորդած ժամանակաշրջանի արվեստի Beats և մյուս տեսություններն ու ուղղությունները, որոնք, սակայն, Սովետական միությունում արմատախիլ արվեցին ստալինիզմի օրոք։ Բանաստեղծի կյանքի ու էության այս ասպեկտներն այնքան հեռու են էքսցենտրիզմից, սակայն շատերը հիմա էլ պնդում են, որ համաժողովրդական պոետի կերպարը պետք է կերտել ավելի գորշ, պուրիտանական գույներով»։

Ռասելի նամակից հետո էլի ձեռս առա նրա գիրքը, թերթեցի իմ չիմացած անգլերենով՝ չէ, սա տպելու բան է, չի ծնվել դեռ հայ մի գրականագետ որ կարողանա էս բանաստեղծությունները ներկայացնել ու ծանոթագրել։ Ու 2 գործն էլ թարգմանել տվեցինք՝ «Չարենց Մարգարե» և «Եղիշե Չարենցի անտիպ բանաստեղծությունների արխիվից»։

Ռասելի նյութերով ես տեսա Չարենցին համաշխարհային գրականության կոնտեքստում, ու էնտեղ ուր Չարենցին ընդհանրապես չեն նկատի հայ գրականագետները։ «Չարենցը մարգարե» էսսեում Պուշկինի «Մարգարեի» Չարենցի թարգմանության դրդապատճառն ու նրա կյանքի վերջին շրջանի կրոնական մոտիվները բացատրելով հեղինակը Չարենցի իր գտած աշխարհայացքն է բերում. «Նա ակնկալում էր միանգամայն այլ մշակույթի հաստատում, որը կտարբերվեր թե՜ միջնադարից և թե՜ երեսնականների բռնատիրական ժամանակաշրջանից` մշակույթ, որի հիմնական արժեքները պիտի լիներ էսթետիկ և կրոնական, մարմնական և հոգևոր ներդաշնակությունը, նաև` ազատությունն ըմբոշխնող ու ազատ զարգացում ապրող արվեստը։ Այսպիսով, Չարենցը, ինչպես և Պուշկինը, իր երկրի մեծագույն բանաստեղծն էր և միաժամանակ` ճշմարիտ աշխարհաքաղաքացի, համաշխարհային գրականության քաղաքացի։ Չէ՞ որ նա էլ վկա էր դարձել հայտնության և ուներ իր տեսլականը»։

Էսպես համեմատական գրականագիտության մեթոդով Չարենցը հանվում է մեկուսացած ազգայնականության կոնտեքստից։

Հիմա Ինքնագրի շնորհանդեսից անցել է մի շաբաթ։ Ես Ծաղկաձորի գրողների տանն եմ։ Գրողները ինձնից ուզում են Ինքնագիրը կարդում հետ տալիս։ Մեկը քսերոքս արեց Չարենցի մասը։ «Էդ Սերոժը լեննականցի է»,-էսօր ճաշարանում ահրցրեց Արա Արթյանը, «Չէ, հերն ա լեննալակնցի, պիսեից չի երևու՞մ։ Հա երևում ա, բայց շատ լավ պիես է գրել։ Արան ասում ա Սերգեյ դանիելյանի՝ Յոժի «Սերոժիկ» պիեսի մասին։ Ուրեմն մենակ Չարենց չի, շուխուր հանող գործեր էլի կան։ Իսկ Երևանում դեռ չգիտեմ, արձագանքները։ Միայն մի լրագրող «Հրապարակ» թերթում ուզեցել է ինքնահաստատվել Արտաշես Էմինի վրա բոչկա գլորելով։ ինչի՞ Էմինի, որտև Արտաշեսն է Ռասելին տվել Չարենցի անտիպների պատճենները. «Պարզվում է,-գրում է լրագրողը,-Էմինի որդին որ հրաժարվում էր անտիպները տրամադրել Չարենցի թանգարանին, այն տվել է մի ամերիկացի պրոֆեսորի» и так далее։ Ես չգիտեմ թե էս ինչ բազար ա բացել աղջիկը, բայց գիտեմ, որ Արտաշեսը Չարենցի անտիպների մի շարք էլ տվել էր Բնագրին 2003 թվին, որոնք տպվել են կարծեմ 8-րդ համարում։ Հետո իմացա, որ ձեռագրերը արդեն Գրականության և արվեստի թանգարանում են կամ էնտեղ կլինեն մոտ ապագայում։ «Հրապարակի» աղջիկը դժվար թե ըմբռնի, բայց ասեմ, որ հայրենասիրական պոռթկումը երբեմն բացասկան հետևանքներ կարող է ունենալ ու միշտ չէ, որ փաստաթղթերն ու ձեռագրերը հայրենիքի հիմնարկներին հանձնելը ճիշտ է։ Ինչեր ասես չեն ոչնչացրել հարենիքները՝ գրողների ստեղծագործություններ ու պատմիչների պատմություններ։ եթե աղջկա (կամ նրա ում անունից խոսում է աղջիկը) ուզածի պես աներ Էմինը, ապա դժվար է ասել թե անտիպները կհրապարակվեի՞ն հիմա կամ երբևէ։ Հայ գրականագետները շատ կուզեին որ Չարենցը հոմոսեքսուալ կամ բիսեքսուալ եղած չլիներ ու գրած չլիներ էս բանաստեղծությունները։ Իսկ եթե մի բան շատ են ուզում որ չլինի, ուրեմն ոչնչացնում են դա հաստատող փաստերը։ […]

*Portrait of Yeghishe Charents by Martiros Saryan

Georgia LGBT news update: new issue of Me magazine, new LGBT website

Homo Georgicus – new issue of Georgian LGBT magazine “Me”

New issue of Georgian bilingual LGBT magazine “Me” is out now. Main topic is the history of homosexuality in Georgia and former Soviet Union, touching also very current issues of cultural stereotypes, societal prejudices and bigotry by Georgian Orthodox church.

Magazine provides updates on Georgian LGBT NGO Inclusive Foundation work over the last few months. In particular, representatives of the NGO took part in various training seminars in European countries, as well as participated in Amsterdam Gay Pride. They also organised number of events for the local gay community in Tbilisi, such as film screenings, women’s club meetings.

Magazine also reports on the use of homophobia which was employed by some nationalist online Russian groups and internet spammers during the war in August. Back then, I posted about it on this blog:

http://gayarmenia.blogspot.com/2008/08/nationalist-press-in-russia-hints-at.html

http://gayarmenia.blogspot.com/2008/08/warning-new-computer-virus-gay.html

In the meantime, Georgian LGBT magazine specifically notes solidarity expressed by many in Russian LGBT community. Next issue of the magazine “will feature an extensive analysis of wartime media reports.”

Below are extracts from the articles exploring historical references on homosexuality in Georgia and Russia/Soviet Union:

In pre-revolutionary Russia, homosexual relations were forbidden by law. A person convicted of homosexual rape would be sent to a labour camp in Siberia. When it came to consensual homosexual relationships, however, both the authorities and the church turned a blind eye, particularly when the matter concerned representatives of the aristocracy.

At that time aristocrats, artists and poets would gather at Bohemian salons, which were relatively free from moralist dogma about sexuality. But the homosexual subculture was not limited to intellectual and artistic circles. There was another subculture, which brought together those engaged in prostitution. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there were places in Tbilisi, just as there were in other large cities of the Russian Empire, so-called “pleshkas” , where gays could find sexual partners.

In Tbilisi, the Gardens of Ortachala and the Sulphur Baths were known as such places. Kintos, who were a part of this subculture, lived alongside urban subcultures (an interesting description of the Kinto subculture can be found in Ioseb Grishashvili’s “Old Tbilisi”; the issue is also tacked in modern writer Aka Morchiladze’s “Flight over Madatov and Back”). In addition, homoerotic themes were especially popular in Georgian visual arts in the 1920s. […]

Noted dissident Valeri Chalidze, in a work devoted to lifestyles of criminals and the establishment of social institutions of organized crime in the Soviet Union , wrote: “It seems that the Soviet leadership indeed considered homosexuality to be a political crime.” Chalidze came to this conclusion in part because, during Stalin’s lifetime, homosexuals were arrested and persecuted not by the police, but by the state security bodies (Cheka, NKVD, KGB).

In an article on homophobia, magazine pointed out the prevailing attitude in Georgian society to consider homosexuality as something “foreign”, imposed from the “outside”, and as such “homophobia rises to the rank of general xenophobia”:

[…] … the traditional attitude of Georgians towards homosexuality: it is largely an echo of the same cliches that characterize all patriarchal and Christian societies – “sin”, “perversion”, “deviance”, “immoral behaviour”, a “sickness”, and so on, but at the same time, there is one specific tendency which has not changed over the centuries, one which can be called “foreignizing” or attributing “otherness” to homosexuality.

This tendency acknowledges the existence of homosexual relations in Georgia, but at the same time underscores the fact that gayness is inherently un-Georgian, that it is foreign and unbefitting to the Georgian character. According to this notion, homosexuality is of non-Georgian origin and, when it does occur in Georgia, it always comes in from outside the country. These foreigners who place homosexual “investment” in Georgia are mainly Georgia’s enemies or people who are ethnically non-Georgian.

Examples of “sodomy” or the “sin of Sodom” first appear in Georgian ecclesiastical literature in the 10th and 11th centuries. In these texts, the church expresses concern over the spread of this phenomenon and demands that perpetrators be forbidden from taking communion for several years. In 1103, at the Ruisi-Urbnisi ecclesiastical conference, which was convened by King Davit the Builder, one of the main topics of discussion was precisely sodomy. The most sweeping provision of the resolution adopted at this conference, Article 18, dealt precisely with sodomy, which in 12th century Georgia was so widespread among both the clergy and laymen, that the state and the church both demanded that stronger measures be taken against it. But they spoke not only about enacting repressive measures, but also about the factors that conditioned the rise of sodomy. The answer was always unambiguous and unequivocal: this sin had been “implanted” from without, by foreigners or enemies. The identity of these “outsiders” varied with the times – sometimes they were Arabs, sometimes Byzantines, sometimes Turks, sometimes Armenians. For Orthodox fundamentalists and ultranationalists in modern Georgia, homosexuality comes from the secular and atheistic (or heretical) West and it is aimed at weakening Georgia and preventing it from fulfilling its spiritual mission. As such, homophobia rises to the rank of general xenophobia and homosexuality becomes either a component part or a manifestation of the “enemy” or “ill-wisher”.

Modern Georgian homophobia represents a combination of Christian notions from the Middle Ages and Soviet totalitarian stereotypes, the latter of which considered homosexuality to be deviant behaviour or perversion. It should be pointed out that, in the early days of the Soviet Union, homosexuals were not persecuted and that in the early Soviet period, their acceptance was even considered part and parcel of modernity. The law prohibiting homosexuality was approved only under Stalin, in 1934. […]

And here is an extract from the article on Parajanov:

Art kept Parajanov going in prison: he would assemble collages from the most utilitarian and cheap objects. In almost every letter to his friends he asks them to send random, useless old objects. “I spent the best years of my life in isolation,” he would later say of his time in prison, where he wrote a total of 100 novellas, 3 screen plays and made 120 drawings and collages and endured true hell.

Yet Parajanov believed that it was necessary for an artist to endure all of this. After a pause of nearly 20 years, his films were just as colourful, just as full of life and unlimited freedom, just as full of symbols and just as “skewerless”. The rhetoric of “perestroika” accepted him, but now his Armenian background was unacceptable to some nationalist xenophobes.

To access the new issue of the magazine, click here.
For previous issues of the magazine, click here.


New LGBT Georgian website – Gay.ge

Previously, Gay.ge was effectively a forum, available in Georgian only. Now it’s been developed into a website. It is still not fully functional, but you may already access it. Gay.ge is now bilingual – Georgian/English.

Sergei Grigoryants remembers Sergei Parajanov

One of the most famous Soviet (and current Putin's Russia) dissidents of Armenian origin Sergei Grigoryants remembers his friend, world famous film director and artist of Armenian origin Sergei Parajanov (yet another dissident).



*video in Russian, via Gay.ru (plus some Russian language links on Parajanov, also spelled Paradjanov)

Remembering Magician...

*image from Namakani film

To the bright memory of Sergei Parajanov...

This film was made at Hayk studio in Yerevan (Armenia) in 1995; written and directed by Andrei Ayrapetov (for his Diploma work). It contains rare footage of Parajanov just months before his death...



From Wikipedia:

Sergei Parajanov is considered by many to be one of the most original and critically-acclaimed filmmakers of the 20th century. He was born to Armenian parents Iosif Paradjanyan and Siranush Bejanyan, in Tbilisi, Georgia.

He died of cancer in Yerevan, Armenia, on July 20, 1990, aged 66, leaving his final masterpiece The Confession unfinished. It survives in its original negative as Paradjanov: The Last Spring, assembled by his close friend Mikhail Vartanov in 1992. He left behind a book of memoirs, also titled "The Confession".

Such luminaries as Federico Fellini, Tonino Guerra, Francesco Rosi, Alberto Moravia, Giulietta Masina, Marcello Mastroianni and Bernardo Bertolucci were among those who publicly mourned his passing.
***

From interview with Ron Holloway, director of documentary Parajanov, A Requiem (1994), 2 years before his death:

- You've been planning your new film, Confession, for a long time.

I owe Armenia a cinematographic confession, a sort of personal bible. It's about my mother, my father, my childhood, my isolation in prison, my vision of dreams. And the tragedy of a cemetery being torn up to allow for a cultural park in honour of (Sergei) Kirov. The cemetery must give way to honour the Communist Kirov. The Soviet patriot arrives, and the ghosts are cast out. They don't know where to go, so they seek shelter with me, their living heir. But I can't take them in. I'm obliged to report to the local police that they are spending the night with me. I, who have no electricity, who is not an insurance agent. They know no evil. Their generation, back then, was kinder. They only want to stay with me. And I must die before their eyes to prove I love them.

It's my duty to my people. I am an Armenian from Georgia. I've made films in the Ukraine. I've suffered behind bars in Georgia and the Ukraine. Sometimes I wake up at night, and I imagine I am being attacked by lice. You may enter prison clean, but they swarm all over you. Within two hours you are covered with lice.
***
Back in 2004, in relation to the article Remembering the Magician... published in ArmeniaNow, Micha Meroujean (AGLA France) wrote the following comment:

I liked the article about Paradjanov. There is one thing is inexact and partial. The author of the article mentions that he was imprisoned for " ..incitement to suicide and homosexuality". It is true that the Soviet regime was using the anti-gay law of the penal code to intimidate non-conformist and dissident intellectuals. But in case with Paradjanov one thing is true that he was homosexual. And he never denied it. In Moscow there was published a book of Pardjanov called "Confession" with some of his letters to his friends and wife from prison detention. In a letter to the film-director Roman Balayan he compares his destiny with the one of Oscar Wilde. They were both married, they both loved men passionately and they were both imprisoned for their homosexuality. This part of Paradjanov's life is often ommited by his fans and biographers. But time will come when Armenia will love the "gay" magician, too. If today's Armenia is having difficulties with accepting its "homosexual" citizens ... doesn't mean that they didn't exist, they don't exist or they won't exist. The time will come ... I believe in it. And Armenia will regret the period when it was so badly deaf and myope to the destiny of its gay and lesbian citizens.