Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Georgia meets Norway (Bloggers community growing)

I want to present Eistein Guldseth, blogger who together with veteran bloggers about Caucasus Rappo and Hans is popularizing caucasus and georgia's culture and multiplying georgia's population, as all three of them have georgian wifes!

My name is Eistein Guldseth. I write under the nickname Writer’n. Besides being writer and a photographer, I am the manager of Guldseth & Partners. A company specializing in strategic business communications. I also study sociology and mediascience at the University (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway. In the middle of the nineties I spent a year studying psychology at the same place. To me text and photography is closely related. Therefore I rarely write without having relevant photos. I always photograph myself. Mostly the photos are a result of an idea around a text or an article. Sometimes both “work” together and creates a story..quite different from the original idea. My Georgian Project is different though, because it is more structured.

The Georgian Project

What fascinates me about Georgian people was the openness and hospitality, and the insane driving. It is no problems getting in contact with Georgians. In my culture there is much more distance. You don’t speak to strangers, and don’t EVER invite them home before you have known them for at least half a year..hehehe. But we drive cars much safer. That I must say. The willingness to commit suicide is much lower here where I live. But jokes beside: Georgian culture fascinates me, and I want to continue my project, or study.

My website
is a "popularized" part of an ongoing sociological study which I started (without knowing it) in 2004 while visiting Georgia for the first time. Looking at the material I had collected when I returned to Norway, it was clear that this could be the basis of something more than just some pictures and stories. So when I returned to Tbilisi in 2006 my schedule was more structured and closer to a systematic qualitative research for a future analysis of parts of Georgian cultural life.

I also have blog (www.writern.blogspot.com) where I comment on recent Georgian “things” or subjects which can be found in the “articles” on my website (www.writern.no/georgia.html)

To understand Georgian culture I think the most proper way is to meet the Georgians, listen to their stories, watch their movies, hear their music and try to understand both everyday and cultural life. Then after some time you will understand that you don’t understand a thing. At least that is the case if you stay for some time, and not only find it sufficient to enjoy the surface of hospitality and great food. I have plenty of time, so hopefully I will understand the insane driving, the long speeches and why the women always are bored of the Gaomarchos’ing. 


Armed with a camera, a computer, good friends, and a Georgian wife, it still is an impossible task to portrait Georgian culture on a couple of electronic pages… even if I really understood it (which I do not at the moment )
I'd like to try to give you a taste anyway.


1 comment:

Ralph Hälbig said...

Thanks Levan,
I don't forget it. Next time I will contact you (telephone). I think on next weekend.
R.