MADOLI

The traditional celebration of Madoli – with rich mixture of pagan and early Christian symbolism – is held every summer in the mountains of Tusheti in North-eastern Georgia. Even though Madoli centers on the commemoration of the dead, it is a social gathering, where the atmosphere is cheery: people eat, drink, sing, dance and perform rituals. There is a tradition of mourning songs called Dalaoba, one of the oldest traditions in the South Caucasus, with a set order to how it is performed by the mourners, always man. Medoidze has been learning the sacred song ‘Dala’ with the help of a local music teacher, inserting her voice in otherwise male dominated tradition.

In MADOLI Medoidze’s storytelling traverses different layers of rich symbolic imagination of this tiny nomad community, while her camera documents everyday fleeting detail. Her predicament as a returning migrant and a woman puts her in a peculiar position of both insider and outsider, which she expresses through her framing and juxtaposition of different image modalities.