Tusheti: Spatial and Cultural Identity

Nugzar Idoidze was born in 1949 in the village of Omalo, Tusheti, Georgia. He spent his early childhood there during the final years of traditional Tushetian life, before Soviet authorities dismantled the local way of life and forcibly resettled the population. These early experiences greatly influenced his later professional orientation and research interests.

In 1966, he graduated with distinction from Kvemo Alvani Secondary School and enrolled the same year in the Faculty of History at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, specializing in ethnology. He graduated in 1974. His diploma thesis, "Tushetian Pictograms," became the principal focus of his lifelong research.

Between 1971 and 1975, Idoidze also studied at the Dimitri Arakishvili First Music College, Faculty of Vocal Performance. After completing two years of military service, he became a soloist in the Song and Dance Ensemble of the Transcaucasian Border Troops.

Since 1978, he has worked at the Giorgi Chitaia Open Air Museum of Ethnography in Tbilisi as a senior research associate and as an assistant representative of the National Museum in Tusheti.

In 1983, he moved with his family to Tusheti, where he became director of the Dartlo Architectural Reserve, a branch of the Tbilisi Ethnographic Museum. Between 1983 and 1989, he also worked as a history teacher at the Omalo boarding school. During this period, he began collecting ethnographic artifacts, which later formed the basis of the Ethnographic Museum he founded in Omalo in 1989.

In the early 1990s, Idoidze served as chairman of the Tusheti local council. During this time, he had the symbolic honor of replacing the seal of the Soviet local council with the seal of independent Georgia. In 1992, he established the first border outpost in Georgia, named "Tusheti," and served as its head until 2000. During his tenure, he actively employed traditional methods of folk diplomacy in relations with neighboring Dagestani and Chechen communities, contributing to political stability and peaceful relations between Tusheti and neighboring regions.

In 2001, together with Dutch colleagues and friends, he founded the cultural foundation "Keselo." Through the foundation's efforts, five tower-houses in Keselo were restored between 2001 and 2006, and ethnographic exhibitions were established there. Since 2006, Nugzar Idoidze has worked in the Administration of Protected Areas of Tusheti, where he continues to serve as a senior ranger.

He has published several scholarly works and articles, including: "The Mythological Aspects of Tushetian Ethnographic Culture" (Literary Georgia, 2002); "The Worldview Foundations of Georgian Martial Arts" (2002); Rise Again, Chivalrous Georgia with I. Qeinashvili (2004); "Mythologies Forming the Shepherd Culture of Tusheti" in the National Museum Collection (2007); and A Guide for Travelers to Tushetian Customs and Rituals (brochure, 2006).

Nugzar Idoidze has received several honors and awards, including the Medal "For Military Merit" and the Order of Honor.