Tikanadze Guram

Tikanadze, Guram (Giorgi) (12. IX. 1932, village of Kviriketi, present-day Ozurgeti Municipality – 27. VII. 1963, Tbilisi), photo artist and alpinist. Master of Sports (1963), winner of the Italian International Festival (1959) and the 1st Youth Festival of Georgia (1957). He graduated from the Faculty of Geography and Geology of Tbilisi State University (1956). From 1956 to 1959, he worked at the Vakhushti Institute of Geography of the Academy of Sciences of Georgia. For years, he researched the caves of Georgia. From 1962, he served as the chairman of the photo section of the Tbilisi Journalists' Union.

Tikanadze is one of the important representatives of Georgian photographic art. He achieved a synthesis of documentary and artistic qualities in photography. His work is distinguished by genre diversity. For his photograph "Ole," Tikanadze earned a bronze medal at the World Festival of Youth and Students in Vienna (1959); he also received a bronze medal at the International Photo Salon held in Modena, Italy, in 1962 for his photograph "Tbilisi Sea." Among his significant works are "Woman-Century," "Portrait of an Elderly," "Adjarian Viticulturist," "Supplication," "Mtatsminda," "Ushba," "Rest," "Ushba Plateau," "Ushba from the South," and others. Tikanadze's works were exhibited in Italy, the USA, Japan, Hungary, Belgium, and Hong Kong (he was an honorary member of the Photographic Society of Hong Kong). His first exhibition in Tbilisi was organized in 1973. Tikanadze's photo albums were published in 1959, 1976, and 1987.

Tikanadze was a renowned alpinist and a member of the Georgian Alpine Club. He accomplished several difficult ascents in the Caucasus and the Pamirs. In 1961, he led the traverse of both peaks of Ushba.

In 1963, he tragically died while descending from Mount Shkhara. In 1980, a sports centre named after Tikanadze was opened in Svaneti (Latali commune). That same year, the celebration "Guramoba" was established there, which is observed annually on September 12.

 

Literature: გურამ თიკანაძე. კრებული შეადგინა მ. ლებანიძემ, თბ., 1976.