Berikaoba
Encyclopedia
Berikaoba is an improvised masqueraded
folk theatre in Georgia
, stemming from the pagan
festivity of fertility and rebirth. The name is derived from a Common Kartvelian root
ber (ბერ), meaning "a child". The scenes of Berikaoba range from those of explicitly erotic
nature to political satire
and social protest.
Berikaoba typically involves several men, the berika, who are mostly disguised as animals. The costumes and masks for the mystery
are made of animal hide. Animal skulls, tails, feathers, horns, pumpkins, ribbons and bells are used to add colorfulness to the scene. The festivity begins with a gathering of villagers who chose actors for the mystery. The procession of berikas – accompanied by sounds of bagpipes
(stviri
) – move door-to-door to pick wine, honey, floor, meat and other victuals served by hosts. The main characters in the procession are a "bride" called Kekela (კეკელა) and a groom who, after a series of attempts, persuades Kekela to marry her. The wedding is then disrupted by an appearance of a "Tatar
", a reference to the centuries of invasions from neighboring Muslim
powers. The groom is killed and the people console Kekela, promising her a better husband. As berikas try to resuscitate the groom with help of healing water, herbs and minerals, the news spreads about the abduction of Kekela. This brings the groom back to life. He chases the kidnappers and relieves her bride. The performance finishes with a lengthy feast, supra
.
The similar tradition, keenoba (ყეენობა, from "the Khan
), satirizing the foreign invaders of Georgia and later the Imperial Russian
officialdom, enjoyed particular popularity in the 19th-century Tbilisi
and its environs.
Masquerade ceremony
A masquerade ceremony is a cultural or religious event involving the wearing of masks.Examples include the West African and African Diaspora masquerades, such as Egungun Masquerades, Northern Edo Masquerades, Caribbean Carnival and Jonkonnu.-External links:* - slideshow by Life magazine*...
folk theatre in Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, stemming from the pagan
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
festivity of fertility and rebirth. The name is derived from a Common Kartvelian root
Root (linguistics)
The root word is the primary lexical unit of a word, and of a word family , which carries the most significant aspects of semantic content and cannot be reduced into smaller constituents....
ber (ბერ), meaning "a child". The scenes of Berikaoba range from those of explicitly erotic
Eroticism
Eroticism is generally understood to refer to a state of sexual arousal or anticipation of such – an insistent sexual impulse, desire, or pattern of thoughts, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality and romantic love...
nature to political satire
Political satire
Political satire is a significant part of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where such arguments are expressly...
and social protest.
Berikaoba typically involves several men, the berika, who are mostly disguised as animals. The costumes and masks for the mystery
Mystery play
Mystery plays and miracle plays are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the representation of Bible stories in churches as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song...
are made of animal hide. Animal skulls, tails, feathers, horns, pumpkins, ribbons and bells are used to add colorfulness to the scene. The festivity begins with a gathering of villagers who chose actors for the mystery. The procession of berikas – accompanied by sounds of bagpipes
Bagpipes
Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...
(stviri
Gudastviri
The gudastviri is a droneless, double-chantered, horn-belled bagpipe played in Georgia. The term comes from the words guda and stviri...
) – move door-to-door to pick wine, honey, floor, meat and other victuals served by hosts. The main characters in the procession are a "bride" called Kekela (კეკელა) and a groom who, after a series of attempts, persuades Kekela to marry her. The wedding is then disrupted by an appearance of a "Tatar
Tatars
Tatars are a Turkic speaking ethnic group , numbering roughly 7 million.The majority of Tatars live in the Russian Federation, with a population of around 5.5 million, about 2 million of which in the republic of Tatarstan.Significant minority populations are found in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan,...
", a reference to the centuries of invasions from neighboring Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
powers. The groom is killed and the people console Kekela, promising her a better husband. As berikas try to resuscitate the groom with help of healing water, herbs and minerals, the news spreads about the abduction of Kekela. This brings the groom back to life. He chases the kidnappers and relieves her bride. The performance finishes with a lengthy feast, supra
Supra
Supra is an academic and legal citation signal used when a writer desires to refer a reader to an earlier-cited authority. For example, an author wanting to refer to a source in his or her third footnote would cite: See supra note 3...
.
The similar tradition, keenoba (ყეენობა, from "the Khan
Khan (title)
Khan is an originally Altaic and subsequently Central Asian title for a sovereign or military ruler, widely used by medieval nomadic Turko-Mongol tribes living to the north of China. 'Khan' is also seen as a title in the Xianbei confederation for their chief between 283 and 289...
), satirizing the foreign invaders of Georgia and later the Imperial Russian
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
officialdom, enjoyed particular popularity in the 19th-century Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
and its environs.