The Guardian: “Art, beats and fashion: an inside view of Tbilisi’s creative boom“

The three-dimensional emergence of creative life in Tbilisi is driven by booming scenes of nightclubs, fashion events and artistic developments, says a new feature on Georgia’s capital by The Guardian.

Published in the newspaper’s Travel section, the story highlights the currents in the "city having a creative renaissance driven by clubs and fashion, and navigating a new identity for itself in the process”.

Its author Will Coldwell travelled to the city to see the trends that have propelled the often overlooked tourist location to international attention over the recent years, with resulting rise in number of visitors.

This international audience comes because of destination clubs such as Bassiani but find themselves absorbed by the energy of a city — and country — that’s long been overlooked by tourists”, says the report.

The account mostly focuses on portraying the people and places making the revival of creative and entertaining life in Tbilisi possible.

These include personalities like fashion designer Gola Damian, musical artist and producer Ana Kublashvili (known through her scene alias Newa) and contemporary artist Gvantsa Jishkariani.

In the past five years [...] Tbilisi’s electronic music scene has flourished, while new galleries, restaurants and creative spaces continue to open.”

[A] new generation is [also] pushing for progress on LGBTQ rights and drug laws. Raised in an independent Georgia, that generation is working to define the country’s future, while taking ownership of its past”, says the author of the feature.

Read the full story here: theguardian.com