Reflections of Tbilisi

In May 2018, a drama played out in Tbilisi's club scene that by now many people know by heart: the police raids on Bassiani and Café Gallery, the protests that followed, and the ensuing standoff in which the police kept Bassiani locked up for weeks. RA's 24/7 party took place just a month later, and while the subject of nightlife and politics in the Georgian capital had received plenty of coverage by then, we saw an opportunity to approach it from a more intimate angle: in personal narratives from people in the scene. Giorgi Kikonishvili and Mari Kurtanidze are two ravers and LGBT activists who grew up in Tbilisi. In these two monologues, they reflect on the extraordinary role Tbilisi's nightlife played in their lives.