Caf? Gallery

על המקום הזה Caf? Gallery

Caf? Gallery sits adjacent to Bassiani in the Dinamo stadium complex and functions as the cultural and social layer above the club's pure electronic focus. It is part gallery, part caf?, part bar, part event space ? the kind of hybrid venue that has become essential infrastructure for creative communities in post-Soviet cities, filling the gap between purely commercial hospitality and the club itself. During the day and early evening, Caf? Gallery operates as a genuinely functioning art space: exhibitions by Georgian and international artists are hung in the industrial interior, the coffee is good, and the clientele is the same creative, queer-friendly crowd that populates Bassiani's nights. Community organisations have used the space for meetings, discussions, and film screenings. The atmosphere is relaxed, the wifi works, and the space functions as one of the more comfortable daytime options in this part of Tbilisi for LGBTQ+ visitors who want to connect with the local scene before the night begins. In May 2018, Caf? Gallery and Bassiani became the focal point of what the international media covered as the 'rave revolution': a police drug raid on both venues triggered a mass protest outside the Georgian parliament, with the electronic music community ? and substantial LGBTQ+ representation ? gathering overnight to demonstrate against what was widely understood as a targeted attack on a queer-friendly cultural space. The protest made international news and has since been understood as a significant moment in the assertion of Tbilisi's creative community against state conservatism. Late at night on Bassiani's operating weekends, Caf? Gallery transitions to an overflow and warm-up space ? drinks, music at lower volume, and the social decompression zone between the outside world and the main club floor. For visitors who are curious about the scene but not sure about diving directly into the club, the Gallery is a gentler point of entry. The connection between the two spaces means that visiting either is, in practice, visiting both.