My map of Tbilisi art spaces

I’m an immigrant. I left Russia in 2022, lived in Limassol, Cyprus, and now I live in Tbilisi, Georgia. Every move restarts my life from scratch, and art is how I put down roots in a new place.

In Cyprus I showed my work twice. My debut solo exhibition “Do you love the color of the sky?” grew out of my daily photos of the dusty Cypriot sky, and my installation “The Blue” was part of the group exhibition “RE:SOURCE” in Limassol.

I want to exhibit in Tbilisi

Now I make small paper collages. I’ve made over 40 of them, and I want to show them here, in Tbilisi, while I live here.

I once set myself a symbolic deadline for this exhibition. The deadline passed, and I was honest with myself, I’m not ready yet. I’ll run the exhibition when I find the right gallery and feel ready, and I’m fine with not knowing the date.

I also collect contemporary art, buying pieces directly from living artists since 2021, and I would love to find works by Georgian artists for my collection too.

For both exhibiting and collecting, I need to know the local art scene.

Building my exploration tool

Here’s the challenge. I’ve lived in Tbilisi for two years, and I still haven’t explored its art scene properly. My default is to stay home, working on my art and tech projects.

To push myself out, I revived a project I had abandoned. “Where’s Art” is a Notion database where I catalogue interesting art places around the world. It was dusty and incomplete. I blew off the dust and added every Tbilisi-based art institution, gallery, and artist-run space I knew of or could find.

I am still working on the Notion database, but I’ve already turned it into a public Google Map list.

My Tbilisi art map

I’m sharing the map with you because I think it’s a useful resource for anyone interested in the Tbilisi art scene.

The list has over 20 places, a mix of art galleries, museums, and cultural centers. These are all actual, working spaces that I’ve confirmed hold exhibitions, maybe not every single day, but at least a few times per year.

The next step

My plan is to turn this digital map into a real-world journey, one pin at a time. I want to visit these places, meet the people, and find a home for my story and my collages. And maybe a small work by a local artist will join my collection along the way.