Two of the world’s most famous club institutions in Ukraine and Georgia — Club on Kyrylivska and Bassiani — have started their cooperation. After the first collaborative event in Tbilisi in January, the continuation will take place in Kyiv. On February 15, six DJs and producers, including residents of both clubs, will perform on two dance floors in ∄. In a brief interview with DTF Magazine, the Club on Kyrylivska team talks about the beginning of this collaboration and its value.
— How did the idea of collaboration come about?
— When we first contacted Bassiani, we didn’t have clear plans or ideas for collaboration. We just wanted to start a dialog — to build a connection that we as institutions had not had before.
The idea of collaboration emerged gradually as our communication became more close.
When we work on showcases, we look for a common ground to understand how and at what point it is really possible to convey something important to people. Our first showcase took place in Kharkiv in the Some People space last year, when the city was under intense shelling. It was our attempt to support the city, to let people feel something more than constant pain and loss.
The second showcase took place in Tbilisi at a time when the country was continuing its struggle against imperial russian metastases. With this event, we emphasize our commitment and solidarity in the struggle for rights and freedoms. In these circumstances, we not only sought to support each other, but also to consolidate our political position — in a world where they try to suppress us, in a world where they kill us, there is a place for voice, for resistance and for making our presence and our struggle known together.
— What is the value of collaboration?
— Ukraine and Georgia have a common experience — both countries are on their way to liberating themselves from imperial influences and defending their own culture. Our common enemy, russia, has been trying to destroy our identity for centuries and today continues its aggression — military, political, cultural and informational.
We are under constant pressure, which forces us not only to defend ourselves, but also to redefine ourselves, to form new cultural models and build independent institutions. Each of us is fighting back on a different front: on the battlefield, in politics, in art.
This cooperation is not imposed on us by anyone, it is a conscious choice. It is not about ‘brother nations’ of the Soviet Union, but about solidarity built on shared experiences of resistance, support and the pursuit of freedom.
— What are your top highlights from January’s collaborative event at Bassiani?
— The first event of the collaboration was a profound experience that once again confirmed the power of mutual support and a rare sense of a common context. It was not just an opportunity to work together on a professional level, but an opportunity to feel how organic and, to a certain extent, inevitable this connection is.
What struck us most was the closeness of the atmosphere of the event to what was happening at our place.
Georgia now faces a question that for us was acute at the beginning of the big war and remains open to many to this day: is it okay to dance during a protest? Is it okay to dance during a war?
The protests in Tbilisi continue, and Bassiani’s audience is an active part of this movement. And their involvement is felt not only on the streets, but also in the club space, where attendance directly reflects the tension in society, because people are visiting clubs less. However, as the Bassiani team noted, our showcase had the largest number of attendees since the start of the 2024 protests.
These events — protests and parties — are not separate phenomena, they exist as two dimensions of a single process. Movement, sound and collective presence have already become a form of resistance, a way of asserting one’s position and culture.
We can say that our collaborative event was a success, and the main thing it gave us was an even deeper connection that we value.
— The cooperation also involves panel discussions. Do you plan to host it in Kyiv?
— Yes, we are also planning a panel discussion with representatives of the Georgian club scene at Concert Hall about their experience of resisting authoritarianism through culture, the transformation of clubs into centers of resistance, and how to create solidarity through art and activism.
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— How do you form lineups for ∄ and Bassiani’s collaborative events?
— As part of two events, we created a program that united Ukrainian and Georgian scenes. Here we did not invent anything new and formed the lineup as a dialog between the two stages: one side showcases its residents or artists important for the institution, and the other side supplements the lineup with acts of local artists who have a close connection with the institutions.
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— How will you develop cooperation in the future?
— In our realities in both Ukraine and Georgia, it feels like speculative fiction when you plan something in advance. But these cross-showcases are a prologue and the first step on the way to something bigger.
