Ukrainian collective Closer have announced a new venture. Expanding on the business model of Closer Record Store in Kiev, they will co-manage a physical retail establishment in Tbilisi, Georgia called Pomegranate Records.
As reported by Trommel, little information is available regarding Pomegranate Records. If it’s anything like the Kiev store, however, it will cater to disc jockeys in the market for techno, house and electro records on vinyl.
Tbilisi Revisited
The past few years have seen Tbilisi’s electronic music scene grow from an underground subculture to a point of interest on the global stage. Against the broader backdrop of a move towards social liberalism since Georgia’s 1991 secession from the Soviet Union, creative spaces like Bassiani and Café Gallery have come to symbolize causes like LGBTQ rights and drug decriminalization, respectively.
In 2018, Tbilisi authorities conducted coordinated drug raids of both clubs that sparked protest in front of the city’s capitol building. Two weeks later, lawmakers called off their investigation. Georgia Minister of Internal Affairs Giorgi Gakharia publicly apologized for the raids and agreed to revisit talks about drug policy reform.
Closer have yet to announce a grand opening date for Pomegranate Records at the time of writing.
