Tbilisi Art Fair in Georgia: dates, meaning and how to experience it

By Mariam Lomidze, GTour desk · Fact-checked against the sources listed · Last checked 25 October 2026 · Editorial policy

What it is

Tbilisi Art Fair is an annual contemporary art fair held at the ExpoGeorgia exhibition grounds in Tbilisi. Unlike most entries in Georgia’s calendar of feasts and festivals, its name is not a translation of an old Georgian word but an English-language brand name adopted directly into local use; Georgian media and signage usually render it phonetically as “თბილისის არტ ფეარი” (Tbilisis art pheari), a loan phrase rather than a literal translation. The choice of an English name signals the event’s intent from the outset: to speak the international language of the global art-fair circuit while presenting work rooted in Georgia and the wider Caucasus.

The fair is attended by gallery owners, curators, collectors, working artists, art students and a growing public of visitors with no professional stake in the market, who come simply to look. Participants travel from Tbilisi, Batumi and Kutaisi as well as from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and further afield in Europe, making the fair one of the few recurring points of contact between Georgia’s art scene and international galleries. It is not a religious or state holiday and carries no liturgical or folk ritual of its own; its significance is cultural and economic rather than sacred, marking Tbilisi’s place on a regional map of contemporary art.

Historical background

• 1918–1921 — During Georgia’s first independent republic, painters such as Lado Gudiashvili and David Kakabadze studied and exhibited in Paris before returning to Tbilisi, giving the city an early, brief engagement with European modernism.
• 1921–1991 — Under Soviet rule, art institutions and exhibition spaces in Tbilisi operated within state structures, with private commercial galleries effectively absent.
• 1991 — Georgia regains independence; state art institutions are reorganised and the first independent, privately run galleries begin to appear in Tbilisi over the following decade.
• 2000s — A small network of commercial galleries and artist-run spaces establishes itself in the capital, laying the groundwork for a local art market.
• 2018 — According to organisers, the first edition of Tbilisi Art Fair is held at the ExpoGeorgia exhibition centre, bringing together galleries from Georgia and neighbouring Caucasus countries.
• 2019 — The fair’s participation widens to include galleries from further afield in Europe, according to organisers.
• 2020 — As with most international art fairs that year, the edition is disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
• 2021–2024 — The fair resumes a regular spring rhythm at ExpoGeorgia, expanding its programme of talks, performances and satellite gallery openings across the city.
• 2026 — The fair is held 21–24 May 2026 at ExpoGeorgia; organisers indicate the following edition will again fall in late May.

Tbilisi’s relationship with contemporary art has long been shaped by its position between Europe and Asia and by the abrupt reopening of its art market after 1991. For much of the twentieth century, exhibition life in the city was organised through state unions and museums; the commercial gallery, in the Western sense, is a post-Soviet development that took root slowly through the 1990s and 2000s. ExpoGeorgia itself, the fair’s permanent home, began life as a Soviet-era exhibition and trade-fair complex and remains the country’s largest purpose-built venue for conventions, festivals and fairs, which is one reason organisers chose it as the fair’s base.

Against this backdrop, Tbilisi Art Fair was conceived as a way to give the city’s young gallery scene a predictable annual platform and to invite international dealers and collectors to see Georgian and regional art in person rather than only through fairs in Istanbul, Vienna or London. Its growth has tracked the broader opening of Tbilisi to international tourism and investment since the 2000s, and it now sits alongside the city’s film and jazz festivals as part of a calendar that positions Tbilisi as a cultural, not only historical, destination.

Meaning and traditions

The fair itself follows the conventions of international art fairs worldwide: galleries rent booths inside ExpoGeorgia’s pavilions and present paintings, sculpture, photography and video work by represented artists; a curated section typically showcases solo or thematic projects; and a programme of talks, artist walkthroughs and sometimes performance art runs alongside the booths. An invitation-only preview on the opening evening is usually followed by three or four days open to the ticket-buying public.

Where the fair becomes distinctly Georgian is in its hospitality around the edges of the programme. Opening receptions and gallery dinners often follow the structure of a supra (a formal Georgian feast), led informally by a tamada (toastmaster) who proposes toasts punctuated by the exclamation gaumarjos (“victory” or, loosely, “cheers”). Wine served at these events is frequently poured from or described in terms of the qvevri, the large clay vessel used in traditional Georgian winemaking, and some editions have included performances of Georgian polyphonic singing for visiting guests. Regional variation shows mainly in participation rather than ritual: galleries and artists from Batumi and Kutaisi exhibit alongside Tbilisi-based ones, and fair week is usually accompanied by independent “gallery weekend” openings in neighbourhoods such as Vera and Sololaki, which are not formally part of the fair but are widely treated as its unofficial extension.

When it happens

Tbilisi Art Fair has no fixed date in the way a church feast or national holiday does. Organisers select a long weekend, usually in the second half of May, depending on ExpoGeorgia’s booking calendar and the availability of international participants, and confirm exact dates each year through their own announcements and local press. In 2026 the fair ran from 21 to 24 May at ExpoGeorgia; the 2027 edition is expected around 20–23 May 2027, though this remains to be confirmed. The fair is not a public holiday: government offices, banks, shops and transport operate on a normal schedule, and the only closures are the fair’s own opening and closing hours.

Where to experience it

The fair takes place in the pavilions of ExpoGeorgia, on Tsereteli Avenue in Tbilisi’s Saburtalo district, reachable by metro to Delisi or State University station and a short walk or taxi ride from either. Typical daily hours run from midday into the evening, with the first evening reserved for a ticketed VIP preview and the remaining days open to the general public. Visitors should expect to spend two to three hours walking between booths; comfortable shoes are more useful than formal dress, though opening-night receptions tend to be smart-casual. Because much of the work on display is contemporary and occasionally provocative, there is no religious etiquette to observe, but photography of specific works may be restricted at individual galleries’ request, and visitors should ask before photographing pieces closely.

Did you know

• Niko Pirosmani, Georgia’s best-known self-taught painter of the early twentieth century, is held in major collections including the Georgian National Museum, and his primitivist style remains a reference point for Georgian artists shown at contemporary fairs today.
• Georgian polyphonic singing, sometimes performed at fair-related receptions, is inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
• Georgia’s ancient qvevri winemaking method, frequently referenced in the fair’s hospitality, is also recognised on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
• ExpoGeorgia, the fair’s venue, is Georgia’s largest purpose-built exhibition and convention complex and hosts events year-round, from trade fairs to music festivals.
• Tbilisi’s festival calendar places the art fair alongside other recurring events such as the Tbilisi Jazz Festival and the Tbilisi International Film Festival, both of which draw international audiences in the same part of the year.

Practical tips for visitors

Most international visitors arrive through Tbilisi International Airport, from which ExpoGeorgia is roughly a thirty-minute drive or a metro-and-walk combination via Delisi or State University station. Late May in Tbilisi is generally mild, with daytime temperatures often between 15 and 25°C, but evenings can be cool, so light layers are advisable. Tickets for the fair are typically sold online in advance and at the door; VIP preview access is limited and worth booking early if available. Because exact dates are confirmed only months ahead, travellers planning a trip specifically around the fair should check the organisers’ current announcements before booking flights and accommodation, and should book central Tbilisi hotels early, since late May overlaps with the broader spring travel season.

Combine it with

A visit built around Tbilisi Art Fair pairs naturally with time in the capital itself, explored through Tbilisi, and with day trips into the wine country of Kakheti, where the qvevri winemaking tradition referenced at the fair’s receptions can be seen firsthand. Visitors with more time often continue north into Mtskheta-Mtianeti to see Georgia’s early Christian heritage sites before returning to the capital for the fair’s evening programme.

Questions travellers ask

Is Tbilisi Art Fair open to the general public, or only to the art trade?

The first evening is usually reserved for an invitation-only VIP preview, but the following days are open to the ticket-buying public. Most visitors who are not collectors or dealers attend on these public days.

How much do tickets cost and where can they be bought?

Ticket prices and sales channels are set by the organisers each year and announced closer to the event, typically through online sales and at the ExpoGeorgia entrance. It is worth checking current prices directly before the fair rather than relying on