In 1972, Charles Bukowski published a poem containing the famous line, “style is the answer to everything.” The general premise being that life’s affairs—from the mundane to the monumental—can be considered art when executed with style. Keti Chichinadze is on the same wavelength. “I think that the way we do things is very important versus what we do,” she says. We’re sitting in her Red Hook design studio, Jamieri, which she opened as a platform for showcasing Georgian culture. “How we put these things together really makes a difference,” she says, gesturing to the mixed media artwork surrounding us—a winged cherub made of clay to my right, a chess set carved from a single piece of lime wood across the room, the candle holders molded from Georgian soils that sit on the table. “We’re trying to make an ecosystem here.”
Since opening in late 2024, Jamieri has established itself as a compelling destination for authentic Georgian culture in New York City. The shop highlights creatives working across ceramics, furniture, fashion, and print. Chichinadze also recently added a café (or kafe) within Jamieri to serve nourishing bites, coffees, and teas that evoke the flavors of Georgia. “I think creating experiences with art, design, and food is the future,” she says. “Nothing should only be on the wall just to look at. And that was the whole point of the space.”
Chichinadze was born in Tbilisi, living in the Georgian capital until she and her parents arrived in New York City in the early 2000s. She went to film school, then worked as a production designer before making her segue to interior design. In 2017, she returned to Georgia’s capital to rediscover the art scene, cultivating a circle of designers and artists who would ultimately find their works showcased in Jamieri nearly a decade later.
“The spark for Jamieri really came when I was working as a production designer [in New York],” she explains. Unable to get her hands on good artwork and tired of operating within the limitations of expensive prop houses, she began curating with the idea of creating her own version of a prop house—one stocked with works by Georgia’s most exciting creatives. “It was several years of observing artists, designers, architects; looking at their work and getting to know them from afar,” she says.
When a space on Vun Brunt Street opened up, she signed the lease and got straight to work renovating. “This looked nothing like it does now,” she says, pointing to the plastered walls and wall arches as examples. “The [tin] ceiling had been coated with maybe 20 layers of paint, so we had to strip it until we got to the metal. Nobody believed it was the original!”
When curating the objects to showcase in Jamieri, Chichinadze wanted to go beyond the canvas. “There’s something about mixed media and 3-D wall sculptures that really does it for me,” she says. Featured designers include Idaaf Architects, led by Nana Zaalishvili, who is responsible for those earthy candleholders mentioned earlier. There’s Crater Ceramics, founded by two friends in Tbilisi who create surreal minimalist pieces out of clay (like this clever ear coffee cup). There are photographs by Guram Tsibakhashvili, embroidered Georgian linens by Pito Seturi, an aluminum furniture collectsion by Studio Gypsandconcrete, including this striking side table, and jacquard-woven tapestries by Levan Mindiashvili that illustrate handwritten texts and Georgian calligraphy. Each creative with their own distinct discipline, but all together in a room presenting as one cohesive tableau of Georgian excellence.
A small selection of vintage and antique pieces also intermingles with the contemporary collectsion, including hand-painted clay vessels and a Robert Sonneman mid-century chrome wall lamp. “I source from all over,” she says. “Estate sales, Facebook marketplace, auction sites. I also go upstate often.
In its current manifestation, Jamieri is a multi-disciplinary space that operates as a showroom, café, and experiential platform for events and pop-ups—some that take place onsite, and others at partners’ locations, like Jamieri’s recent collaboration with Colbo in the Lower East Side. “I believe we’re entering a whole different era of how we handle art, how we handle design, how we handle food,” she says. “Everything can be exhibited as an art form.”
As she says this, Chichinadze places an attractive spread in front of me. A smattering of butter, jams, and preserves highlighting flavors like adjika, plum, and cornelia cherry are presented alongside sourdough bread from nearby South Brooklyn Bakery, as well as addictively good pastries filled with bean and cheese. (There’s traditional Georgian flatbread too, of course.) “I buy all organic products and then preserves and jams are imported from Georgia,” she says. “So it’s just a taste of the flavors of Georgian cuisine. It’s not to come in and eat a meal, it’s more to have an experience.”
Arguably the most exciting aspect of Jamieri is just that—the experience. Intended to be a dynamic, ever-changing concept, the space might look entirely different depending on when you’re there. On the day of my visit, there’s a mound of mustard-hued candle wax on a shelf, encircling a flickering candle designed by Chichinadze herself. Grapevines and leaves made of beeswax curl around the taper as an homage to the country’s winemaking heritage. “I love all of my objects. They’re part of me, part of who I am, and the people that made them I love them even more now,” she says.
She ultimately sees the café as a way of connecting with people. “You know how museums have cafeterias, but there’s never any artwork in them? Here you can sit and look at this hand-painted mirror and have your coffee and feel the energy of the craftsmanship. That’s the idea. You don’t have to buy it. But you can.”
