About

We are Chai Khana - a multimedia, visually-driven storytelling platform. We cover untold human stories and connect people across the region to reveal the lives of ordinary people in the South Caucasus.

 

Our platform is a place for perspectives - we challenge linear narratives and work for the alternative, original voices that tell compelling stories, stories that are usually ignored. We talk about what others are silent about.

 

Our name, Chai Khana, is also very symbolic - it means “a tea house” and historically, it was (and still is) a male-dominated space in the South Caucasus, where men usually gather, socialize and exchange ideas.  We, Chai Khana, a platform led by women, reclaim this space for discussion from male-dominated cultures and give to it a new meaning. Our ambition is to deconstruct this concept and provide an open space for discussion for women, queer people, ethnic, racial and religious minorities, conflict-affected people and other marginalized groups in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and conflict regions.

 

We believe in storytelling that dissolves the barriers between “us” and “them” and we know it is necessary to amplify voices from different communities of our region; to create stories with them, rather than about them. We believe that listening to the voices of our neighbours—from down the street, across town, or on the other side of the border—bring us together and help foster a better future. For this, we are creating a network of young documentary filmmakers, photographers and journalists from all over the South Caucasus and are giving them space to tell the stories that they believe are important. Those storytellers not only inspire us but also drive and shape us.

 

We aim to kindle empathy, to change perceptions in societies and add to efforts to create cross-border dialogue in the region as we strongly believe that raising awareness is the key to make a step forward.

 

Currently, every country in the region is affected by conflict, and independent media and free speech are increasingly under threat and at risk. Today, when systematic disinformation and manipulation are overwhelming communities, independent voices are more important than ever before. We support and encourage authors to find groundbreaking, fearless, innovative and artistic ways of telling the story of regular people, to disrupt widely accepted narratives and unveil the truth hidden behind the surface of the mainstream media. We stand for truth, independence and coexistence, ideals which underscore our shared humanity.

Contact

Collaboration and press

info@chaikhana.media
Impact Hub Tbilisi
Collective, Givi Kartozia #10, Tbilisi, Georgia 0177
See on a map

Donors & partners

Team

Lika Antadze
Director
Molly Corso
Editor
Nino Orjonikidze
Commissioning Editor
Nino-Ana Samkharadze
Photo editor
Mariam Jachvadze
Media production manager (Georgia)
Durna Safarova
Production Manager (Azerbaijan)
Sona Simonyan
Video production manager (Аrmenia)
Natalie Chkhartishvili
Executive assistant
Ruzan Gishyan
Multimedia production manager (Armenia)
Kristine Mdinaradze
Accountant

Terms & Conditions

TERMS OF USE AGREEMENT

WELCOME TO THIS WEBSITE. Chai Khana NCLE ("Chai Khana", “Organisation”, “Chaikhana.media”, “we”, “us” or “our”) OFFERS THIS SITE (the “Site”) TO YOU (“You”, “Your” or “Subscriber”) SUBJECT TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS (the “Terms”). YOUR USE OF THIS SITE SHALL BE YOUR AGREEMENT TO ABIDE BY EACH OF THE TERMS SET FORTH BELOW. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ANY OF THESE TERMS, PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS SITE. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THESE TERMS, PLEASE CONTACT US AT: info@chaikhana.media

GENERAL RULES AND DEFINITIONS

  1. If you choose to use certain Chai Khana digital products displaying or otherwise governed by these Terms of Service, including chaikhana.media (the “Site”), and any of the features of the Site, and other downloads (collectively, the "Services"), you will be agreeing to abide by all of the terms and conditions of these Terms of Service between you and Chai Khana.
  2. We may change, add or remove portions of these Terms of Service at any time by notifying you of the change in writing (including by email or by updating the date above after “Last Updated On”). Such changes shall become effective immediately upon posting. It is your responsibility to review these Terms of Service prior to each use of the Site.
  3. We may change, suspend or discontinue any aspect of the Services at any time, including the availability of any Services feature, database, or content. We may also impose limits on certain features and services or restrict your access to parts or all of the Services without notice or liability.
  4. Being exposed to advertising is a condition of accessing the Services.

CONTENT ON THE SERVICES

  1. The contents of the Services, including the Site, are intended for your personal, non-commercial use. All materials published or available on the Services (including, but not limited to text, photographs, images, illustrations, designs, audio clips, video clips, “look and feel,” metadata, data, or compilations, all also known as the "Content") are protected by copyright, and owned or controlled by Chai Khana or the party credited as the provider of the Content. Chai Khana also owns copyright in the selection, coordination, compilation, and enhancement of such Content (“Arrangement”). You shall abide by all additional copyright notices, information, or restrictions contained in any Content accessed through the Service.
  2. The Services and Content are protected by copyrights, trademarks, patents, trade secrets, database rights, sui generis rights and other intellectual or proprietary rights therein pursuant to Georgia and international laws. You may not modify, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, reproduce, create new works from, distribute, perform, display (including framing and online linking), communicate to the public or in any way exploit, any of the Content (or its Arrangement) or the Services (including Software) in whole or in part.
  3. You may download or copy the Content and other downloadable items displayed on the Services for your personal use only, provided that you maintain all copyright and other notices contained therein. Copying or storing of any Content for other than personal use is expressly prohibited without prior written permission from Chai Khana or the copyright holder identified in the copyright notice contained in the Content.

THIRD-PARTY CONTENT AND LINKS TO THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES.

  1. The Services contain links to third-party websites, resources, and advertisers (collectively, “Linked Content”). Chai Khana does not control, endorse, sponsor, recommend or otherwise accept responsibility for any of this Linked Content. Because we are not responsible for the availability of these outside resources, or their contents or privacy practices, you should direct any concerns regarding any Linked Content to such site.

GOVERNING LAW; JURISDICTION

  1. Any action related to these Terms will be governed by the law of Georgia, without regard to the choice or conflicts of law provisions of any jurisdiction.

The types of personal data we collect about you

The information we gather about you depends on the context. By and large, it’s information about you that can personally identify you — either on its own or when combined with other information.

For Newsletter Subscription:

When you sign up for a Chai Khana Service (e.g., a subscription), we collect your contact information. 

For Billing:

To process payments or donations, we collect and use your payment information.

This can include your name, your email address, your credit or debit card information and any other relevant information.

Information Collected Automatically:

We track and store data about how you visit and use Chai Khana Services, particularly through our websites and apps. The items we log include:

Your browser

Your browser language

Device identifiers

Other usage information.

Social Media Platforms and Other Third-Party Services:

(Social media platforms include Facebook. Third-party services include Google.)

You can link your social media or other third-party account to a Chai Khana Service. By linking the services, you authorize us to collect, store and use any information they may give us (e.g., your email address). You can disconnect your chaikhana.media registration from third-party accounts at any time.We also receive information from you when you interact with our pages, groups, accounts or posts on social media platforms. This includes aggregate data on our followers (e.g., age, gender and location), engagement data (e.g., “likes,” comments, shares, reposts and clicks), awareness data (e.g., number of impressions and reach) and individual users’ public profiles.

Purposes for Using Your Information:

We provide the Chai Khana Services.

We use your information to help you use and navigate Chai Khana Services, such as:

Making a Chai Khana Service available to you

We Develop Products and Services, and Do Analysis.

We analyze data on our users’ subscription, purchase and usage behaviors. This helps us make business and marketing decisions.

We Carry Out Administrative Tasks.

For auditing: We verify that our internal processes work as intended and comply with legal, regulatory and contractual requirements.

How we protect information 

We protect your personal information with a series of organizational, technological and physical safeguards — but we cannot guarantee its absolute security. 

Compliance

We make every effort to ensure that personal information you provide is used in conformity with this Privacy Policy. If you have any concerns about our adherence to this Privacy Policy or the manner in which your personal information is used, kindly write to us info@chaikhana.media

Privacy Policy

For information on how Chai Khana collects, uses and shares any personal information, please see below our Privacy Policy. This policy is an integral part of our Terms of Use and, as applicable, any other agreement entered into between you (or the entity that you are acting on its behalf) and us. Therefore, this Privacy Policy is hereby incorporated into the Terms of Use and any such agreement.

Chai Khana (hereinafter, “chaykhana.media”, “we", "us", or "our") take privacy and security seriously and we make all efforts to use your personal information properly. We have put together this Privacy Policy to set out how we treat your personal information. This Privacy Policy governs each website, mobile site, application, and/or other service, regardless of how distributed, transmitted, published, or broadcast (each, a "Site") provided by Chai Khana, which is binding on all those who access, visit and/or use the Site (collectively, "you" or "your").

This Privacy Policy describes the information collected as part of the normal operation of the Site, process of collection of the information from you and what may happen to that information.By accepting the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use Agreement, you expressly consent to our use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy is deemed incorporated into and subject to the terms of Chai Khana’s Terms of Use Agreement.

Our primary purpose in collecting personal information is to provide you with a safe, smooth, efficient, and customized experience. This allows us to provide services and features that are most likely to meet your needs, and to customize our service to make your experience safer and easier. We only collect personal information about you that we consider necessary for achieving this purpose.