It's hard to get a handle on Nachlaot. Follow the twisting alleys of the hundred-year-old neighborhood and you might wind up in one of the venerable synagogues of Jerusalem's Mizrachi community, or in the walled compound of the neighborhood colony of anti-Zionist Yiddish-speaking ultra-Orthodox Jews, or on a gleaming street of fully remodeled mini-mansions owned and occupied by wealthy Western immigrants, or in Barbur - a gallery-cum-performance space-cum-theater devoted to fostering Jerusalem's indie artists and sparking the sort of social debate that artists thrive on.

There's always something outside the mainstream happening in the modest venue, usually displays of avant-garde local art and screenings of underground films and documentaries, but also the occasional lecture, poetry slam, or musical performance. And the Barburniks give back to their 'hood, too: the venue has organized both a community garden and a small art- and political science-focused library.