The ІV Educational Festival Arsenal of Ideas will take place at Mystetskyi arsenal on September 26-30.

For the fourth time, Mystetskyi Arsenal National Art and Culture Museum Complex and the Charitable Foundation «Mystetskyi Arsenal», in cooperation with the Marina Poroshenko Social Program, organize a creative space for children and adults that combines creativity, scientific innovations and bold artistic projects, modern educational programs and experimentation.

The theme of this year’s festival If I Was Something / Someone / Somewhere is intended to demonstrate the diversity of possible experiences – from bodily to professional. The festival space will include three main thematic groups: Space, Body and Activity.

Space refers to our lives in and outside the city, orientation in space and its transformation: learn about urban history and archaeology, vegetation and architecture, the secrets of map creation and route design. With the help of virtual reality, it will be possible to dive into  interior of a museum or get into a mysterious forest. And also create a model of an ideal city.

Body embraces both bodily senses and imagination, the world of wildlife and new technologies. During the festival kids will be able to imagine themselves in another body – animals, plants, fantastic creatures. Learn more about how these bodies are arranged and experiment with the capabilities of their own body.

Activity is focused, but not limited to, cultural activities – there kids will try the role of artist, curator, cultural manager, museum worker and other professions that are dynamically developing nowadays.

Within the framework of the festival the III Forum of New Education will be held – an open space where children are direct participants of the event, and adults have the opportunity to hear their ideas and help to implement them for the sake of a new future. Can children build an educational trajectory by themselves? Do they have a right to make mistakes? How can adults help children with their studies? What do teenagers think should be changed in secondary education? What works/does not work in contemporary education? The forum will allow to hear thoughts, find out the intellectual and emotional needs of children, along with them and representatives of the expert community, discuss new opportunities that exist in school and out-of-school educational systems and can be used today.

One of the key features of the festival is its quest for inclusiveness, so during the Arsenal of Ideas there will be activities that are accessible to children and adults with disabilities and a single communication space for all visitors will be created.

Within the framework of the festival an inclusive theater project More than play will take place – a unique interactive space will involve all festival visitors in an exciting theatrical program, as well as a series of workshops and other educational events. The project More than play is created by the Mystetskyi Arsenal theater laboratory in cooperation with theatrical collectives, centres, studios, educators and specialists who are engaged in the development of an inclusive society in Ukraine

The project will identify and create the best performative practices for their further use in theater and inclusive educational programs. The project and all events within its program are designed to inform the public about the need to create a space of equal opportunities.

The inclusive partner of the festival NGO Vidchui will present a special photo project Star Alphabet. The task of Star Alphabet is to raise the topic of hearing loss and adaptation of people who do not hear – and this is more than 3 million of Ukrainians. According to statistics, every ninth Ukrainian loses hearing and even does not know about it. More than 250,000 Ukrainians speak the gesture language, but this language isn’t taught in schools even at the basic level. The photo project Star Alphabet is created to draw attention to the problem of people who do not hear, and those who lose their hearing.

Also the  exhibition of works by british photographer of Ukrainian origin Alina Kisina Children of Vision will be presented at the festival. The exhibition is a result of the photographer’s long-term cooperation with the Kyiv Specialized Boarding School of the I-II degrees №11 and the Charitable Foundation «Mystetskyi Arsenal». With the help of a photographic portrait, Alina eliminates the boundary between the concepts of capacity and incapacity, putting on the surface the invisible, hidden and often underestimated inner world of children with visual impairment. In the Children of Vision project, Alina places a special emphasis on the contemplation of the subject and on the relationship between the subject and the viewer without interfering in the child’s inner world.

Organized by: Mystetskyi Arsenal National Art and Culture Museum Complex, Charitable Foundation «Mystetskyi Arsenal», in cooperation with the Marina Poroshenko Social Program

Festival work shedule
September 26, Wednesday 14:00-20:00
September 27, Thursday 11:00-20:00
September 28, Friday 11:00-20:00
September 29, Saturday 11:00-20:00
September 30, Sunday 11:00-20:00

Tickets and passes