The Book Arsenal Festival was visited by almost 57 thousand people
On May 22-26, the Mystetskyi Arsenal hosted the 9th International Book Arsenal Festival, which was visited by almost 57 thousand people. By comparison, in 2018 there were 53,000 visitors at the Festival.
During the five days of the Festival 150 Ukrainian publishers presented more than a thousand of new issues; illustrators, designers and artists presented their exhibition projects, and 491 events, such as meetings, discussions, presentations, performances and concerts, took place within the Festival’s program. The theme Neighborhood: An Open Question became the main focus of the Festival.
More than 90 foreign guests came to this year’s Festival from 30 countries. For the first time at the Festival, Canada presented its special program as a guest country.
Among the most attended events of the Book Arsenal Festival Festival were:
The special project rozdIlovI. signs of interaction by the ArtPole agency and Mystetskyi Arsenal. The project is realized with the support of the Culture Bridges program.
A meeting for the publication of Francesca. The Owner of an Officer’s Badge, a book by Dorje Batuu (USA). Organized by the Old Lion Publishing House.
Letters from Captivity – famous Ukrainians read letters from the hostages of the Kremlin. Organized by the Center for Civil Liberties and PEN Ukraine.
Between Liberators and Occupiers. A talk with Oksana Zabuzhko and Martyna Bunda. Neighborhood: An Open Question focus theme. Curated by Vira Baldyniuk.
Express Date. The biggest autograph session of favourite children’s authors ever with 55 Ukrainian writers. Organized by the Book Arsenal Festival and BaraBooka.
A presentation of the new novel Good News from the Aral Sea by Irena Karpa. Organized by #knigolove.
Catching Kaidash. Promenade performance. Playwright by Natalia Vorozhbyt. Directed by Maksym Holenko, Wild Theater. The Aliens curatorial program by Anastasia Haishenets.
Music of Franz Xaver Mozart. Performed by Vere Music Fund fellows: Roman Lopatynsky, Antuanetta Mishchenko, Artem Poludennyi and others. Curatorial program Imaginary Dances by Liuba Morozova.
A meeting with Meik Wiking, the author of The Little Book of Hygge. The Danish Way to Live Well. With Meik Wiking (Denmark). Organized by Family Leisure Club.
Construction Toy. A multimedia play for children. Organized by Artycrowd. The Aliens curatorial program by Anastasia Haishenets.
During the Book Arsenal Festival, 11 exhibition projects were presented. The central exhibition was the project of the Mystetskyi Arsenal Museum Department called ROLIT. Neighbors, which told the stories of the residents of the ROLIT house (The Worker of Literature) on Bohdan Khmelnytskyi Street in Kyiv.
The Veteran Tent organized by the Mystetskyi Arsenal in partnership with the Ministry of Veteran Affairs of Ukraine became one of the most popular projects of the Festival. Throughout the Festival, combatants and volunteers presented their own books on the current Russian-Ukrainian war.
Also, for the first time, two thematic stands: popular scientific space – with popular scientific books, and common photobook stands – from Kyiv photo book and UPHA were organized at the Festival’s exhibition-fair.
There was also a common stand of museum editions – the Museum Space.
The Best Book Design 2019
For the fourth time, the winners of the Best Book Design Contest were announced at the Book Arsenal Festival. The book MARIA received the Grand Prix of the Contest, published by RED ZET, the artistic incarnation: Illya Zhekalov, Lesia Maruschak.
For the second time, the general media partner of the Book Arsenal was UA: Suspilne (Public Broadcasting). A special project of the TV channel UA: Culture was broadcasted live during all days of the Festival. Live programs, reporting and interviews directly from the Book Arsenal Festival, as well as conversations in the studio with event participants, writers, literary scholars and other guests.
For the 35 hours UA: Radio Culture (third channel UA: Ukrainian Radio) was broadcasting live events of Iryna Slavinska’s special curatorial program Kyiv On Air and linear transmissions of UA: Radio Culture with the participation of the Festival’s guests from the Live Broadcast Studio at the Mystetskyi Arsenal.
The 10th International Book Arsenal Festival will be held on May 20-24, 2020 at the Mystetskyi Arsenal.