The most prominent representatives of children’s book publishing will gather together at the anniversary 60th Bologna Children’s Book Fair from March 6 to March 9, 2023. Book Arsenal, in collaboration with Pictoric Illustrators Club, organizes the exhibition Illustrated Ukraine and a panel discussion on Ukrainian illustration.

The exhibition Illustrated Ukraine presents the works of Ukrainian illustrators which were created during last year. Instead of illustrating children’s books, they draw Ukrainian children suffering from Russia’s aggression. They depict Ukraine as it is now and as it has been for the last twelve months — war-torn, heartbroken, in pains, but also strong, dignified, invincible, and united as never before. The works of Ukrainian illustrators, in a clear language of poster art, say: we will be fighting until we win, and we ask every European to stand with us in this fight.

On Wednesday, March 8, at 2:00 pm, a panel discussion with famous Ukrainian illustrators “Ukrainian Illustration. Experiencing the War” about creativity in wartime will take place at the Illustrators Survival Corner.

Art has always been a medium for communicating ideas, self-expression, protest, and solidarity. Amidst Russia’s war in Ukraine, illustration became a powerful tool that helps Ukrainians to spread the truth about what’s happening in their country, to share their emotions and stories with the world. 

So what’s it like to live through war? Where to find inspiration? How can artwork become an instrument or even a weapon? How to keep working while in danger? What is the role of creators today? And what’s it like to be Ukrainian? 

Speakers:

• Oleg Gryshchenko, painter, illustrator, cofounder of the Pictoric Illustrators Club
• Anna Sarvira, illustrator, curator, cofounder of the Pictoric Illustrators Club
• Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv, Art Studio Agrafka

Moderator: Yuliia Kozlovets, director of the International Book Arsenal Festival

Organized by the Ukrainian Book Institute, the Ukrainian national stand will exhibit a selection of current children’s books by 22 Ukrainian publishers. The concept of the stand under the slogan “Mom, I see war” was borrowed from the eponymous charitable project, a digital collection of children’s drawings about the war in Ukraine. The Ukrainian national stand calls on foreign publishers to translate and publish Ukrainian books.

During the fair, Tales of EUkraine project will be presented, co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. Its purpose is to print and distribute Ukrainian bilingual books in kindergartens and schools where children of Ukrainian refugees study, after being forced to leave Ukraine.

Full information about this year’s presentation of Ukraine at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair and the Ukrainian Program can be found on the Ukrainian Book Institute’s website.

We shall remind that this year the Book Arsenal was the partner of Ukrainian publishers’ participation in the BOLOGNARAGAZZI AWARD – 2023, the winners of which will be awarded on the opening day of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair on March 6. Prize laureates for the Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year, which included the Ukrainian Old Lion Publishing House in its shortlist, will also be announced.

International Book Arsenal Festival (IBAF) is an annual project of the Mystetskyi Arsenal (Kyiv) since 2011. It’s the biggest intellectual event in Ukraine, where the book, literary, and artistic scenes develop and interact with each other. IBAF’s international projects, being organized and presented at the main literary festivals and book fairs abroad, integrate the Ukrainian book, literary, and art community with the international one and promote better understanding and visibility of Ukraine in the world.

The Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF) is an industry leading event that has succeeded in bringing together a unique and diverse global audience thanks to 60 years experience. The Fair is a place where ideas from all over the world meet, giving life to new and unexpected creative production. This success is thanks to the permanent dialogue and collaborative relationship that BCBF has established and nurtured over decades, since its initial foundation, with publishers and the entire international children’s book community. The result is the world’s premium copyright exchange hub when it comes to publishing which also extends to current multimedia and licensing businesses for children’s stories, illustration, animation and related areas. The world famous Illustrators Exhibition and industry recognized BolognaRagazzi award are some of key pillars of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. In 2023, the Bologna Children’s Book Fair celebrates sixty years with the slogan Still Rocking at 60!

This year, Ukraine presented its prosperous literature, illustration and book culture with the motto “Persistence to Be”. Ukraine is the first and only guest country since the establishment of the Vilnius book fair in 2000.
– Lithuanian Culture Institute

On February 23-26, 2023, the International Book Arsenal Festival presented its special program of events at the Vilnius Book Fair, co-curated by the Lithuanian Culture Institute. A series of events reflected the Book Arsenal’s conventional approach to programming, i.e. multidisciplinary events, searching for relevant and topical content, working with various formats, and targeting different audiences.

The Vilnius Book Fair supported Ukraine in every possible way; for instance, with the official blue and yellow symbols and merchandise of the fair, fundraising for the destroyed Chernihiv Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi City Library, and the making of camouflage nets which was joined by the President of the Republic of Lithuania Gitanas Nauseda and the First Lady Diana Nausėdienė.

We are very thankful to the great people of Lithuania who have been among the first ones to assist us fully and to promote the Ukrainian agenda globally.

During the fair, the Book Arsenal presented a discussion on the professional solidarity of Ukrainian and Lithuanian authors and volunteers; a public talk about creative practices, as well as creative tools of resistance that our creative communities use; poetry readings by Ukrainian and Lithuanian poets, and book presentations.

In cooperation with the Dovzhenko Centre, a screening of Oleksandr Dovzhenko’s film Earth was held, following the discussion on how this film has changed cinema. STRICHKA film-performance told the Lithuanian audience the stories of people who were forced to leave their cities, fleeing the war.

The events for the youngest visitors, as a part of the kid’s program of the fair, included theatrical readings and creative workshops, also inviting the children of refugees from Ukraine who have found shelter and are now living in Lithuania.

During four days of the fair, two exhibitions ran: Illustrated Ukraine by Pictoric Illustrators Club, and Agrafka picturebook makers by art studio Agrafka, and the curators gave guided tours of these exhibitions for the visitors.

Invited by the Book Arsenal, the following Ukrainian guests took part in the special program of events: children’s writer and poet Kateryna Mikhalitsyna, writer Andriy Lyubka, poet Halyna Kruk, artist Eugene Arlov, poet and performer Haska Shyyan, cinema expert Alona Penzii, coordinator of the International Book Arsenal Festival Yuliia Kozlovets, illustrators from Pictoric club (Olena Staranchuk and Oleg Gryshchenko) and art studio Agrafka (Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv).

The Book Arsenal also presented the exhibition of the winning books of the Best Book Design Contest 2022.

The winners of the Best Baltic Book Design contest (an annual contest for the best book design among Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia) were also announced at the International Vilnius Book Fair. Ukraine became the guest of honour in 2023, and Oleg Gryshchenko, the member of the jury of the Book Arsenal’s Best Book Design Contest 2022, took part in judging. From Ukraine, The Barrier-Free Handbook by ist publishing was the winner. In January, The Barrier-Free Handbook became one of the two winners in the Utility Book nomination in the Book Arsenal’s Best Book Design Contest 2022.

Within the Vilnius Book Fair, the Media Forum also took place, organized by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania. Book Arsenal assisted in Oleksandra Matviichuk’s live online participation in the panel discussion “The role of civil society”. Simultaneously to the fair events, there also were creative meetings and masterclasses by Ukrainian illustrators for the students of the Vilnius Academy of Arts.

Ukrainian national stand, organized by the Ukrainian Book Institute, exhibited a selection of up-to-date books by Ukrainian publishers, and was the central meeting place for the audience of the fair to meet Ukrainian books, publishers, and authors.

International Book Arsenal Festival (IBAF) is an annual project of the Mystetskyi Arsenal (Kyiv) since 2011. It’s the biggest intellectual event in Ukraine, where the book, literary, and artistic scenes develop and interact with each other. IBAF’s international projects, being organized and presented at the main literary festivals and book fairs abroad, integrate the Ukrainian book, literary, and art community with the international one and promote better understanding and visibility of Ukraine in the world.

The Lithuanian Culture Institute is a budgetary institution established by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, which is consistently strengthening the role of Lithuanian culture in the world. The Institute purposefully presents Lithuanian culture and professional art abroad and enhances the opportunities on the international scene for cultural professionals and artists, as well as for specialists and organisations working in these fields.

International Vilnius Book Fair is the biggest book fair in the Baltic countries, which has been running since 2000, and every year it attracts more than 65,000 visitors. Its extremely rich programme (more than 600 events in four days), is the best place for authors and readers to meet.

In 2023 the 23rd book fair took place on the 23rd to 26st of February. The theme of the Book Fair was 700 Lines for Freedom, which combines two important topics – 700 years of Vilnius city anniversary and the theme of freedom, the fragility of which Europe and the whole world are experiencing now.

Organizers of the fair: Lithuanian Publishers Association, Lithuanian Culture Institute, Litexpo — Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Centre.

THE 23rd VILNIUS BOOK FAIR WILL BE HELD FROM FEBRUARY 23 TO 26, 2023. BOOK ARSENAL WILL PRESENT ITS PROGRAM OF EVENTS CO-CURATED BY THE LITHUANIAN CULTURE INSTITUTE

Invited by the organizers of the Vilnius Book Fair, the Book Arsenal has created a program of events that will present the versatile Ukrainian literary and cultural scene in Vilnius.

Our special program of events continues the partnership and program cooperation between the International Book Arsenal Festival and the Lithuanian Culture Institute. The invitation from our partners to participate in this year’s fair is an honor and a responsibility for our team: the dates of the Vilnius Book Fair include February 24, the anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It was on this very day last year that our colleagues opened their fair with a declaration that condemned Russian aggression, stressed on support for the people of Ukraine, as well as professional solidarity and uniting all progressive forces and platforms to help us in the struggle for freedom and independence. During this whole year, we could feel this support from our colleagues; our country continues its resistance and struggle, and we continue to spread the message about the need to support Ukraine across the world. That is why we are grateful for the opportunity to speak, using the language of cultural projects, about our identity, as well as our common values, challenges, and threats that humanity is facing nowadays, from the stage in Vilnius

— Yuliia Kozlovets, Coordinator of the International Book Arsenal Festival.

The special program will include a series of events that reflect the Book Arsenal’s conventional approach to programming, i.e. multidisciplinary events, searching for relevant and topical content, working with various formats, and targeting different audiences.

The program includes:

• a discussion on the professional solidarity of Ukrainian and Lithuanian authors and volunteers;
• a public talk about creative practices, as well as creative tools of resistance that our creative communities use;
• poetry readings by Ukrainian and Lithuanian poets;
• book presentations.

In cooperation with the Dovzhenko Centre, a screening of Oleksandr Dovzhenko’s film Earth will be held, following the discussion on how this film has changed cinema. STRICHKA film-performance will tell the Lithuanian audience the stories of people who were forced to leave their cities, fleeing the war.

The events for the youngest visitors, as a part of the kid’s program of the fair, include theatrical readings and creative workshops, also inviting the children of refugees from Ukraine who have found shelter and are now living in Lithuania.

During four days of the fair, two exhibitions will run: Illustrated Ukraine by Pictoric Illustrators Club, and Agrafka picturebook makers by art studio Agrafka, and the curators will give guided tours of these exhibitions for the visitors.

Invited by the Book Arsenal, the following Ukrainian guests will take part in the special program of events: children’s writer and poet Kateryna Mikhalitsyna, writer Andriy Lyubka, poet Halyna Kruk, artist Eugene Arlov, poet and performer Haska Shyyan, cinema expert Alona Penzii, coordinator of the International Book Arsenal Festival Yuliia Kozlovets, illustrators from Pictoric club (Olena Staranchuk and Oleg Gryshchenko) and art studio Agrafka (Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv).

The Book Arsenal will also present an exhibition of the winning books of the Best Book Design Contest 2022, and Oleg Gryshchenko, the member of the jury of the Ukrainian contest, will take part in judging the Best Baltic Book Design contest that invited Ukraine to be the guest of honour for this year.

Last February, the Vilnius Book Fair became an immediate support space for Ukraine, and remains so. For us, the most obvious act is to offer the platform of this year‘s Book Fair to our Ukrainian colleagues, authors, literary professionals and artists. So that they can speak about the most urgent matters, as well as to share the rich culture of their country. Giving the voice to Ukraine is our duty and wish, not only in Lithuania, but also internationally. We are spreading the message of freedom for Ukraine at the international book fairs and cultural events around the world, and we will continue our support and cooperation with Ukraine in every possible way

— Rūta Nanartavičiūtė, Head of Programs and Projects Department of the Lithuanian Culture Institute.

Full program of Book Arsenal events

Within the Vilnius Book Fair, the Media Forum will also take place, organized by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania. Book Arsenal assists in Oleksandra Matviichuk’s live online participation in the panel discussion “The role of civil society”. Simultaneously to the fair events, there will also be creative meetings and masterclasses by Ukrainian illustrators for the students of the Vilnius Academy of Arts.

Ukrainian national stand, organized by the Ukrainian Book Institute, will exhibit a selection of up-to-date books by Ukrainian publishers, and will be the central meeting place for the audience of the fair to meet Ukrainian books, publishers, and authors.

Full information about this year’s participation of Ukraine at the Vilnius Book Fair will be available soon on the Ukrainian Book Institute website.

International Book Arsenal Festival (IBAF) is an annual project of the Mystetskyi Arsenal (Kyiv) since 2011. It’s the biggest intellectual event in Ukraine, where the book, literary, and artistic scenes develop and interact with each other. IBAF’s international projects, being organized and presented at the main literary festivals and book fairs abroad, integrate the Ukrainian book, literary and art community with the international one and promote better understanding and visibility of Ukraine in the world.

The Lithuanian Culture Institute is a budgetary institution established by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, which is consistently strengthening the role of Lithuanian culture in the world. The Institute purposefully presents Lithuanian culture and professional art abroad and enhances the opportunities on the international scene for cultural professionals and artists, as well as for specialists and organisations working in these fields.

International Vilnius Book Fair is the biggest book fair in the Baltic countries, which has been running since 2000, and every year it attracts more than 65,000 visitors. Its extremely rich programme (more than 600 events in four days), is the best place for authors and readers to meet.
In 2023 the 23rd book fair will take place on the 23rd to 26st of February. The theme of the Book Fair is 700 Lines for Freedom, which combines two important topics – 700 years of Vilnius city anniversary and the theme of freedom, the fragility of which Europe and the whole world are experiencing now.
Organizers of the fair: Lithuanian Publishers Association, Lithuanian Culture Institute, Litexpo — Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Centre.

The International Book Arsenal Festival in cooperation with Goethe-Institut Ukraine, supported by the Frankfurt Book Fair and the Buchkunst Foundation, have chosen the winners of the annual Best Book Design Contest.

In view of the difficult circumstances of the Russia’s war in Ukraine, this year’s Contest was a special war edition, aiming at supporting the sustainability of the Ukrainian book industry creative community. 14 winners of the Best Book Design Contest 2022 were chosen in five categories: text book, visual book, kids book, utility book, and experiment.

While discussing the winners, the jury members and the organizers of the Contest emphasized that the winning books of the Best Book Design Contest 2022 show that despite the extremely difficult work conditions of the book publishing industry in Ukraine this year, among the books on the market we do have competitive products of truly European quality that are worth of honours, promotion, and presentation at the the Best Book Design from All over the World competition. All these examples are the result of careful and painstaking work of talented professionals both on the book as a whole and on microdetails in the design. In different ways, the winners try to thoroughly explore and develop the book apparatus, play with it, and offer original non-standard creative solutions.

The winners in the Visual Book nomination:

Fountain of Exhaustion. Acqua Alta

• Author: Pavlo Makov
• Published by ist publishing
• Visual design: 3Z Studio (Kharkiv/Kyiv)

Ilovaisk. 2014

• Authors: Oleksandr Hliadielov, Maksym Dondiuk, Maksym Levin, Markiian Lyseiko
• Published by Blank Press
• Visual design: Kateryna Bolshakova

The Cult and Image of Onuphrius the Great

• Author: Rostyslav Zabashta
• Published by RODOVID
• Visual design: Aliona Solomadina

The winners in the Text Book nomination:

Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography

• Author: Roland Barthes
• Museum of Kharkiv School of Photography
• Visual design: Nadiia Kelm, Olga Zhuk

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater

• Author: Kurt Vonnegut
• Published by the Babylon Library publishing
• Illustrators: Mariia Havrysh and Volodymyr Havrysh
• Design and layout: Volodymyr Havrysh
• Publication concept and afterword: Mariia Havrysh and Volodymyr Havrysh
• Art director: Roman Malynovskyi

Conversations on Architecture

• Authors: Bohdan Volynskyi, Oleh Drozdov
• Published by ist publishing
• Visual design: Uliana Bychenkova

The winners in the Kids Book nomination:

The Yellow Butterfly

• Author: Oleksandr Shatokhin
• Published by the Old Lion Publishing House
• Visual design: Oleksandr Shatokhin

A Tale of the Black Square

• Author: Mariia Bilinska
• Published by Parasolia Publishing
• Visual design: Mariia Bilinska

It’s a Quiet Night, My Astronaut

• Author: Oksana Lushchevska
• Published by #knigolove
• Illustrator: Kateryna Stepanishcheva
• Layout: Kateryna Voievska

The winners in the Utility Book nomination:

Illustration in Ukraine

• Published by CP Publishing
• Publication concept: Lucia Bondar and Pictoric Сlub
• Cover design and layout: Roman Kuryliak
• Illustrations: Pictoric Сlub

The Barrier-Free Handbook

• Published by ist publishing
• Visual design: Volodymyr Havrysh
• Illustrations: Olha Dehtiariova

The winners in the Experiment nomination:

аlЬmanaХ, self-published

• Visual design: Uliana Sukach-Kochetkova (layout, poems); Nadiia Oleksiivna Rohozhyna (illustrations, design, font design, character design, selection of poets). Together: publication concept, book architectonics, design

NA4JOPM8

• Author: Igor Chekachkov
• Published by ist publishing
• Visual design: Ania Nałęcka-Milach, Igor Chekachkov

PlusMinusInfinity, a local magazine about the global

• Visual design: Kateryna Drozd
• Cover design: BananaShampoo, Kateryna Drozd

In addition to acknowledging the winners, the jury decided to give three special awards.

The jury’s special award for a design that reveals the value of young art:

• MYPH, published by RODOVID / MYPH. Visual design: Kateryna Lesiv.
• MUHi 2009-2021, published by Osnovy Publishing. Author of the idea and curator of the project: Maryna Shcherbenko, compilers of the book: Yevheniia Butsykina and Milena Khomchenko, work with the archive of the MUHi Сompetition: Milena Khomchenko, designer: Nika Kudinova, colour correction: Yana Staryk, production support: Sviatoslav Mykhailov, printing support: Nadiia Chervinska.

The jury’s special award for elevating the heritage of Ukrainian children’s illustration:

• Abu Karakambada. Lullaby for Michelle, Hryhorii Falkovych, published by Crocus Publishing. Visual design: Sofiia Tomilenko (illustrations), Tetiana Kaliuzhna (design, layout).

The winning books and the books with these two special awards will represent Ukraine in the Best Book Design from All over the World competition organized by the German Buchkunst Foundation; they will also be exhibited at international book fairs in Vilnius, Leipzig, and Frankfurt in 2023.

In addition, the jury also gave a special award to the following books for congruence of form, content, and printing solution:

• La Boussole. Childhood, published by punkt publishing. Publication concept: Tetiana Kostina, layout and design: Daria Stetsenko.
• Nino Haratischwili, The Eighth Life (For Brilka), published by Komora Publishing House. Visual design: Mariia Kinovych, Andrii Repenko.
• POTOP magazine. Visual design: Lera Guievska.
• Bon appetit!, published by Kalamar publishing house. Idea: Olia Popovych. Cover design, illustrations, layout and font design: Ira Rutylo. Text: Kateryna Perkonos.

In view of the unequal work conditions that some of the Ukrainian publishers and designers/illustrators have experienced due to the full-scale war in Ukraine, it was decided not to award the Grand Prix of the Contest.

Reviewing the publications submitted to the Contest this year, the jury members often stopped to discuss periodicals as the publications that drive the book design market, create opportunities for experiments, finding new tools and forms, and the emergence of new names. This time, the jury decided to review the periodicals within the existing categories to which they were submitted, drawing the attention of the organizers to the fact that perhaps it is time to single out another category in the Contest — Periodicals.

With the support of the Ukrainian PEN, the books submitted to the Contest that were not included in the list of winners will be transferred to libraries affected by the war.

This year’s jury members: Olha Balashova, Sasha Bychenko, Maria Vainshtein, Oleg Gryshchenko, Zhenia Polosina, Nonna Starushchenko, Olena Turianska.

The partners of the Best Book Design Contest 2022: Goethe-Institut Ukraine, the Kolo Publishing House and Printing House, and the Depositphotos photo bank.
Information partners — Chytomo, Telegraf.Design, and Projector.

A total of 142 books were submitted by the Ukrainian publishers to the seventh annual Best Book Design Contest. Books that were published from June 2021 to December 2022 were submitted to participate in the Contest. The submitted books are created by Ukrainian designers/illustrators or commissioned by a Ukrainian publisher.

The Best Book Design Contest was launched in 2016. It is organized by the International Book Arsenal Festival and Goethe-Institut Ukraine, supported by the Frankfurt Book Fair and the Buchkunst Foundation. The winners of the Contest represent Ukrainian book design in the Best Book Design from All over the World competition organized by the German Buchkunst Foundation; the winning books are also exhibited at international book fairs.

In 2023, the Mystetskyi Arsenal and the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre will start systematic cooperation in programming. The joint work of the two institutions will involve holding a series of events within the framework of culture projects in Ukraine and abroad. Such cooperation is aimed at supporting Ukrainian culture figures, enhancing the voices of Ukrainian institutions on the global cultural arena, and building sustainable inter-institutional relations within Ukrainian cultural community.

The cooperation will begin with screening the film The Stone Cross (1968, directed by Leonid Osyka) within the educational program for the “Heart of Earth” exhibition that is being held at the Mystetskyi Arsenal since November 25, 2022. The film screening will be accompanied by a cinematographic commentary. The event is scheduled for January 2023.

A series of joint events by the Mystetskyi Arsenal and the Dovzhenko Centre are planned for February 2023 during the Vilnius Book Fair, with the International Book Arsenal Festival presenting its special programme.

The programming plans of the two institutions will also involve: a film programme within the framework of educational events at the “Futuromarennia. Ukrainian Avant-Garde” exhibition (April-September 2023, Tallinn, Estonia) in the KUMU museum, one of the largest museum spaces in Estonia and Northern Europe; joint participation of the Mystetskyi Arsenal and the Dovzhenko Centre in the Leipzig Book Fair (April 27 – April 30, 2023, Leipzig, Germany); events, performances, and film screenings within the project activities of the Book Arsenal Festival.

Mystetskyi Arsenal is Ukraine’s flagship cultural institution that brings together various arts – from contemporary art, new music and theatre to literature and museum development. The mission of the Mystetskyi Arsenal is to contribute to modernization of Ukrainian society and Ukraine’s integration into the global context based on the axiological potential of culture.

Dovzhenko Center is the largest and the only internationally recognized Film Archive of Ukraine that stores more than 10,000 titles (more than 60,000 storage units) of feature, documentary, animated both Ukrainian and foreign films, more than 24,000 archival documents on the history of Ukrainian cinema, and more than 400 museum exhibits. The Dovzhenko Center is the only Ukrainian member of the International Federation of Film Archives.

The International Book Arsenal Festival is helping Ukrainian publishers to take part in the BolognaRagazzi Award – 2023 of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair (Italy) by organizing the delivery of Ukrainian books that have entered the award competition to the city of Bologna.

Helping Ukrainian publishers to take part in the BolognaRagazzi Award is part of the joint projects of the International Book Arsenal Festival and the Bologna Children’s Book Fair planned for the year 2023, and it continues the cooperation of the festivals established in previous years.

Taking part in the BolognaRagazzi Award gives publishers the opportunity to showcase the best practices in children’s books design and illustration, as well as gain recognition from international professional audience.

There are four main Award categories: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Opera Prima (for unpublished authors and illustrators), and Comics. The jury is also asked to give a special New Horizons award to a particularly innovative book. Besides the main permanent categories, every year BRAW features also one or more special categories. The special category of the 2023 BolognaRagazzi Award will be dedicated to PHOTOGRAPHY.

Ukrainian books have already won the BolognaRagazzi Award — in 2018, the books Loudly, Softly in a Whisper and I See That by Romana Romanyshyn and Andrii Lesiv won the Bologna Award in Non Fiction category; in 2015, the same creative duet received the BolognaRagazzi Award mention in New Horizons category for The War that Changed Rondo; and in 2014, a mention in Opera Prima category for The Stars and Poppy Seeds.

More About Participating in the BolognaRagazzi Award

You can send the books entering the competition using the logistical support of the Book Arsenal. 

For this, you need to:

— submit your application by November 30

— send your books by courier delivery to the Mystetsky Arsenal office address.

Important!

The International Book Arsenal Festival provides only logistical support for the participation of Ukrainian publishers in this year’s BolognaRagazzi Award. Courier delivery to the Mystetsky Arsenal premises is at the expense of the sender. 

You can also send the books to the competition yourself, by following the procedure outlined on the BCBF website and by sending the books at your own expense directly to the organizing committee of the competition in the city of Bologna.

Apply to take part in the award competition through the Bologna Children’s Book Fair website in the Publishers Reserved Area section.
Apply

Continue Reading »

Ukraine Day by the International Book Arsenal Festival co-curated with the Cheltenham Literature Festival took place on October 11 as a part of the UK/Ukraine Season of Culture supported by the British Council and the Ukrainian Institute. This year’s Cheltenham Literature Festival took place from 7 to 16 October and presented a diverse 10-day program of activities and events with leading figures of the world’s literary scene.

Photo: www.stillmovingmedia.com, Cheltenham Literature Festival

5 events that strengthened the voice of the Ukrainian cultural scene

Among the Ukraine Day program Ukrainian writers, musicians, poets and illustrators had a series of events that conveyed the atmosphere of the Book Arsenal and told about modern Ukraine in the language of poetry, music and illustration. With all the events being sold out, the participants of Ukraine Day were met with ovations. This once again confirms that it is important for the voices of Ukrainian intellectuals to be heard on all possible platforms, to talk about Ukraine and open it to the world.

The Kyiv Book Arsenal curated a dazzling programme for a special Ukraine Day on 11 October at the Cheltenham Literature Festival which presented many different facets of Ukraine’s vibrant literary scene. The audiences at this, the UK’s oldest literature festival, found new insights into contemporary Ukrainian literature – and children’s book illustration! – but also compelling testimony from writers living and deeply implicated in these times of trial and defiance for their country. This collaboration between Kyiv Book Arsenal and the Festival took place within the framework of the UK/Ukraine Season, a celebration of cultural exchange which had been planned in partnership by the Ukrainian Institute and the British Council long before the February 2022 invasion but whose theme ‘Future Reimagined’ has taken on renewed and urgent relevance since then

 — said David Codling, UK/Ukraine Season Director and Volodymyr Sheiko, Director General, Ukrainian Institute.

Literature, music, cinema, discussions, and a family workshop

Ukraine Day started with a conversation with Oksana Zabuzhko, Ukrainian writer, ambassador of Ukrainian literature in the West. In the conversation with Rosie Goldsmith, she offered unprecedented insights into a moment which may define the future of Europe.

Photo: Jon Spaull

During the discussion When War Comes to Your Home, the poet Lyuba Yakimchuk and the director of the Ukrainian Institute in London Olesya Khromeychuk talked about literature and poetry during the war, creative practices and changing the language of creativity, as well as how culture can stand against aggression.

The participation of Ukrainian authors at the Cheltenham Literary Festival and the festival’s cooperation with the Ukrainian Book Arsenal demonstrate that the interest in Ukraine that appeared around the world because of the Russian war is now turning into a lasting relationship

— said Olesya Khromeychuk, the writer, historian, director of the Ukrainian Institute in London.

Photo: Jon Spaull

At the art workshop by Andrii Lesiv and Romana Romanyshyn (Agrafka studio), children together with their parents under the supervision of illustrators created a canvas inspired by Agrafka’s book How War Changed Rondo.

Photo: Jon Spaull

Beats that bite, rhymes that kill, poetry and music united as a weapon

Among the events of Ukraine Day, a musical and poetic performance took place, during which musician and producer Yuriy Gurzhy together with poets Grigory Semenchuk and Lyuba Yakimchuk, as well as singer and writer Irena Karpa presented the most brutal soundtrack of this year — the album Ukrainian Songs Of Love And Hate.

Presenting Ukrainian Songs Of Love And Hate at the Cheltenham Literature Festival was an honor, but also a challenge for everyone involved in the project. While creating these songs, our goal was not only to find a language to talk about what Ukrainians had been going through lately but also make sure that this language is understood by those who are not necessarily following the events in Ukraine. Singing about flying missiles, people who lost their homes, describing what those sitting in a bomb shelter dream of – pop songs inspired by…a  war? Looking into the faces of people in the audience during our performance, hearing them singing along, seeing their reaction on October 11th made me believe we did a good job

— said Yuriy Gurzhy, the music producer, arranger and composer.

Photo: Jon Spaull

Pop music has always been an international language. So much of what can not be expressed in a conversation could be said with a song. From gospel to protest songs, music has always been there — soothing, healing or inspiring. The language of pop music has been constantly changing and now it’s changing yet again. Russia’s war in Ukraine transformed every Ukrainian. Musicians and poets are no exception. Ukrainian Songs Of Love And Hate — poetry and music, words and sounds that scream  about what’s been happening in Ukraine.

At the same time as the performance taking place in Cheltenham, Mystetsky Arsenal posted the entire album in video format (songs with visual accompaniment by artists by Grycja Rd and Eugene Arlov) on its YouTube channel.

It seems like these songs are going viral. And the fact that mothers put Bavovna to their children as a lullaby is the best assessment of our work

— says singer and writer Irena Karpa.

You can listen to the album on the YouTube channel of Mystetskyi Arsenal or on all available platforms by this link.
You can read more about the project on the website of Mystetskyi Arsenal.
Project of Mystetskyi Arsenal. Curated by Oksana Shchur.

Photo: Jon Spaull

The final event of Ukraine Day was a conversation with the visual culture researcher Kateryna Yakovenko and the first UK screening of the producer’s cut of film Bad Roads (2020) by Natalia Vorozhbit.

The Ukraine Day program is a part of the UK/Ukraine Season of Culture devised by the British Council and the Ukrainian Institute.
______________________________________

Cheltenham Literature Festival is the world’s first literature Festival, leading the way in celebrating the written and spoken word, presenting the best new voices in fiction and poetry alongside literary greats and high-profile speakers.

The International Book Arsenal Festival is an annual project of Mystetskyi Arsenal founded in 2011. It is an annual intellectual event in Ukraine, where the book, literary, visual, musical, and theatrical scenes develop and interact, where the important issues of human existence, as well as society and culture are raised, prompting the proactive position of the participants and visitors.

The UK/Ukraine Season of Culture

A collaboration between The British Council and the Ukrainian Institute, the UK/Ukraine Season will be presented in the UK, online and across some satellite locations until March 2023, featuring artist residencies, talks, film, music, literature, drama and dance. The Season, which has been planned since 2019 to mark 30 years of diplomatic relations between the UK and Ukraine, aims to strengthen and build cultural connections between both countries, while providing new platforms and opportunities for Ukrainian artists to connect with the UK. With the ongoing war in Ukraine, the Season’s theme is ‘Future Reimagined’, focusing on the changed needs and priorities of the Ukrainian sector, giving a voice to Ukrainian creatives, both in the UK and online.

The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide. We do this through our work in arts and culture, education and the English language. We work with people in over 200 countries and territories and are on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2021-22 we reached 650 million people.

The Ukrainian Institute is a public institution affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. Its mission is to strengthen Ukraine’s international standing through the means of cultural diplomacy. The Institute facilitates international connections between people and institutions and creates opportunities for Ukraine to interact and cooperate with the world.

Ukrainian publishers, participants of the Ukrainian Literature: Rights On!, the Book Arsenal professional program, will take part in the Publishers’ Fair of the FLIC Festival of Literature and Arts for Children and Young People, Spain, which will be held on November 17-18, 2022.

11 publishers from Ukraine, participants of the Ukrainian Literature: Rights On!, the Book Arsenal professional program, will take part in the Publishers’ Fair of the FLIC Festival of Literature and Arts for Children and Young People by getting access to the Festival’s online platform, and one of the publishers will visit the Fair in person.

The following Ukrainian publishing houses have been invited to participate in the program: #knigolove, Vivat Publishing, A-Ba-Ba-Ha-La-Ma-Ha Publishers, the Old Lion Publishing House, Kalamar Publishing House, Crocus Publishing, Mamino, Portal Publishing and Education, Ranok Publishing House, Chas Maistriv, the Black Sheep Publishing House.

The access to the online platform and participation in the Fair will give Ukrainian publishers an opportunity to organise B2B negotiations with publishers and illustrators from Spain and publishers from other countries, as well as to present their own publishing houses and rights catalogues.

This year the FLIC Festival invited the International Book Arsenal Festival, an annual project of the Mystetskyi Arsenal, to participate in the Children & YA publishing market, hosting a total of 11 publishers. We will have the participation of a publisher who will attend the Design Museum, and the rest will do so online.
From the FLIC we want to support the entire team of The International Book Arsenal Festival by establishing lines of collaboration that give voice and visibility to the world of Ukrainian literary culture at this agitated time. We would like this to be the start of future collaborations contributing to the promotion of the Ukrainian Children & YA and vice versa.
We hope to be able to celebrate the end of the war as soon as possible and to continue this path that we are just beginning

— Magalí Homs, FLIC Festival director.

In addition, all the participants of the Publishers’ Fair of the FLIC Festival of Literature and Arts for Children and Young People will acquaint themselves with the activities of the Book Arsenal and the Ukrainian Literature: Rights On! professional program, getting an opportunity to learn about the Ukrainian book market.

I am delighted with this new partnership. FLIC has fascinated me for a long time with its format, idea, and scale. This is a children’s festival that travels around Spain with confidence, year after year, embracing more and more cities with creativity and reading, and promoting children’s books and experiments in the area of innovative literature. And Ukrainian publishers are up for this vibe!:) This year – by taking part in the professional program of the Festival, establishing new contacts, partnerships, presenting themselves and Ukrainian children’s books.
For Book Arsenal, this cooperation continues the vector outlined by the Ukrainian Literature: Rights On! program. We are overwhelmed to have this opportunity to present Ukrainian children’s literature to the international community on such a creative and well-known platform. The cooperation between the Book Arsenal and FLIC begins in a difficult year, but this makes our new partnerships even more valuable, this allows us to think even bolder about promising joint projects in the future

— Yuliia Kozlovets, Coordinator of the International Book Arsenal Festival.

The International Book Arsenal Festival is a project of the Mystetskyi Arsenal that has been held annually since 2011. It is an intellectual event in Ukraine, where the book, literary, visual, music and theatre scenes develop and interact with each other, and important issues of human existence, as well as society and culture are raised, prompting the proactive position of the participants and visitors.

FLIC, Festival of Literature and Arts for Children and Young People, is a project to promote reading and literary taste that has been, for 10 years, researching and showing other ways of living literature, involving all those who accompany children and young people in the process of literary discovery. The festival is organised by Tantàgora, a non-profit organisation.

Ukraine is an important focus point at the Frankfurter Buchmesse 2022 which will be held on October 19-23 in Frankfurt am Main.

Ukrainian voices will be heard on several platforms of the fair: the Ukrainian National Stand, the Mystetskyi Arsenal stand, Pictoric stand, and ist publishing stand.

The Mystetskyi Arsenal will present its stand (Hall 4.0 H 94) under the slogan “Arsenal of Books & Arts & Resilience”. The visual concept of the stand reflects the reality of the war, “Ukrainian art under the gun”. At the Mystetskyi Arsenal stand, visitors will have an opportunity to learn more about the history of the Mystetskyi Arsenal and the International Book Arsenal Festival, to look through the editions to the exhibitions that were held at the Mystetskyi Arsenal, as well as to see animated works from the Mystetskyi Arsenal museum collection. In this way, visitors will be able to acquaint themselves with the key phenomena and figures of Ukrainian art. The visual component of the stand was created by Alla Sorochan and Kostya Martsenkivsky, a team of designers at the Mystetskyi Arsenal.

Speaking about Ukrainian culture, its people and institutions today is perhaps the most exciting story that we can share with the world. How exactly are all these things keeping up nowadays? What historical experience, what figures, what hopes, what feelings are behind the already famous Ukrainian resilience right now? What does Ukrainian art say about this? And what is it like to be under the gun every day? Somewhat melodramatic, but when is melodrama appropriate if not in times when the millstones of history are grinding right in front of your eyes? This is what the Arsenal stand and its program will be about

says Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta, Director General of the Mystetskyi Arsenal.

• On October 21, at 12:00, the discussion “Kulturpolitik in Kriegszeiten” will be held at the Frankfurt Pavillion.

Powerful voices from the cultural sphere will come together to discuss how the destruction of cultural heritage and the war have changed the whole agenda of cultural institutions.
The participants are Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta, Director General of the Mystetskyi Arsenal, Johannes Ebert, the Secretary General of the Goethe-Institut, Volodymyr Sheiko, the Director of the Ukrainian Institute, and the writer Serhiy Zhadan.
Moderated by cultural mediator Alona Karavai.

• The Book Arsenal will also present the Fokstroty musical and poetic performance, which will be the highlight of the Ukrainian program in Frankfurt and will be held on October 21 at 18:30 in the Frankfurt Pavillion.

Fokstroty is a pop update of Ukrainian poetry, an experimental side-project of the Mystetskyi Arsenal that was presented for the first time within the project on Ukrainian futurism in 2021. Serhiy Zhadan, Lyuba Yakimchuk, and Yuriy Gurzhy will participate in the performance. The visual component was designed by collage artist Hrytsia Erde and media artist Yevhen Arlov.
Curated by Oksana Shchur.

• On the last day of the fair, October 23 at 14:00, the discussion “The Protoliterary: Women’s Voices at War” in Frankfurt Studio will highlight the scope of women’s impact on social, political, and cultural transformations.

During the ongoing Russia’s colonialist war against Ukraine women are an important force of resistance in many spheres – at battlefield, in volunteer movement, as journalists, artists and cultural workers, both inside the country and abroad.
The panellists will also address the questions of documentation of war crimes, and discuss how artistic voices and literature become an evidence and document of wartime.
The participants are Yevgenia Belorusets, Ukrainian artist, journalist, photographer, and translator; Olexandra Matviychuk, Ukrainian human rights defender, Chair of the Board of Civil Liberties Center, NGO.
Moderated by Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta, Director General of the Mystetskyi Arsenal.

In addition, the Special Programme for publishers from Ukraine and neighbouring countries will be held during the Frankfurter Buchmesse. The program is organised by the International Book Arsenal Festival — an annual project of the Mystetskyi Arsenal — in cooperation with Frankfurter Buchmesse and Goethe-Institut Ukraine. The Special Programme is the result of the effective strategic partnership of the International Book Arsenal Festival, Frankfurter Buchmesse and Goethe-Institut Ukraine, and is subject to financial support by the German Federal Foreign Office.

• On October 21 at 17:00, the final event of the Special Programme for publishers from Ukraine and neighbouring countries — “Just do business with Ukraine!” — will be held at the Ukrainian National Stand in the format of Lightning talks.

Nine Ukrainian publishers, participants of the Special Programme, will talk about their challenges, gained experience, their dreams and plans, and most importantly, why it is worth doing business with them.
Moderated by Yuliia Kozlovets, Coordinator of the International Book Arsenal Festival.

With the slogan “Perseverance in Persistence”, Ukrainian publishing houses and institutions will be presented at the Ukrainian National Stand (Hall 4.0 B 114) with an area of ​​100 square metres and a separate stage with a professional and public program in English and German on all days of the fair. The program, curated by the Ukrainian Book Institute and the Goethe-Institut in Ukraine, is part of a comprehensive package of measures for which the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs allocates funds from the additional budget for 2022. Read more about the Ukrainian national stand and the Ukrainian program via the link.

During the Frankfurter Buchmesse 2022, the award ceremony of the Peace Prize (2022 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade) to Serhiy Zhadan will also take place. The award ceremony will be held on Sunday, October 23, 2022, in St. Paul’s Church in Frankfurt. The ceremony will be broadcast live at 10:45 am on the ARD TV channel.

A number of events about Ukrainian book design and illustration will also be held during the Frankfurter Buchmesse with the participation of the Mystetskyi Arsenal. The full program of events at the Frankfurter Buchmesse will soon be available via the link.

Mystetskyi Arsenal is Ukraine’s flagship cultural institution that brings together various arts – from contemporary art, new music and theatre to literature and museum development. The mission of the Mystetskyi Arsenal is to contribute to modernization of Ukrainian society and Ukraine’s integration into the global context based on the axiological potential of culture.

The International Book Arsenal Festival is a project of the Mystetskyi Arsenal that has been held annually since 2011. It is an intellectual event in Ukraine, where the book, literary, visual, music and theatre scenes develop and interact with each other, and important issues of human existence, as well as society and culture are raised, prompting the proactive position of the participants and visitors.

Frankfurter Buchmesse is the most important international trade fair for publishing and content of all kinds. Here, experts from global publishing meet partners from the technology industry and related creative industries such as film and games. Thus, it is the hub of the international rights and licensing trade, and from here new cooperations and business models take their course.

12 Ukrainian publishers have received mentoring support from the world and Ukrainian experts in the matters of exporting Ukrainian books.

The main principles of the Ukrainian Literature: Rights On! 2022 program were maximum practical and applied knowledge, relevance, and joint search of the most effective solutions to support the sector.

Tracks in which the participants of the educational component of the Ukrainian Literature: Rights On! 2022 program were working in July:

• Direct sale of printed and electronic books abroad through the publisher’s website. Development of website logic, optimization for the international market, setting up search options, payment systems etc.
• Selling rights abroad. Creating and enhancing catalogues, finding contractors, working with foreign literary agents and publishers.
• Customs and legal procedures for selling books abroad.
• Book distribution and cooperation with bookstores abroad.
• Marketing of Ukrainian books abroad, business strategizing.

The educational part of the Ukrainian Literature: Rights On! 2022 program has helped 12 Ukrainian publishers, accompanied by 8 professional mentors, to find answers to very specific questions and issues regarding the export of Ukrainian books abroad, and has outlined possible scenarios for further operational activity in the times of a full-scale war. Thanks to our program, we as a team have also gained a better overall understanding of the current situation and possible solutions, which we will share with the Ukrainian publishing community in the informational and analytical materials to come

— Oksana Karpiuk, Manager of Professional Programs at the Book Arsenal.

The following Ukrainian publishers participated in the educational part of the program: Mamino, ARK “Ukraine”, #knigolove, Vydavnytstvo, Crocus, їzhakultura, ist publishing, Vikhola, The Old Lion Publishing House, Discursus, Nasha Idea, Chas Maistriv.

The best and the least traumatic experience is the one based on timely information. Participation in the Ukrainian Literature: Rights On! program gave us an opportunity to systematize the theoretical knowledge we already had, and led us to the right decisions. In my opinion, this is a great case of timely support and help when it was really needed

— Artem Braichenko, Founder of їzhakultura project and їzhak publishing house. Participant in the track “Customs and legal procedures for selling books abroad” in the Ukrainian Literature: Rights On! 2022 program.

To find the most effective solutions for the export of Ukrainian books, 12 publishers from Ukraine worked together with 8 mentors:

Tomáš Jodas
Supervisor of the Export department in the publishing house Albatros Media

Julie Attrill
Associate Director, International Rights, Wiley

Vita Miroshnychenko
Expert in customs and foreign trade. Leading certified expert in the international trade rules of Incoterms and Сo-chair of the Customs Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine

Valentyna Vzdulska
Literary critic and content editor specializing in children’s literature

Ihor Ohura
Head of ELIBRI LLC

Inna Bilonozhko
Strategic book marketing professional, analyst and lecturer

Lyubomyr Oliynyk
IT Expert, Founder of siteGist web agency

Oksana Lushchevska
Ukrainian writer and translator, active member of PEN UKRAINE, author of numerous children’s and young adult books

I was delighted to take part in the Ukrainian Literature: Rights On! 2022 program as a rights and licensing mentor. I, and hopefully my mentee, found the experience really useful. It made me question what advice I would have given myself if I was starting out in rights now, especially given the array of social media that can be used for title marketing. I was really impressed with the thoughtful and well-considered questions, as well as the sheer resilience and passion for publishing that all attendees showed and their commitment to making books available in such extremely difficult circumstances

— Julie Attrill, Wiley. Mentor in the track “Selling rights abroad” in the Ukrainian Literature: Rights On! 2022 program.

During August and September, the team of Chytomo media resource for publishing professionals will prepare and publish a series of 5 informational and analytical text materials on 5 tracks within the educational component of the Ukrainian Literature: Rights On! 2022 program. These text materials will spread the knowledge and the experience gained during the program to the Ukrainian professional publishing community, offering more opportunities in finding solutions to the issue of exporting Ukrainian books abroad, particularly in the times of a full-scale war.

This year again, the Ukrainian Literature: Rights On! 2022 program is supported by the European Union under the House of Europe programme.

Ukrainian Literature: Rights On! program, launched by the International Book Arsenal Festival in 2020, helps to establish effective connections between Ukrainian publishers and international business partners, as well as to integrate the Ukrainian literary process into the global one.

House of Europe is an EU-funded programme fostering professional and creative exchange between Ukrainians and their colleagues in EU countries and the UK. The programme focuses on culture and creative industries, education, health, social entrepreneurship, media, and youth.