The Mystetskyi Arsenal will traditionally take part in the largest book fair of the world—the Frankfurter Buchmesse, which this year will last from October 7 to 11. The institution’s team will dedicate its stand to the concept Bear Your Freedom, which was the Focus Theme of the 14th Book Arsenal

For many consecutive years, the Mystetskyi Arsenal has been participating in the Frankfurter Buchmesse program. We consider it an important platform that allows us to bring the Ukrainian voice to a vast audience: visitors, book industry professionals, writers, diplomats, politicians and journalists. This year, we will present both a stand and a series of events, based on the Focus Theme of Book Arsenal

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

The stand H120 of the Mystetskyi Arsenal, located in the section of the fair Hall 3.0 Art. ArtBook. Design and provided on a partnership basis by the organizers of the fair, will feature, among other items, catalogs of the Mystetskyi Arsenal, promotional materials for the International Book Arsenal Festival and its souvenirs. In particular, the team will present for the first time the catalog for artist Olena Turyanska’s solo exhibition—Agape. Absolute Love.

The main metaphor and the Focus Theme of this year’s Festival—Bear Your Freedom—will be revealed in the visual identity of the stand; and aspects of this theme about freedom and responsibility, relevant to an international audience—in particular, regarding person’s inner freedom as the right to choose one’s attitude toward circumstances, the fragility of democratic values in various countries of the world and Ukraine’s role as a bastion of European values—will be explored in the events of the Ukrainian national stand program and in specific discussions at other presentation venues of the fair.

Participants in the events at the Mystetskyi Arsenal stand include human rights activist, journalist, and former prisoner of war Maksym Butkevych, who curated this year’s Book Arsenal Focus Theme, as well as writer and translator Yevheniia Kuznetsova, American historian Marci Shore, Polish poet and essayist Krzysztof Czyżewski, and many other intellectuals and cultural figures.

The Special Program for publishers from Ukraine and neighboring countries, organized by the Frankfurter Buchmesse in cooperation with Book Arsenal and the Goethe-Institut Ukraine, will take place for the fifth consecutive time. This year, the program has been named the VOLIA Program, highlighting its core identity: the Ukrainian word воля/volia, which means both freedom and the will to act, conveys the experience of Ukrainian publishers who today continue working despite the enormous losses and constant risks of war. The program provides tangible support to our industry, and transforms this experience into a shared space for professional collaboration and cultural solidarity in Europe.

The program creates opportunities for intensive learning and networking among publishers, editors, licensing managers and literary agents from Armenia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine. This year, publishing professionals from the Baltic states—Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia—are joining for the first time. The program was launched in 2022 and is made possible with financial support from the German Federal Foreign Office.

This year, the Mystetskyi Arsenal team has once again contributed to the development of the program of events featuring Ukrainian authors, journalists and artists. Ukrainian culture is an integral part of the European cultural landscape, and this is particularly evident in Germany today, where the number of translations of Ukrainian books is growing and more and more Ukrainian authors are becoming known to German readers. We continue introducing new names, bringing back Ukrainian classics to the European context and highlighting the diversity of Ukrainian culture and its complex history. At the same time, behind this cultural presence there is our publishing industry, which has been operating amid the full-scale war for five years now and has suffered enormous losses due to Russia’s targeted destruction of Ukrainian publishing houses, bookstores, libraries and cultural infrastructure. Therefore, today’s international attention to Ukrainian literature means not only an opportunity for new translations and the discovery of authors but also an important form of professional solidarity and a search for effective ways to support the Ukrainian book industry and its capacity to develop further.

Alongside the Mystetskyi Arsenal, Ukraine will also be represented at this year’s Frankfurter Buchmesse by the Ukrainian Book Institute and a collective stand of Ukrainian publishers, the Goethe-Institut Ukraine and the Ukrainian Institute, as well as the Osnovy Publishing, the winner of the Chytomo Award.

The full program of Ukrainian events at the Frankfurter Buchmesse is available via the link.

Ukraine’s participation in this year’s fair was made possible due to the support of the German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (des Beauftragte für Medien und Kultur), the Frankfurter Buchmesse, the German Publishers and Booksellers Association (Börsenverein des deutschen Buchhandels), the German Federal Agency for Civic Education, the German Federal Foreign Office, the International Renaissance Foundation, the NGO Horizons Without Borders, the Embassy of Ukraine in the Federal Republic of Germany, the Consulate General of Ukraine in Frankfurt am Main, Cultural Forces and the Coordination Center in Frankfurt am Main.

Mystetskyi Arsenal is a leading Ukrainian cultural institution that integrates various types of art in its activities—from contemporary art, new music and theater to literature and museum work. The mission of the Mystetskyi Arsenal is to contribute to the modernization of Ukrainian society and the integration of Ukraine into the world context, relying on the value-based potential of culture.

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

Frankfurter Buchmesse is the most important international exhibition of publishing achievements and diverse content. Here global publishing experts meet partners from the technology industry and related creative industries such as cinema and games. Thus, the Frankfurter Buchmesse is a hub for the international trade in rights and licensing, where new types of cooperation and business models emerge.

The Festival will begin on Thursday, May 28, and will run through May 31 at Mystetskyi Arsenal (28–30 Ivan Mazepa St.)

Book Arsenal traditionally remains a place to compare notes and discuss the current state of the world.

This year, the Festival will bring together more than 150 fair participants, star guests, thought leaders, acclaimed authors, and emerging voices. Book Arsenal 2026 means books-books-books (thousands of titles), 240 relevant events including discussions and lectures, readings and workshops, meetings with authors and presentations of new publications, as well as music and performance programs, exhibitions, delicious food and drinks, and many other attractions.

More details about what we are preparing for you:

The first floor of the Old Arsenal building will host the book fair, featuring major publishing houses, independent publishers, the bookshop book.ua, partner stands, military and volunteer initiatives, as well as the illustrators’ fair, introducing visitors to the work of artists, graphic designers, and illustrators.

240 Festival events will combine aesthetic experience with intellectual engagement. Among the Focus Theme Program, the Main Program, music and performance programs, as well as special curated programs and publishers’ events, you will certainly find topics and conversations that resonate with you personally.

“Bear Your Freedom” is the Focus Theme of the 14th International Book Arsenal Festival. We will speak about freedom and its limitations, about captivity and occupation as one of its forms, about heroization and the fragility of heroes. The curator of this year’s Focus Theme is Ukrainian journalist, human rights activist, serviceman, and former prisoner of war Maksym Butkevych.

This year, the Festival also marks the return of the Writer’s Program, curated by Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman, volunteer, poet, novelist, and translator Andriy Lyubka. The curator invites visitors to reflect on our neighbors.

Among other highlights, the artistic component of the XIV Book Arsenal Festival will feature 15 exhibition projects.

The full event program will be available on the website soon.

How and where can I buy a ticket?

Tickets for the Festival can be purchased online or at the ticket office of Mystetskyi Arsenal on the day of your visit.

Ticket Prices:

Full ticket — UAH 300
Concession ticket (for pensioners and school students aged 12–18) — UAH 150
Family ticket* — UAH 700
Festival pass (four days)** — UAH 700

BUY A TICKET

* The family ticket is valid for one-time entry for 2 adults and 2 children aged 12 and above.
** The festival pass is valid for one person and grants access to all Festival days.

Please note!

When purchasing tickets online with a premium Visa card from PrivatBank, you will receive 15% cashback. To receive the cashback, you need to enter the “Pryvit” loyalty program in Privat24 and activate the offer from Book Arsenal before purchasing tickets. Cashback will also apply to offline ticket purchases during the Festival, so you can use it when paying for tickets by card at the box office.

Free admission on any day is available for:

• children under 12
• adults and children with disabilities and one accompanying person*
• combatants, military service people*
• family members of fallen Defenders of Ukraine*
• museum workers*, holders of ICOM and CIMAM cards

*A valid ID must be presented at the entrance.

Loyalty Hours:

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM — free admission for pensioners and school students under 18 upon presentation of a valid ID.

In the event of an air raid alert, you may reuse your ticket on the same day to return to the Festival after the all-clear announcement. Please keep your ticket until the end of your visit to the Festival.

Work Schedule:

May 28 — 5:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m (entrance to the territory from 4.00 p.m.)
May 29 — 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m
May 30 — 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m
May 31 — 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m

In the event of an air raid alert, please proceed immediately to the designated shelter and remain there until the all-clear is announced. A shelter is available on-site at Mystetskyi Arsenal.

The Festival will resume 30 minutes after the alert ends. If the all-clear is given at 8:00 p.m. or later, the Festival will not resume that day.
Evacuation plans and safety guidelines during the Festival are available via this link.

The general media partner of the 14th International Book Arsenal Festival will be Suspilne.

Book Arsenal is organized in cooperation with Art Arsenal Community NGO. The Festival is supported by the International Renaissance Foundation and Mnozhyna Foundation.

Applications to participate in the Book Arsenal Fellowship Program 2026 were received from 35 countries. As a result of the competitive selection, eight participants were chosen for this year’s program—publishers, agents and rights managers from the Czech Republic, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Egypt, Georgia and Peru.

We invite Ukrainian publishers, rights managers and agents to meet with their foreign colleagues participating in the Book Arsenal Fellowship Program 2026 in the B2B meeting format during this year’s Book Arsenal.

To arrange B2B meetings with the program participants, please fill out the Google form by May 1 (inclusive). In case of any additional questions and need for clarifications, please contact the organizers by email—[email protected].

GOOGLE FORM

A separate location in the space of the 14th International Book Arsenal Festival will be available for meetings between Ukrainian and foreign publishers, agents and rights managers on Friday, May 29, from 2:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., and on Saturday, May 30, from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The Fellowship Program participants will receive information in advance about the Ukrainian book market, opportunities for supporting the publication of translations of Ukrainian titles abroad and will be provided with a list of the publishers participating in the 14th International Book Arsenal Festival.

THE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS

The Book Arsenal Fellowship Program, Kyiv, Ukraine is a professional program of the International Book Arsenal Festival that contributes to strengthening international cooperation with Ukraine in the book field by establishing direct contacts between professionals from Ukraine and abroad and acquainting with the local literary and book scenes.

The Book Arsenal Fellowship Program takes place within the 14th International Book Arsenal Festival and is supported by the International Renaissance Foundation.

Today, 13 April, the 63rd Bologna Children’s Book Fair opens in Italy — an event that every year brings together some of the most prominent names in the publishing industry, particularly in the field of children’s books. The fair will run until 16 April 2026.

Among the key highlights of the 2026 edition are the 60th anniversary of the Illustrators Exhibition, the debut of The Designer Studio and WritersLab, the 200th anniversary of Carlo Collodi marked by the exhibition Italian Excellence: Pinocchio’s New Attire, as well as a thematic programme dedicated to gender equality, organized in collaboration with UN Women. The guest country of the 2026 fair is Norway.

This year, the International Book Arsenal Festival has once again been invited to take part in the fair. With the support and cooperation of the exhibition organizers, Book Arsenal is presenting several events within the official programme. In addition, in collaboration with Pictoric Illustrators Club, it will present the illustration exhibition Everything Is Translation, first unveiled at our festival in Kyiv last year.

The illustration exhibition Everything Is Translation is presented in Hall 30/C68. The exhibition reflects the last festival’s Focus Theme Everything is Translation. It explores how people communicate and understand one another across languages, cultures, and experiences. Translation here is understood not only as a linguistic act, but as a broader human attempt to convey meanings, emotions, and lived realities to others.

The project presents visual interpretations of key ideas shared across cultures. Each concept is illustrated by two artists: one from Ukraine and one from the international community.

Bringing together artists from different countries, the exhibition becomes a space for visual dialogue—demonstrating how images can help bridge experiences and make the seemingly untranslatable visible.

Project curators: Oleh Hryshchenko, Anna Sarvira, Olena Staranchuk.

The full programme of events is available at the link.

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.

Pictoric is a community of illustrators, graphic designers, and artists who create joint projects and involve talented artists from different countries in order to promote high-quality modern illustration in Ukraine and abroad. Pictoric collects and creates illustrations, posters, and comic books to support Ukraine and its people, convey true information, and inspire the whole world to fight for freedom and democracy.

The Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF) is the leading event in the publishing industry, which over its more than 60-year history has succeeded in bringing together a unique and diverse global audience. It serves as a meeting place for ideas from around the world, giving rise to new and unexpected creative projects.
This success has been made possible through the ongoing dialogue and collaboration that BCBF has established and maintained with publishers and the international children’s book community over the decades. As a result, Bologna has become a global hub for rights  exchange in the publishing sector, as well as a centre for contemporary multimedia and the licensing of children’s stories, illustrations, animation, and related creative content. Among the highlights of the fair are the world-renowned Illustrators Exhibition and the BolognaRagazzi Award.

This year, the Writer’s Program returns to Book Arsenal. It will be curated by serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, volunteer, poet, prose writer and translator Andriy Lyubka.

Andriy Lyubka. Picture: Serhii Khandusenko

He is a laureate of the literary awards Debut (2007), Kyiv Laurels (2011), the Kovaliv Fund Award (2017), the Yurii Shevelov Prize for Modern Essays (2017) and the international Joseph Conrad-Kozhenovsky Literary Prize (2024). Andriy Lyubka is the Director of the Institute for Central European Strategy (ICES) and the Vice-President of PEN Ukraine. He translates poetry and prose from Polish, English, Serbian and Croatian. Andriy’s books were published in the USA, the United Kingdom, Germany, Slovakia, Austria, Greece, Serbia, Poland, Croatia, Lithuania, Slovenia and North Macedonia.

As part of the Writer’s Program We Are Not on an Island at Book Arsenal, Andriy invites to a series of meetings with people who shape the literary sphere of Ukraine’s neighboring countries and maintain literary ties across Central and Eastern Europe. In his curatorial essay “We Are Not on an Island” Andriy has written about the importance of neighborliness and getting to know deeper those who are here and nearby.

Book Arsenal is organized in cooperation with Art Arsenal Community NGO. The festival is supported by the International Renaissance Foundation.

From August 29 to September 7, 2025 the International Festival of Illustration and Design PIC Conference will be held in Kyiv at the Mystetskyi Arsenal (10-12 Lavrska St.).

PIC Conference 2025  is a highly anticipated event for illustrators, designers, and creative industry professionals.

Participants and guests are invited to: the international exhibition of illustration and design, international speaker sessions, masterclasses, portfolio reviews, and professional networking.

If you would like to expand your professional network, stay on top of global trends, and immerse yourself in the international creative context our PIC Conference is the perfect opportunity for that!

You can find more about PIC Conference 2025 via the link.

🗓 PIC Conference Program:

📍 August 29 | Mystetskyi Arsenal

18:00–20:00 — Opening of the international illustration and design exhibition. Curated tour

📍 August 30 | Mystetskyi Arsenal

10:00–11:00 — Registration (Free admission with registration via this form by August 20, 2025).
11:00–13:00 — International speaker sessions
13:45–14:45 — Break
14:45–18:30 — International speaker sessions
18:30–20:00 — Evening Social

📍 August 31 | Mystetskyi Arsenal

10:00–11:00 — Registration
11:00–13:45 — Closed NEED networking (Ukrainian & international organizations) (by registration)*
11:00–17:00 — Masterclass by Jesús Cisneros (by registration)*
11:00–13:00 — Masterclass by Zosia Dzierzawska (by registration)*
11:00–12:30 — Portfolio reviews with conference guests (by registration)*
11:00–13:00 — Live drawing by Ana Margarida Matos
13:00–13:45 — Talk with Tanya Yakunova
13:45–14:45 — Break
14:45–17:00 — Public presentations by NEED organizations
17:00–18:00 — Panel discussion “Visual Stories” with international guests. Moderator: Zhenya Polosina
18:00–20:00 — Evening Social

* — Admission to these events is free with prior registration. 

📍 September 1 | NAFAA

13:00–14:00 — Meeting with international comic festival organizers

📍 September 6–7 | Mystetskyi Arsenal

13:00–14:00 — Curated tour of the exhibition
14:00–16:00 — Graphic workshops by NAFAA students

📌 Program subject to change. Stay tuned for updates.

How to get to the events? Participation in the international conference PIC Conference, which will take place on August 30, 2025, is free of charge, subject to prior registration by August 20, 2025.

REGISTRATION FORM PIC CONFERENCE 2025

Access to other festival events — workshops and portfolio reviews — is available through separate registration, which we will open soon. Stay tuned for our announcements.

You can visit the international illustration and design exhibition with an entrance ticket to the exhibition “Kherson. The Steppe Holds” which is currently taking place at the Mystetskyi Arsenal. Tickets can be purchased at the box office or online.

The event will take place as part of the international festival Network Eastern European Design (NEED).

Organizers: Pictoric, PGD (Polish Graphic Design), 6 pt, Mystetskyi Arsenal

Partners and cooperation: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Polish Institute in Kyiv, Goethe Institute in Ukraine, Book Arsenal, Kuš!, NAFAA, Postmen.

This project is made possible thanks to the financial support of the Creative Europe program of the European Union.

On August 29 — September 7, 2025, at the Mystetskyi Arsenal (10-12 Lavrska St., Kyiv) as part of the international festival Network Eastern European Design (NEED), for the first time in Ukraine a landmark event for the professional community and all connoisseurs of visual culture will take place — the Festival of Illustration and Design PIC Conference

Ukrainian and international speakers will explore how visual images shape our stories, spaces and identity. The focus is on illustration, animation, graphic design and book art.

Organizers and curators of design events, leaders of the local and international scenes, illustrators and designers of various directions, as well as everyone who is interested in modern illustration and design culture in general are invited to participate in the event.

What to expect from the PIC Conference?

From August 29 to September 7, 2025, the International Art Exhibition will be held at the Mystetskyi Arsenal. Visitors will get acquainted with the works of artists, participants of leading European festivals and art organizations. The exhibition will include selections of illustrations, posters, animations, installations, book designs, and more.

Among the exhibition participants: Pictoplasma (Germany), LUSTR and “The Best Czech Book” (Czech Republic), Pictoric (Ukraine), a Collective exhibition of conference speakers (Germany, Portugal, Poland, Ukraine, Spain, Czech Republic), Graphic Matters (The Netherlands), Collections of the best book design, etc. The exhibition will open on August 29 at 6:00 PM.

• August 30, 2025 at 10 AM — the main event of the PIC Conference: a conference to which representatives of the illustration and design communities, as well as everyone who shares an interest in visual communication, are invited.

The program includes: speeches, panel discussions and presentations by professionals in the fields of illustration, book design, graphics and animation.

REGISTRATION FORM PIC CONFERENCE

Conference participants: Jesús Cisneros, artist, illustrator (Spain), Ana Margarida Matos, artist, writer and comic book author (Portugal), Barbora Müllerová, illustrator, book designer (Czech Republic), Stephan Dybus, illustrator and animator (Germany), Zosia Dziejzębska, illustrator and comic book artist (Poland), Tanya Yakunova, illustrator, artist and teacher (Ukraine).

The conference will also be attended by the winners and participants of the annual competition “Best Book Design”, founded in 2016 by the International Book Arsenal Festival in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut in Ukraine with the support of the Frankfurt Book Fair and the Buchkunst Foundation.

• On August 31, 2025, at 11 AM, networking of professional communities will start.

The program includes: professional meetings, exchange of experience, presentations, reports, workshops, portfolio reviews, seminars between Ukrainian and international professional communities of creative industries.

• On September 6-7, 2025, at 11 AM, professional networking for Ukrainian creative institutions and specialists from different regions of Ukraine will take place in the Mystetsky Arsenal.

The program includes: speeches and master classes, presentations, and discussions of current practices in the visual design field.

How to get to the events? Participation in the international conference PIC Conference, which will take place on August 30, 2025, is free of charge, subject to prior registration.

Access to other festival events is possible with an entrance ticket to the exhibition “Kherson. The Steppe Holds”, which is ongoing at the Mystetskyi Arsenal. Tickets can be purchased at the box office or online.

Detailed information about the events and schedule will be announced soon.

Organizers: Pictoric, PGD (Polish Graphic Design), 6 pt, Mystetskyi Arsenal

Partners and cooperation: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Polish Institute in Kyiv, Goethe Institute in Ukraine, Book Arsenal, Kuš!, NAFAA, Postmen.

This project is made possible thanks to the financial support of the Creative Europe program of the European Union.

Network Eastern European Design (NEED) is a network that connects festivals, conferences, workshops, competitions, and other events related to visual design in Central, Eastern, Southeastern, and Western Europe.

The goal of the platform is to build a network and integrate design events, such as festivals and conferences, that take place in Europe.

NEED presents the history and contemporary design from Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe, which are often overlooked and underestimated in the international design scene.

On Sunday, June 1, the 13th International Book Arsenal Festival was over. The musical and poetic event by the DakhTrio band Stus. Tychyna. Shevchenko took place on the last evening of the Festival. Songs with lyrics by Vasyl Stus, Pavlo Tychyna and premiere compositions based on Taras Shevchenko’s texts

This year, the Festival hosted over 200 events of the Festival program, including those of the Focus Theme program, the Main Program, separate curatorial and special programs, as well as publishers’ programs: discussions, lectures, readings, workshops, meetings with authors, music and performance events. The visual component of the 13th Book Arsenal was represented by 17 exhibition projects and 5 book collections.

In 2025, Book Arsenal was visited by 30, 000 people.

The Festival exhibitions became visual and textual reflections on wartime, identity, meanings, Ukrainian culture and other important topics. The separate stand was dedicated to the literature of Ukrainian defenders, men and women veterans. The project was implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine together with the Nedopysani initiative.

Book Arsenal is one of the most beloved Ukrainian festivals, and we are happy that, despite everything, we can hold it for the third time during the full-scale Russian war. It is very important for all of us—readers, authors, publishers, artists and musicians, for everyone—to continue existing, to affirm Ukraine’s presence in the world, to strengthen Ukrainian subjectivity. It is like a statement to the whole world: we, Ukrainians, are and will be. That is why Book Arsenal is necessary now, and that is why we will do everything possible for it to be successfully held in the future

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

The Festival had lasted for 3.5 days on the first floor of the Old Arsenal building, where 100 large, 11 small publishing houses and 6 thematic bookstores presented their stands, there were partner stands of military and volunteer initiatives as well. This year, the Illustrators’ Fair returned to Book Arsenal: 12 artists and graphic designers presented their works in various visual solutions and styles.

Visitors were in for the best examples of Ukrainian and world literature that had been published earlier, as well as those that had been printed specifically for Book Arsenal.

The events of the Focus Theme, the Main Program, the Professional Program, the Kids and Teens Program, the Special Program of PEN Ukraine, the Special Program of the Translatorium Literary and Translation Festival, as well as the Special Teens Program not only became a meeting place for like-minded people, but also allowed the participants and guests of the Festival to approach important topics, to become involved in shaping new meanings and to talk about their own and public experiences.

During the 13th Book Arsenal, 7 curatorial and special programs were presented:

• Everything Is Translation was the Focus Theme of the 13th Book Arsenal. Marci Shore and Oksana Forostyna became its curators.
• The Main Program Our Arsenal. Curator—Iryna Slavinska.
• The Kids and Teens Program The Familiar Language of Imagination. Curator—Olya Rusina.
• The Professional Program of Book Arsenal. Curator—Yuliia Konopliana.
• Book Arsenal hosted the TRANSLATORIUM Literary and Translation Festival with the Special Program. Curator—Tania Rodionova.
• The Special Program The Cardiogram of Translation. Organizer—PEN Ukraine.
• The Special Teens Program Interpreting the Unambiguous was presented by participants of the Litlab Teens.

Over 250 guests took part in the events of the 13th Book Arsenal. On the Main, Literary, Author, Outdoor, Publishing Stages, in the Lecture Hall and in the Workshops Area, the voices of Ukrainian and foreign guests were heard, among whom there were writers, translators, poets, philosophers, media professionals, publishers, educators, cultural studies scholars, artists, military servicemen and servicewomen, public and cultural figures from Ukraine, as well as from Austria, the United Kingdom, Israel, Canada, Lithuania, Germany, Norway, Poland, Slovenia, the USA, France, the Czech Republic and Sweden.

Book Arsenal took place for the third time under the conditions of the full-scale war of Russia against Ukraine. Taking into account last year’s experience, additional security measures were introduced for visitors and participants.

This year, our team strove to do as much as possible—to surpass last year’s achievements, to introduce new formats and to bring back some successful practices from the previous years of the Festival. At the same time, this is again the Festival in wartime, we are working with the security restrictions which do not allow us to return to the large-scale format that Book Arsenal was in 2019 or 2021.

During the 13th Book Arsenal, we talked about mutual understanding, about translation from one language to another and within one language, about interpretation and those situations when full understanding was impossible—when experience, especially tragic or traumatic experience, could not be explained or translated. This is the experience undergone by individual people, entire generations or even entire countries

— Yuliia Kozlovets, the Director of Book Arsenal.

On the second day, the 13th Book Arsenal was visited by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and First Lady Olena Zelenska.

The Festival was also visited by Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, the fifth President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and other guests.

The traditional New Titles project, which had been implemented at the Festival in cooperation with the Chytomo media resource since 2015, was presented at the 13th Book Arsenal. During the Festival, editions published from June 2024 to May 2025 were presented. Literary specialists prepared 10 selections of new books for different audiences. These publications on the Chytomo website will help readers navigate through prose of Ukrainian authors, art books, detective stories, romance novels, fantasy, historical books, etc.

This year, the Book Arsenal Fellowship Program—the professional program within which eight foreign publishers, agents and rights managers from Georgia, Estonia, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, Finland, France and Sweden visited the Festival—took place for the second time. 94 B2B meetings involving 22 Ukrainian publishers, rights managers, literary agents and even illustrators were held within the Festival. A seminar and two intensive days of B2B negotiations were organized for the program participants.

Suspilne Media became the general media partner of the 13th Book Arsenal. During all days of the festival, on-site studios of the Suspilne Culture TV channel, Radio Culture, journalists of the Suspilne Culture website, the Suspilne.Studio information project and the digital platform of Suspilne Media worked at the Book Arsenal location. They made live broadcasts, gave coverage from the Festival, prepared publications and invited the organizers and guests for studio interviews.

In 2025, media partners of the Festival were: The Kyiv Independent, Radio NV, Cases, Vogue.ua, 1+1 Media and ArtWizard.

The organizers express their gratitude to the partners, who supported the Festival in 2025.

This year, 174 volunteers got involved in the work of the 13th Book Arsenal and helped the Festival team and visitors.

The Festival team made video recordings of some of the discussions. All the recordings will soon be released on the YouTube channel of the Mystetskyi Arsenal.

PHOTOS:

Book Arsenal 2025 Day #1

Book Arsenal 2025 Day #2

Book Arsenal 2025 Day #3

Book Arsenal 2025 Day #4

Photo by Yevheniy Zavhorodniy, Anna Putylina, Roman Shalamov, Serhiy Khandusenko, Andriy Tsykota, Yulia Ptaha, Nastia Telikova, Sofiia Yermakova, Oleksandr Popenko

Book Arsenal is organized in cooperation with Art Arsenal Community NGO. The Festival is supported by the International Renaissance Foundation.

The Festival is supported by the Partnership Fund for Resilient Ukraine (PFRU), funded by aid from the governments of Canada, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

The Book Arsenal’s Focus Theme program is co-organized by Documenting Ukraine, the program of the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna (IWM Vienna). The development of the Focus Theme was also supported by the US Embassy in Ukraine.

The special teens program from the Litlab Teens is supported by the British Council’s program “Support for Cultural Activity in Ukraine with UK Involvement”.

This year, the Festival will kick off on Thursday, May 29, and run until June 1 at Mystetskyi Arsenal (10-12 Lavrska Street)

What to expect:

• Over 200 events in the Festival Program, including the Focus Theme Program, Main Program, curated and special programs, as well as publishers’ events: discussions, lectures, readings, workshops, author meet-ups, musical and performative events
• Book fair—100 large and 11 small publishers, and 6 bookstores, along with partner stands of military and volunteer initiatives. This year, the Illustrators’ Fair is returning to the Book Arsenal: 12 artists, graphic designers, and visual creators will present their works in various styles and formats
• 17 exhibition projects

PROGRAM OF THE 13th BOOK ARSENAL

You can purchase tickets:

• via the link: BUY TICKET
• at the ticket office at Mystetskyi Arsenal during the Festival.

Full ticket — 200 UAH
Family ticket (2 adults + 2 children aged 12+) — 500 UAH
Festival pass (all days for one person) — 500 UAH

Important! When purchasing tickets with a Premium Visa card from PrivatBank, you’ll receive a 20% discount. To activate the discount, go to the “Pryvit” section in the Privat24 app before buying your tickets and activate the Book Arsenal offer.

Free admission to the 13th Book Arsenal is granted to:

• holders of annual passes for the 20th anniversary of Mystetskyi Arsenal;
• children under 12;
• pensioners**;
• children and adults with disabilities and one accompanying person**;
• active military and veterans**;
• family members of fallen service members and war veterans**;
• internally displaced persons (IDPs)**;
• museum workers and holders of ICOM or CIMAM membership cards.

**With valid ID confirming eligibility.

You may re-enter the Festival on the same day if an air raid alert is announced.

Please keep your ticket until the end of your visit to the Festival!

Festival Opening Hours:

Thursday, May 29: 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m (entrance to the territory from 4.00 p.m.)

Friday, May 30: 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m

Saturday, May 31: 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m

Sunday, June 1: 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m

In case of an air raid alert, the Festival will resume 30 minutes after the alert ends. If the all-clear is given at 19:30 or later, the Festival will not resume that day.

Evacuation plans and safety guidelines during the Festival are available via this link.

To ensure everyone’s safety, metal detector gates will be installed at the Festival entrance this year.

Please do not bring firearms, non-lethal, gas, pneumatic, or hunting weapons. Security staff will deny entry if such items are found.

Pets are allowed in the Festival premises only if carried by their owners. More details are available via the link.

Suspilne will be the general information partner of the 13th Book Arsenal.

Book Arsenal is organized in cooperation with Art Arsenal Community NGO. The Festival is supported by the International Renaissance Foundation.

The Festival is supported by the Partnership Fund for Resilient Ukraine (PFRU), funded by aid from the governments of Canada, Estonia, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

The Book Arsenal’s Focus Theme program is co-organized by Documenting Ukraine, the program of the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna (IWM Vienna). The development of the Focus Theme was also supported by the US Embassy in Ukraine.

The special teens program from the Litlab Teens is supported by the British Council’s program “Support for Cultural Activity in Ukraine with UK Involvement.”

The Book Arsenal Fellowship Program 2025 has received applications from 20 countries and territories. Following a competitive selection process, eight participants have been chosen for this year’s program — publishers, literary agents, and rights managers from Georgia, Estonia, Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, and Sweden.

Ukrainian publishers, rights managers, and literary agents are invited to meet with their international counterparts — participants of the Book Arsenal Fellowship Program 2025 — in a series of B2B meetings during the upcoming XIII International Book Arsenal Festival.

To arrange B2B meetings with the Fellowship Program participants, please fill out the Google form by May 2 (inclusive). For further inquiries or clarifications, contact the organizers at [email protected].

GOOGLE FORM

A dedicated networking space will be available for meetings between Ukrainian and international publishing professionals within the XIII International Book Arsenal Festival on Friday, May 30, from 15:00 to 18:30, Saturday, May 31, from 10:00 to 19:00 and Sunday, June 1, from 10:00 to 13:00.

In advance of the B2B meetings, the Fellowship Program participants will be provided with detailed information on the Ukrainian book market, available support mechanisms for translating Ukrainian literature abroad, and profiles of the Ukrainian publishers participating in this year’s edition of the Festival.

 THE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS

The Book Arsenal Fellowship Program takes place within the 13th International Book Arsenal Festival and is supported by the International Renaissance Foundation.