Kyiv hosts opening of Book Arsenal Festival
The 14th International Book Arsenal Festival has opened in Kyiv and will run through June 1.
This is reported by an Ukrinform correspondent.
“Every time, as an avid reader, I eagerly await this event and the opportunity to once again see this incredible community discussing important and fascinating topics, speaking about the future, and presenting truly visionary ideas. It is a fantastic environment. This time, I have the honor of joining the event in my new role. It is highly symbolic that the Arsenal was once created to store weapons, while today the Book Arsenal effectively preserves what makes us a nation – the Ukrainian voice, the Ukrainian book, and Ukrainian literature,” said Tetiana Berezhna, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Policy and Minister of Culture.
She noted that Russia is deliberately destroying Ukrainian museums, libraries, music academies, philharmonic halls, and cultural institutions both in central Kyiv and across Ukraine.
Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska also attended the event.
This year’s festival brings together more than 150 fair participants, celebrity guests, opinion leaders, established authors, and emerging literary voices.
The program includes 240 events, among them discussions and lectures, readings and workshops, meetings with authors, presentations of new publications, as well as musical and performance programs and exhibitions.
The first floor of the Old Arsenal building hosts the book fair, featuring major publishing houses, small independent publishers, the book.ua bookstore, partner stands, military and volunteer initiatives, and an illustrators’ fair showcasing the work of artists, graphic designers, and illustrators.
The central theme of this year’s festival is “Carrying Your Freedom.” The focus will be on freedom and its limitations, captivity and occupation as forms of restriction, as well as the heroization and fragility of heroes. The theme curator is Ukrainian journalist, human rights activist, serviceman, and former prisoner of war Maksym Butkevych.
This year, the festival also marks the return of the Writers’ Program, curated by Ukrainian serviceman, volunteer, poet, novelist, and translator Andriy Lyubka.
The artistic component of the 14th International Book Arsenal Festival will feature 15 exhibition projects among other events.
As previously reported, Book Arsenal is considered one of the most influential literary and artistic events in Eastern Europe. The festival was first held in 2011.
In March 2019, the festival was recognized as the world’s best literary festival at the London Book Fair.
Photo: Facebook / Book Arsenal