Art of Ukraine under the protection of the Art Arsenal

Employees of the Art Arsenal, with the support of the National Museum of American History, are completing preparations for the launch of a new educational project for children - SPARK! LAB. Soon, a set of children and adolescents will be announced for participation in the largest cultural project since the independence of Ukraine.

The state of culture affects children most of all. They, like mirrors, are able to vividly demonstrate the most disgusting features of society. However, its most beautiful components are visible in them no less clearly! Therefore, in September 2012, a project of aesthetic education of the younger generation will begin to operate in Ukraine.

The idea of the “SPARK! LAB” project was taken from international experience, however, it was fully adapted by the employees of the Art Arsenal to the Ukrainian mentality and goals of cultural workers. The perniciousness of the Soviet idea that children should strive to “be like everyone else” is now fully manifested. Therefore, the project is aimed at developing individual moral qualities and creative abilities of each child. Children will learn to think and create independently, but not in isolation from the best world traditions.

The Mystetsky Arsenal (Ukrainian “Mystetsvo” is art; the Ukrainian “I” reads as “Y”), along with the Pinchuk Foundation, is the center of modern Ukrainian culture, as well as a zealous guardian of old traditions. Its history began in 2003, when the state decided to organize a museum complex in the building of the “Old Arsenal”, built by Mazepa in 1783–1801. By 2010, it was possible to carry out a large-scale reconstruction of the facade, as well as the interior of the building and create a museum equal to the best European models.

Eve Istr