International Book Festival

We publish a list of special programs to be held this year within the festival. Each will include various topics and formats but will cover the focal theme of this year's Book Space – New Intimacy. Our program will include more than 100 events , such as lectures, discussions, presentations, workshops, educational programs. We expect famous Ukrainian and foreign writers, publishers, editors, illustrators, and musicians. The events will take place within 9 special programs . Among the thematic ones we are preparing, in particular, New Intimacy , dedicated to the focal theme (curator Yulia Laktionova); Tandems – about the coexistence and communication between creative people (curator Olena Yurchuk); un/known – about less known literatures for Ukrainians (curator Victoria Starykova); Library XXI – about reading the future and innovative formats (curators Stefana Tsebrenko and Yulia Laktionova). Publishers who will take part in the book fair will present their books and ideas within the Publishers' program (curator Alla Rybitska). We develop a professional program for book specialists. The Educational program Books of the Future is also planned (curator Victoria Narizhna). We will be happy to see children and teenagers in the audience of the Too Close Children's program (curator Stefana Tsebrenko). And all visitors – regardless of age – in the audience of the musical program (curator Anna Stavychenko). « We have been discussing how to combine all the events that we are planning in thematic clusters and how to divide them according to the needs of the audience. We focused on 9 special programs, which, although they differ in topics and formats, will be equally interesting, exciting, innovative, and will form between all of us – participants, guests, organizers – a new intimacy that is so important to us and that we look forward » , – says creative director of the festival Yulia Laktionova . Follow the detailed presentation of each of the special programs on our website and social networks Facebook and Instagram .

Creative director of Book Space Yulia Laktionova became a participant in the professional program of the Book Arsenal Alteration: Festival to Festival. The event took place on May 5-7, 2021 in an online format. Managers and curators of Ukrainian and international literary festivals and book fairs from 16 countries were invited to the event. Among the speakers were representatives from Frankfurt, Bologna, Copenhagen, Vilnius, Krakow, and others. Participants of the program exchanged experiences of holding literary and book events and discussed the creation of events in the new reality . In particular, we talked about how literary festivals and fairs of different countries can cooperate and interact. Is it possible to achieve social impact and how to build relationships with audiences and communities in pandemic circumstances? How to organize hybrid event formats in consideration of social distancing, etc. The event allowed participants to establish warm contacts with international institutions, festivals, and fairs. "It was very nice to meet colleagues not only from all over Ukraine but also from around the world: to listen, to support, to share. To feel that, although we are all in a new reality, we have great baggage of experience behind us and a desire to change the future, passionate and inspired to fill this new reality with new meanings and create a new intimacy together", – shares Yulia Laktionova. The event was organized by the Book Arsenal and the Ukrainian Institute with the support of the European Union. The X International Book Arsenal Festival is scheduled for June 23-27 . The IV International Book Space Festival will take place on September 3-5 .

This year we decided to update the visual style of the festival that reflects the new reality in which we all find ourselves. Book Space designer Yaroslava Kovalchuk talks about the visual concept, symbolism, and ideas we put into it. About new intimacy Quarantine practices have been a challenge for many of us. Constant reminders of social distance, digitalization of everyday life, attempts to adapt to the new reality. We can't always hug our friends when we meet, masks restrain the expression of our emotions — all this only increases the internal isolation. That is why we especially appreciate the new intimacy that emerges despite all the difficulties and prohibitions. Often spontaneous, like thunder in the clear sky, and explosive, like the launch of a rocket into space. About colors and shapes New circumstances call for new visual solutions. So now our colors have become brighter and more saturated, as well as our emotions, which are becoming stronger and sharper. Their shade was increased to the maximum, as well as the values we attach to them: blue — as a symbol of innovation, purple — courage, orange — creativity. At the same time, the figures became simpler and spatially closer, as everyday joys which are especially valuable for us now. Standard lines, rectangles, and circles are the basis of complex layering which is a metaphor for our everyday life and a reminder to appreciate every moment. We also enhance the effect of closeness through graphic techniques: colors converge in gradient combinations and shapes in layers and overlays. This is how we talk about the intimacy, the closeness, the presence, which we are often deprived of now, but which we so strive for and for which we compete. About the future We believe that humanity will overcome the pandemic and get rid of quarantine restrictions forever. In the meantime, we will continue to create new intimacy - more vibrant, sensual, and harmonious.

We have been thinking for a long time about what we should talk about at Book Space 2021, given that for the second year in a row we are all forced to be in a new reality, get used to new circumstances, and form new values. The creative director of the festival Yulia Laktionova explains why we decided to choose New Intimacy as a focal theme. The COVID-19 pandemic, years of war in eastern Ukraine, the radicalization of society, forced isolation, and loneliness — all this has affected the way we see the world around us, the way we see ourselves and our loved ones. We live at the epicenter of a fundamental process of historical change that affects not only economics, politics, and culture, but also human relationships. Such a familiar thing as touch — the foundation on which human relationships have been built over thousands of years — in 2020-21 for many people is no longer available. It is noteworthy that the winner of World Press Photo in 2021 was the photo named "The First Embrace" by Danish photographer Mads Nissen. After all, no matter how long the distance is forced, sooner or later there is hope for the return of intimacy. Because its loss has now become one of the greatest torments of mankind. Researchers from Brigham Young University (USA), after analyzing the condition of more than 300,000 people, found that social isolation and loneliness are as harmful to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, alcoholism, and overeating. And this is just one of the studies. Unfortunately, the reality in which we find ourselves is for a long time. Thus, a new era requires us to seek new values, new ways of exchanging information, and new intimacy. Literature is one of the few arts that can introduce us to the intimacy of all kinds. It creates meaning and allows us to reach out through time and space. Thanks to books, we travel through ages, get acquainted in a new way with famous and not so famous figures, we are transported to worlds we could only dream of and whose borders are still closed for us. It is the book that can connect us with a casual passer-by who reads the same title as we do, or with the dearest ones with whom we reread the same stories — albeit at a distance, but together. Equally important, literature often allows us to look deeper into ourselves, especially in isolation, when, after long escapes, we have finally met ourselves. What do the authors think about the new world and one of the most important human needs — intimacy? Will we have to retrain ourselves to be with others? Love at a distance, closeness through eating and traveling one's own country, open conversations about inconvenient things, new formats of presence, the development of technology, and more. We will talk about all this during lectures and discussions within the focal theme of this year's festival, which will certainly help us in our search for a new intimacy - with ourselves, others, the world.