Book Arsenal to be held this year!

Despite the state of war, with its challenges and limitations, the Mystetskyi Arsenal team is organising the 11th Book Arsenal Festival, hoping it will once again unite the book, literary, and art scenes in its space, and become a meeting place for book people.

This year, the 11th International Book Arsenal Festival will run from June 22 – 25, 2023.

“Since the Russian invasion, Mystetskyi Arsenal has been constantly trying to support its audiences: visitors, readers, artists, and culture professionals. We are sure that all of us need Book Arsenal, this year more than ever. The festival shall support us, strengthen our resilience, and be an inspiration,” says Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta, Director General of the Mystetskyi Arsenal.

The core structure of the Book Arsenal remains unchanged and will consist of two elements: the event program of the festival, and the book fair with respective thematic sections. The Book Arsenal will be held in the left wing of the first floor of the Old Arsenal.

This year, the book fair will be organized in a different way: due to the very unequal working conditions of the publishing market representatives because of the war, the impossibility of organizing their equal representation with individual stands, and the riskiness in terms of safety and security, the book sales at the festival will be operated not by separate publishing houses, but by local Kyiv bookstores.

The Book Arsenal event program will be created by the invited curators. About 50 tailored events of the focus theme, the literary program, the Kids and Teens program, performances, and professional events will take place on three stages.