Grantee: Public organization “Volunteer headquarters of Zhytomyr”
Implementation Project Area: Zhytomyr region (Zhytomyr, Berdychiv, Zvyagel, Teterivska communities) – pilot project, possible further scaling of the project to other regions.
Project status: completed
Implementation period: 03/14/2023-06/13/2023
Aim of the Project:: To memorialize the feelings and memories of children who witnessed the events of the war through literary and theatrical creativity, to integrate the traumatic memory of the war through art into the life of communities, to prevent the transgenerational transmission of trauma to the next generation, to enrich the cultural heritage in the authorship of children and youth, to develop patriotic education.
Additional Information:
Literary and theatrical performance of the Voluntary Art Troop "VIDSICH" performed by children and young people (including IDPs), who present children's works written during the war - this is a way of creative self-expression, living the trauma of war through creativity, integration of IDPs into community life, patriotic upbringing of children and young people who create and listen. Performances are built on the principle of "equal - equal" (actors and spectators), collective psychotherapy through art and creative self-realization.
Project results:
During the project implementation period as of April 30, 2023, poems written by children under the influence of the events of the war were selected, based on these poems, the script of the performance "Repulse" was developed.
The directors of the project were Honored Artists of Ukraine Petro Avramenko and Olena Zavediya.
25 children were selected to participate in the performance. Berdychiv and Zvyageli, 18 readers - in the city of Zhytomyr, 32 readers - in the village of Visoka Pich. The total number of child readers is 100.
With the support of the department of psychology and social welfare of the Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University, trainings were held on the topic "Psychological self-help. Practical exercises" for the children participating in the play during the preparatory process in the M.M. Berdychiv, Zvyagel, Zhytomyr, Baranivka and the village of Blast furnace. The psychologist accompanying the project is Nataliya Kharitonova, a senior lecturer at the State University "Zhytomyr Polytechnic" and a practicing psychologist. In addition, final meetings of the psychologist with the children were held after the performance in each community.
During the project implementation period, 120 event posters (A3 and A2 format) were printed and distributed to the community in public places (shopping centers, pedestrian zones, schools, libraries, buildings of local self-government bodies and other public places). In order to attract viewers to the performances, the promotion of the performances in communities was also carried out with the involvement of digital media (social media pages, websites).
At the invitation of the NGO "Volunteer Headquarters of Zhytomyr", TV channel 1+1 filmed and posted a story about the play "Repulse".
Branded caps and backpacks with the logo of the Voluntary Art Landing "VYSICH" were designed and manufactured for the participants of the event. Reader children in each community received a branded backpack, and dance and vocal groups in the communities received 25 caps each.
Children-readers in each community received personal thanks for participating in the performance "Vidsich", as well as groups participating in the performances and representatives of local self-government bodies, who contributed to the Volunteer Art Landing "Vidsich".
After the performances in four communities, a general meeting was organized in Zhytomyr for the participants of the project "Volunteer artistic landing "Vidsich".
The collection program included:
excursion to the Zhytomyr regional museum of local history
lunch at the Zhytomyr Polytechnic
excursion to the Science Museum of the Zhytomyr Polytechnic
psychological training on the topic "Psychological self-help. Practical exercises", as well as the session "Questions - answers - impressions" of children participating in the project.
motivational meeting with the directing team (Peter Avramenko and Olena Zavedia).
So,
100 children-readers aged 7-18 years living in the cities of Berdychiv, Zvyagel, Zhytomyr, Baranivka and the village of The blast furnace of the Zhytomyr region, of which 24 are boys and 76 are girls.
8 psychological help trainings were held with the involvement of 50 children-readers.
100 children from four communities got acquainted and mastered psychological self-help skills. We received 10 positive reviews about the improvement in the emotional state of children thanks to participation in the "Repulsion" project.
1270 spectators were involved, of which 920 were women and 350 were men.
Videos about the implementation of the project in Zvyagel and Zhytomyr were produced and posted.
