Studies and entertainment, all in one

This year a creative lab “Arsenal of Ideas,” which combines art, science, inventions, and innovation, was opened at the Mystetsky Arsenal. It was designed to keep children, whose parents decided to visit the art center, entertained. The masterminds of this project for children and teenagers say that it is meant to be open permanently. Along with the opening of every new art project, a parallel one for children will be open, both thematically related.

Six-year-old Ivan visited the exhibition with his mother. They swiftly went through the halls of “Great and Grand,” an exhibition that united a thousand works of Ukrainian art from collections of 35 leading Ukrainian museums, and ended up in the art lab.

The boy’s attention is attracted by the book wall. He leafs with interest through the pages of old books that are attached to one of the walls of the big room. “This is an installation ‘Ability to Breathe’ by Iryna Ozarynska. Books that were already scrapped were used for it. The artist gave them a new life. The main idea is the return to such simple things as reading paper books. You can smell them here, and touch their pages,” says the “Arsenal of Ideas” program manager Yevhenia KULEBA.

Then Ivan heads to clay pots, fixed on the wall. A large decorative panel hangs above them. “This is Sensorikum,” Kuleba explains.

The panel, made under the supervision of Lidia Chekmariova from a therapeutic pedagogics center “Sunny Yard,” is composed of various natural materials. “We found a piece of wood, took the bark off, and polished it. And now you can touch it and feel it,” explains director of Mystetsky Arsenal Charity Foundation Olha VIIERU. “On weekdays we have school field trips. And what is important, we tell all the children that there are their peers who require additional attention. They are just like us, but they perceive this world in a slightly different way. So not only do ordinary school kids hear about such special children, but they can also understand what they feel. In order to do that, they should just close their eyes and touch the pieces of this installation. And study the world through the sense of touch.”

There are various materials in pots. Chekmariova advised about the order the installation creators should arrange them in, for it to be interesting and useful for children with special needs. The first pot contains nuts. Then go acorns, peas, pebbles, flax, wool… And every time, after putting a hand inside a new pot, you can feel something new. From something big, rough, hard to something delicate and soft.

The next room is a science lab.

“These are wooden landscapes. Children must build a structure and install musical instruments in it. But it should be built in such a way that, when you launch a special ball from the top, it goes down making music without rolling off halfway,” says Nadia, another coordinator of the project. “Here children can make a bridge out of magnets. And here they can draw with sand.” And Ivan runs to build electric circuits. He is happy when five minutes later, an alarm rings in his hands, and in three more, a fan starts working.

“Children study physics here. The pendulum principle, when all the balls start swaying simultaneously, but since pieces of thread they hang on are of different length, at some point they start swaying in different directions,” Nadia continues. She says that administrators of various “zones” tell children about it during specially organized classes.

Ivan stayed at an innovation lab the longest. This room is equipped with the latest technology. It contains more than 20 PCs with various applications. One has a biology class on it. Everything starts with exploring an ordinary tree. By zooming in its branches, one can see what a leaf is made of.

“Such notions as single-membrane and double-membrane organelles are studied at schools. And children often confuse these two,” says Artur KHACHATURIAN, who coordinates educational programs “Microsoft Ukraine.” Here you see mitochondria. They are two-colored, white on the outside and pink on the inside. So, even without studying books you will instantly remember that mitochondria have two membranes. Later, if you wish to, you can go to Wikipedia and read about it in more detail.”

At the next PC, a girl is trying to bathe a crocodile. “This game seems simple too, you have to dig a canal for the water to get to the crocodile, so he could take a shower. But a child must understand that water does not seep through stones, and in order to be elevated, water must be heated and turned into vapor, and then it must be turned back into water by cooling,” Khachaturian explains.

This fascinating children project is over on September 29, along with the exhibition “The Great and Grand.” But right after it, a new museum project is launched, along with a new children’s program at the “Arsenal of Ideas.”