Cultural Platform Zakarpattya NGO with the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Ukraine opens Kontenta mobile audiovisual studios in the youth centers of Kehychivka and Valky. Now, the youth of the Kharkiv region have an opportunity to create audiovisual content straight from their communities for free.
On 6-7 April, the project presentation and the official opening of the Kontenta studios took place in Kehychivka and Valky. The youth of the communities joined the sound design workshop led by beatboxer and musician Artem Nazarenko, attended a performance by Artistka Chuprynenko, and completed training on how to use the mobile studio.
Kontenta is a free mobile audiovisual studio developed by the Cultural Platform Zakarpattya NGO together with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Ukraine.
It gives young people the opportunity to work individually, conduct group classes and lectures, record vocals and musical instruments, and shoot video blogs as well as podcasts. The technical setup of Kontenta is a comprehensive solution for audiovisual content creation, which includes equipment such as microphones, studio monitors, a camera, studio headphones, a sound card, a capture card, a computer, a controller, a softbox, racks, tripods, and licensed digital software: Ableton Live and Native Instruments.
On April 6, Kontenta was opened in the “GarDen” youth center in Kehychivka.
Even though the Kharkiv region had an active air raid alert for the biggest part of the day, the youth of Kehychivka joined the sound design event right from the shelter.
Artistka Chuprynenko held her performance in the shelter, too, joining the team of mentors of the Cultural Platform for the first time.
During the opening, youth workers and music school personnel attended a workshop explaining how to use the technical setup of the studio. Kontenta will be available for work during the youth center’s opening hours so that young people have a chance to use all the equipment for free.
During the opening of Kontenta in Valky on April 7, the NGO team met Bohdan Balaban — a 17–year-old musician who has been dreaming of a recording studio in his community for a few years and even tried to arrange that through the community council and through applying for various grants. Bohdan has been making music since he was 5 years old and has already graduated from the music school majoring in accordion and enrolled in the Kharkiv Musical Specialized College named after B.M. Lyatoshynsky to continue his studies. He has tried to create an at-home studio to record his electronic music and look for his personal sound, but now he can use Kontenta at the “Salat” youth center in Valky.
“Because of the war, the youth in Valky are very closed off, especially the musicians — they all seem to struggle to showcase their voice, to share their art. I believe that Kontenta will be able to help with that and give the young generation a boost that will force them to communicate and create more, which is important. I personally will use it to work with sound — that’s like a new step in the music I can professionally record now,” — shares Bohdan.
The youth of Valky has also attended an Artem Nazarenko’s event of sounddesign and live performance by Artistka Chuprynenko.
Kontenta operates through the social franchise model. Cultural Platform Zakarpattya NGO assists youth centers in setting up and launching studios, as well as mentors and supports their further activities. The main goals of Kontenta are: to popularize practices from the field of creative industries, improve the creative skills of teenagers and young people in Ukrainian communities to ensure the sustainability of the creative economy, promote the development of emotional intelligence, and improve the mental health of Kontenta’s participants.
The project was developed by the Cultural Platform Zakarpattya NGO with the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Ukraine. In 2024, twenty Kontenta studios will be set up in various youth centers across the country. The selection of communities where these audiovisual studios will operate is still ongoing.
Photo Yevhenii Zhulaj
Anastasiya Mishustina
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