On May 20, Cultural Platform Zakarpattya NGO with the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Ukraine launched KONTENTA in Poltava—a mobile studio for working with sound and video
Nova Poltava NGO in cooperation with the Regional Youth Center of the Poltava Regional Council opened a new Youth Hub on May 20 as part of the “Strengthening the Opportunities Of Youth As Agents Of Change, Developing Life Skills Among Teenagers and Supporting Youth Participation In Poltava and Sumy Regions” project with the financial support of UNICEF and the Government of Japan.
The new Youth Hub in Poltava became the next location of the KONTENTA audiovisual studies project—the digital infrastructure of the new generation’s mental stability. Thanks to the KONTENTA audiovisual studio, Youth Hub visitors will be able to conduct individual studio work, group educational and cultural events, record vocals and musical instruments, and shoot video blogs, podcasts, and live broadcasts from the very first working days.
On May 20, the opening event was attended by Deputy Head of the Poltava Regional Military (State) Administration Volodymyr Vasylenko, Head of the UNICEF Country Office in Ukraine Munir Mammadzade, Secretary of Poltava City Council and Acting Mayor Kateryna Yamshchykova, and Oleksandr Lemeshko, First Deputy Chairman of the Poltava Regional Council.
The support of the authorities is of great importance for implementing youth policy. It indicates the involvement of the city and the state in the issues of fulfilling the potential of youth, popularizing the role and importance of youth participation in the decision-making process, and their involvement in the public, political, socio-economic, and cultural life of the society. KONTENTA as digital infrastructure, in turn, enables the formation of the voice of the youth, acting as an outlet for their subjectivity and creative freedom.
Here, teenagers and young people will be able to exercise their right to self-expression, develop their own projects, and explore the Ukrainian musical tradition. Classes in the studio also contribute to sustaining emotional support, increasing social cohesion, and improving the mental resilience of young people.
The first day of the opening of the Youth Hub ended with a performance by Artistka Chuprynenko, which had to be moved to the shelter midway through due to the air raid going off.
Artistka Chuprynenko’s live performance took place in the shelter
The next day, May 21, sound designer Pavlo Chornyi conducted a training session for youth workers who learned how to use the technical equipment of the KONTENTA studio in order to be able to ensure its constant work. KONTENTA will operate according to the schedule of the Youth Hub, so the adolescents of Poltava will be able to use all the equipment for free during the corresponding working hours.
In addition, the civil society organization team also presented the «KONTENTA» audiovisual studies project in the format of a podcast between Yevhen Zabarylo and Marusya Chuprynenko. They revealed the potential the studio holds for the city’s youth, the media, and the government, and talked about the future steps of the NGO in the development of the project.
We can’t wait for the audiovisual content that will be created in KONTENTA by the youth of Poltava. In the meantime, Cultural Platform is moving on to the next project locations!
The project is implemented by the Cultural Platform Zakarpattya NGO with the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Ukraine. In 2024, they plan to install 20 KONTENTA studios in different communities across Ukraine.
Photo Anja Lozinska–Korman
Anastasiya Mishustina
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