On April 17, Cultural Platform Zakarpattya NGO installed a stationary audiovisual studio for teenagers and adolescents in Kropyvnytskyi
Kontenta is a free audiovisual studio created to support the youth in creative industries. 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 classes held in the studio establish mutual emotional support, increase the youth’s social cohesion, and generally improve their mental health levels through collaborative creation.
In general, Kontena can be set up in two formats: as a full-sized mobile studio or as an integration of the technical setup into the already-existing youth centers. The Kropyvnytskiy Kontenta follows the second scenario, and now Kontenta’s equipment is a part of the “Koma” youth center, where the youth and teens can work with sound and music on a professional level.
People of Kropyvnytskiy visited the official studio opening and project presentation, where the NGO explained the potential Kontenta holds for the community as a whole, the media, and the local government. The “Koma” youth workers attended a workshop explaining how to use the technical setup of the studio so that they would be able to aid the adolescents in their studio work during the opening hours.
At the opening, the youth of Kropyvnytskyi recorded their own podcast in the audiovisual studio together with Yevhen Zabarylo, co-founder of the Cultural Platform Zakarpattya NGO. The equipment available in Kontenta makes it possible to record podcasts, set up live streams, record audiobooks, or mix music tracks.
Ukrainian musician and beatboxer Artem Nazarenko held a sound design event where young people learned to explore the sounds of their surroundings and use them to their advantage by finding out-of-the-box solutions for their task — to record a track together.
In Kontenta, teenagers and young people will be able to exercise their right to self-expression, develop their personal projects, and explore Ukrainian musical traditions. As a project, 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 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 Anna Remizova
Anastasiya Mishustina
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