Family Art Retreat Project
From January 6 to 12, 2024, a project was held in Lviv for 20 internally displaced children and their families.
The program was carefully designed by experienced professionals from Ukraine and the UK to provide both children and adults with opportunities to engage in various forms of creative activities, fostering recovery and healing through art. Activities were tailored separately for children and adults, with some sessions designed for joint participation. The primary goals of the sessions were to offer participants relaxation, the development of new skills, social connections, and physical and emotional restoration.
For adults, the program included educational workshops and lectures on self-help and the use of art practices to support children. Individual sessions with project therapists were also offered.
The program for all participants included activities such as group painting, collage creation, and animation, as well as master classes, film screenings, a concert, and a tour to the Tustan reserve.
The project took place at the Urban Camp, Lviv.
Team
The program of the project was curated and led by Natalia Shapovalova (Kharkiv/Lviv) – an actress, puppeteer, lecturer at the Kharkiv National University of Arts named after I.P. Kotlyarevsky, mentor in acting at the Creative School What IF (Lviv), participant in international theater projects, festivals, and scientific conferences in Poland, Italy, Croatia, Iran, and Sweden.
She is a laureate of the Gaude Polonia scholarship (2020) from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland, which allowed her to undergo training at the Warsaw Theater Academy named after A. Zelwerowicz, branch in Białystok under the guidance of Professor Marek Waszkiel. With eight years of experience working with children and teenagers as a theater disciplines lecturer, director, and organizer of active leisure activities.
The mentor in acting mastery, Yaroslav Voytenko (Kharkiv/Lviv) is an actor and theater disciplines lecturer at the “Children’s School of Arts No. 3” in Kharkiv. He mentors in acting mastery at the Creative School What If (Lviv) and collaborates with the A3 theater (Poland).
He worked as an actor at the BRAMA Theater (Poland) and ARABESKY (Kharkiv). With experience in organizing and conducting theater festivals, creative events, and staging performances. He has participated in international festivals and cultural exchanges in Italy, Lithuania, Germany, Poland, and Romania.
The mentor in movement and dance, Irina Avdeyeva (Kharkiv) is a dancer, performer, choreographer, and trainer in dance improvisation and performance. She has participated in numerous international theater and dance festivals, street social initiatives, and residencies, including inclusive ones.
Hospital and crisis clown in the “Fine Noses” project of Hospital Clowns in Kharkiv; corrective pedagogue at the NGO “HFDP.” Worked as a movement and improvisation trainer and choreographer at the Inclusive Theater Studio and Playback Theater “Teen Hub Khalabuda”, choreographer in the theater project of KHUIH – Inclusive Theater Laboratory “Crossing Borders”, and was part of the performance group “Dancelab” (Kharkiv).
Founder and leader of the “ArTtilo Body Images Laboratory”. Actively collaborates with musicians in theatrical-musical projects (contemporary academic, experimental, and improvisational music).
The host of the music program, Nigel Osborne (Edinburgh) is a composer, art therapist, and expert in using music and art to support children traumatized by military conflicts. This method was developed during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-1995) and later implemented in the Balkans, Caucasus, Middle East, East Africa, South-West Asia, and India.
Nigel currently works in Lviv, Uzhgorod, and Kharkiv with children in shelters, hospitals, and those from conflict-affected territories.
The mentor for the musical segment of the program, Ruaraidh Osborne (London) is a musician, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. He works with epilepsy patients through music and has experience as a music therapist with children from conflict regions, having worked in African and Balkan countries.
The mentor for the musical segment of the program, Hryhoriy Semenchuk (Lviv) is a poet, musician, and cultural activist. He runs the NGO “Artistic Council ‘Dialog’”. He curates and produces numerous artistic projects and directs the “Month of Author’s Readings in Lviv” festival. He’s the author of poetry collections such as “Internal Jihad” (published by Meridian Czernowitz, 2012), “MORE Poems and Songs” (Old Lion Publishing, 2015), and “According to the Original” (published by Ljuta Sprava, 2021).
He edited the anthology of contemporary Ukrainian poetry “Letters from Ukraine” (Artistic Council ‘Dialog’, 2016) and co-edited the “AUUA” anthology (Krok Publishing, 2012).
He’s participated in various literary and music festivals in Ukraine, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, France, the Czech Republic, Romania, and the UK. He is a co-author of the Ukrainian-German poetic-musical band “LANDSCHAFT” and the creator of the solo music project “BRAT.” He’s also a member of the musical-poetic project “Ukrainian Songs of Love and Hate”.
Project psychologist, Maryna Sliot (Odesa) – musician, psychologist, certified music therapist (educational project USP and Vienna Institute of Music Therapy 2018-2022), lecturer, and psychologist in our project.
Marina is a participant in many charitable projects and a speaker at international conferences (Conference for Speech Therapists and Specialists of Related Specialties in Odesa (2019), participant in international online conferences (Secrets of Music Pedagogy, 2019-2023), co-trainer of the seminar on Orff Approach in working with children with special needs (Mariupol, 2019), trainer of Erasmus+ international projects, specialist of the NGO “Center for Psychological Assistance “Confidence” (project “Together. Your Support Nearby” in partnership with UNICEF, project “Stop: I” for psychological support of families with children with special needs, families raising children in foster care, parent-guardians, internally displaced persons, as well as professionals from IRCs, rehabilitation centers, social services, etc.); a member of the Orff Schulwerk Association of Ukraine, a member of the Music Therapists Association of Ukraine (MTAU).
Project psychologist, Maksym Pylaiev (Kyiv/Kharkiv) – psychologist, psychotherapist, and volunteer. Specializes in group support and individual consultations.
Throughout 2022-2023, he created psychological programs, conducted research, lectures, and individual/group consultations in projects such as a rehabilitation camp for residents of the Kharkiv region (ArtDacha Foundation, August 2022), a retreat for volunteers (ArtDacha Foundation, January 2023), and the “Regeneration” project for women (PWIU and Olena Pinchuk Foundation, July-August 2023).
He also conducted psychological support groups (Cultural SHOCK NGO, February 2023) and provided psychological consultations for military personnel and their families (Atlant NGO, 2023).
As part of the project, three open events were also held:
- Lecture “Creativity as Restoration” coducted by Valeriya Polska, art therapist and resilience trainer for organizations and communities.
- Lecture “Post-traumatic Growth: Transformations of Experience” by Maksym Pylaiev, psychologist and psychotherapist in process-oriented and dialogical-phenomenological approach.
- Workshop-lecture “Music Therapy Practices in Psycho-Emotional Support” by Nigel Osborne, British composer, art therapist, and expert in using music and art to support children who have experienced trauma due to armed conflicts.
The project was organized by the Public Organization “ART DOT” (Kharkiv, Ukraine) in partnership with the Hnat Khotkevych Palace of Culture, and financially supported by the Culture Helps/Культура допомагає Program implemented by Інша Освіта in collaboration with Zusa with the support of the European Union.
Views and opinions expressed belong solely to the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
Participants's Feedback
Katerina Dyachenko
When we started the project, I was very concerned about the emotional state of the child. But from the very first day, I saw changes. They weren’t significant, but they were there, and that’s the most important thing. Even during the project, he could express his thoughts calmly, could share his emotions. After the third day, he came home and simply fell asleep peacefully (he used to have trouble falling asleep). He even started singing, which he had never done before.
On your project, I was able to relax, feel calm (especially when drawing), I overcame my “I can’t” and “I don’t know how”… I felt different (during the acting workshops).
And separately, I want to thank Maxim. There were several meetings where I started to look at certain things differently. And that’s cool.
For me, this project was a breath of fresh air!!!! Those hours spent together with my son are priceless. Sometimes it’s very hard to find an hour to communicate, play, create something together… The impressions are incredible, it turns out there are plenty of interesting games without a phone, it turns out you can be funny, and that’s normal.
Danilo Diyanov
I found it very pleasant and easy to communicate with people and organizers. The program was rich and unobtrusive. I encountered no difficulties. My 14-year-old daughter gained experience in animation, collage-making, communication with a psychotherapist, and adults. The children made new friends. We liked the food. We often reminisce about the project, especially when we’re engaged in some activities.
Oleksandr Panov, 16 years old
During the project, I tried making stop motion, collages, breakdancing, and even participated in some psychology sessions for the first time. Communicating with children from different regions of Ukraine, I realized that everyone is cool, but not everyone is your kind of cool. My most interesting discovery – I’m actually not bad at stop motion. The most important thing for me during the project was communication, learning a lot, everything in short. Thank you for the project, and I hope to join something like this again. See you at the acting class, Natalia and Yaroslav.
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