UJE at the 14th Book Arsenal in Kyiv

UJE participated in the 14th International Book Arsenal Festival, held on 28–31 May 2026 at the Old Arsenal of the Pechersk Fortress on Lavrska Street in Kyiv.

Book Arsenal is a grand international intellectual event where the book, literary, and art scenes converge, and important issues in history and culture are raised and reflected upon. The festival has been held annually since 2011 and is considered one of the most influential literary and artistic events in Eastern Europe, winning the Literary Festival Award of the London Book Fair International Excellence Awards in 2019.

Book Arsenal has been held in the context of a full-scale war in Ukraine for the fourth time now. This year, the focus theme was "Bear Your Freedom," curated by Maksym Butkevych, a Ukrainian journalist, human rights activist, and war veteran.

The Book Arsenal attracted over 27,000 visitors despite air raids interrupting the festival and numerous warnings about possible large-scale shelling. Over 130 publishing houses and military and volunteer initiatives presented their products, while 12 graphic artists participated in the Illustrators' Fair. More than 240 public events were held, including the public discussion "Ukrainian-Jewish Cultural Interactions During the Great War" organized by UJE.

At UJE's festival booth, visitors became acquainted with the organization's mission and activities, as well as with the books published with its support.

Also at the booth, visitors learned about the organization's large projects: Encounter: The Ukrainian-Jewish Literary Prize, the traveling exhibition "A Journey Through the Ukrainian-Jewish Encounter: From Antiquity to 1939," the UJE Timeline (a multimedia online project),  and the All-Ukrainian Student Drawing Competition "Ukrainian-Jewish Encounter: Our Stories Are Incomplete Without Each Other."

Many people visited the UJE book display at the Book Arsenal in four days. We handed out hundreds of books and informational materials to visitors, publishers, writers, artists, public figures, and others interested in Ukrainian-Jewish history and culture.

We invite you to immerse yourself in the atmosphere of this literary holiday through photos. You can learn more about this Book Festival here.

Vladyslav Hrynevych, Jr., Regional Manager, UJE, Ukraine