A children's weekend book market/festival opens inside the Tobolsk Kremlin

9 september 2021

September 10 through October 10, every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday Tobolsk Kremlin’s North West Tower will be hosting the city ‘s first children’s bookstore presenting picture books, the best visual children’s literature by writers from all over the world. The store’s catalogue will be completely changing every weekend with another publishing house putting 50 new books on offer. Each collection will be accompanied by a visit by the books’ authors and by an exciting program of events designed for children and their parents that will be held in Gostiny Dvor, Red Square, in the Water Tower, and in the historic part of the city.

The project’s centerpiece is the picture book, a genre of literature that communicates with the reader not only through the language of text but also through that of images. Combined, these two narratives would not only be able to tell a story and convey knowledge, but to also nurture a culture of visual literacy, attentive and emotional perception of information.

On September 10 through 12, the festival’s program will focus on books that help one better study and understand one’s hometown, oneself, and art. The Water Tower in Red Square will be converted into Tobolsk’s first Children's Book and Tourism Center featuring an exhibition titled 50 Books about the City.

50 Books about the City will allow us to look at the urban space as a system in constant motion, made up of many contexts, explains Kassya Denisevich, the festival’s curator, artist, and writer whose books have been translated into many languages, a winner of the Bologna Ragazzi Award 2021, one of the world’s most prestigious awards in the field of children's book art. These are books that a child will come back to over and over again. And, if an attentive adult happens to be around, these stories can lead to further conversations about issues that are relevant for the residents.

Inside the huge air bubble inflated right in the middle of Red Square, a children's "Legend Lab" will open offering space for master classes where Tobolsk’s creative youngsters will be examining their city through the unusual lens of picture books, exploring it by following guidelines suggested by their authors, to come up with new visual stories and legends for their city.

This Shopping Festival will be held as part of the Federal Books in a City Program conducted with the support of the Tobolsk City Administration, the Tyumen Museum and Education Association, and SIBUR's social investment program, the Formula for Good Deeds. The program was organized together with the Legend Lab. Tobolsk project and the Historiomania project. Some of the programs were created together with the Ural Industrial Biennale of Modern Art presenting its own special project in Tobolsk.

Events featured at the Books in the City Festival in Tobolsk are included in the 34th Moscow International Book Fair’s regional program and serve as a step towards getting ready for the opening, in 2022, of a major educational project for children, the New International Children's Book Fair.

The Book Fest is a new type of cultural activity that transforms the face of the city and brings round residents of different ages and interests. What makes the festival in Tobolsk stand out is children's literature imbued with a positive spirit that is understandable to anyone. Events like this one bring together those who are into literature and want to understand in a new way both the textual and the visual language of books. We hope that the festival will serve to establish a direct communication between the authors, their readers and the city, Elena Belskaya, Head of ZapSibNeftekhim LLC’s Department for Government Relations and Socio-Economic Projects, commented.

Modern picture books are fascinating textbooks of self-expression for the country’s most creative group, our children. They are their best guides in getting to know themselves, their native city, country, and the greater world beyond, Andrey Gelmiza,, the Commissioner of the Federal Books in the City Program and head of the Legend Lab, shared.

The Shopping Festival inside Gostiny Dvor’s Tower will be open on Fridays from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., and on Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. No prior registration is needed to visit the store.

However, prior registration is required for those who wish to attend the events of the fest’s program as admission to the events of the festival program is restricted due to health safety precautions. The city’s residents can get a free ticket at www.tobolsk.knigivgorode.ru