About what? There are so many stories about the city and its residents that it is incredibly difficult to choose which one to tell first. After lengthy discussions, the curatorial group chose a theme of childhood. It’s not about childhood in the context of memories, memoirs, and nostalgia for good times but in the context of the formation of our urban identity. In view of the mission and objectives of the City Museum, we want to show how a child under the age of active learning explores the city as an environment of its existence. Childhood is a time when our relations with the city and understanding of the city through everyday actions are formed. The city begins to affect us when we overcome limitations, have freedom of choice, and responsibility for ourselves. It’s a journey with borders and obstacles on the way. This is the story of those who are limiting and those who are helping, about real and imagined dangers, and about the experience that children gain overcoming all obstacles in trying to conquer the city. Most exhibition stories will be related to Lviv but we also anticipate including stories from other cities of Ukraine. Chronological boundaries will not be clearly defined. The accent will be on the period of memories of modern residents of the city from the 1950’s through the beginning of the 21st century with the possible addition of archival materials about Lviv residents of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
For whom? This exhibition is about children but for adults. We want to ask visitors with a question: Can we — adults — make the area of the city more friendly to children under the age of active learning? How has the experience of exploring the city in childhood influenced us as adults? How can we encourage children to expand the limits of the city’s perception and ensure their privacy in this process? How can we shape personal identity with the whole city and not just with a familiar street or district? The routes and places that are familiar to us as children shape the way that we later relate to and take responsibility for the city.
How to join creation? The exhibition will be interesting for both residents of Lviv and guests of the city, because each of us was once a child. The experience of overcoming childhood restraints, fears, and victories are similar regardless of nationality, country of residence, or age. We continue to collect stories that relate to childhood in the city and we invite you to tell your own story!
The project is being implemented with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation.
