// Exhibitions

The first exhibition of illustrations from books published by A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA

The genial actor Bohdan Beniuk, who played a role of a schoolboy called Hryts’ from Ivan Franko’s short story “Hryts’ Going to School”, from which the name A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA Publishers emerged

The first illustration exhibition of A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA Publishers took place in November, 1998 in the exhibition halls of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra to the offer of Serhiy Krolevets’, the director-general of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Preserve. Three halls represented over one hundred best illustrations from the books of A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA, created by Kost’ Lavro, Vladyslav Yerko, Oleh Petrenko-Zanevsky, Volodymyr Kharchenko, Oxana Ihnashchenko, Victoria Kovalchuk etc.

Before the exhibition’s opening, the main participants of the event gathered in the office and followed the photojournalist’s plead “to let him take a picture of them with serious faces at last”

The exhibition turned out to be so successful that the organizers continued its term for three times.

The boys’ choir of the Revutsky Male Choir performed “the A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA Song” for the first time

Ultimately, the exhibition had been visited by over 25 000 visitors. The feedbacks about the exhibition were deeply touching. Here are some of them:

The legendary academician Heorhiy Iakutovych named A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA Publishers “an academy of the children’s’ illustration”

“My God! How wonderful a person feels near these paintings. How much Light and Happiness is there. Especially the paintings by Vladyslav Yerko impress. It is impossible to look away from his images…” Kh. Marushchenko.

Bohdan Beniuk with Vasyl Mazur in “Hryts’ Going to School”

A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA Publishers builds the future Ukraine with its books! And not with some empty chatter and empty words! Thank you! Thank you!” A. G. Sukhina, director.

Ivan Malkovych with his son Hordiy; Mykola Zhulynsky

“Thank you. If people read the books with your illustrations more often, everything would have been different… Everything!” Leonid.

Anatoly Khostikoiev’s son pulls out “the lucky ticket”

Left to right: the well-known translators Ol’ha Seniuk and Ievhen Popovych; Oxana Pakhliovs’ka with her daughter Slavtsia, Olexiy Dolia

A young connoisseur of art; I.Malkovych, M. Zhulynsky, Ostap Stupka

“I don’t want to be repetitive, but the exhibition is marvelous! I guess these pictures have to be placed instead of billboards in the center of Kyiv! Thank you 100 000 000 times!” The eternal child.

The exhibition closing ceremony. Left to right: Peter Bejger, an American A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA literary agent; I. Malkovych, I. Ostash, Irena Khalupa (radio “Svoboda”) – an honorable chevalier of the A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA Order, Marta Kolomayets – an honorable chevalier of the A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA Order; an academician Heorhiy Iakutovych