YURII VLASIUK (Kyiv, Ukraine)

Yurii Vlasiuk, Kyiv is a co-organizer of the faire for makers and inventors, Mini-Maker Faire, in five Ukrainian cities: Kyiv Maker Faire, Odesa Mini Maker Faire, Dnipro Mini Maker Faire, Kharkiv Mini Maker Faire, Lviv Mini Maker Faire. Maker Faire is a technology, ingenuity and creativity festival that takes place around the world today, and in the United States it has become a national trend. This movement is a mix of science, IT and crafts; a united meeting of technical enthusiasts of all ages: crafters, hobbyists, engineers, representatives of scientific clubs, authors, artists, students — those who do it for pleasure, as well as those who earn on that.

With the birth of his first son, Yurii began to wonder: what to do with the child, except typical games and cartoons, and what activities can be done together by hands, so adults and the children would be interested. One day he came across the Make Magazine, with which he discovered an infinitely interesting world of Maker Faire. For two years, Yurii couldn’t dare to write an application for the first fair of makers and inventors in Ukraine, and in 2015, finally, the machine spun. There were two fairs in that year, four in 2016, four in 2017, five in 2018 — in Dnipro, Odesa, Lviv, Kharkiv and Kyiv. In Ukraine, there are more and more fans of the international inventors’ movement with each Mini Maker Faire: on June 6, 2015, the fair garnered about 50 makers at G13 space, and on November 14, more than 90 participants and three thousand guests attended the fair at VDNG.

The Mini Maker Faire is a holiday of open and sincere communication. And that is too much to wait for next year, even though, under the terms of the license, only one fair is held a year. Therefore, the organizers regularly hold the meetings of the makers on various subjects, arrange excursions to production and makers’ spaces.