VARIABILITY OF INCLUSIVE PRACTICES IN UKRAINIAN THEATRE INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

The article examines the issues of implementing inclusive practices in Ukrainian cultural institutions using the example of theaters. The priority of creating barrier-free access and an inclusive environment in Ukrainian theatrical institutions is stated. It is found that accessibility involves creating conditions to ensure equal access to employment and participation in various types of activities for people with disabilities, as well as eliminating physical barriers (or minimizing them) in order to create equal opportunities to ensure access to culture for all categories of citizens. Methodological recommendations for creating cultural products and providing services, as well as new accessibility standards in the field of culture, developed within the framework of state initiatives to create a barrierfree space in Ukraine by 2030, are considered and extrapolated to modern domestic theater practices. The main areas of activity of theater institutions related to the integration of the concept of inclusive culture have been identified (ensuring unhindered access to the theater institution and creating appropriate conditions for barrier-free receipt of cultural services for all categories of citizens; creating a cultural product taking into account the needs of people with disabilities, people with visual, hearing, motor, intellectual and mental disabilities, both congenital and acquired; forming a barrier-free approach to the work of people with special needs in theater groups; establishing theater groups specializing in working with actors who have certain physical and/or mental disorders for the purpose of implementation; developing digital content – websites, mobile applications – in accordance with the concept of diversity, justice and inclusion). The role of the festival movement (inclusive festival «SHLYAKH», mini-festival «More than a Game») in promoting the integration of inclusive theater culture in Ukraine is considered and their role in discovering actors with disabilities, inclusive theater groups, popularizing inclusive theater practices, etc. is identified. A number of problems that arise on the way to creating a barrier-free space and an inclusive environment in Ukrainian theater institutions are outlined and ways to solve them are proposed. The need for further development of contextualized, sustainable and participatory strategies for integrating cultural inclusion into the activities of theater institutions in Ukraine, built on the involvement of all subjects of the cultural and artistic process in this process, is emphasized. Special emphasis is placed on the importance of forming in Ukrainian society an understanding of diversity and barrier-freeness as an advantage to be strived for, rather than a problem that requires a solution