The new season of art therapy at the Morozovka Children’s Hospital, where the charity festival «Autumn in Morozovka» opened. World-famous musicians – «Moscow Virtuosi» – were the first to visit the young patients. Creative meetings, concerts and exhibitions allow you to fill hospital days with bright colours – it works no worse than drugs.

Four-year-old Vova has acute leukemia. The disease requires a long treatment, so for the boy and his mother the Morozovsky Hospital is the second home for two months now.

«Every parent and every child always divides their lives into ‘before’ and ‘after’. The  ‘before’ life is full of bright colours. And ‘after’, of course, there are fewer such bright points», says Elena Zhdanovich.

The Autumn in Frost Festival helps to get back to life in Vova and hundreds of other young patients. Flute, violin, double bass: «Moscow Virtuosi» is a guest.

«It’s a great pleasure for us to see them, to see their faces, to rub them on the head so they can come up and ask for something. «Is it okay to play?» Everything can be played! This is our passive treatment», says Grigory Kovalevsky, People’s Artist of Russia, Director of the State Chamber Orchestra «Moscow Virtuosi».

Doctors have long noticed: with music, treatment is more effective. So the project, once an educational one, turned into a therapeutic one.

«The number of drugs against the background of art therapy began to decrease. We saw a therapeutic effect of this. That is why this integration of education, healthcare and culture has become known as art therapy», says Leonid Pechatnikov, Deputy Mayor of the Moscow City Government for Social Development.

On hospital walls, reproductions of famous paintings tell the story of painting from ancient Egypt to the present day.

«The child walks its routes, lives its life and absorbs what surrounds it. And this educational environment forms its inner world», says art historian Dina Gurariy.

«Grey Corridors» is certainly not about Morozovskaya. DNA is made of colourful cubes, columns are decorated with typewriters and even in shop windows there are toys instead of medical devices.

The festival itself will last for three months. During this time, the hospital area will also be transformed. Soon various installations will appear here, and children will be able to take part in master classes and creative competitions. Gifts in the form of educational comics will also be available for young patients.