Culture of Solidarity Fund – Ukraine edition: Supported initiatives
25 Mar 2022
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has violently disrupted the lives of people, cultural places and social systems. After weeks of war, we see destroyed and empty public spaces – physical, digital and in the creative imaginary – that will need years of inspiration, healing and rebuilding. This war has highlighted the power of cultural civil society in these efforts, demonstrating solidarity through mutual support, understanding and efficiency in collaboration. In Ukraine, its Eastern European neighborhood and all over Europe.
With pooled resources from a group of European co-funders, the Culture of Solidarity Fund has bundled different pan-European efforts right at the beginning of the war to respond to local cultural emergency needs. As a result of their widespread network in Ukraine and Eastern Europe, the team of the Culture of Solidarity Fund and its partners have promptly identified and supported emergency relief initiatives and on-the ground actions with larger donations. These included long standing partners (such as Mitost and Gazeta Wyborcza) as well as the European Cultural Foundation Princess Margriet Award for Culture laureates (such as VCRC and Borderland Foundation).
In addition, the fund has sought to support various initiatives that fight disinformation and propaganda filter bubbles, provide safe cultural spaces and counter forces of fragmentation. Be it a group of fact-checkers, residencies, a poetry platform, film screening or artistic research, these initiatives all offer meaningful solutions and stand as stellar examples of the strength of solidarity across societies. Their solutions work towards future healing and rebuilding and maintain hope in a peaceful European future based on mutual support and understanding.