The first international fair of cultural grants

On 2 July, the first international fair of cultural grants took place. It was organized by the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation and the Creative Europe Desk Ukraine.

The goal of the fair was to help Ukrainians seize financial opportunities for their cultural projects offered by Ukrainian and international donors, and to tell them about the existing fundraising mechanisms. Yevhen Nyshchuk, the Minister of Culture of Ukraine, said that “the true integration in the European cultural space is when carve-up gives place to development and implementation of transparent project selection procedures which, once approved, can no longer be corrupted by officials, MPs, ministers”. In addition, Mykola Kniazhytskyi, the Chairman of the Committee for Culture and Spirituality, said that “a chance to get access to funding in a transparent way, without having to bite the dust, will shape a new way of thinking and build trust among the Ukrainian society which is so crucial today”.

Among the participants in the fair were the EU Delegation to Ukraine, embassies of the U.S. and Argentina, International Renaissance Foundation, British Council Ukraine, Culture Bridges, Goethe Institut, Institut Français and Italian Cultural Institute as well as other foreign institutions and embassies. They all spoke of the project areas in which they give grants. The importance of comprehensive support of cultural projects was underlined by Hugues Mingarelli, EU Ambassador to Ukraine, who mentioned that “in the modern world, nurturing the development of creative industries will trigger economic growth”.

The event was attended by some 300 participants selected from among 1,500 candidates. Those who didn’t get invitation this time will be happy to know that similar fairs will be held annually and become a nice tradition and an efficient platform for communication between donors and representatives of cultural and creative industries who seek financial support for their cultural projects and initiatives in Ukraine. “This was only the first fair, so there’s going to be the second one, and third, and fifth. We are here for you to help you make your applications more successful and find your donor,” said Yuliia Fediv, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation.