News item | 25-05-2022 | 16:10
The cabinet is making 1 million euros available to support artists who have fled the Russian aggression in Ukraine. This means that these makers from Ukraine and Russia can temporarily continue to practice their cultural and creative professions in the Netherlands. The Ministries of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) and Foreign Affairs (BZ) are each making 500,000 euros available. State Secretary Uslu (Culture and Media) informed the Ukrainian Minister of Culture, Oleksandr Tkachenko, in a digital meeting.
State Secretary Uslu: “Art and culture form a bridge between people and between countries. In difficult times it is of extra importance to keep that bridge intact as much as possible. We want to use this money to help the free, creative minds who fled to the Netherlands as a result of the war between Russia and Ukraine to continue doing their important work.”
The scheme is currently being worked out by the six National Culture Funds: the Film Fund, the Dutch Literature Fund, the Mondriaan Fund, the Performing Arts Fund, the Creative Industries Fund NL and the Cultural Participation Fund. The Netherlands Foundation for Literature will act as secretary on behalf of the six funds. The corresponding counter will be opened as soon as possible.
Cultural and creative professions
The scheme is intended to provide temporary support for refugee cultural and creative makers in all sectors: visual arts, creative industry, heritage, film, literature and the performing arts. A maximum of 10,000 euros is available per maker or project. The subsidy is applied for for the makers by Dutch cultural institutions. With the subsidy, makers can, for example, finance a residence or studio space or purchase aids such as equipment, tools or materials, so that they can temporarily continue their work in the Netherlands. In this way they can help build cultural life in Ukraine as soon as it is possible again.
Support for culture in Ukraine
The Ministries of Education, Culture and Science and the Interior and Kingdom Relations are currently investigating how Ukrainian artists and heritage in Ukraine can be supported in the near future in the reconstruction of the cultural sector. This includes protection, digitization and restoration of heritage.