After the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, among the displaced population are many creatives who found their new homes in other European countries, while others stayed in Ukraine and continued their creative work despite all odds. On the other hand, some might have been obliged to completely abandon their artistic practice and seek other opportunities. Starting from scratch, reinventing yourself and rebuilding your practice in a foreign country or adapting to the new reality in your own home, certainly requires significant resources, a deep understanding of new contexts as well as creating new connections and building trust.
Through this project, we are targeting Ukrainian creators who work with any type of crafts in their home country or across Europe as well as those who had to abandon their practice due to war. We want to make those individuals and collectives more visible and further empower them in building their small businesses and creative practices while gaining important connections and recognition at the European level. The aim is to create new support systems and in collaboration with our existing community and partners offer a wide range of opportunities based on the needs of creators.
What do we offer?
1.) online capacity building scheme (individual and/or collective mentorship) on topics requested by the applicants (September-December 2024)
Through this scheme we will support 25 creators and match them with expert mentors based on the topics of interest. These can range from self-promotion, communication, building portfolios, online shops to business models etc. The number and the dates of the sessions will be defined after identifying the topics. All sessions will be organised online.
2.) creator-in-residence, fully funded one-month residency in Split, Croatia (1-30 November 2024)
The selected creator will spend one month in the residency within the creative hub PROSTOR in Split. During that time the creator can undertake research or produce new works. The creator will also get the opportunity to make connections and exchanges with the local community and art scene - through organised networking sessions and studio visits and by participating in public events. The creator will need to organise at least two workshops of his/her choice for the local community (children and adults) during their stay.
The residency is fully funded, which includes:
up to 350,00 eur for the travel costs
1500,00 eur honorarium (per diems)
up to 500 eur production support (materials)
accommodation (private room with shared kitchen and bathroom)
workspace (studio within the creative hub)
In order to apply, you must:
be from Ukraine, displaced within Ukraine or abroad
be working with crafts (wood, glass, ceramics, textiles, metal, stone, paper….)
have a clear idea of what you want to achieve during the residency in Split
propose the content for two workshops
be available to come for the residency in November (1st-30th)
have a good knowledge of English
3) Opportunity to showcase and sell work at Crafts as a Form of Resilience Fair in Matera, Italy (1-7 March 2025)
The Fair will gather the works of at least 20 Ukrainian creators who will be able to showcase and sell their works during the one-week-long Fair hosted by Matera hub. The creators are selected on the basis of this open call and 4 of them will get support to travel personally to the Fair. During the Fair, a special storytelling event will be organised for the opening as well as the panel on the topic of “Rebuilding through Crafts” for the closing. The applicants are invited to express their interest in participating in these events which will give them the advantage for the travel support to Italy. All costs of sending the artworks, as well as travel, accommodation, and food for those coming personally to Matera, are covered.
If you want to apply for any of these opportunities, fill-in this form: https://forms.gle/6SiN6E7UxBTTNJwR6
You are free to apply for only one or all three opportunities.
Note: in order to be eligible for this call you must work with a form of crafts (artists working in other disciplines are not eligible to apply).
The call is open until 20th of July.
For any questions send us an email:
The Crafts as a Form of Resilience project is implemented by Culture Hub Croatia in partnership with Matera Hub (Italy) and Center of Social Innovations (Ukraine) with support of IZOLYATSIA foundation, Trans Europe Halles and Malý Berlín and co-financed by the ZMINA: Rebuilding program, created with the support of the European Union under a dedicated call for proposals to support Ukrainian displaced people and the Ukrainian Cultural and Creative Sectors.
