EU supports Ukraine through culture

The European Commission is mobilising its instruments to support Ukrainian artists and culture professionals and to support the protection of cultural heritage.


November 30, 2022

Support for Ukrainian artists, cultural and creative professionals and organisations

The 2023 Creative Europe annual work programme includes a special action of €5 million to support Ukrainian artists and cultural organisations to create and showcase their art and works. The aim of this is to help in the welcoming of Ukrainian displaced people, children in particular, while preparing the post war recovery of the cultural and creative sector in the medium term.

The program was open for applications until November 2022 but you can learn more about Creative Europe's support of Ukraine here.

Culture Moves Europe, Creative Europe’s new mobility action is open for Ukrainian artists and creative professionals as well.

"I would like to express my full solidarity with the Ukrainian artists, creatives, culture professionals, and of course, cultural heritage and all cultural and creative sectors. They are the beating heart of Ukraine, and their work epitomises the Ukrainian history, identity, language, and hopes for the future. They are also part of our common European identity, made of a mosaic of cultures, in full respect of cultural diversity."
- Mariya Gabriel, EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth

Read the full statement here.

The Commission encourages project proposals for 2022 and 2023 culture calls to involve Ukrainian artists and organisations and will allow maximum flexibility for ongoing EU-funded projects involving Ukrainian partners.

“Creatives Unite”, a platform, for and by cultural and creative sectors and co-funded by the EU, is collecting and rendering public initiatives from the European networks supported through the Creative Europe programme and beyond. Cultural and creative sectors, Member States and other actors can use the platform to inform about their initiatives and responses to the crisis.

Support for the protection of Ukrainian cultural heritage

The Commission will launch a dedicated action on sharing expertise and capacity building of Ukrainian professionals for the reconstruction of cultural heritage sites.

The Commission stands ready to deliver emergency equipment for the protection of Ukrainian cultural heritage under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM).

The EU is exploring possibilities for protection and reconstruction of destroyed Ukrainian cultural heritage under the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI).

The European Competence Centre for Cultural Heritage (4CH) has launched “Save the Ukraine Monuments”, an initiative to save the digital documentation of Ukrainian cultural heritage, to preserve its memory and support the future restoration of assets from the damages caused by the war.

The #ARTvsWAR campaign launched by the EU on 18 April is drawing attention to the destruction of cultural heritage, initiatives to preserve it and the vibrancy and resilience of Ukrainian artists, cultural professionals and citizens in general.