Culture Helping Culture – Actions for Refugee Artists

1. Funding goals

In the spring of 2022, the Kulturrat NRW initiated a partnership program that linked artists based in NRW with 36 cultural creators who had fled from Ukraine. After a successful first round, the program is now being announced for a second time.

The Kulturrat NRW supports the individual partnerships and the voluntary commitment of local cultural workers with expense allowances totaling 1,500 euros per partnership for a period of five months from September 2023 to January 2024.

The content of the partnership is the responsibility of the applicant. A letter of motivation must be submitted as part of the application.

Partnerships may include, for example, the following commitments:

• Artistic collaborations that may result in (joint) exhibitions, concerts, readings or other events
• Shared use of studios, working spaces or rehearsal rooms
• Accompaniment at events and networking with conversation partners and multipliers from the cultural sector
• Support with applications and transfer of knowledge about the funding landscape and business start-ups in NRW
• Mediation of job opportunities or support in application processes
• Accompaniment during visits to authorities and/or apartment hunting

The aim of the program is to enable artists who have fled as a result of the Russian war against Ukraine to establish initial professional contacts in the cultural landscape of North Rhine-Westphalia. Cultural workers who do not hold a Ukrainian passport but whose center of life and work was in Ukraine before the outbreak of the war are also entitled to apply. In addition to partnerships with Ukrainian cultural creators, the Kulturrat NRW is also opening up the 2023 program to artists who have been subjected to repression due to their critical stance toward the Russian or Belarusian regimes and who have fled to NRW.

2. Requirements for funding

Eligible to apply are artists and cultural creators who are based in NRW and would like to volunteer as partners to refugees.

Associations and institutions are also eligible to apply, provided that an artistically active contact person is appointed as a partner, so that one-to-one support for the refugees is guaranteed.
Persons who already provide support for artists and cultural creators are also explicitly eligible to apply.

3. Application procedure

The partner submits the application. Before submitting the application, the partner must independently establish contacts with an artist who came to NRW because of the Russian war against Ukraine. The application shall then be made in this specified tandem.
Reapplication by partnerships already funded in 2022 is possible.

Note: If you are not yet in contact with a potential partner, you can use our „Culture Helping Culture“ advertising portal to search for one. The project coordination of „Culture Helping Culture“ does not actively bring together suitable people, but can arrange contacts if there are corresponding inquiries.

Please submit your application documents digitally in PDF format only to: a.kolyszko@kulturrat-nrw.de
Applications may be submitted in German or English.
The application deadline expired July 16, 2023 at 11:59 pm CET.
At the end of the partnership, the applicant agrees to submit a short report (1–2 pages) on the cooperation that took place over the past months. Deadline for submission is February 15, 2024. A report form will be provided for this purpose.

4. Application documents required

Completed and signed application form
Included: Letter of motivation for the planned sponsorship and short biographies of both sponsorship partners (max. 1 page).

5. Funding period

The funding period is five months and extends from September 1, 2023 to January 31, 2024. The cooperation within the framework of the partnerships must continue throughout the entire funding period.

6. Funding amount

The applicant will receive an expense allowance of 1,500 euros, which will be paid out at the beginning of the sponsorship period. The recipient shall acknowledge receipt of this amount by letter.
The partner undertakes to budget economically, to manage the amount conscientiously and to use it exclusively for the purposes proposed in the application.
The expense allowance may be used, for example, for:

• Travel expenses/tickets (museum, concerts, etc.) for both parties
• Training sessions or workshops for both parties together or exclusively for the refugee partner
• Travel expenses for the purpose of nationwide networking (according to NRW state travel expenses law)
• Printing costs/shipping costs for applications or advertising (flyers, etc.)
• Procurement of working materials (paint, sheet music, etc.)
• Rental (not purchase!) of technical equipment (film editing programs, cameras, tools, etc.)
• Space rental for studios, rehearsal rooms or venues
• Organization of events: exhibition openings, press materials, etc.

7. Application deadline

The application deadline expired 11:59 p.m. CET on July 16, 2023.

8. Selection procedure

The completed application with all accompanying documents should be sent by e-mail to the Kulturrat NRW, to the attention of the project coordinator of Culture Helping Culture, Ania Kołyszko: a.kolyszko@kulturrat-nrw.de
The Kulturrat NRW will decide on the approval of funding for the sponsorships. The decision will be communicated to the applicants in writing by August 15, 2023.

9. Download the application form

» to the application form

10. Contact

For questions regarding this call for proposals, please contact:
Ania Kołyszko
a.kolyszko@kulturrat-nrw.de 

www.kultur-hilft-kultur.de

Kulturrat NRW, Parkgürtel 24, 50823 Cologne, Germany


Sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of NRW