The German cultural scene has reacted to the war in Ukraine with great solidarity and countless offers of help – including grants, work stays, studios or residences. In order to coordinate the offers from Germany and target them towards cultural professionals from Ukraine, the Goethe-Institut has entered into a partnership with the international NGO Artists at Risk (AR) to coordinate and set up a central matchmaking portal. Offers of support from institutions in Germany will be collected centrally via the Goethe portal. Likewise, Artists at Risk (AR) centrally collects applications from Ukrainian artists at risk from across Europe. This partnership employs a team of curators which matches suitable profiles of creative artists and cultural professionals applying from Ukraine with German institutions joining the initiative. Cultural institutions from Germany who would like to offer employment opportunities, studios or residences can now register at www.goethe.de/ukraine-hilfe. If funds are lacking, institutions can also apply to the Goethe-Institut for financial grants towards accommodation or production costs.
Many German cultural institutions have set up aid programmes for cultural professionals from Ukraine. These programmes include residencies lasting several months, scholarships, or even job opportunities that can facilitate their stay in host countries. The Goethe-Institut is now acting as a mediator for these offers, in partnership with Artists at Risk (AR), an organisation which has been supporting artists in danger at international level for over ten years.
German cultural institutions will now be able to register their offers and also apply for financial support at the same time. These new support funds have been established by the Goethe-Institut and are intended to cover accommodation or production costs. German artistic and cultural institutions with a registered legal structure are entitled to apply for a grant of 2,000 EUR per month and a period of between two and six months. The website with further information on conditions of the grants, how to apply, and contact persons is available below: www.goethe.de/ukraine-hilfe
On the side, creative artists and cultural professionals who have fled Ukraine, are asked
to register directly with Artists at Risk (AR). Please forward all inquiries to the application
form found on the homepage of Artists at Risk (AR): www.artistsatrisk.org. The applications and the offers will then be brought together by a team of six experienced curators from Ukraine, Germany and other European regions. The team will evaluate the profiles of the artists as well as the registrations from cultural institutions through the portal, after which applicants will be matched with the respective institutions. Several German cultural organisations have already agreed to joint coordination during several network meetings, including institutions as diverse as the transmediale, the city of Augsburg, Literarische Colloquium Berlin, Künstlerhaus Lauenburg, Hans und Charlotte Krull Stiftung, Schauspiel Köln and others.
Special funds for Ukraine
The matching of Ukraine cultural professionals with German cultural organisations is
part of a comprehensive package of measures that the Goethe-Institut will realise with
special funds from the Ukraine supplementary budget – subject to its adoption by the German parliament (Bundestag). The aim is to expand protection programmes for at-
risk groups, artists, cultural workers or media professionals. The Goethe-Institut works closely with the Martin Roth Initiative, the international NGO Artists at Risk (AR) and
other partners both in Germany and abroad. Further Goethe-Institut programmes are
aimed at making arrival in Germany easier and teaching German skills. To this end, the
Goethe-Institut is also training welcome teachers/assistants at German schools as well
as voluntary helpers.
The matching portal is a partnership between the Goethe-Institut and the international NGO Artists at Risk (AR).
