Ukraine launches initiative to support art residencies "Zapravka"
"Zapravka" is an initiative created to support and promote Ukrainian residences
On July 10, the Ukrainian Institute, the European Union's House of Europe programme, and the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation announced the start of joint mapping of Ukrainian art residences. Residences that agree to participate in this process will be able to place their profiles in the largest web database of residences DutchCulture | TransArtists, as well as receive professional support and develop the international aspect of their programmes.

A joint database and research will help the three organizations that founded "Zapravka" to better coordinate and develop their own residency programmes.

"Art mobility and creative residencies are one of the priorities of the Ukrainian Institute, because for art sector professionals they are an indispensable way to immerse themselves in the context of another country and develop working contacts that may grow into international cooperation projects in the future. For foreign artists, curators and researchers, Ukraine still remains largely terra incognita, but therein lies the potential for its attractiveness. Undoubtedly, Ukrainian residency programmes are of interest to foreign specialists, but they lack international visibility and opportunities for development, and the task of "Zapravka" is to fix it," says Oleksandr Vynohradov, head of the Visual Arts Department at the Ukrainian Institute and EXTER's international art residency programme.

"In my opinion, "Zapravka" initiative is a kind of incident in modern Ukrainian cultural management. It is great that the staff of three different institutions work together to exchange information, offer support and coordinate their residency at the crossroads of Ukrainian and international contexts. The coronavirus pandemic has forced many residences to reformat into the "domestic market" and shift their focus from physical mobility to research, mapping and online formats. This was an additional impetus for our working group to study and describe the landscape of Ukrainian residences to make sure that it is properly represented on the international platform TransArtists," says Lina Romanuha, House of Europe residency programme manager.

"Zapravka" initiative can be a great springboard for Ukrainian art residencies to enter the international arena. In Ukraine, this format is just beginning to gain momentum - so, in 2020, 91 applications were submitted to the UKF competition in the Lot "Residence". While working with the applicants, we realized that bringing international experience to the residency programme is a very common and sometimes necessary format of work. Therefore, the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation joined the working group of "Zapravka" initiative to enable Ukrainian residences to reach a new level of development and facilitate the exchange of experiences between Ukrainian and foreign artists, curators and art managers," says the programme manager of the "N.O.R.D." of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation Yulia Alenina.

Representatives of creative residences from Ukraine who are interested in international cooperation and recognition can fill out the form at the link. This must be done no later than September 10, 2020, 23:59 Kyiv time. The received data will be processed and placed in the DutchCulture | TransArtists database. This international platform is designed to stimulate and enhance the mobility of artists, curators and other professionals in the cultural sector.

In order for information about your residence to be posted on this platform, the residence must meet the following criteria:

→ be sustainable (one-time residency programmes cannot be added to a permanent database);
→ be a professional residence for specialists in the culture and arts sector (hotels, boarding houses, recreation complexes, etc. are not allowed to participate in the programme);
→ be ready to interact with foreign artists, curators, art managers, in particular - to have in the team at least one person who speaks English;
→ do not receive income from the residency programme.


Placing up-to-date information on Ukrainian residences in an international database is only the first step in a joint initiative to support Zapravka residences. In the future, the Zapravka initiative plans to:

→ increase the international visibility of Ukrainian art residencies and inform the international community about the opportunities that exist in Ukraine for artists, curators and other professionals in the arts and culture sector;
→ raise the professional standards of residency programmes in Ukraine in order to increase their competitiveness in the international artistic environment;
→ to attract international experience through the participation of foreign artists, curators and art managers in Ukrainian residences.

In addition, the initiative team will create articles about creative residencies in Ukraine, announce local residency programmes, and share the experience of Ukrainian organizations that host artists, curators and art managers from other countries.


Zapravka initiative team:

Yulia Alenina — manager of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation of the N.O.R.D.
Katerina Alimova — programme manager of House of Europe.
Oleksandr Vynogradov - the Visual Arts Department of the Ukrainian Institute and the programme of international art residencies EXTER.
Lina Romanuha — the House of Europe residency programme manager.
Olga Tikhonova — an independent expert on artistic mobility.


Details of the programme and conditions of participation see → here.
For more information, please contact Oleksandr Vynohradov at [email protected].