Support for cultural activity in Ukraine with UK involvement

Full list of winners

• KamerFilm: Metaphorical Short Film Workshop – a project by the NGO Art Festival 'Ї’, bringing together 20 artists (10 from Ukraine and 10 from the UK) to create metaphorical short films. Participants—directors, screenwriters, composers, cinematographers, actors, and 3D specialists—will collaborate through online workshops under the guidance of experts from Ukraine and the UK. The project explores themes of cultural heritage, feminist narratives, and resilience, drawing inspiration from the works of two prominent artists: British painter Vanessa Bell and Ukrainian avant-garde innovator Sonia Delaunay. The British part of the project is curated by Dr. Babar Hussain and Michelle Wheatley from the School of Digital Arts (SODA, Manchester), where screenings of the created films will also take place.
• Ecocriticism: European Contexts for Ukrainian Culture – a project by the NGO Literary Platform 'Frontera', combining an Ecocriticism Lab for artists, researchers, and critics (May 2025) with the 5th International Literary Festival "Frontera" in Lutsk (August 2025). The key speaker of the project is Bulgarian-Scottish writer Kapka Kassabova, a renowned author whose works are published in The Independent, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, and The Economist, and a recipient of the British Academy Prize. The project focuses on ecocriticism as an interdisciplinary field addressing environmental themes relevant both to the development of European literature and in the context of ecocide caused by the Russia-Ukraine war. Kassabova will conduct an online workshop during the Lab and participate in festival events alongside participants from Ukraine, Poland, Spain, and the UK.
• Physical Theatre Laboratory – a project by the NGO Kharkiv Residency 'Slovo’ aimed at developing artists working with movement and space, including actors, directors, scenographers, architects, visual artists, sculptors, choreographers, photographers, and designers. The educational programme combines British and Ukrainian physical theatre practices, led by British director and choreographer Jonathan Ben-Shaul and Ukrainian artist Mykola Naboka. The project seeks to support artists who demonstrated adaptability to war conditions in 2022, ensuring the continuation of their artistic and educational activities. Special attention is given to engaging students from frontline areas and fostering direct collaborations for future co-productions with British educational centres, organisations, and artists.
• 3rd International LGBTQIA+ Film Festival SUNNY BUNNY – a project by the NGO Molodist Foundation, evolving from the namesake programme of the Molodist International Film Festival, which has existed since 2001. The festival is the leading LGBTQIA+ cultural event in Ukraine and Eastern Europe, featuring an international feature film competition and non-competitive screenings of documentaries, shorts, and classics. As part of the festival, a retrospective of six British LGBTQIA+ films will be presented in collaboration with a UK-based curator from LGBTQIA+ film festivals (such as BFI Flare and Fringe!). The programme highlights the diversity of LGBTQIA+ representation in British cinema, showcasing both iconic works and lesser-known but significant films for the community from different eras.
• Kyiv International Short Film Festival (KISFF) is Ukraine's largest short film festival, showcasing works by emerging and established directors, film school students, and independent artists worldwide. The UK component of the 2025 project is implemented in collaboration with Reclaim The Frame, an organisation supporting films by marginalised gender artists and promoting inclusivity in cinema. The festival programme will include a selection of films by British female directors and a panel discussion with Reclaim The Frame representatives on the challenges of inclusion in the film industry. Additionally, the organisation will provide consultancy for KISFF’s LGBTQIA+ section, particularly the Fem Riot* and Out&Proud programmes.
• Heroes? A Worker’s Portrait of the 20th Century – Archive and Artistic Reflection – a project by the NGO Cultural Code of Porkovsk+, exploring the industrial heritage through a juxtaposition of two archival collections: works by Ukrainian photojournalist Mykola Bilokon and British social and feminist photographer Franki Raffles (from the 1970s to the 2000s). A team of curators, artists, and archivists from the UK (University of St Andrews) and Ukraine (Cultural Code of Pokrovsk+, Pokrovsk Historical Museum, Dnipro Centre for Contemporary Culture, and Centre for Urban History, Lviv) will interpret the collections beyond the stereotypical Global North-South divide. The exhibition will be co-curated by Professor Victoria Donovan (University of St Andrews, Ukrainian and Eastern European Studies) and Kateryna Rusetska, while senior lecturer Catherine Spencer (University of St Andrews) will contribute as a researcher, contextualising materials and working on the exhibition catalogue. The project results will be presented through an exhibition and a series of online and offline events.
• 9th International Festival of Experimental Music and Media Art ‘Hamselyt’ – a project by the NGO Institute of Urban Culture, reviving the iconic event after a hiatus from 2020-2024. Since 2012, the festival has shaped the alternative music scene and regional identity of Ternopil. The three-day festival is organised in partnership with the British creative organisation IKLECTIK, which will provide mentorship and conduct a spatial sound workshop. The programme includes musical performances by British, Ukrainian, and Polish artists with an online broadcast, featuring the British duo Riotmiloo and Glasgow-based techno-electronic music pioneer Tobias Schmidt. Additional components include an art exhibition, video art screenings, and eight radio programmes about contemporary British experimental music on 20ft Radio.
• Philharmonic Evenings II: British Edition 2025 – a project by the Ivano-Frankivsk regional branch of the National Ukrainian Music Union, presenting a panorama of British music from the Renaissance to the present in a five-day festival from 18-22 August 2025. The programme, involving five leading Ukrainian orchestras and over 100 musicians, will feature works of English Baroque (Purcell, Dowland, Byrd), 20th-century British composers (Britten, Vaughan Williams, Holst, Walton), performances on authentic instruments, and a unique dialogue between English madrigals and Ukrainian cantatas. The festival’s highlight will be the world premiere of the opera Penelope. Seven Ways of Waiting by contemporary Armenian-British composer Christina Arakelyan, performed by Anna Starushkevych—winner of the First Prize, Audience Award, and York Early Music Prize at the prestigious London Handel International Competition.
• NUD 2025: Residency & Networking – a project by New Ukrainian Drama, creating a space for young Ukrainian theatre artists to collaborate with experienced professionals from Ukraine and the UK. The programme consists of five online workshops and an in-person networking event at the Dramatists’ Theatre. The programme moderator is Anastasia Yevchenko, who works in the theatre industry in both Ukraine and the UK. Workshops cover production (Yaroslava Kravchenko & Leila Sykes), dramaturgy (Maksym Kurochkin & Joel Samuels), stage management (Valeria Tyahun, Patritsiia Kuznietsova-Hnatkevych & Andy Jones), immersive theatre (Anastasia Yevchenko & Owen Kingston), and inclusivity & accessibility (Edward J. C. Davies).
• A Millenium Before Them, To Their Spirit! – a project by the Odesa Museum of Contemporary Art, presenting a series of three video screenings created in collaboration with Videocity and curated by Anna Morokhovska, Stanislav Kholodnykh, and James Stephen Wright. The project brings together Ukrainian and British video art around themes of ecology and urbanisation, migration and identity, technology and interaction. Participants include Ukrainian artists Anna Potiomkina, Anton Saienko, Dasha Chechushkova, Katya Libkind, Vitalii Kokhan, as well as British artists Nick Crowe and Ian Rawlinson, Monster Chetwynd, Abby Palmer, and Ker Wallwork. Each screening will be accompanied by a discussion on social, environmental, and technological issues through the lens of contemporary media.
• Ostroh Design Week – a project by the NGO Tourist Image Development Studio, offering young people in Ostroh (Ukraine's Youth Capital) an opportunity to immerse themselves in modern design. Held at the Centre for Creative Industries, the event will feature meetings, workshops, and lectures by regional and British experts in graphic, industrial, digital, and ecological design. British expertise will be provided by speakers from Uncommon Creative, who will deliver lectures on branding in the UK, and photographer Barry Falk, who will lead a discussion on photography’s role in design and present an exhibition of his works, including images taken in Ukraine. The overarching theme of the project is the role of design in Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction.
• Litlab Teens – an educational project by the NGO Mystetskyi Arsenal Community designed for young people aged 14-18. The programme consists of weekly meetings over six months, led by curator and head of the book department, Yuliia Konopliana. The programme includes workshops, meetings with writers, editors, and artists, as well as project work in creative writing, documentary storytelling, and editing. British experts will conduct online workshops on creative writing, storytelling, and literary project management for Litlab participants and the Teen Advisory Board of Mystetskyi Arsenal. The project will culminate in the development of a special teen programme for the Book Arsenal 2025, giving young participants hands-on experience working with international experts and the festival team.
• Accessible Cinema Days – a project by the NGO Accessible Cinema, organising screenings of British documentary films from the DOCU/CLUB network collection, featuring audio descriptions for visually impaired viewers and extended subtitles for those with hearing impairments. The programme includes online discussions with film directors, including a planned session with the protagonist of Young Plato, as well as meetings with British experts actively supporting Ukraine and promoting Ukrainian culture. The project aims to make cinema accessible to a wider audience and foster discussions on cultural accessibility and social inclusion.
• UK/UA Cultural Journalism Exchange – a project by the NGO Chytomo Cultural and Publishing Project, aimed at developing the skills of Ukrainian cultural journalists in creating content for an English-speaking audience. The project will take place in the format of two intensive workshops led by Dr. Emily Finer, a senior lecturer at the University of St Andrews, who teaches children's literature and collaborates with emerging literary critics and children's publishers, including Ukrainian ones. The project will result in the creation of 10 articles for the Ukrainian and English versions of the Chytomo website, while also strengthening long-term collaboration between Ukrainian and English-language editorial teams.