The MHP-Gromadi Charitable Foundation, in cooperation with the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, announced the results of the "Culture in the Focus of Communities" competition. This is the first joint grant project aimed at supporting local cultural initiatives in settlements outside large cities and regional centers, UNN reports.
The competition started on January 9 and became part of the eighth grant season of the UCF. A total of 173 applications were received from all regions of Ukraine. After careful selection, 14 projects became winners, which will receive funding ranging from UAH 500,000 to UAH 1 million for the implementation of their ideas. The total budget of the competition was UAH 10 million, half of which was provided by the MHP-Gromadi Charitable Foundation. Another UAH 1.4 million was added by the participants themselves as part of the mandatory co-financing of the project.
Together with the MHP-Gromadi Charitable Foundation, we supported initiatives that reveal the cultural potential of small communities and preserve local heritage. These include the digitalization of monuments endangered by the full-scale war, the creation of new museum exhibitions, the development of ethno-hubs, and virtual tours. These projects demonstrate that quality cultural products can emerge not only in large cities. They combine tradition with technology, engage residents, and open Ukrainian culture to the world – from towns and villages where it is born every day
The competition was open to local self-government bodies, legal entities of all forms of ownership, and individual entrepreneurs who have been working in the field of culture for at least one year. Each of the selected projects underwent a five-stage evaluation, in which the key criteria were: quality of the idea, community involvement, preservation of cultural heritage, use of modern technologies, and sustainability of the result. Special attention was paid to communities that, due to the war, lost part of their cultural infrastructure or access to the artistic environment.
We are convinced that true cultural power is born precisely in communities — in villages, towns, small cities. It is there that folk traditions are preserved, museums are restored, hubs and cultural spaces are created. We are grateful to the UCF for this partnership - this is our joint step towards making cultural support systemic and accessible where it is most needed
Within the framework of the competition, initiatives were supported in the following areas: cultural heritage, literature, visual, audiovisual, performing and stage arts, creative industries. Priority was given to innovative solutions, technological approaches, work with intangible heritage, and sustainable partnerships.
More details about the winners can be found on the UCF website.