Cultural Horizons: Artistic Debuts (deadline extension)

Call at a glance

Essential facts

Apply and find full guidelines, templates and submission portal on the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation page Apply / Guidelines.

Footnotes

1. 1Source and full call details: Ukrainian Cultural Foundation online call page Cultural Horizons: Artistic Debuts and EU Funding & Tenders Portal listing.

Call identity and administrative data

Basic facts

Who can apply and partnership rules

Eligible applicant types

Consortium requirement

The call supports international cooperation projects only and therefore requires a partnership including a Ukrainian lead applicant plus at least one non-resident partner. The call permits individual entrepreneurs to participate but the rule that the Ukrainian partner acts as the lead applicant means projects are either: consortium projects with multiple legal entities or single-applicant projects in the case of a single Ukrainian individual entrepreneur acting as lead with at least one EU partner organisation. In short: partnership between Ukrainian lead and at least one EU-based partner is mandatory.

Geographic eligibility and sector

Beneficiary scope (geographic eligibility)

Target sector and thematic scope

Financial and project details

Project maturity and duration

Application, submission and evaluation

Application type and stages

Evaluation and success rates

Detailed evaluation criteria and scoring are provided in the Guidelines for Applicants (referenced documents). The scraped material does not state explicit success rates or number of awards; applicants should consult the Guidelines or contact the organisers for previous call statistics. Success rates are not provided in the available public summary.

Required supporting documents and templates

The call materials include a set of mandatory documents and templates to be uploaded with the electronic application. These documents are required both for the main applicant (Ukrainian resident) and the EU partner(s).

Administrative notes, contacts and links

Additional assessment fields requested

Funding Type

Grant (cascade funding distributed by the Cultural Horizons project via Ukrainian Cultural Foundation procedures).

Eligible Applicant Types

Consortium Requirement

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility)

Geographic eligibility explicitly requires the main applicant to be resident in Ukraine and non-resident partner(s) to be registered in EU member states. The call therefore targets Ukraine-EU collaboration.

Target Sector

Culture; arts; creative industries; cultural heritage; professional development of early-career artists and graduates of arts education institutions.

Mentioned Countries

Ukraine is explicitly mentioned as the required resident country for the main applicant. European Union member states are explicitly mentioned as the required registration location for non-resident partner organisations. No specific EU Member State names are listed in the scraped content; regionally the EU and Ukraine are the explicit geographic mentions.

Project Stage

Application Type

Open call, single-stage electronic submission via UCF portal. The EU portal provides summary listing and links to the UCF application page. The call is competitive and open to eligible applicants during the published submission period.

Nature of Support

Application Stages

Single-stage application. Applicants submit full proposals and supporting documentation in one round; no multi-stage selection is indicated in the provided materials.

Success Rates

Not specified in the scraped content. The call summary does not provide historical success-rate statistics or expected number of awards. Applicants should request this information from the UCF contacts if required for planning.

Co-funding Requirement

Co-funding or matching requirements are not specified in the scraped summary. The detailed Guidelines for Applicants and budget template should be consulted to confirm whether cost-sharing, in-kind contributions, or beneficiary co-financing are required. The public summary does not state an explicit co-funding percentage.

Templates and application structure

Summary and recommendation

This call offers short-term (up to 5 months) grants aimed at supporting recent graduates of arts education institutions and early-career artists to start their professional trajectory and to establish sustainable cooperation with cultural institutions through international (Ukraine-EU) partnerships. Individual awards range from €5,000 to €14,000, with a total envelope of €350,000 distributed via the Cultural Horizons project managed by the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation in cooperation with EU partners. Main applicants must be Ukrainian residents (organisations or individual entrepreneurs) and projects must include at least one EU-registered partner organisation. Applications are submitted electronically in a single-stage process using the prescribed proposal, work plan and budget templates; required legal and partner registration documents must be uploaded. The initial deadline was extended because of the security situation in Ukraine; applicants should consult the UCF open-call page for the definitive deadline and document templates and should contact the listed email addresses for clarifications.

Footnotes

1. 1Full call details, templates and the application portal are available from the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation open-call page: ucf.in.ua

Opportunity overview

The opportunity is linked to the Creative Europe topic CREA-CULT, Fostering Ukrainians’ access to culture and cultural heritage. The EU funded project is implemented under grant agreement 101237681.

The official EU Funding and Tenders Portal lists the opportunity as a single-stage cascade funding call with an opening date of 20 October 2026, a deadline of 1 November 2026 at 17:00 Brussels time, total available funding of €350,000 and project implementation of up to five months. The Ukrainian Cultural Foundation call documentation states that applications must be submitted through the Foundation platform and gives an extended operational deadline of 19 October 2026 at 18:00 Kyiv time. Applicants should verify the submission deadline displayed in the active application system before submitting because the two official sources contain different dates 1.

Official call sources

The authoritative EU opportunity record is available through the EU Funding and Tenders Portal. The operational call documentation, templates and applicant guidance are published by the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation.

Strategic purpose

The call is intended to help graduates of arts education institutions establish themselves as artists and cultural professionals, strengthen their creative potential and build sustainable cooperation with cultural institutions. It also supports arts universities, academies, higher education institutions, creative studios, art schools, workshops and cultural and educational centres that contribute to the professional development of early-career artists.

Funded projects must create cultural products with the direct involvement of young artists as performers, authors, co-authors, creative team members or other key participants in project creation and implementation. A central requirement is demonstrable integration of emerging artists into the professional cultural environment.

Eligible applicants and partnerships

The main applicant must be a legal entity of any ownership form or an individual entrepreneur registered in Ukraine and operating in territory controlled by Ukraine. The applicant must have been registered for at least one year by the date of the call announcement, subject to the exclusions and conditions in the official guidelines.

The Ukrainian applicant must implement the project in partnership with at least one organisation registered in a European Union Member State. The EU partner must be a legal entity, such as an enterprise, institution or organisation. The partnership requirement is substantive and should be reflected in the project design, work plan, budget and letters of intent.

The main applicant is responsible for submitting the application. The Ukrainian partner must act as the lead applicant, while EU organisations participate as international partners. The opportunity is not designed for an EU organisation to apply independently without an eligible Ukrainian lead applicant.

Applicants should confirm that their legal status, registration history, cultural experience and proposed partnership meet the detailed requirements of the current applicant guidelines. The available material does not establish a separate minimum age requirement for the individual artists involved.

Eligible cultural sectors and activities

Supported sectors include audio art, visual art, cultural heritage, literature, audiovisual production and cultural and creative industries, including cross-sectoral projects.

Examples of potentially eligible outputs include podcasts, audiobooks, music albums, audio plays, sound installations, exhibitions, art installations, digital art, photography, illustrations, art objects, feature films, documentaries, video essays, video art, animation, television or web series, music videos, multimedia projects, digital collections, cultural heritage documentation, research and educational products, mobile applications, interactive cultural products, virtual or augmented reality solutions, cultural startups, multimedia services, design products, fashion collections, decorative and applied arts and products based on folk arts, traditional techniques or other elements of cultural heritage.

The proposed output should be clearly connected to the professional development of emerging artists and should explain the role of each young artist in the creation and delivery of the product. Projects should also demonstrate meaningful collaboration with the EU partner rather than treating the partner as an administrative participant only.

Funding and financial parameters

The total budget available for the call is €350,000, corresponding to UAH 18,000,000 in the Ukrainian Foundation materials.

The minimum grant is €5,000, corresponding to UAH 250,000. The maximum grant is €14,000, corresponding to UAH 715,000.

The call documentation does not state a separate co-financing percentage or a mandatory applicant contribution in the information reviewed. Applicants should therefore rely on the budget rules and eligible cost instructions in the current Ukrainian Cultural Foundation guidelines rather than assuming that the grant covers every project cost or that additional funding is unrestricted.

At the maximum grant amount, the total budget could theoretically support approximately 25 projects, although the actual number of awards will depend on the amounts requested, eligibility checks, evaluation results, available budget and final grant decisions.

A specific cost control identified in the Foundation information is that the combined share of remuneration for team members and author remuneration or fees for non-team members, including the relevant social contribution, may not exceed 50 percent of the total grant-funded expenditure.

Project duration and implementation

The EU Funding and Tenders Portal indicates that funded projects may be implemented for up to five months. The Foundation project proposal template identifies an implementation period beginning no earlier than 15 March 2027 and ending no later than 15 August 2027, including final reporting.

Applicants should not begin project activities before the permitted start date or before grant agreement signature. The project work plan should cover preparation, production, cooperation with the EU partner, involvement of young artists, dissemination and reporting within the permitted implementation period.

The Foundation information contains a chronology with some dates that appear inconsistent, including a negotiation date earlier than the application deadline. Those dates should not be used as definitive unless confirmed in the current official guidelines or directly in the applicant portal.

Application documents

The application package is submitted electronically through the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation platform. The key documents identified in the published materials are listed below.

Required documentation

Project application completed electronically through the Foundation website.

Project work plan using the official Excel template.

Detailed project budget using the official budget template and its embedded completion instructions.

Extract from the Ukrainian Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs and Public Formations for the main applicant. The extract must contain the required full data set and must be issued within the period specified by the call documentation, generally no earlier than the call launch date and no later than the final application deadline.

Registration certificate or commercial register extract for the EU partner, submitted as a scan of the original document. Documents not issued in English require a duly certified Ukrainian translation. The document must be uploaded in the designated international partner documents section.

Letter of intent or memorandum of intent between the applicant and the EU partner. The document must be uploaded in the designated letters of intent section, using the applicable template where required.

Applicants should obtain the Ukrainian registration extract early. The Foundation warns that access to and issuance of register data can be affected by regulations applicable during martial law and for one month after its termination or cancellation.

Language and submission requirements

The language of project implementation is Ukrainian. Supporting materials in foreign languages must be accompanied by a Ukrainian translation where required by the guidelines. Documents originally issued in English are identified as not requiring translation for the EU partner registration document.

The application must be completed and submitted electronically, and the applicant must sign it with an electronic digital signature. Applicants should register on the Foundation website, select the Cultural Horizons programme, select the Artistic Debuts lot and the applicable competition type, complete the application and sign it electronically.

Assessment and selection

The selection process is expected to include an initial technical eligibility check followed by expert evaluation and subsequent grant agreement procedures. The published call information identifies technical eligibility and expert evaluation stages, but the precise scoring grid and weighting should be taken from the latest applicant guidelines.

Technical compliance is likely to be decisive because missing registration evidence, incomplete templates, an invalid electronic signature, an ineligible partner or failure to meet the Ukrainian applicant requirements can lead to rejection before substantive quality assessment.

Strong applications should demonstrate a clear artistic concept, credible production plan, defined roles for young artists, a genuine EU partnership, realistic costs, measurable outputs, professional development benefits and a contribution to Ukraine’s cultural sector or cultural heritage objectives.

Key compliance risks

Applicants should pay particular attention to the following issues.

The Ukrainian lead applicant must meet the minimum registration period and must be eligible under the territorial and legal conditions in the guidelines.

The EU partner must be registered in an EU Member State. A partner from a non-EU country may not satisfy the stated partner eligibility requirement.

The project must directly involve young artists in meaningful creative or implementation roles. A general cultural project without a clear artistic debut or professional development dimension may be weakly aligned.

The application must use the prescribed work plan and budget templates, with supporting documents uploaded in the correct fields.

The remuneration and author fee limit of 50 percent of grant-funded expenditure must be respected.

Project expenditure and activities should be planned within the permitted implementation period and should not rely on an unconfirmed extension.

Applicants should reconcile the deadline shown in the EU portal with the deadline in the Foundation application system and submit before the earlier verified closing time if the discrepancy remains unresolved.

Recommended applicant preparation

Applicants should first confirm the live deadline, call status and application route in the Foundation platform and retain evidence of successful electronic submission.

The Ukrainian lead should verify its registration date, legal form, cultural experience and ability to obtain the required register extract within the permitted document period.

The partners should agree a written division of responsibilities covering artistic development, production, mentoring, dissemination, intellectual property, costs and reporting.

The project concept should identify the participating emerging artists, their educational or early-career status, their creative roles, the expected professional development benefits and the final cultural product.

The budget should be prepared from the activity plan, distinguish eligible and ineligible expenditure, respect the remuneration ceiling and provide a clear justification for each major cost.

Applicants should prepare Ukrainian translations for required foreign-language documents and verify that all scans are complete, legible and uploaded to the correct document categories.

Contacts

Questions about grant calls can be directed to programa.coho@ucf.in.ua. Other questions concerning Cultural Horizons can be directed to horizons@ucf.in.ua. The Ukrainian Cultural Foundation also lists its general contact address as info@ucf.in.ua.

Overall assessment

This is a small-scale, targeted opportunity suited to Ukrainian cultural organisations and individual entrepreneurs that can deliver a focused artistic or cultural product with an EU-based institutional partner. The grant size favours projects with a limited implementation period, a concise production plan and clearly evidenced participation of emerging artists.

The strongest proposals are likely to combine a credible artistic debut pathway with a concrete international cooperation model, a defined cultural output, realistic delivery within five months and demonstrable benefits for both the participating artists and the wider Ukrainian cultural sector.

Applicants should treat the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation guidelines, templates and active submission platform as the controlling sources for detailed financial, documentary and procedural requirements, while using the EU Funding and Tenders Portal to verify the overarching project, budget and deadline record 2.

Footnotes

1. 1The EU Funding and Tenders Portal record supplied for this analysis lists 1 November 2026 at 17:00 Brussels time. The Ukrainian Cultural Foundation call page and published call materials identify an extended application deadline of 19 October 2026 at 18:00 Kyiv time. The Foundation materials also contain earlier dates in some sections. Applicants should confirm the live deadline displayed by the official submission system before filing. Relevant sources: EU Funding and Tenders Portal and Ukrainian Cultural Foundation Artistic Debuts.
2. 2The main supporting documents include the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation applicant guidance, project proposal template and programme information. Sources: Applicant Guidelines, Project Proposal Template and Creative Europe Ukraine Topic.