ArtPower Belarus continues to accept applications for grants under Track 3: Projects in Exceptional Circumstances. The track is designed for Belarusian cultural professionals and initiatives facing difficult or unforeseen personal or professional circumstances who need support to implement a cultural project.
Applications for Track 3 are accepted on a rolling basis. Grants range from €1,000 to €5,000, and in exceptional cases may be awarded up to €10,000. Projects must be completed no later than 31 August 2027.
Who can apply?
Applications for Track 3 are open to:
- cultural professionals who have faced repression, provided that the repression occurred no more than one year before the application date and can be documented;
- applicants who have become unable to work within the past 12 months;
- people who have been forced to leave Belarus, within the first year after their departure;
- individuals and initiatives that lost funding no more than three months before applying;
- projects and mobility activities that cannot be postponed without significant adverse consequences;
- applicants facing other exceptional circumstances that can be supported by relevant documentation.
What support is available?
Funding can be used to implement small-scale cultural projects, urgent activities and mobility opportunities, such as participation in international events, residencies, educational programmes or research. It can also be used to help complete projects whose implementation is at risk.
The key conditions are:
- grant amount: €1,000–€5,000, and up to €10,000 in exceptional cases;
- project completion: no later than 31 August 2027;
- applications: accepted on a rolling basis;
- selection: 1–2 times per month, depending on the number of applications received;
- project start: no earlier than 5 weeks after the application is submitted;
- maximum fee for an individual author: €4,000.
Funding of up to €10,000 may be requested for urgent group mobility involving five or more people, a joint project by several authors in vulnerable circumstances, or when previously confirmed funding is withdrawn during project implementation for reasons beyond the applicant’s control.
How to apply
Applicants must describe the circumstances they are facing, explain why the support is urgent, provide an implementation plan with a timeline and budget, and submit documentation confirming their situation. This may include official documents, links to publications, or statements from human rights organisations.
Applications first undergo a technical and eligibility check against the Track 3 criteria before being submitted to an independent selection committee for consideration.
Track 3: results from the first year
During its first year, Track 3 supported 36 projects. Of these, 23 projects are being implemented by cultural professionals who have faced repression, including 12 projects by former political prisoners who were expelled from Belarus following their release.
Authors of creative projects supported under Track 3 include Uladzimir Niakliaeu, Zmitser Dashkevich, Pavel Seviarynets, and other Belarusian cultural professionals.
Read the story of one of the supported artists, musician Aliaksei Sialenka:
“A Free City Is a City Where People Dance in the Streets”: How Aliaksei Sialenka Returned to Music After Prison
Further information and contact details
Applications can be submitted and the full programme documentation is available on the ArtPower Belarus programme page.
For questions, please contact: info@artpowergrants.org.
