All around the globe we see people reaching out to each other, practicing small and often imaginative human gestures of everyday solidarity, uniting us, across balconies, social networks, cities and countries. It is exactly this culture of solidarity we ought to nourish during this global crisis and beyond. This is why we open a fund to support imaginative cultural initiatives that, in the midst of the global pandemic crisis, reinforce European solidarity and the idea of Europe as a shared public space.

Facing the Coronavirus crisis could be a strong European moment. A moment when people understand how important it is to have friends who support each other, a moment of sharing vital information, expertise and supplies, a moment when you realise how a fundamental crisis can be managed much better through cooperation and solidarity.

But so far this has not been the European moment we had envisioned. National leaders have taken the initiative and do whatever it takes to protect their citizens against the virus. Their approaches might differ in terms of public health responses, but they are surprisingly consistent when it comes to protecting the national interest. Where is Europe and the EU? Where is the shared European interest?

Over the last 75 years, Europe has managed to reinvent itself as a collaborative power, a sharing society. This has served us Europeans well. We cannot afford a rollback. We need to do whatever it takes to keep the sentiment of European cooperation and solidarity intact.

In the past weeks, many emergency funds for the cultural and creative sector have been announced at national, regional or local levels and funding opportunities by the EU for the arts and culture are also underway. But so far public funding in Eastern and Southern Europe has been scarce compared to Western and Northern Europe, and we are yet to see support mechanisms for creative initiatives that strengthen a pan- European culture of solidarity.

This is why we open a fund to support imaginative cultural initiatives that, in the midst of the global pandemic crisis, reinforce European solidarity and the idea of Europe as a shared public space.

https://www.culturalfoundation.eu/culture-of-solidarity

The Culture of Solidarity fund will see various application windows this year, and we will distribute funding equally over all windows. The first round opened April 6, 2020, and has a deadline of Monday, 27 April 2020, 12.00 CET.

You want more information, please contact:
Szilvia Kochanowski, skochanowski@culturafoundation.eu, fund manager or Friso Wiersum, fwiersum@culturalfoundation.eu, project manager communications