We want to amplify the campaigns of artists and cultural workers here and abroad offering support to people displaced from Ukraine by this unjust war.
We encourage all in LIFT’s world to get informed, follow these movements, and decide where you want to put your support if you can:
Call for Support for Residencies and Retreats for Arts Workers from Ukraine: Artists Róna Kopeczky, Sasha Pevak and Honor Hager have created a network bringing together organisations and individuals who can provide accommodation, a place to work, and a stipend. Residencies can provide artists and arts workers a place of sanctuary, care and meaning.
The Ukrainian Institute is calling for a cultural boycott of Russia. The Ukrainian Institute is the country’s cultural organisation strengthening Ukraine internationally and domestically using the tools of cultural diplomacy. They are asking the international cultural community to boycott, suspend and cancel cooperation with Russian institutions and artists. They’ve also posted a number of resources to support cultural workers in Ukraine and the country in general.
Massia is a self-organised residency for artists, cultural workers and activists in rural Estonia. They are accepting 30 refugees at a time and are particularly welcoming Black and Brown non-EU or Ukrainian passport holders.
BlackWomenForBlackLives.org is an ad hoc group raising money to help Black people to flee the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
ERIAC, European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture, along with the Ukraine-based Youth Agency for the Advocacy of Roma Culture, is raising money to support Roma people impacted and displaced by the war.
HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Programme is offering emergency residencies in Finland for artists and arts professionals fleeing Ukraine.
17,000 Russian cultural workers have called for an end to the violence and invasion in an open letter to the government.
PEN International is calling for protection of right to freedom of expression in Russia and Belarus and calling for numerous actions for peace in Ukraine.
R3 Soundsystem in London is hosting an emergency fundraiser and party at Venue Mot on 11 March.
Many people here in the UK are attending rallies, donating money, time and food, and advocating to the Home Office to open the UK’s borders to more refugees and remove the many unachievable bureaucratic barriers they face to safety.
We also know that sadly this war is one of many raging in the world right now, and we encourage you equally to seek out movements supporting cultural workers and others affected by wars in Afghanistan, Artsakh, Syria, Tigray, Yemen and other conflict spots around the world.
