The Ukrainian Cultural Foundation (UCF), in partnership with the Third Separate Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, launched the Cultural Storm competition as part of the Culture During War grant program.

"The initiative, aimed at highlighting the militaristic consciousness of Ukrainians through cultural and artistic projects, has become one of the key steps within the framework of the signed memorandum of cooperation between the Ukrainian Fleet and the 3rd Separate Air Assault Brigade," the Foundation said.

It is noted that the selection of projects will take place in three stages: first, the candidates’ ideas will be evaluated by the creative council of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, after which the selected applicants will undergo training sessions, and at the final stage, the projects will be evaluated using the UCF methodology.

"Since the competition was created for the military and with their participation, they will be the ones to determine current requests and priorities. The creative council will include representatives of the Third Separate Assault Brigade, the Main Intelligence Agency and Army Aviation of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. During the training sessions, the military will talk about the realities of service or very practical things, for example, the permissible boundaries of humor on military topics, what is appropriate to cover in projects and what is not. For its part, the UCF will explain in detail the application procedure, help to avoid typical mistakes and suggest how best to formalize a project in order to receive funding," the UCF added.

It is reported that the competition's priorities include: engaging the military in the joint creation of projects, developing memorial and commemorative practices that preserve the memory of veterans and key events of the war.

The total budget of the competition is UAH 5 million, the maximum grant amount is UAH 400,000, and the minimum is UAH 200,000.

"Project ideas dedicated to military identity can be reflected in the format of art objects, audio recordings of singles, exhibitions, video blogs, TV shows, performances, podcasts, video stories, murals, VR/AR installations and art events," the Foundation noted.

The application period will last until April 7, 2025.