From Emergency Aid to Sustainable Cooperation: International Cultural Conference on Ukraine in Graz

On 15 and 16 October 2026, the international conference “Networks of Cooperation: Sustainable Structures for Ukrainian Cultural Actors in Europe and Beyond” will bring together cultural institutions, funding bodies, policymakers, artists and experts from Ukraine, Austria and across Europe at Kunsthaus Graz. At the heart of the conference is the question of how the emergency support provided since 2022 can evolve into long-term forms of cultural cooperation.

Graz, October 2026. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the Ukrainian arts and cultural sector has demonstrated remarkable resilience. Cultural institutions and initiatives across Europe have responded to the war by providing residencies, guest programmes, funding and institutional support. Four years on, however, the question is increasingly urgent: how can these often short-term measures of support be transformed into sustainable structures for long-term cooperation?

This is precisely where the two-day conference “Networks of Cooperation: Sustainable Structures for Ukrainian Cultural Actors in Europe and Beyond”, taking place in Graz on 15 and 16 October 2026, comes in. The conference is organised by Office Ukraine (Vienna/tranzit.at and Graz/rotor), the Austrian Federal Ministry of Housing, Arts, Culture, Media and Sport, and Creative Europe Desk Austria, in cooperation with Kunsthaus Graz, Creative Europe Desk Ukraine, and the Institute for Human Sciences.

“Networks of Cooperation” is part of a broader range of measures undertaken by the Austrian Ministry of Culture to support Ukrainian cultural professionals.

Austrian Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for Culture Andreas Babler, who will open the conference, emphasises the initiative’s long-term perspective: “Against the backdrop of destruction, displacement and diaspora, solidarity and strong international networks are more important than ever. We are committed to ensuring that art and culture are considered from the outset in Ukraine’s reconstruction and to building stable, sustainable structures for cooperation.”

The conference aims not only to take stock of support programmes implemented to date, but also to address key structural questions. Its goal is to bring Ukrainian cultural institutions and independent initiatives together with European cultural organisations, networks, funding bodies, policymakers, researchers, artists and experts. It will also critically examine existing imbalances and hierarchies within European funding systems.

The conference therefore deliberately looks beyond immediate crisis assistance. At its centre is the question of what role cultural institutions can play in developing new, cross-border forms of solidarity and cooperation – and how art and culture can already today be integrated into the structures that will be crucial to Ukraine’s future and reconstruction.

Georg Schöllhammer / Director of tranzit.at and Co-Initiator of Office Ukraine

“Office Ukraine was established shortly after the beginning of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine in February 2022 to support Ukrainian artists who had fled the country in a wide range of ways. Its primary aim is to enable them to continue working in their respective fields while in Austria.”

Margarethe Makovec, Artistic Director of < rotor > Centre for Contemporary Art and Co-Initiator of Office Ukraine, Graz

“The conference brings together Ukrainian and European cultural institutions, organisations and networks. We want to strengthen existing relationships, develop new forms of cooperation and jointly reflect on sustainable perspectives for Ukraine’s cultural life as an integral part of Europe’s future.”

Further information is available at www.artistshelp-ukraine.at

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