Visualise 2026: up to UAH 1.5m for exhibitions abroad

The Ukrainian Institute has announced the sixth cycle of Visualise, its programme supporting exhibition projects abroad. Maximum funding per project reaches UAH 1,500,000, and applications run until 1 November 2026 at 23:59 Kyiv time.

In practice the programme delivers three things at once: co-programming, co-funding and communications support for international exhibitions. So the institute enters a project with more than money, which is exactly why the partnership requirements here run stricter than in a standard grant call.

This guide covers who can apply, the three technical requirements that eliminate most proposals, and the six evaluation criteria, whose wording carries more than it first appears.

Who can apply

The range of applicants runs wider than in most Ukrainian cultural calls, because it includes foreign entities.

• legal entities of all ownership forms and sole traders registered in Ukraine, with experience delivering comparable projects;
• foreign organisations and companies registered abroad, plus their branches and representative offices registered and accredited in Ukraine, holding institutional capacity and relevant experience.

Natural persons cannot apply. A legal entity or sole trader status is required. So for an independent curator or photographer, the application comes from a partner institution instead.

Who gets excluded

Applications from entities connected to the Russian Federation, Belarus or Iran are rejected. That covers beneficiaries, founders and participants of such structures. Persons under personal sanctions by decisions of the National Security and Defence Council are also excluded, along with those who breached the legislation on temporarily occupied territories.

One separate restriction. Winners of Visualise 2025 cannot apply in this cycle. So an organisation supported last year has to skip this round.

Three technical requirements that eliminate the most proposals

Partnership with a foreign institution is mandatory

A project runs in cooperation between a Ukrainian and a foreign specialist institution: a museum, gallery, fair or festival in the country of implementation. The partner needs institutional capacity, experience of comparable projects and, where relevant, rights to intellectual property.

The institute published a list of recommended institutions for applicants who have yet to find one. It works as a convenient starting list, although the choice is not limited to it.

What counts as proof. An official letter of intent from the foreign partner is mandatory. A signed contract, venue booking documents and a thematic exhibition plan are desirable, and they strengthen the application noticeably.

The country must sit on the priority list

The list runs: Poland, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Slovakia, the USA, the Netherlands, Lithuania, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, India, Indonesia and Hungary.

The institute reserves the right to support projects in other countries depending on circumstances. However, plan around the list, because a project in a country outside it needs a separate justification that the application form does not accommodate.

Theme and start date

Specifically, a project must present Ukrainian photography or match the cross-cutting themes of the institute. There are six: Russia’s war against Ukraine; recovery and the future of Ukraine; civil society as the basis of statehood; Crimea and the Crimean Tatars; decolonisation of culture and reappropriation of cultural heritage; landmark figures, phenomena and events.

Implementation starts no earlier than 1 March 2027. A project may begin later, with no limit on the completion date. So at least four months pass between submission and start, and that belongs in your arrangements with the venue.

The document package and submission details

In practice documents go by email to the address given in the institute announcement, no later than 1 November at 23:59 Kyiv time.

• a completed and signed application form and budget form;
• a copy of the statute or an extract confirming the signatory authority, plus registration documents;
• proof of international partnership: an official letter of intent is mandatory, while a signed contract, venue booking, thematic exhibition plan and licence agreements are desirable;
• proof of experience with comparable projects in free form: links to delivered projects, copies of contracts, reference letters;
• a signed declaration confirming no contacts with representatives of the aggressor state, Belarus and Iran;
• a signed guarantee statement on copyright.

One technical limit that breaks applications. All files go in PDF, and each file must stay under 1 megabyte. For a portfolio document or an exhibition plan that means compressing images well in advance.

All information goes in Ukrainian, or with a Ukrainian translation. Each section stays within the character count stated in the form.

Six evaluation criteria

The call regulations sets out the methodology in detail in section 5. In brief the criteria are:

• fit with the mission of the Ukrainian Institute and its 2026-2030 strategy;
• quality of the curatorial concept and relevance of its themes in the Ukrainian and host country contexts;
• the level of the foreign institutional partner;
• potential for building long-term cooperation;
• communication potential of the project;
• justification of costs.

What to read between the lines of the criteria

In fact the wording here is unusually specific, and in three places it names directly what costs proposals points.

Two-way exchange instead of presentation

The mission criterion requires a project aimed at developing international cooperation, exchange and dialogue. A one-sided presentation of Ukraine abroad scores lower. So an application built on bringing Ukrainian art to be displayed runs weaker than one where both sides gain something.

The Ukrainian side has to be a curator

The long-term cooperation criterion states that the Ukrainian partner needs sufficient agency: direct influence on the concept and representation in the project architecture at curator level, beyond consultants or contractors.

Meanwhile a mirror requirement applies to the foreign partner, who must contribute substantially at conceptual, administrative and communication levels. A venue that simply provides space fails this criterion. Agree this with a partner before drafting, because rewriting a role in the text without changing the arrangements does not work.

Communication without exploiting victimhood

The most direct wording in the whole list: the communication strategy must avoid exoticising and exploiting the theme of Ukrainian victimhood, and should instead build a better understanding of Ukraine abroad and strengthen its agency.

In practice that means revisiting the wording of the communication plan. An exhibition description built around suffering and compassion contradicts an explicitly stated criterion, even where the project theme concerns the war.

One more practical detail. Every applicant receives a confirmation letter, after which the team contacts only the winners. The institute reserves the right to select no project at all. Results are announced in January.

The Ukrainian Institute runs several programme strands, and Visualise is a long-term programme with regular cycles. So even if this cycle proves too tight, keep the page bookmarked, because the next intake will open on similar terms.