FOCUS INTERNATIONAL Ukraine
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FOCUS INTERNATIONAL Ukraine: Traineeship Program - Tyrol/Austria 2025
FOCUS INTERNATIONAL Ukraine was a program of the Austrian Cultural Ministry, organized and hosted by Office Ukraine/Künstler*innenhaus Büchsenhausen, which provides Ukrainian artists and cultural workers based in Austria with the opportunity to gain professional work experience at various art initiatives in Tyrol.
With FOCUS INTERNATIONAL, the Cultural Ministry promotes international artistic and cultural exchange – in both directions: It supports Austrian artists and art projects in the cooperation country, but is also committed to Austria’s internationality when it comes to bringing artists and cultural workers to Austria within the framework of the program.
The program offered an opportunity for artists and cultural workers from Ukraine living in Austria to collect personal work experience in a cultural institution.
The FOCUS INTERNATIONAL Ukraine Traineeship Program consisted of three two-month long internships hosted by three different cultural institutions in the greater Innsbruck area:
- Literaturhaus am Inn (literature);
- Galerie St. Barbara / musik+ (music);
- Taxispalais – Kunsthalle Tirol (visual arts).
Framework
- 2 months internship in a cultural institution in the greater Innsbruck area;
- studio flat at Künstler*innenhaus Büchsenhausen or GRUNDin Rietz;
- monthly scholarship of EUR 1.300,- (for two months a total of EUR 2.600,-);
- reimbursement for up to EUR 600,– per month to cover the costs for accommodation.
Institutions
TAXISPALAIS Kunsthalle Tirol is a non-profit art center focusing on contemporary art. Temporary exhibitions of international art explore timely questions and stimulate discourse. Alongside the shows, the TAXISPALAIS hosts artist talks, lectures, performances, and panel discussions. Located in one of Innsbruck’s earliest baroque palaces, the Kunsthalle was rebuilt and expanded in 1999, offering an 800-square-meter exhibition space. The gallery also features a public library with around 7,500 publications on contemporary art, culture, and theory, as well as major international art journals.
Dates: 1 June - 31 July 2025
Galerie St. Barbara is one of the largest and oldest Austrian cultural associations (since 1968). Its main projects are the Osterfestival Tirol and musik+. The focus is on culture in its entirety: from early and contemporary music to dance, performance, film and talks. musik+ is a series of events for young and old that combines different eras and art forms. The Osterfestival Tirol is the only contemporary multi-genre festival in western Austria. The focus is on the examination of socially relevant topics that change every year.
Dates : 1 May - 30 June 2025
The Literaturhaus am Inn hosts live events regarding contemporary literature, ranging from book presentations to open talks. Our focus encompasses Austrian literature as well as works from other countries, fostering dialogue across diverse cultures, languages, and historical periods. Through author talks and interdisciplinary cultural events, performances, lectures, writing workshops, reading circles and exhibitions we want to present literature as a medium of conversation and knowledge transfer. In doing so, it is essential for us to create a space for personal encounters and free exchange. We want to show the special potential of literature, qualities in terms of creative drive and the joy of experimentation, but also in terms of the social and political significance of literature. The Literaturhaus am Inn is part of the Brenner Archive of Innsbruck University, facilitating collaborations with the university. We also engage in regular partnerships with cultural institutions throughout Tyrol and Austria. Our events are open to the public and are free of charge.
Dates: 1 August - 30 September 2025
FOCUS INTERNATIONAL Ukraine (Re)Creation Residency - Tyrol/Austria 2025
FOCUS INTERNATIONAL Ukraine was a program of the Austrian Cultural Ministry, organized and hosted by Office Ukraine Innsbruck / Künstler*innenhaus Büchsenhausen. The aim was to provide a two-month break from the ongoing war and to offer the invited artists the possibility to pursue their artistic work in a peaceful and safe environment. The residencies were aimed primarily towards visual artists.
Organised by Office Ukraine/Künstler*innenhaus Büchsenhausen, FOCUS INTERNATIONAL Ukraine (Re)Creation Residency enabled three visual artists based in Ukraine to participate in a residency for two months each in the alpine-urban setting of the City of Innsbruck and its greater area. The participants were hosted by two cultural institutions with expertise in the field of Residency Programs: Künstler*innenhaus Büchsenhausen in Innsbruck and GRUNDin’ Residency in Rietz.
Künstler*innenhaus Büchsenhausen is a post-graduate center for production, research, mediation in the fields of visual arts and art theory. Within the framework of the fellowship program, the Künstler*innenhaus offered a platform that facilitates the development and production of artistic and art-theoretical projects in a critical context. At the same time, Büchsenhausen creates a forum for direct exchange between professionals – artists, theoreticians, critics, and curators – from the region and abroad as well as a point of interaction with local publics of interest. Künstler*innenhaus Büchsenhausen is affiliated with the Künstler*innen Vereinigung Tirol, the major association of visual artists from the region.
GRUNDin’ Residency based in Rietz/Tyrol is a non-profit cultural program that aims to promote, research and communicate art, culture and philosophy. It is located in a historical farmer’s building, in the center of a countryside-village not far from Innsbruck, surrounded by a garden, forests and the alps.
Framework
- studio for working and living;
- monthly stipend of EUR 1.300,- (for two months a total of EUR 2.600,-);
- reimbursement of up to EUR 500,- for covering the travel costs;
- reimbursement for up to EUR 600,– per month to cover the costs for accommodation.