12 grants in the arts and culture sector in 2026 – funding, mobility and international opportunities

This selection helps you quickly understand which grants actually suit you right now, without wasting time on chaotic searching. We have selected programmes for artists, photographers, curators and cultural initiatives with different participation logics: from individual support to funding for projects and organisations.
The grants are arranged by deadlines — from the soonest to the more long-term ones. This allows you to immediately see where to apply now and what can be planned as a next step.
It is important to understand: a grant is not just money. It is a resource for developing your practice, realising projects and moving to a new professional level.

Short-term Network Funding
Grant up to €20,000 to build an international cultural network — money for the groundwork stage, before a project even exists.
Suitable if you already have partners from at least three Nordic and/or Baltic countries.
Not suitable if the network is bilateral or has no partners at all.
Deadline: September 4, 2026

Nordic Culture Point
Grant up to €100,000 for a cultural project with partners from at least three countries (two of them Nordic); without co-financing of 50% or more, the maximum is only €7,000.
Suitable if you already have the right partnership team and your own funds for co-financing.
Not suitable if you are applying alone or without partners from the region.
Deadline: September 10, 2026

Visual AIDS
$5,000 grant for artists living with HIV, combining financial support with visibility.
Suitable if this is your context.
Not suitable if not.
Deadline: September 15, 2026

Nordic–Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture
Grant for individual professional trips within the Nordic and Baltic region — a fixed amount for travel and per diem, calculated by a calculator on the programme’s website.
Suitable if you already live in the region and are travelling for a specific professional reason.
Not suitable if you live outside the region — citizenship does not help here, residency is what matters.
Deadline: September 18, 2026

Medialab Matadero
€10,000 research grant (before tax) for six months of work in Madrid — with access to a Fablab and a paid flight for residents coming from abroad.
Suitable if you hold a Spanish or EU passport, or already have the legal right to live in Spain.
Not suitable if you don’t have that right yet — the grant does not provide legalisation itself.
Deadline: September 27, 2026

eidolon Grant
€25,000 grant for those working with archives, family photographs, and visual memory — not for shooting new series, but for researching images that already exist.
Suitable if your practice engages with photography as a cultural phenomenon: research, curating, archival work.
Not suitable if you shoot new frames rather than work with existing imagery.
Deadline: September 30, 2026

Institute for Ideas and Imagination
$75,000 fellowship for a full academic year in Paris for writers, artists and composers — no university affiliation required and no citizenship restrictions.
Suitable if you’re ready to live in Paris for a year and work within Columbia University’s intellectual community.
Not suitable if you are permanently based in the US — that’s the only geographic condition.
Deadline: September 30, 2026

The Supporting Act Foundation
€10,000 grant paid in ten instalments for artists of any discipline who self-identify with an underrepresented group — including migration or refugee experience.
Suitable if you have 2 to 10 years of practice and are based in one of ten European countries.
Not suitable if you have less than two or more than ten years of practice, or are based outside that list of countries.
Deadline: October 1, 2026

Norden 0–30
Grant up to €50,000 for a cultural project with young people under 30 — funding goes only to registered structures.
Suitable if you are an organisation, association or network with a registration number, working with young people.
Not suitable if you are a solo artist without registration.
Deadline: October 2, 2026

ArtPower Belarus
Grant from €1,000 (up to €10,000 in urgent cases) for Belarusian cultural workers and organisations facing a crisis — rolling admission, no deadline.
Suitable if you’ve been affected by repression, loss of funding, or the impossibility of postponing an important trip.
Not suitable if your project has no connection to Belarus — the programme is specifically for Belarusian culture.
Deadline: none

European Endowment for Democracy
€10,000–50,000 grant for civil society and cultural initiatives from Eastern Partnership countries — including unregistered groups and teams in exile.
Suitable if your project has a civic dimension: a connection to community, independent culture, or freedom of expression.
Not suitable if the project is purely artistic, with no public dimension.
Deadline: none

Pollock-Krasner Foundation
Grant up to $50,000 (amount varies individually) for professional artists to support practice, materials, and development. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Suitable if you have an established practice and experience.
Not suitable if you are at an early stage.
Deadline: none

The key logic of this selection is moving from urgent deadlines to longer-term opportunities. This helps you act now instead of postponing.
If you are unsure whether a grant suits you, this is a normal stage. The answer often emerges through the application process itself.
If you want to expand your options, also see the article on 12 art competitions — additional opportunities with different participation formats.