Meet the winners of Up Grants 2026: Culture for Democracy

Published 5 hours ago

55290096608 41964382d7 O — Picture by Eduardo Sousa Ribeiro

55289037702 5223cdb8c5 O — Picture by Eduardo Sousa Ribeiro

55290096658 42831a4638 O — Picture by Eduardo Sousa Ribeiro

55289037627 9f2b30f262 O — Picture by Eduardo Sousa Ribeiro

55290096613 Bdaf795c0e O — Picture by Eduardo Sousa Ribeiro

More than 200 projects and initiatives participated in Up Grants 2026, which was dedicated to promoting democracy in and through culture. Public participation in the contest was outstanding, with over 18.000 votes cast.

Discover more about the Up Grants programme here

Now, after also our jury have cast their vote, we are delighted to finally introduce you to the three winners, who will receive a grant of EUR 4.000 each and were officially awarded at Culture Converge 2026, our annual conference that took place in Lisbon on May 20th-22nd. Discover and learn from these inspiring, inventive initiatives employing art and culture as means to promote democracy:

Strand 1: Digital ethics and democracy
AI Rights Shield for Independent Artists and Cultural Scene (AIRS), by KreativaLab, Serbia
Strand 2: Dialogue in times of polarisation
Talk the Walk, by Omnisfactum, Portugal
Strand 3: Participation and cultural resistance
The Roots are Growing, by Asociația Nord, Romania