Upė Foundation is a London-based platform that draws currents between global and Baltic art communities through curatorial support, research and commissioning, amplifying adventurous ideas, underexplored perspectives and long-term exchanges across geographies.

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We are delighted to announce a new partnership with the Courtauld Institute of Art and the launch of the Upė Foundation Scholarship, a three-year programme supporting one Baltic student per academic year to live in London and undertake the Courtauld’s MA History of Art.
Focusing on students from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and their diasporas, the Scholarship will encompass international course fees, a living stipend and a relocation allowance, beginning with the 2027–28 academic year.
The Scholarship marks a new direction for Upė Foundation, inaugurating its engagement with art education and pedagogy. Through sustained exchange with the Courtauld Institute and arts education centres in the Baltics, it aims to support the next generation of art historians and arts professionals from the region, and to bring Baltic perspectives, histories and research into an international academic context. With the intention to bring perspectives from other geographies into the Baltic region, further partnerships between Upė Foundation and leading Baltic institutions of art education, will be announced in the coming months.
We are delighted to partner with the Courtauld, one of the world’s leading institutions for the study of art. This scholarship marks an important first step in our long-term ambition to establish lasting pathways for Baltic perspectives to inform and expand international art historical and contemporary discourse — Adomas Narkevičius, Founding Director of Upė Foundation.
We are very grateful to the Upė Foundation for making this scholarship possible, and look forward to welcoming students from the region to study at the Courtauld Institute — Professor Mark Hallett, Märit Rausing Director at the Courtauld.
Studying at the Courtauld
The Courtauld Institute was ranked as the world’s top institution for the study of History of Art in the QS World University Rankings 2026. Its MA in History of Art is one of the largest graduate Art History programmes anywhere in the world and offers an unrivalled combination of breadth and depth. The course provides research-led teaching in a unique, single-subject setting, complemented by the internationally renowned excellence of the Courtauld Gallery, which is famous for the quality of its collection and the ambition and scholarship of its exhibition programme.
Upė Foundation Scholars will join the Courtauld Institute’s academic community, studying alongside leading art historians and drawing on the institution's teaching, research and collections. The programme excels at developing well-rounded and intellectually astute art historians and museum professionals equipped to make an important contribution to public life.
Key eligibility criteria
Applicants must be:
- A citizen of Latvia, Lithuania or Estonia;
- or who has at least one parent who is or was a citizen of, or was born in, one of those states;
- or who can evidence Latvian, Lithuanian or Estonian family heritage and can demonstrate active and sustained engagement with the cultural, artistic or civic life of one of those countries or of its diaspora community.
The Scholarship is principally aimed at students on the MA History of Art. Students on the MA Curating, MA Art and Business or MA Contemporary Art and the Moving Image may be considered in exceptional cases.
What the Scholarship offers:
- Full course fees;
- A monthly stipend of £1,570, totalling £14,130 for a 9-month programme or £18,840 for a 12-month programme;
- A relocation allowance of £2,722 (£1,000 for students eligible for UK fees).
How to apply
Applications are now open for students beginning the MA History of Art in the 2027–28 academic year. Applicants should apply for the programme and submit a Courtauld Scholarship Application Form.
Full details are available on the Courtauld’s postgraduate funding and scholarships page here. Applications to the Courtauld Institute’s postgraduate programmes are now open: view programmes and apply.
Application deadline: Monday 11 January 2027.
About the Courtauld Institute of Art
The Courtauld works to advance how we see and understand the visual arts, as an internationally renowned centre for the teaching and research of art history and a major public gallery. Founded by collectors and philanthropists in 1932, the organisation has been at the forefront of the study of art ever since through advanced research and conservation practice, innovative teaching, the renowned collection and inspiring exhibitions of its gallery, and engaging and accessible activities, education and events.
Academically, the Courtauld Institute is the largest community of art historians and conservators in the UK, teaching and conducting research on subjects ranging from creativity in late Antiquity to contemporary digital art forms – with an increasingly global focus. An independent college of the University of London, the Courtauld offers a range of degree programmes from BA to PhD in the History of Art, curating, art and business and the conservation of easel and wall paintings. Its alumni are leaders and innovators in the arts, culture and business worlds, helping to shape the global agenda for the arts and creative industries.
The Courtauld is an exempt charity and relies on generous philanthropic support to achieve its mission of advancing the understanding of the visual arts of the past and present across the world through advanced research, innovative teaching, inspiring exhibitions, programmes and collections.



Martyna Ratnik is a Lithuanian cultural worker based between London and Vilnius. With a focus on moving image creation, curation and criticism, her practice searches for ways history can be embodied and transgressed. In addition to working as part of the London Short Film Festival’s curatorial team, Martyna has been developing her independent praxis. Among others, her artistic and curatorial projects have been previously presented at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), the Independent Vilnius Cinematheque “Meno Avilys”, Lithuania’s National Gallery of Art, European Media Art Festival, BFI London Film Festival, as well as LUX Moving Image. Martyna is the winner of Lithuania’s 2025 Visual Art Criticism Awards, and has been invited as a jury member the year after. She has recently graduated from RCA’s City Design course with a Master’s Thesis on open form institutional design, and is also an alumni of Rupert’s Alternative Education Programme.
As Upė Foundation Curatorial Fellow at Camden Art Centre, Martyna Ratnik joins the exhibitions team, bringing her specialist knowledge and research into the institution's curatorial work while contributing to exhibition-making, events and research. The Fellowship provides an environment for professional development, learning and first-hand experience within one of the UK's leading spaces for contemporary visual art.

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Diāna Mikāne is a curator and artist from Riga, Latvia. Through situated research and collaboration, her practice engages with parafiction as a mode of expression and the politics of space, often in relation to post-socialist conditions in the Baltic region and beyond. Recent work includes exhibitions and artistic projects such as High Beams in Timing Architecture at Part Time Gallery, Riga (2026), Forever Days in Invisible Labour at the National Gallery of Art, Vilnius (2026); Wish Upon a Shooting Star at Living Room, Athens (2024); I hope this email finds you well at InTheCloset, Vilnius (2024); Trembling Ground at VARES Architecture Residency, Valga (2024); as well as contributions to exhibition production at Nida Art Colony of the Vilnius Academy of Arts (2023–24). Mikāne holds an MA from the Art Academy of Latvia and received the ACADEMIA Award, which supported her curatorial fellowship at PUBLICS, Helsinki (2024–25).
In her role as Upė Foundation Curatorial Fellow at the Southbank Centre's Hayward Gallery, Diāna Mikāne undertakes research on artists from the Baltic region and beyond, supporting the development and delivery of major international exhibitions and programmes. The Fellowship is designed to broaden her skill set across the institution, from public engagement to the practical training involved in operations such as producing interpretation materials.

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Andrew Cummings is an art historian and curator from Wakefield, UK. Andrew studied for a PhD in Global Contemporary Art History at The Courtauld Institute of Art and Tate, and until 2025 was Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Decolonising Arts Institute, University of the Arts London. Previous exhibitions, programmes, and events include Dark Factory (MMCA Korea), A History of Future Contagion (Spike Island/The Courtauld) and Museum x Machine x Me (Tate). An alumnus of the Gwangju Biennale International Curators' Course, Andrew’s writing has been published by Tate Papers, Pilot Press, ArtReview, and the Burlington Contemporary.
Andrew Cummings joins Tallinn Art Hall at a pivotal moment in its history, as the institution's landmark site undergoes renovation ahead of reopening in November 2026. He will be responsible for curating the programme of a new black-box space within the historic building, developing exhibitions, screenings, performances, and other public formats in dialogue with Tallinn Art Hall’s wider programme. He will shape the programme in collaboration with the director and curatorial team, while working closely with artists and receiving production support from the institution’s in-house staff.
Upė Foundation is a London-based platform that draws currents between global and Baltic (Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian) art communities, setting new artistic, curatorial and research possibilities in motion. Upė focuses on horizontal, long-term exchange through a range of partnerships, fellowships and initiatives, amplifying new ideas, risk-taking work and underexplored perspectives. Upė is drawn to a field that is living, cross-disciplinary and imaginative, open to encounters between practices, contexts and communities.
Founding Patron
Justas Janauskas
Founding Director
Adomas Narkevičius
General enquiries
info@upefoundation.org
Press
isabel@sam-talbot.com
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We are delighted to announce a new partnership with the Courtauld Institute of Art and the launch of the Upė Foundation Scholarship, a three-year programme supporting one Baltic student per academic year to live in London and undertake the Courtauld’s MA History of Art.
Focusing on students from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and their diasporas, the Scholarship will encompass international course fees, a living stipend and a relocation allowance, beginning with the 2027–28 academic year.
The Scholarship marks a new direction for Upė Foundation, inaugurating its engagement with art education and pedagogy. Through sustained exchange with the Courtauld Institute and arts education centres in the Baltics, it aims to support the next generation of art historians and arts professionals from the region, and to bring Baltic perspectives, histories and research into an international academic context. With the intention to bring perspectives from other geographies into the Baltic region, further partnerships between Upė Foundation and leading Baltic institutions of art education, will be announced in the coming months.
We are delighted to partner with the Courtauld, one of the world’s leading institutions for the study of art. This scholarship marks an important first step in our long-term ambition to establish lasting pathways for Baltic perspectives to inform and expand international art historical and contemporary discourse — Adomas Narkevičius, Founding Director of Upė Foundation.
We are very grateful to the Upė Foundation for making this scholarship possible, and look forward to welcoming students from the region to study at the Courtauld Institute — Professor Mark Hallett, Märit Rausing Director at the Courtauld.
Studying at the Courtauld
The Courtauld Institute was ranked as the world’s top institution for the study of History of Art in the QS World University Rankings 2026. Its MA in History of Art is one of the largest graduate Art History programmes anywhere in the world and offers an unrivalled combination of breadth and depth. The course provides research-led teaching in a unique, single-subject setting, complemented by the internationally renowned excellence of the Courtauld Gallery, which is famous for the quality of its collection and the ambition and scholarship of its exhibition programme.
Upė Foundation Scholars will join the Courtauld Institute’s academic community, studying alongside leading art historians and drawing on the institution's teaching, research and collections. The programme excels at developing well-rounded and intellectually astute art historians and museum professionals equipped to make an important contribution to public life.
Key eligibility criteria
Applicants must be:
- A citizen of Latvia, Lithuania or Estonia;
- or who has at least one parent who is or was a citizen of, or was born in, one of those states;
- or who can evidence Latvian, Lithuanian or Estonian family heritage and can demonstrate active and sustained engagement with the cultural, artistic or civic life of one of those countries or of its diaspora community.
The Scholarship is principally aimed at students on the MA History of Art. Students on the MA Curating, MA Art and Business or MA Contemporary Art and the Moving Image may be considered in exceptional cases.
What the Scholarship offers:
- Full course fees;
- A monthly stipend of £1,570, totalling £14,130 for a 9-month programme or £18,840 for a 12-month programme;
- A relocation allowance of £2,722 (£1,000 for students eligible for UK fees).
How to apply
Applications are now open for students beginning the MA History of Art in the 2027–28 academic year. Applicants should apply for the programme and submit a Courtauld Scholarship Application Form.
Full details are available on the Courtauld’s postgraduate funding and scholarships page here. Applications to the Courtauld Institute’s postgraduate programmes are now open: view programmes and apply.
Application deadline: Monday 11 January 2027.
About the Courtauld Institute of Art
The Courtauld works to advance how we see and understand the visual arts, as an internationally renowned centre for the teaching and research of art history and a major public gallery. Founded by collectors and philanthropists in 1932, the organisation has been at the forefront of the study of art ever since through advanced research and conservation practice, innovative teaching, the renowned collection and inspiring exhibitions of its gallery, and engaging and accessible activities, education and events.
Academically, the Courtauld Institute is the largest community of art historians and conservators in the UK, teaching and conducting research on subjects ranging from creativity in late Antiquity to contemporary digital art forms – with an increasingly global focus. An independent college of the University of London, the Courtauld offers a range of degree programmes from BA to PhD in the History of Art, curating, art and business and the conservation of easel and wall paintings. Its alumni are leaders and innovators in the arts, culture and business worlds, helping to shape the global agenda for the arts and creative industries.
The Courtauld is an exempt charity and relies on generous philanthropic support to achieve its mission of advancing the understanding of the visual arts of the past and present across the world through advanced research, innovative teaching, inspiring exhibitions, programmes and collections.
