British Council opens applications for online arts grants

THE British Council is inviting artists, arts professionals, collectives, hubs and researchers from Southeast Asia to apply for the latest round of the Connections Through Culture grants. Applications will run until November 8.

The online grants are valued from £2,500 to £7,500 (around ₱165,000 to ₱500,000). Grantees may use the fund for platforms and conversations to meet with specialists, peers in the field and other participants based in the United Kingdom and eligible Southeast Asian countries: Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. Activities should be implemented within January to June 2021.

The Connections Through Culture grants program is designed to seed exciting cultural exchanges and nurture cooperation and long-lasting relationships between artists and arts organizations in the UK and Southeast Asia. Created in August 2019, it is a firstof-its kind project that sparks innovative ways for participants to collaborate through the arts.

The available grants are: Collaboration Grants, which support online projects between Southeast Asia and the UK; and Arts and Creative Economy Research Grants support independent and collaborative research projects on arts and creative economy.

Prior to Covid-19, the grants would have most likely involved international travel. However, with travel restricted and uncertain at this time, the grants will be used to develop and strengthen new and existing relationships by providing funding to allow conversations to happen, and for the possibilities of online collaboration to be explored. Successful applicants will be announced in late November.

More information on the criteria for application and about the grants is available at bit.ly/31d3oys.