The British Council, the United Kingdom’s international organization for cultural relations and educational opportunities, is enjoining Filipinos and Southeast Asian artists, arts professionals, collectives, hubs, and researchers to apply in the latest round of the Connections Through Culture grants.
In a statement, the British Council said the program is designed to seed exciting cultural exchanges and nurture cooperation and long-lasting relationships between artists and arts organization in the UK and Southeast Asia.
The online grants are valued from 2,500 to 7,500 British pounds (around P165,000 to P500,000).
Without the COVID-19 pandemic, the grants would have most likely involved international travel. However, with the existing travel restrictions, 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.
Created in August last year, the Connections Through Culture grant program is a first-of-its-kind project that sparks innovative ways for participants to collaborate through the arts.
According to the British Council guidelines, 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 (UK) and eligible Southeast Asian countries that include Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Activities should be implemented within January to June 2021.
The grants will be made available to two aspects: Collaboration Grants that support online projects between Southeast Asia and the UK, and Arts and Creative Economy Research Grants that support independent and collaborative research projects on arts and creative economy.
Applications for the grants will run until Nov. 8 while the announcement of successful applicants will be made in late November. The public is encouraged to visit the British Council website for the criteria for application and information about the grants.