The British Council is the United Kingdom’s international organisation promoting cultural relations and educational opportunities.
The Councils Connections Through Culture arts grants are now open for creative collaborations between Australia and the UK.
With the program supporting partnerships across the Asia-Pacific and the UK, the opportunity aligns seamlessly with global engagement strategies of Australian education providers.
An energised Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement, in force from May 2023, complements the increased appetite for joint work; it enables artists and cultural organisations to engage across all art forms, creating connections and progressing collaborative projects.
The Council’s work, through these grants, assists artists and cultural organisations bring ideas to life; projects are eligible at any stage of development and can include digital, face-to-face, and/or hybrid artistic projects. Proposed projects in the arts, cultural or creative sector(s) can be across the following forms:
- Architecture, design & fashion (including craft)
- Creative technology (incl games, extended reality, immersive, mixed, augmented and virtual reality)
- Film
- Literature
- Music
- Theatre and dance (including circus)
- Visual Arts
Within these, the Council notes proposals responding to the following themes may be prioritised:
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Climate Change
So, join an information session, open to all artists, art and cultural professionals and representatives of art collectives/creative hubs/networks based in the UK and eligible Asia-Pacific countries (you need to register 24 hours prior).
- Session 1, 8:00 GMT, 17 July 2024
- Session 2, 9:00 GMT, 18 July 2024
- Session 3, 9:00 GMT, 23 July 2024
- Session 4, 10:00 GMT, 25 July 2024
Register for an information session here.
Grants need to be used to support the process of developing new projects with artistic expression or creativity at the core, and that will result in collaborative activities including artistic and creative exchange of skills, knowledge and practice or co-production towards new artistic and creative content.
Various approaches can be used such as art residencies, exhibitions, performances and showcases, publications, webinars, and conferences, among others.
To be eligible;
- An application must comprise of at least a UK partner and an Asia-Pacific partner.
- Applicants should be registered in the UK or in any of the listed Asia-Pacific countries (Australia, Bangladesh, the mainland of China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam).
Prime Minister Albanese stated, “The Australia-UK FTA represents one of the most comprehensive, innovative and ambitious free trade agreements concluded by Australia to date and strengthens an already close relationship between Australia and the UK” (media release).
So Australian education providers, at all levels, and partner arts organisations are benefiting from new commitments, making it easier to operate in the UK market. Deeper people-to-people links across both countries are enhancing opportunities to contribute to exploration and development of the creative arts in each other’s country.
These grants are one lever uplifting engagement of the arts sector through people to people and knowledge exchange that progresses our shared and unique cultural offerings.
Learn more about the Councils work in Australia here.
The Grant application deadline is 2 September 2024, 23:59 GMT, apply here.
