Applications Invited for Biennials Connect Grants

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About the Organization

We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide. We uniquely combine the UK’s deep expertise in arts and culture, education and the English language, our global presence and relationships in over 100 countries, our unparalleled access to young people, creatives and educators, and our own creative sparkle.

2024 marks 90 years of the British Council. Over these years we have created opportunities for millions of people and developed deep and long-lasting relationships. We continue to adapt to meet the needs of a changing world, while remaining committed to the principles on which we were founded.

We share our values and explore ideas. We have difficult discussions and find common ground. We create mutually beneficial relationships between the people of all four nations of the UK and other countries. This helps strengthen the UK’s global reputation and influence, encouraging people from around the world to visit, study, trade and make alliances with the UK.

We work directly with individuals to help them gain the skills, confidence and connections to transform their lives and shape a better world in partnership with the UK. We support them to build networks and explore creative ideas, to learn English, to get a high-quality education and to gain internationally recognised qualifications. We work with governments and our partners in the education, English language and cultural sectors, in the UK and globally. Working together we make a bigger difference, creating benefit for millions of people all over the world. We take a long-term approach to building trust and remain at arm’s length from the government. We work with people in over 200 countries and territories and are on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2022–23 we reached 600 million people. The majority of our income comes from partnership agreements, contracts, philanthropy, teaching and exams, and we also receive grant-in-aid funding from the UK government.

Founded in 1934, we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body.

About the Grant

Our Biennials Connect Grants support visual artists to participate in UK and international festivals and biennials. The grants directly benefit artists by facilitating opportunities for travel, the production of new work, networking, skills building and showcasing. The programme also promotes cross-cultural exchange by providing opportunities for artists and biennials to connect, collaborate and build meaningful partnerships across the globe.

Eligible biennials/festivals can apply for grants of up to £5,000 and £10,000 to support visual artists’ participation in their festival. Applications are welcome from UK biennials/festivals wanting to support contemporary international visual artists, and from international biennials/festivals in selected countries wanting to support contemporary UK visual artists. This is the third round of the Biennials Connect Grants.

Grant Size

Apply for up to £10,000:

• UK biennials/festivals collaborating with visual artists and/or organisations based in ODA* countries
• International biennials/festivals based in ODA* countries collaborating with visual artists and/or organisations in the UK

Apply for up to £5,000:

• UK biennials/festivals collaborating with visual artists and/or organisations based in non-ODA* countries
• International biennials/festivals based in non-ODA* countries collaborating with visual artists and/or organisations in the UK

*International biennials/festivals must be based in eligible countries. The full list of eligible countries and whether they're recipients of Official Development Assistance (ODA) can be found below.

Grants will be paid in 2 instalments. The first instalment will be initiated when the grant agreement is countersigned. If all required paperwork is returned as requested, this should take place in November 2024. The second payment will be initiated in April 2025. There can be period of several weeks between when the payment is initiated and funding is received. This is due to payment terms and international transfer times.

Eligibility

Organisations applying must:

Be either:

• UK biennials or festivals supporting international visual artists’ participation,
• international biennials or festivals supporting visual artists’ participation from the UK,
• or other visual arts organisations collaborating with a biennial/festival.
• Be based in UK or an eligible international country (please see eligible countries below).
• Be primarily a visual art biennial or festival. Multi-arts biennials and festivals can apply but they must demonstrate a focus on visual arts within their programme.
• Be supporting artists over the age of 18. If artist travel is included in the project, the artists must be able to travel internationally on valid passports (organisations must arrange travel, transport, accommodations, insurance and visas themselves).
• Be supporting artists you have either not previously worked with or supporting new projects with artists you have worked with before.

How to Apply

Applications for the latest round of our Biennials Connect Grants are now open. Apply now here.

The deadline for applications is 22 September 2024, 23:59 (BST).

For more information please check the Link

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Tags Education and Education Technology (edtech) Liberal Arts Others