The British Council have developed the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) Arts Cultural Exchange Open Call to provide grants to cultural organisations, festivals, artists, and creatives between the countries of SSA and the UK to create art, build networks, collaborate and develop markets and share artists’ work with audiences.
The British Council have always supported international collaboration through their work in arts and culture, but as travel becomes more challenging due to the Covid-19 pandemic and with ongoing questions about the sustainability of international travel in the light of the climate crisis, they’re now looking to facilitate that collaboration digitally.
This new Cultural Exchange Open Call, building on previous open calls related to mobility, exchange and art making supports organisations and individuals in SSA and the UK to develop new ways of working internationally – allowing cultural exchange to flourish despite restrictions on global movement. The British Council will prioritise projects which contribute to new narratives between countries of SSA and the UK. By this they mean projects that highlight / amplify less heard stories and perspectives of SSA in the UK and the UK in SSA.
The emphasis will be on collaborating virtually to research or deliver digital arts projects with a partner based in the target countries and the UK.
The call-out is open to artists, cultural professionals, festivals, creative sector researchers working across all artforms/disciplines working with audiences predominantly from 18-35 years.
There are three grant categories (Research, New Connections, and New Art Co-creation) with grants ranging from £5000 – £30,000. Eligible countries also vary by category, but cover: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, UK, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The deadline for the New Connections and New Art Co-creation strands is 8 September 2021, while the Research strand invites rolling applications until 1 February 2022.
