British Council Biennials Connect Grants 2024 for Visual Artists

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About British Council Biennials Connect Grants

The 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 find out about previous awards here .

• Sponsor Organisation: British Council

Benefits of British Council Biennials Connect Grants

Grants available

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.

British Council Biennials Connect Grants Requirements

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.

Eligible countries who are recipients of Official Development Assistance (ODA) 

Americas: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Jamaica, Mexico, Venezuela and Peru 

East Asia: The mainland of China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Viet Nam and Thailand 

Middle East and North Africa:  Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Jordan, Yemen, Algeria, Morocco, Libya, and Tunisia 

South Asia: Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan 

Sub-Saharan Africa: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Zimbabwe 

Wider Europe: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan

 

Eligible countries who are not recipients of Official Development Assistance (Non-ODA) 

Americas: Trinidad and Tobago 

East Asia and Australia: Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Korea, and Taiwan 

European Union: France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania and Spain 

Middle East and North Africa: Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Oman 

Applicants based in India
Due to local regulations, there are further eligibility requirements for applications from organisations based in India. Organisations based in India should refer to the guidance in the Application Toolkit under ‘For organisations registered in India only’ before applying.

 

Application Date and Process

• Click on the link to the application website to apply.

Before applying please download and read the Application Toolkit and other resources below.

Downloads

• Biennials Connect Grants 2024 Application Toolkit(Adobe PDF 260KB)
• Biennials Connect 2024 Eligible Countries(Adobe PDF 55KB)
• Visual arts evaluation framework(Adobe PDF 338KB)
• British Council’s Safeguarding Policy(Microsoft Powerpoint 619KB)
• Audience data example(Microsoft Excel 55KB)
• Code of Conduct for events(Adobe PDF 210KB)

Application Deadline

22 September, 2024

Scholarship Application Portal

View details of British Council Biennials Connect Grants

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