ABOUT THE PROGRAMME

Key Dates Eligible countries
  • When is the application open?
    6 August – 5 September 2021
  • When will the results be out?
    30 September 2021
  • When are the projects to be completed?
    Latest 28 February 2022
UK and six Southeast Asia countries:
Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Viet Nam

Connections Through Culture (CTC) is a grant programme run by the British Council in the UK and East Asia for the past 16 years to foster international collaborations through arts and culture. The Southeast Asia (SEA) edition of CTC was successfully launched in August 2019, and we have now completed three granting rounds, supporting 34 mobility/online collaborations in 2019 and 38 online collaborations in 2020.

We are delighted to announce that the 4th grant application is open between 6 August - 5 September 2021 and we look forward to receiving your proposals.

What are the available grants?

  UK-SEA Collaboration Grant UK-SEA Alumni Grants (New!)
Value Up to £8,000 Up to £2,000
Purpose Support online/digital networking and collaboration between the UK and Southeast Asia to develop art and cultural projects together or facilitate skills and knowledge exchange Support previous CTC UK-SEA grantees to build on the online/digital collaborations from the previous grant projects. These can be follow-up activities, wrap up conversations, or exploration of new collaborative ideas.
Who can apply Open to applicants who have not yet received a CTC UK-SEA grant. Open to previous CTC UK-SEA grantees (2019 and 2020) who have completed their projects.
  Open to individual artists, cultural professionals, creative practitioners, or, for cultural organisations, hubs, networks, and collectives based in the UK or in any of the six Southeast Asian countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam) featured in this programme.
  A UK Lead Applicant must nominate a SEA Counterpart(s), or a SEA Lead Applicant must nominate a UK Counterpart(s). Grants are offered to applicants in all art forms: theatre, dance, visual arts, literature, film, music, architecture, design, and fashion. Inter- and cross-disciplinary practices are encouraged

What are the grants for?

The grant should be used to support the process to develop projects with artistic expression or creativity at the core and that will result in collaborative activities including artistic and creative exchange of either skills, knowledge, and practice or the co-production towards new artistic and creative content. Various approaches can be employed such as art residencies, exhibitions, performances and showcases, publications, webinars, and conferences.

Who is NOT eligible to apply?

  • Not for academic institutions 
  • Not for funding bodies
  • Not for organisational overheads and general running costs
  • Not for Southeast Asian nationals living outside of Southeast Asia
  • Not for UK individuals based/living outside of the United Kingdom unless temporarily living but retaining a home address in the United Kingdom and defined by Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs as ‘resident the in the UK’ for tax – see here.

Reminders

UK-PH Information session

Did you miss our session last 20 August and need tips applying for the grant? You can watch the recorded session here

We also gathered relevant materials from the activity to help you with your application:

If you are based in the UK, please note that the session was specific to UK-PH digital collaborations. If you are interested in working with other SEA countries, please visit this page for details.

Connections Through Culture UK-Southeast Asia Online Collaboration Grantees, 2021-2022:

We award 37 grant project teams (inclusive of six alumni grants) this year.

Indonesia

Lead Grantee Counterpart Grantee Grant project working title or description
Ignatius Susiadi Wibowo on behalf of Labtanya (South Jakarta) Deveron Projects (Huntly, North East, Scotland) Our Commons: Food Resources (English) or Harta Kampung Kota Kita (Bahasa Indonesia)
Joel Cahen of Newtoy Ltd (Chilham) Robby Ocktavian of Muarasuara (Samarinda) Sound Estuary: Workshop and collaborations between sound art practitioners and audiences in Indonesia and in the UK
Tesla Manaf Effendi, Kuntari (Bandung) – Alumni Grant Graham Daniels of Addictive TV (London) Digital release & online launch event. Artists Kuntari and Addictive TV join forces to release their collaborative project Pararatronic.
Mohamad Apie Dhelpilia Suhariyanto and Titis Embun Ayu Winasis on behalf of Pustaka Pias (Bandung) Maisy Summer of Small Fry Collective (Manchester) IDENTICAL: Artbook of Minority Communities
WOW Foundation (Represented by Laura White, London) Voice of Baceprot (West Jakarta) WOW’s Digital Artist in Residence - Voice of Baceprot
Zunifah, Jalan Gembira (Yogyakarta) Fiona Cullinan of Walkspace (Birmingham) Parallel Walking: Between Here and There, Between the Seen and the Unseen

 Malaysia

Lead Grantee Counterpart Grantee Grant project working title or description
Eleena Jamil (Cyberjaya) Dr. Stephen Knott (London) About Making: Cross-discipline exploration of different aspects of ‘making’ in art and architecture,
Eliza Collin (Lostwithiel) – Alumni Grant Wendy Teo of Borneo Laboratory (Kuching) Narratives of Soil: Phase Two: Exploration with practitioners and collaborators established from the first CTC project
Abhirami Arumbakkam (Maidenhead) Sumitra Selvaraj and Dhinesha Karthigesu (Petaling Jaya) Sarees and Secrets: Series of dialogues between 3 multi-generational and multi-disciplinary artists connected by their common love of the saree
Suzanne Lee with Francesca Beard (London) Priya Kulasagaran (Petaling Jaya) Safe/Selamat online programme of action research, creative conversation, and exchange
Joanne Loo Yingjia (Kuala Lumpur) Ummi Kalthum Junid (Norwich) Trash <––> Treasure art residency programme of UK and Malaysia artists
Anthony Alexander Chong Vee Yee (Selangor) Shane Gilchrist (Belfast) Empowering Deaf Women in Malaysia through Sign Poetry: Training of d/Deaf women from across the Straits on poetry in English and Malaysian Sign Language
Kenny Ooi Chia Fu of The Rondo Productions (Penang) Orchestra of the Swan (Belfast) Musical Encounter Training for young composers and musicians, between 18 to 26 years old

 Myanmar

Lead Grantee Counterpart Grantee Grant project working title or description
Aung Myat Htay (Yangon) Grace Adam (Suffolk, East Anglia) The Moments: A collaboration of ideas exchange UK-Myanmar Contemporary Art workshop programme
Aung Min (Yangon) Tony Gammidge (Brighton) Safe Room: Art for trauma healing sessions and collaborations
Andrew Derek Halliday of Phantom Limb Touring (Southampton) Musica Htet (Yangon) A Sound Journey to Freedom: Intersectionality of visual and sonic arts
Dominique Robert DIllabough-Lefebvre (Cambridge) Saw Eh Do Wah (Mutraw, Karen State) Lives across boundaries: Film development project about environmental change and Karen borderlands.
Daw Htar Nwe (Yangon) Jack Jenkins Hill (London) Memory in Exile: Mixed media online archive of oral histories of diasporic populations in Myanmar

Philippines

Lead Grantee Counterpart Grantee Grant project working title or description
Hannah Morales of Emerging Islands (San Juan, La Union) Mandy Barker (Leeds) Plastic Passages: Mapping Our Way Towards Collective Sea Change
Joseph Wallace (East Sussex) Jemina Legaspi (Bocaue, Bulacan) Environmental Storytelling Through Stop Motion Animation: An exploration of recycled puppetry, sustainable practice, and poetic visions
Patricia Mendoza of Matic Hub (Cebu) – Alumni Grant Gillian Easson on behalf of Creative Dundee (Dundee) #MaterialsWiki - A Virtual Knowledge Sharing with Arts & Design Students
Jerome Dulin of North Luzon Cinema Guild, Inc. (Tuguegarao) Noémie Mendelle of Scottish Documentary Institute (Edinburgh) Lenses X Cultures (Lenses Cross Cultures): Creative Documentary Film La
Mac Andre Rubio Arboleda (Manila) April Lin (London) Toolkits for Counterparts

Thailand

Lead Grantee Counterpart Grantee Grant project working title or description
Piyawat Louilarpprasert (Bangkok) – Alumni Grant Scott Wilson (Birmingham) Mutation of Sounds and Dialogues: Connection of Culture and Music Technology
Ratchanok Ketboonruand (Chiang Mai) Carol Sinclair (Angus, Scotland) Crafting Happiness: Craft and Making for Health and Wellbeing in Thailand and Scotland
Chumpon Apisuk (Nan Province) – Alumni Grant Sinead O'Donnell (Belfast) Living with Closer Distancing: Activities and activities at the Belfast International Festival of Performance Art (BIFPA), with workshop with students from Bangkok University, Chiangmai University, and Ulster University (Belfast).
Weave Artisan Society (Chiang Mai) Naomi Mcintosh (Crathie, Scotland) Cross Cultural Tapestry: large scale 3D tapestry annex over a period of 3 months. UK artist collaborating with Thailand local team of weavers.
B-Floor Theatre Bangkok (Bangkok) Patrick J O'reilly of Tinderbox Theatre Company (Belfast) Digital Playground: Exploring the theme of Climate Change and the Body for physical theatre collaboration exploring climate change effects on the body.
Graiwoot Chulphongsathorn (Bangkok) Philippa Lovatt (St Andrews, Scotland) Tracing the Anthropocene in Southeast Asian and British Artists' Cinema: Film Screenings and Discussion

Vietnam

Lead Grantee Counterpart Grantee Grant project working title or description
Bui Linh Ha (Hanoi) – Alumni Grant Esther Swift (Edinburgh, Scotland) Creative Hosting (to) Access Music: CHẠM (vn for 'touch') – Music and Well-Being project
Nhã Thuyên aka Đỗ Thị Thoan (Hanoi) Alexandra Büchler of Literature Across Frontiers / Llenyddiaeth Ar Draws Ffiniau (Aberystwith, Wales) Ù Ơ: Digital residency and poetic exchange between emerging Vietnamese and Welsh women poets and artists
Vu Thi Phuong Thao on behalf Blue H'mong textile community in Pa Co(Hanoi) Lola Lely of WAX Atelier co-op (London) Crafting without Borders: Cross-cultural arts exchange through online workshops between Blue H'mong craftswomen in Viet Nam and craftswomen at WAX Atelier Co-Op in London
Trang Trinh (Hanoi) Caroline Sharp (London) "My morning song": A cross cultural educational and musical partnership based on Elgar's Chasson de Martin
Nguyen Quoc Thanh of Queer Forever! on behalf partners Dinh Thao Linh, Ba-Bau AIR, and Dinh Thi Nhung, A Queer Museum / Ban Lon - Vagina Talks (Hanoi) Asia Art Activism (London) Cruising beyond the cloud computing, xuyên không across the sky (thực ra là light speed under the sea): Activities queerness, local and intercultural queerstories, transnational exchange of knowledge and practices
Luyen Thi Linh (Hanoi) Casson & Friends by Tim Casson (Lincolnshire) The Dance WE Made: Mentoring and performance of 4 Vietnamese dancers (2 disabled and 2 non-disabled) (COVID permitting) in public spaces in Hanoi
Chau Quynh Le on behalf of CPED: Center for Cultural Preservation & Economic Development (Hue) Victoria Elizabeth Roe (London) Weaving a Better World: Including Craft to Reset Sustainable Fashion based on Ta Oi women’s designs – workshops, manuals, and exchange
Tran Viet Huy on behalf of Đà Nẵng tui (Da Nang) Dylan Jones of The Coracle Society (Cardiff, Wales) Lênh Đênh - Journey on the Waves of Time: Activities for artists, craftsmen, and fishermen in Vietnam accessing current and historic uses of coracles (thuyền thúng) in Viet Nam and in the UK

Connections Through Culture UK-Southeast Asia Online Collaboration Grantees, 2020-2021:

Connections Through Culture arts grant programme is now open, photo of mural in the Philippines by UK artists
©

Malarko Hernandez and Cristina Lina, The Horse that Had a Flat Tyre, 2018. Photo credit: Apa Feliciano

Indonesia

Grantee Counterpart/s Project
Jogja Disability Arts: Butong Idar (Yogyakarta) Disability Murals (UK Disabled Peoples Council) (Bristol) Netas / Incubate' Disability Murals Project 2021: Collaborative murals (one in Indonesia and another in UK), with video and book to document conceptualisation, process and exchanges. 
Corali Dance Company: Sarah Archdeacon (Jakarta/Bandung) GIGI Art of Dance (Brighton) Digital Dance Toolkit Development: Design and test a digital dance toolkit based on Corali’s artistic methodologies to be made accessible publicly.
Edward Riman (UK) Ninda Felina (ID) & Prabumi (ID) Digital Music Collaboration: Recording sounds from sites threatened by climate change. 
Makassar Writers Festival: Lily Yulianti Farid (ID) Literature Across Frontiers (UK Storytelling project for d/Deaf writers, with support from Disability Arts Cymru (UK)
Flatpack Projects: Ian Francis (Birmingham) Sahabat Seni Nusantara (Jakarta) Urban Legends: Film festival exchange on the horror genre highlighting diverse voices of Islam and LGBTQ
Emma Frankland (Brighton) Tamarra (Yogyakarta) Trans Performance Exchange - From My Land to Your Land: Six month dialogue with six performance pieces created over digital platforms, links to land, river and oceans, and drawing on trans communities
Impermanence: Joshua Ben-Tovim and Roseanna Anderson (London) Studio Hanafi: Heru Joni Putra and Irfan Setiawan (Jakarta) Online art residency examining the theme of 'arrival' based on three epic poems/writings by historical Indonesian poets about Raffles. Geological links between UK-ID, highlighting impact of mining and extraction industry
Cryptic UK: Robbie Thomson (Scotland) WAFT Lab (Surabaya) Megalithic Transportation International - digital residency between four artists from Cryptic (UK) and WAFT Lab (ID) using megalithic sites to explore ideas of community, technology and communication
No Bounds Festival: Liam O'Shea (Sheffield) Yesnowave (ID) Online residencies and Collaboration between artists Nkisi (UK) and Gabber Modus Operandi (ID); decolonialisation of music / global south club movement
Zoo Co Creative Ltd: Florence O'Mahoney (London) Komunitas Sakatoya: Basundara Murba Anggana (Jakarta) CareCrisis enables two theatre companies to test a new digital performance format, with live performers from Sakatoya, and live, projected performances by Zoo Co. Explorating ecology, nature and care of older people. Short film of the digital rehearsal residency footage.
Bagong Kussudiardja Foundation: Jeannie Park (Jakarta) The Paper Birds (Leeds) The School of Hope': An online artistic global citizenship project led by UK theatre company The Paper Birds and hosted by PSBK art centre in Yogyakarta; using arts to engage Young Indonesians and artists in the concept of “empathy”.
Intersastra: Gaia Khairina (Jakarta) Khairani Barokka (London) Writing and performance workshops for transwomen in Indonesia and the UK, resulting in a digital library of short stories and filmed performances based on the storiesamplify and celebrate transwomen’s voices, and subvert tropes of representation by having transwomen define the creative bodymind in physical and digital spaces. We will hold 2 public Zoom discussions to nurture intersectional solidarity between the two countries.
Ballet ID: Mariska Febriyani (Jakarta) Marc Brew Company: Marc Robert Brew (London) DANCE DIALOGUE: Digital art residency between artists, exploring the concept of space and restrictions. 

Malaysia

Grantee Counterpart/s Project
Hands Percussions Sdn Bhd: Goh Seang Hong (MY) Paul Philbert (Edinburgh) LIFECYCLE 2021: A progression check-in after initial two projects (RI YUE CHU YIN 2011 and Tchaikovsky on Gamelan in 2014). Organic approach to composing a new piece for the Malay gamelan, and Malaysian composition will be synergised with composer. 
Eliza Collin (London) Borneo Art Collective: Wendy Teo (Kuching) Digital exchange research and workshops on sustainability of mud in design and its cultural intricacies. Four workshops at Think & Think space. Promoting the use of mud as a material shines a light on our damaging modern design practices.
Art Dialogo Asia: Anna Karina Jardin (Kuala Lumpur, Southeast Asia-wide) Let's Reinvent: Bien King (London) ART-I-CULATE programme: Open call to youth 14-18 (20 from 12 UK regions and 5 ASEAN countries): Masterclasses, artistic collaborations, cultural dialogues and exhibition
Sonia Luhong Wan (Borneo) Catriona Maddocks, creatives of northeast of England  Borneo Bengkel - NORTH / EAST: Collaborative exchanges, conversations and interactions between creative practitioners from the North East of England, East Malaysia and Kalimantan
Alistair Debling (Bristol) Khatijah Rahmat (MY) On the Queer Time of Elephants: A Cross-Cultural Experimental Film: Digital art residency, online exhibition and screenings in the UK and Malaysia, documenting the different temporalities experienced by a young queer artist in a locked-down city and an artist-researcher studying Asian elephants in the remote Malaysian jungle.
KL Shakespeare Players: Lim Soon-Heng (Kuala Lumpur) Leo Sykes Libanio (London) OBJECTing Shakespeare:  Workshops on objects in Shakespeare, exploring how to transform them playfully in Shakespeare productions for non-native English-speaking children.
Laura Porter (Devon) Lee Mok Yee (MY) Online collaborative residency between Malaysian-based mixed-media artist Lee Mok Yee and UK-based sculpture and installation artist Laura Porter, over a eight-week period.

Philippines

Grantee Counterpart/s Project
Renan Laru-an (Sultan Kudarat) Helena Hunter; Mandy El-Sayegh (England) Into the year of birds and clouds (Motions of this Kind 2021 Digital Archives and Research)
MATIC HUB: Patricia Kyle Gillera Mendoza (Manila) Gillian Easson (Dundee) Materials library expansion – Art and cultural research collaboration between UNESCO Creative Cities of Design: Cebu  and Dundee
Thirty-Three Thirty-Three: Nathan Comer (London) LaVerne de la Peña (Quezon City) Livestream performance of Filipino composer José Maceda’s work ‘Udlot-Udlot’ through Filipino community in Japan, UK counterpart working with Japanese university
Everything Green Trading and Consulting: Camille Rose Albarracin (Quezon City) Ericka Ilah Santiago (England) Agri-waste to Fashion (Footwear and Accessories) Collaboration: Design hackathon using agricultural materials between PH and UK designers involving local artisans (disabled, farmers, woman group artisan). 
Nathalie Dagmang (Manila) Curating Development: Deirdre McKay (England) Situating soundscapes and textures of migration: A psychogeographic map of the Filipino diaspora during the COVID-19 pandemic: Online curation on PH migrants using Zoom calls as methodology and content
Niya B (London) Bunny Cadag (Manila) Intimate Threads - performance making and gender plurality in the UK and the Philippines: online residencies and performances
*PH Arts and Creative Economy Research Grant: Stephanie Tudtud (UK respondents) Research on the need for a 'practical maker space' in Cebu, using UK case studies. Researcher drawing on her experience and contacts as Cardiff Met alumna.
*PH Arts and Creative Economy Research Grant: Diego Maranan (UK respondents) Research on how underutilised arts and science collaboration in the PH can spur innovation, using UK case studies. Researcher drawing on his experience and contacts as University of Plymouth alumnus
*PH Arts and Creative Economy Research Grant:  Maya Tamayo-Gutierrez (UK respondents) Research on roadmap for more inclusive arts and creative economy policy, engaging female government leaders; Includes experts and case studies from UK cultural policies.

Thailand

Grantee Counterpart/s Project
Invisible Flock: Catherine Baxendale (England) Siwakorn Odachao, Jennifer Katanyoutanant (Bangkok and Northern Thailand) Walk Like a Bee: Online workshops with Karen tribe elders facilitated by a design lab. Online and offline tools added to community mapping to support the online sharing and documentation of traditional rotational farming, a form of adaptation to Climate Change. Dialogue will be shared online as publications and at the 7th Asia-Pacific Adaptation Forum, taking place online during March 2021, hosted by the Stockholm Environment Institute.
Piyawat Louislapprasert (Nakhon Pathom) Scott Wilson (England), among other UK and Thai artists Resilience, Distance, Connection in Isolation Space from Afar: Online cultural exchange workshops, discussions, digital exhibitions, and virtual performances exchanging music and ideas between several UK and Thai artists on themes such as Cultural exchange and musical voices (Southeast Asian Instruments, UK Sound art/field recordings, etc.), resilience and collaboration in isolation, technology.
Anya Muangkote (Bangkok) Charlene Smith (England) Regenerative Districts - #1 Watthana: Building a network of local creatives and businesses to create a creative and regenerative circular economy in Thailand, enabling the sourcing of biomass from organic waste to develop local biodegradable artefacts/crafts/designs.The activities consist of research, material making workshops, showcases.
Asiatopia: Chumpon Apisuk (Nan, northern Thailand) Sinead O'Donnell (Northern Ireland) Closer Distancing: Artistic Connectivity with COVID-19: A series of online artistic collaborations and public live-streaming using online and digital platforms as well as digital archives to create new work in performance arts.
 Baff Akoto (England) Adulaya Hoontrakul (TH) Diasporic Blackness in the SE Asian context:  A Digital Artist Residency to undertake research into contemporary Diasporic Blackness in the SE Asian context.

Vietnam

Grantee Counterpart/s Project
Harry Maberly (Glasgow) Hồ Nguyễn Hải Đăng (Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City) GAP | GẶP: online movement film exploring connection, distance, and the role of digital intimacy in contemporary UK & Vietnamese queer culture. 
Heather Lander (Glasgow) Linh Hà (Hanoi) An impression of your presence, your place: Online audiovisual artwork and exchange
Van Huynh Company: Dam Van Huynh (London) MORUA: Ngo Thanh Phuong (Hoi An) Sound Barrier (working title): Online cultural exchange and contemporary dance showcase
Sally Lai (Manchester) Richard Streitmatter-Tran (VN) The Studios Project, Asia: An online platform of artists' studiosresearch about artist studios role, and online curatorial resource

For more information, send an email to ctc@britishcouncil.org.

See also

External links