British Council: Connections Through Culture Grants

Overview

Connections Through Culture (CTC) is a grant programme by the British Council to support artistic collaboration and exchange between creative professionals and arts organisations in participating countries and all four nations of the UK.

 For 2025 they have expanded the programme to include new countries, providing more opportunities for a broader range of international partners. 

The programme aims to support new connections, exchanges, and collaborations between the UK and participating countries that build long-term relationships among artists, creative practitioners, and art and cultural organisations, hubs, networks, and collectives through collaborative digital, face-to-face, and/or hybrid artistic projects.

What can the grants be used for?

The grants support the development of new creative projects leading to collaborative activities that promote the exchange of skills, knowledge, and practice. Various approaches can be taken such as art residencies, exhibitions, performances, showcases, publications, webinars, and conferences, among others. Projects can be digital, face to face or a hybrid of both.

Collaboration should be at the heart of every CTC application.

Who Can Apply?

Each application must comprise of at least one UK partner and one international partner from the countries listed below. 

Eligible countries 

Australia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Mainland China, Indonesia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam. 

• Organisations and individuals are eligible to apply.
• For the UK, eligible individuals are those who are living and working in the UK and for participating countries, individuals need to be residents of that country. 
• They would expect individuals to have the necessary registration/s needed to comply with legal and/or tax provisions in the country in which they are based e.g. this could be a sole trader or an individual operating as a company with the associated registrations. 

Eligibility criteria

• Whilst they accept applications covering all artforms and outcomes, applications that respond to the themes of diversity and inclusion and climate change may be prioritised during final decision-making.
• They welcome applications from both new and returning partners, and they're particularly keen to hear from those they have not previously worked with.
• Collaboration is central to the programme, and partners should work together to co-create, co-deliver, or co-explore innovative artistic and cultural projects. 

Eligible art forms

• Architecture
• Design & fashion
• Creative technology (incl. games, extended reality, immersive, mixed, augmented and virtual reality, artificial intelligence)
• Film
• Literature
• Music
• Theatre and dance
• Visual arts. 

They also welcome proposals for:  

• Cross-art form projects 
• Projects with themes relevant to the creative economy (policy, research and advocacy, as well as capacity building for creative professionals and policymakers)
• Cross-disciplinary art projects (e.g., art + science, art + technology) 

Please note that you must only select one art form on the application form. 

If your project delivers activity across multiple art forms, you will need to select only one. 

The scope of a project might be simply to collaborate on a piece of art, a film, piece of writing or music, or could include any of the following: 

• Residencies 
• Exhibitions, festivals, showcases, workshops, performances, screening programmes 
• Projects which focus on or include digital innovation (such as projects which combine art with technology in a new or different way) 
• Conferences, panels and talks 
• Creative use of archives 
• Research and development of future project ideas 

Although this is not a programme focusing on professional development, the outcome doesn’t strictly need to be a completed artistic outcome. Skills development can be part of a project, with the primary outcomes supporting creative and artistic work. Projects can be delivered digitally, face-to-face, or a hybrid blend of both.

Grant amount available

They expect to award approximately 90 grants of up to £5,000 or £10,000 to support new collaborative projects.

• Up to £5,000
  • Projects between the UK and Australia and New Zealand.
• Up to 10,000
  • Projects between the UK and Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Mainland China, Georgia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Viet Nam.

Eligible Costs 

Eligible cost could include costs directly related to the implementation of the project, including: 

• Professional fees e.g. fees for contracted artists, facilitators, designers, specialists relating to the project. 
• Travel and accommodation 
• Reasonable equipment and materials costs 
• Venue hire and production costs 
• Marketing and promotional activities

In 2024, the programme awarded over £741,000 across 11 countries in the Asia Pacific region, supporting 84 collaborations. The projects explored a wide range of themes, including diversity and inclusion and climate action, and supported collaborations such as Deaf-led music events, international theatre productions, digital art residencies, and creative workshops. Find out more about the 2024 grantees here.