Arts Residency Grants Programme in the UK and Pakistan

The launch of the programme last year was widely welcomed by the arts sector. Through the first cycle, they supported five projects which received a combined total of 240 applications through open calls and engaged 32 artists in residencies that spanned across Karachi, Lahore, Shikarpur, Gilgit-Baltistan, London and Birmingham.

The second cycle will offer a further five grants, each worth up to £30,000, to co-developed proposals between Pakistan and UK partners to design and deliver innovative arts residencies that provide early/mid-career artists from Pakistan with opportunities to:

• research, produce and showcase new work
• widen the international context for their practice through learning and artistic exchange
• build new relationships with creative practitioners, communities and institutions
• access new networks and audiences
• explore future creative commissions and partnership projects

The residencies should seek to enable meaningful collaborations between Pakistan and the UK. This could involve Pakistani artists travelling to the UK for a specified duration and/or UK artists travelling to Pakistan to mentor and collaborate with local artists. Hybrid ways of working between digital and face to face models are encouraged. Proposals must be Pakistan-led, with the applicant from Pakistan receiving at least 50% of the funds available.

The work produced through the residencies will form part of a public showcase in Pakistan and the UK and will be used as a platform to stimulate critical discussion around the themes emerging from the residencies.

Grants will be offered to residencies exploring all art forms: theatre, dance, visual arts, literature, film, music, design, fashion, architecture, craft, tech art and new media art. Partnerships across disciplines and organisations are encouraged, including new models of exchange between art, research, science and other fields.

Proposed residencies must include the following:

• An open, accessible and transparent process for artist selection
• Travel between Pakistan and the UK
• Provision of accommodation and basic living expenses in Pakistan/UK
• A studio/workspace and a budget for materials/production
• Administrative, pastoral and curatorial support for artists
• A structured programme of meetings, exploratory trips, events and participatory learning opportunities during the residency
• A public showcase and events programme in Pakistan and the UK to conclude the residency

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for the funding opportunity:

• The lead applicant must be an emerging or established organisation based in Pakistan.
• There must be a UK collaboration partner (organisation/company and not an individual).
• Applicants must provide evidence of true collaboration, knowledge exchange and mutual benefit for all partners in their application.
• Organisations can apply as a consortium of partners but there must be one lead applicant who receives the funds in Pakistan and/or the UK.
• Both Pakistan and UK organisations must be registered in the country they are based in.
• Project delivery must take place between April 2024 to March 2025.
• Proposals must aim to achieve a gender balance in their projects.
• If the proposal looks at working with marginalised artists and/or communities, it must be evident how a sensitive and knowledgeable approach is taken in working with them. The applicant must show experience of how they will be mindful of context e.g., language, ethics of collaboration etc.

For more information, visit British Council.