Braid Arts & Culture Fund

The Braid Fund sees the health of the art, culture and cultural heritage sector and its contributions to wider society as a weaving of elements: the disciplines, the practitioners, and the communities. Intertwining these strands leads to improved relationships, new work, increased connection and greater influence. The fund offers grants to innovative practitioners of art and culture projects in East Africa. This is a collaboration between the Trust for Indigenous Culture and Health (TICAH) and the Cultural Heritage for Inclusive Growth (#CultureGrows) program by the British Council.

Goal and Expected Outcomes

• The goal of this fund is to increase the value assigned to art and culture by supporting innovations of cultural and arts practices and/or spaces to widen and deepen connections among practitioners and the wider community. They hope to realise the following outcomes:
  • Art and culture practitioners discover and share innovative ways to reach wider audiences with their work.
  • Stronger relationships and skills developed across art/culture practices and generations
  • Increased knowledge and understanding of the value of arts and culture disciplines, practitioners and spaces

Grant Categories

• Collaboration Grant
  • To support creative projects involving collaborations between different generations of artists or cultural practitioners and/or between different art/culture disciplines.
  • Up to 750K KSH (~5,000 USD)
  • 6-8 Months
• Completion Grant
  • To support creative projects that are close to finishing but need a little more funding to complete the work.
  • Up to 750K KSH (~5,000 USD)
  • 6-8 Months
• Continuation Grant
  • ‍To support Braid partners with the next chapter of their projects (this is only available to previous Braid grantees)
  • Up to 750K KSH (~5,000 USD)
  • 6-8 Months

Criteria

• The Braid Fund currently supports practitioners and projects in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
• The grants are accessible to:
  • Art and Culture Practitioners
  • Artists and Artisans of Urban and Rural Communities
  • Art and Culture Organizations
  • Cultural practitioners who want to work together
  • Applicants who are willing to document and share their work online
• While they are open to all art or culture practitioners and all mediums/disciplines, they will be giving priority to:
  • Early career practitioners
  • Rural practitioners
  • Women and gender nonconforming peoples
  • Community-based projects
  • People living with disabilities
  • Practitioners from disciplines or spaces usually not represented in large-scale art/culture programs.

For more information, visit TICAH.