Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation’s Armenian Communities Project Grants

The goal of the Armenian Communities Department is to have sustainable diasporan communities, where Armenian culture, identity and education are stronger, and to enhance open-minded critical engagement on national issues in Armenia.

Priorities and Activities

• The Western Armenian Language
  • The Armenian Communities Department invests significant funds to ensure the vitality and long-term sustainability of the Western Armenian language and culture. UNESCO has declared Western Armenian an “endangered language.”
  • It supports the development of pioneering pedagogic and language-related tools, invests in teacher development programmes and in Armenian schools in the Diaspora, reinforces technological innovation pertaining to language, and encourages targeted publications and digitisation initiatives.
  • More specifically, as a grant-making unit, the Department supports projects that include, but are not limited to, the following activities:
    • In-person and online language acquisition programmes and courses in Western Armenian.
    • Technology-related language initiatives and linguistic tools such as spellcheckers.
    • The creation of pedagogic materials for children and teens.
    • Teacher development programmes.
    • Special education for Armenian children.
    • Targeted aid to diasporan schools and school-related projects.
  • Armenian-language books for children and young adults.
• Cultural Creativity Support in Armenian
  • The Department’s approach to culture goes far beyond the preservation of the old and the classic. Rather, it focuses on creativity, innovation and the transformative power of culture in the 21st century. If diasporan communities are to be sustainable in the long run, the younger generation needs to create its own culture in its own language, especially in the Diaspora.
  • The following four key concepts will guide the selection of new projects to be supported through the Cultural Creativity pillar:
    • Creation and Innovation: The focus here is on creating new culture in Armenian, in order to inspire, facilitate, and support novelty and contemporaneity in the cultural and creative sectors in the Western Armenian language.
    • Social Transformation: The role of culture is central in social transformation. It is important to support cultural changemakers through initiatives that challenge current realities and stimulate alternative imaginaries harnessing democratic values, inclusivity, diversity and equity.
    • Sustainable Shifts and Futures: The cultural and creative sectors can contribute to positive shifts of attitudes and practices towards a more environmentally sustainable future. Arts and culture are crucial elements in addressing the climate crisis.
    • Regenerative Approaches to Cultural Heritage: A forward-looking understanding of cultural heritage leads to a renewed vision that connects the past, the present and the future. Cultural heritage and contemporary creation critically engage with one another, and ultimately, together they create the heritage of the future.
  • A wide range of media will be considered, including the arts, inter-and-multi-disciplinary and hybrid forms of expressions, literature, essays and other critical works, graphic works, new music, videos, installations, animations, all forms of creative broadcasting, and any other form of cultural expression, particularly in Western Armenian.
• Research and Critical Engagement in Armenia
  • It focuses on strengthening research and critical engagement with current issues that are of paramount importance to the country, and more broadly to Armenians around the world.
  • The Department supports major policy-oriented research projects, provides institutional support to research centres, and funds the Armenian translations of trend-setting international publications and their dissemination.
  • Projects in this area of focus can include, but are not limited to, the following activities:
    • Armenia and Armenian-related research projects and publications (print and electronic) on relevant topics and their circulation.
    • The translation and dissemination of important works in various languages, which have not been made available in Armenian to date.
    • Events and initiatives, including conferences, seminars, courses and summer schools, as well as other relevant academic undertakings, that emphasise critical thinking and innovation – especially if they engage youth as active participants – with a clear link to policy development.
    • Other projects that enhance critical thinking and research on current issues, including strategically important initiatives for the development of Armenia, including targeted institutional support.

Eligibility Criteria

• Open to all applicants (both individuals and organisations) regardless of nationality or country of implementation.
• Projects must be related to Armenian themes and issues.
• Projects must fall within the scope of the Department’s priority areas.

For more information, visit Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.