British Council’s Connections Through Culture Grants 2025 Now Open for Applications

The British Council has formally opened functions for its 2025 Connections Through Culture (CTC) Grants—a world grant programme designed to foster inventive collaboration and cultural trade between the UK and a choose group of nations throughout Asia, Europe, and Australasia. The CTC grants goal to construct long-lasting partnerships by supporting new joint inventive initiatives between artists, cultural practitioners, and organisations.

Following the success of its 2024 version, which funded over 84 initiatives throughout 11 international locations within the Asia-Pacific area, the programme returns with an expanded geographic scope and elevated alternatives. In 2024, the programme invested over £741,000 in cross-cultural initiatives starting from Deaf-led music occasions to worldwide theatre collaborations and climate-themed digital artwork residencies.

About the 2025 CTC Grants

The 2025 CTC Grants will assist roughly 90 initiatives, providing funding of both £5,000 or £10,000. The grants are meant to provoke and develop collaborative, modern cultural initiatives that have interaction audiences, share experience, and discover inventive practices. Projects can take many kinds, together with residencies, exhibitions, performances, digital showcases, workshops, publications, and extra.

Both digital and in-person collaboration fashions are eligible, and hybrid codecs are inspired to accommodate various types of cultural trade.

Application Deadline: 23 June 2025 at 15:00 BST
Project Start Date: From October 2025
Notification of Award: Mid-August 2025

Who Can Apply?

Applications have to be collectively submitted by at the very least one UK-based accomplice and one accomplice based mostly in a taking part nation. Both people and organisations are eligible.

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

Applicants should reside within the nation they characterize and adjust to authorized or tax necessities of their respective jurisdictions (e.g. registration as a sole dealer or firm).

Grant Amounts

• Up to £5,000: For collaborations between the UK and companions in Australia or New Zealand.

• Up to £10,000: For collaborations with companions in all different eligible international locations.

Priority Themes

While all artforms are welcome, proposals that reply to 1 or each of the next themes could also be prioritised through the choice course of:

The programme encourages functions from each new and former collaborators and locations a selected emphasis on equitable and co-created cultural partnerships.

Eligible Artforms

CTC Grants assist a big selection of inventive and cultural practices, together with:

• Visual Arts

• Music

• Theatre and Dance

• Film

• Literature

• Architecture

• Design and Fashion

• Creative Technologies (e.g., XR, AI, gaming, immersive media)

Cross-artform and interdisciplinary proposals (e.g., combining artwork with science or expertise) are extremely inspired, as are initiatives supporting inventive economic system growth, comparable to analysis, coverage advocacy, and capacity-building initiatives.

How to Apply

All functions have to be submitted by way of the British Council’s on-line application portal by the deadline of 23 June 2025 (15:00 BST). The application type permits collaboration, so the lead applicant can invite their accomplice(s) to co-complete the submission.

Apply Here

Why Apply?

This is a novel alternative for creatives and cultural organisations to:

• Gain worldwide publicity and expertise

• Access funding for collaborative and community-engaged initiatives

• Develop cross-cultural relationships and networks

• Contribute to world conversations on variety and local weather change by way of artwork

For extra funding and cultural collaboration alternatives, keep tuned to opportunitiesforyouth.org.