Opportunity of a lifetime alert: The British Council is offering thousands of pounds to Southeast Asian creatives to soak up culture overseas and collaborate with artists from the other side of the world.

As part of their recently established Connections Through Culture (CTC) program, the British Council is opening applications for a mobility grant for artists and cultural professionals from both the UK and Asia. The council has partnered with six countries—Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines—to implement the program in.

The grant is open to individuals and groups specifically pursuing drama, dance, visual arts, literature, film, music, architecture, design and fashion. The council wants to establish long-lasting relationships between East Asia and the UK as well as to celebrate the diversity of cultures in both our region and theirs.

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Connections Through Culture supports travels for artists and arts workers to do negotiations or research trips in the UK or any of the six countries in Southeast Asia. The grants programme is for those who work in the visual arts, architecture, music, dance, design, fashion, theatre, literature, film and combined arts. Round 3 applicants are expected to apply for visits in the UK or Southeast Asia between May-July 2020. Deadline for the Round 3 Open Call is on 31 January 2020. The application procedure can be found here: https://www.britishcouncil.ph/programmes/arts/opportunities/connections-through-culture Connections Through Culture aims to develop exciting cultural exchanges and collaborations between artists, arts professionals and arts organisations, and to support long-lasting relationships between people from Southeast Asia and the UK. In Southeast Asia, Connections Through Culture is available to applicants in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Indonesia. Follow #BritishCouncilCTC to know more about the grants.

A post shared by British Council PH (@phbritish) on Jan 15, 2020 at 5:37pm PST

The council is offering three types of the grant: the first for UK-based artists who want to visit one of the six partner SEA countries for up to £2,500; second for individual artists from partner countries who want to go to the UK for up to £3,500; and third for representatives of art collectives from both UK and SEA partner countries who want to go to the opposites’ area for up to £6,000. (We already did the math—£6,000 is worth P401,565.68. It’s a pretty good deal.)

Applications are being accepted until Jan. 31 at the British Council site, so you still have time to straighten out your submissions. This is the sign you’ve been waiting for.

Art by Renz Mart Reyes