The scheme is open to all those working in the visual arts and the crafts who fulfil the following criteria:

• Artists must live and work within the UK and have exhibited their work professionally here.
• Artists must have a firm offer of an overseas exhibition in writing.
• Artists must have received no grant under the scheme during the 12 months preceding the submission date.
• Artists must have made no previous application under the scheme for help with the same project.
• Applications may be submitted by the artists themselves, or, on their behalf, by professional curators, organisers and art administrators who wish to exhibit the artists' work abroad. Please ensure that all artists have been made aware that an application has been made on their behalf.

Applicants may request assistance in meeting the costs of the transport and packing of the artists' work to and from Britain and the country concerned. Grants only give a contribution towards these costs.

Applicants may also request assistance in meeting artists' travel costs where the artists' presence is essential.

Grants are not given to assist with either the production costs of the work, framing and other preparation costs, or catalogue costs. Nor are grants given to assist with subsistence costs.

Overseas venues are expected to meet all reasonable local costs (eg publicity, catalogue, private view, invitation cards, customs and importation charges etc) in connection with the exhibition. In addition overseas venues are normally expected to contribute towards the international transport and packing costs and towards artists' subsistence costs where their presence is essential.

Applicants should avoid entering into any advance commitments in the belief that a grant will be made. The British Council will not be bound by any commitments made before applications are considered.

Applications in respect of residencies and festivals, trade fairs or 'open invitation' exhibitions are not eligible for assistance.  Similarly exhibitions in British Council office galleries, or hired spaces are not eligible.

Priority is given to applications for exhibitions that last for more than 2 weeks.

Applications should be submitted on the attached form, typed or clearly written in capitals in black ink. Click here to download the Grants to Artists application form.

CDRoms, DVD's or printed material such as catalogues are preferred for work in traditional media, including where possible the work to be exhibited or recent work.  Please indicate if the images sent in are of work to be exhibited.  All material submitted should be clearly marked with the artist's name and the orientation should be indicated where necessary.

For artists’ film and video, please ensure these guidelines are followed:

• Film and video should be submitted on DVD Region 2 format for PC. Work submitted in any other format will not be accepted.
• The Committee may not have time to view the full duration of the works, so for each artist please submit a selection of no more than six video pieces or clips with a total running time of no longer than 5 minutes. If you choose not to edit your pieces then up to the first 5 minutes on the tape or DVD will be viewed by the Committee
• VHS tapes and DVDs should be clearly labelled with artists’ names and the name of the work

For audio, please ensure these guidelines are followed:

• Audio works should be submitted on CD in Windows Media Player format. Work submitted on analogue cassette or other format will not be accepted
• The Committee may not have time to listen to the full duration of the works, so for each artist, a selection of no more than six pieces or clips should be included with a total running time of no longer than 5 minutes. If you choose not to edit your pieces then up to the first 5 minutes on the CD will be heard by the Committee
• CDs should be clearly labelled with the artists’ names and the name of the work.

For electronic images on CD, please ensure these guidelines are followed:

• CD should be PC formatted with J-peg images. Work submitted in any other format will not be accepted
• For each artist, a selection of no more than six J-pegs should be included
• Please place each individual artist’s work in a new folder, clearly marked with their name
• Images should be clearly labelled with artists’ names and the name of the work
• Each image should be 72 dpi and less than 1MB
• Please send accompanying print-outs of the artwork
• Slides and other documentation are sent entirely at the applicant's own risk. Should applicants require visual documentation to be returned, they must include a stamped addressed envelope.

All applicants must also include:

• A recent CV/brief biography for each artist
• Copies of quotes or estimates for travel, transport, packaging requests
• A balanced budget – please make sure to include the local costs that are being met by the overseas venue (eg publicity, catalogue, private view, invitation cards, customs and importation charges etc) in connection with the exhibition  
• A letter of invitation from the gallery
• For acknowledgement of the application's receipt, a self-addressed postcard must be included.

Failure to submit the above for each artist could seriously jeopardise your application.

PLEASE SEND 4 COPIES OF YOUR APPLICATION USING PAPERCLIPS/PLASTIC FILES INSTEAD OF STAPLES AND 1 SET OF VISUAL MATERIAL.

Closing dates for the submission of applications are 1 February, 1 May, 1 August and 1 November. Any applications received after the closing date will be returned. Applications are considered at a meeting of the Grants to Artists sub-committee taking place approximately three weeks after each closing date. Applications are not considered other than at these meetings; and retrospective applications cannot be considered (which is to say, the committee cannot support an exhibition which opens prior to the date of the meeting at which that support would be discussed). Applications can be considered a maximum of nine months in advance of the exhibition.

The grants committee rotates for every meeting but will always consist of three members of the British Council Visual Arts team and one external visual arts specialist.

Selection is made on the basis of the applicant's visual material, CV and proposal. It is therefore crucial that the visual material shows the work to its best advantage. The sub-committee will also take into account the comments of the British Council Directorate in the country concerned, as to the standing of the venue and the value of the exhibition in terms of Council policy for that country.  Please remember that we can only assess complete applications.  Before you sign your application and send to us, please make sure to complete the check list.  The main reason for applications not being accepted are:

• Incomplete application forms
• Unbalanced budget particularly where applicants have not stated local costs covered by the venue
• Activity starting before we can make a decision
• Emailed/ faxed applications.

The grants awarded are usually modest in scale and generally range from £100 - £2000.

Applicants are informed of the result of their application as soon as possible after the date of the meeting.

If your application is rejected, it is possible to receive feedback.  Please contact our grants team if you would like to discuss the committee’s reasoning behind not awarding a grant.

Successful applicants will be sent an e-mail of offer and accompanying acceptance and bank detail forms. Processing of payments may take up to one month from receipt of the applicant's completed forms.

Acknowledgement and follow up

Successful applicants will be expected to ensure that the British Council is appropriately credited in the exhibition catalogue, invitation cards and all attendant publicity material.

Successful applicants are asked to provide the British Council with a brief report on the exhibition, together with two copies of the catalogue, posters and press reviews or other publicity material, as soon as possible after the event has taken place.

If, for any reason, the exhibition does not take place as stated in the application, or is delayed for any reason, the Visual Arts Department should be notified immediately so that the return of the grant can be discussed.