Overview - Support and Funding - British Council

Art, Architecture & Design Funding

Dance and Drama Support and Funding

Literature Support and Funding

Film Support and Funding

British Council - Who we are

	Support and Funding overview

The British Council is not a funding body in the usual sense, and there is no application form - except for the Grants to Artists scheme and the Short Film Submission scheme. In the majority of cases we approach the UK artists who we think may be interested in working with us, rather than vice versa. Much of our work is done in collaboration with partners overseas, who provide funding for work brokered by us. Still, we are always keen to hear well-thought out proposals from arts professionals. To approach us with an idea, please have a look at our Ideas Park page.

We work on many arts events every year. The focus of our work differs from country to country; in some places we have an extensive arts programme, in others we may organise just a few events a year. We look for arts work that is both excellent of its type, and fits with our strategic objectives in that country or region. Arts work that may resonate in one country may be inappropriate in another. Our arts specialists in the UK constantly seek out new work and assess its general suitability for touring abroad, whilst our arts managers overseas have an in-depth knowledge of their local scene and know what will work well with their audiences.

Our core audiences are people from 18 – 35, since these are most open to new experiences, whose perceptions of the UK are not yet fixed. Much of what we support is new work that will appeal to these audiences. But this is not an exclusive emphasis, and we quite often do work with older or younger audiences, and support classical work especially in countries where it is not already familiar.