The British Council in Egypt is delighted to announce its ‘Grants to Artists’ fund for 2012-13. The aim of the grants is to support young Egyptian artists in all fields. This year the focus of the grants is on work that engages with the wider community in Egypt. By ‘wider community’ we mean specifically communities that don’t have a tradition of engaging with arts and cultural activity.

The size of the grants awarded will vary, but most are expected to be under £2000. Grants will be paid into recipients’ accounts by bank transfer. Artists who receive grants will be expected to document what they do and share their experiences with other grantees and wider audiences. This could be done through blogs, video clips or other media; interviews may be arranged by the British Council with Egyptian and UK media outlets.

Eligibility

The grants scheme is open to Egyptian citizens currently practising in one of the following art forms: music, film, theatre, literature, dance, visual arts and design. There are no strict age limits but applicants are expected to be in their final year of university or beyond. Artists who received grants in 2011-12 are not eligible to apply this year.

Please fill in the attached application form and send it to information@britishcouncil.org.eg by no later than 30 September 2012 for the second round.

Selection criteria

When we are making decisions about awarding grants we will be looking to see:

1. How your project engages with a community

2. How your project uses the arts to deliver benefits for that community

3. That your project is clearly explained and appears to be deliverable

4. That there is a clear budget which details

• what British Council’s grant will be used for
• what other sources of funding you have applied for
• how the money will be spent

Important dates

There will be two calls for grant applications in 2012-13.

			Date		Activity
			21 May 2012		Open call for first round of applications
			16 June 2012		Deadline for first round of applications
			21 June 2012		Decisions announced
			22-30 June 2012		Grants paid into recipients’ bank accounts
			2 September 2012		Open call for second round of applications
			30 September 2012		Deadline for second round of applications
			11 October 2012		Decisions announced
			11-31 October		Grants paid into recipients’ bank accounts