Together with cultural institutes in the UK and overseas, and a range of corporate sponsors, foundations, trusts and patrons, we respond to international cultural opportunities.
If you would like further information on how to get involved with any of our current or future seasons please email the team at UKSeasons@britishcouncil.org
The UK/Australia Season was a major new cultural exchange between Australia and the UK celebrating the diverse and innovative artist communities and cultural sectors of each nation. The Season was a joint initiative by the British Council and the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The artistic programme ranged across theatre, film, visual arts, dance, design, creative technology, architecture, music, literature, museums, broadcast, public engagement, and featured numerous exciting cross-arts commissions, including a number of world, UK and Australian premieres. The programme spanned city, regional and rural areas across Australia and the UK.
The UK-Italy Season 2020 was an exciting opportunity to strengthen new cultural connections between both countries. It took place in Italy, and virtually, in autumn 2020, focusing on creativity, innovation and inclusion, under the theme Being Present. It started on 15 September and ran until 30 November 2020.
UK in Japan was launched in September 2019 to coincide with the Rugby World Cup and featured a series of events across business, arts and education. The focus was on creativity and innovation, seeking to build closer relationships between the UK and Japan through networking and knowledge sharing. The programme was put on hold due to Covid-19 but resumed to through to 2021, looking at how the UK and Japan can support a sustainable global recovery together.
The UK Season in Georgia was a carefully curated programme of 60+ events over three months. The Season ran from September to December 2019 and included events in Tbilisi, Batumi, Kutaisi and other locations across Georgia.
Explore the highlights from UK/Georgia 2019: New Cultural Horizons
UK/Germany 2018 was a year-long programme which explored and celebrated cultural connections between the UK and Germany through the arts. In the Year of European Cultural Heritage, we connected over twenty partner organisations with hundreds of young artists and creatives across Germany, who experienced exhibitions, readings, and performances and used British Council platforms to present their own work. A series of videos telling stories of friendship and co-creation between young German-British people were seen by a million people online.
The UK/Korea 2017–18 Season celebrated the positive relationship in the arts and creative sectors between the United Kingdom and Korea. Nearly 1.2 million people participated through 184 events delivered in 17 cities across Korea.
Over 800 artists and arts professionals participated, generating creative collaborations whilst presenting and showcasing their work. The season provoked questions about how the arts responds and contributes to building more open, diverse, creative and inclusive societies in both countries.
This season, phased over three years, built brand-new relationships between the UK and Indonesia in the arts and creative industries and developed partnerships designed for the future. The season connected over 250 UK and Indonesian artists and organisations and over 90 new works of art were co-created. In total, over half a million people took part in public events. A particularly strong connection was made with the city of Liverpool, through numerous projects and residencies. The season contributed to the formal links between Surabaya and Liverpool, where the creative economy forms one of the four pillars of the ‘sister-city’ relationship led by the city Mayors.
UK/India 2017 was a celebration of the long-standing relationship between India and the UK, and saw a vast programme of cultural events, exhibitions and activities ranging from film to music, theatre to dance, and visual arts to literature between January 2017 and March 2018.
The programme provided an opportunity for artistic and cultural exchange in both countries, for government-to-government collaborations and acted as a platform for the UK creative sector to increase its engagement and impact in India. The programme involved over 200 events in over 35 Indian towns and cities, covering all regions of the country which were attended by 7.7 million people, with a press and media reach of 800m and a reach of 32m via radio.
UK/UAE 2017 was a year of creative collaboration and cultural exchange between the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, organised by the British Council, under the patronage of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and HRH The Prince of Wales.
UK/UAE 2017 celebrated the long-standing relationship between the UK and the UAE, giving it greater focus, depth and contemporary relevance. Over 270 events took place across all seven Emirates of the UAE, including numerous visual arts, design, cultural heritage and literary exhibitions, musical, theatrical and dance performances, cultural and scientific conferences, talks and workshops, public art installations and performances, literary readings and film screenings.
In 1947, in the wake of the Second World War, Edinburgh International Festival was founded in an attempt to rebuild bridges across Europe through arts and culture.
70 years on, British Council and Edinburgh International Festival's season of performance and discussion reignited the Spirit of '47 in celebration of international cultural collaboration in today's fast-changing world.
Working with BBC Arts Digital, we presented many of the Spirit of '47 events online to a worldwide audience.
To mark the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, we invited the world to take part in a programme of events and activities to celebrate the world’s most famous playwright – a writer for all people and nations.
The British Council and the GREAT Britain campaign worked with a host of theatres, museums, educators and artists on brand new productions of Shakespeare’s plays, film adaptations, public readings and educational resources for schools and English language learners of all ages.
Explore the highlights from Shakespeare Lives
Download Shakespeare Lives in numbers below (PDF 838KB)
UK in Mexico, organised by British Council and British Embassy, featured close to 400 events and programmes in all 32 states and was attended by 1.5 million people with a media reach of 1.3 billion. The season covered arts, education, science and trade, and there was a reciprocal year of Mexico in the UK.
Highlights included the UK as Guest of Honour at several festivals, most notably the Guadalajara International Book Fair (a major multi-arts festival in its own right), Mexico City’s Science and Technology Week and Baja California’s Agricultural Fair. Other arts highlights included Tate’s Landscapes of the Mind exhibition at the National Museum of Art, an exhibition by artist David Shrigley, and a social inclusion programme centering around dance.
Connect ZA, was developed to help rebuild a strong cultural connection between the two countries, particularly amongst 18-35 year olds: a generation of people who have spent their whole adult life in the new democracy and are now in a position to shape and influence the cultural life of their country.
From 2013 to 2015, the programme contributed to around 100 projects, which engaged over 5,000 aspiring and established practitioners and drew audiences in the region of 420,000 people. Connect ZA continues to develop projects, to reach new and diverse audiences for the arts and to stimulate innovation and skills exchange.