A collaboration between Northern Ireland’s c21 Theatre Company and Australian playwright Fleur Murphy, exploring shared concerns about climate change and set in two coastal communities linked by history but located 17,014 kilometres (10,572 miles) apart, and an investigation into the creation of a new Global First Nations contemporary dance festival, are among the 84 projects being supported through the latest round of the British Council’s Connections Through Culture Grant Programme.
Established in 1934 with the aim of promoting British culture and fighting the rise of fascism, the British Council continues to empower artists to broaden cultural perspectives and promote equality and diversity across the world.
Connections Through Culture aims to build lasting cultural partnerships that transcend borders and foster dialogue, innovation and mutual understanding between the UK and the Asia-Pacific region.
The new tranche of grant recipients demonstrates the continuing evolution of the Programme, which this year includes South Asia for the first time. Consequently, grantees from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have joined recipients from Australia, New Zealand, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Who are this year’s grantees?
For 2024-25, the British Council is awarding over £741,000 across 11 countries in the Asia Pacific region, supporting 84 collaborations. The latest round of the Connections Through Culture Grant Programme has distributed more than $1.4 million (over £741,000) to 84 artistic projects across multiple art forms.
“We are thrilled to announce our 2024 grantees, with 10 outstanding collaborations between UK and Australia,” says Helen Salmon, Director of British Council Australia.
“These partnerships build on the deep curiosity and creative connections between our two nations, offering fresh opportunities for mutual understanding.”
Ten of the supported projects are collaborations between British and Australian artists – projects that will foster stronger partnerships in the Asia-Pacific unrestrained by geographical and political borders, and will help dismantle the sometimes arbitrary divisions that separate artworks by genre and sector.
These 10 projects include:
Collaborative development of new performance work The Act by Amrita Hepi and Tilly Lawless
The Act is a new performance work exploring the intersections of dance and sex work and examining the body in professional service across both industries. Led by Australian choreographer Amrita Hepi in collaboration with writer and sex worker Tilly Lawless, and supported by Transform (UK) and Performing Lines (Australia), the project aspires to create a nuanced work that challenges perceptions of labour, authenticity and representation.
‘Belfast’
An ambitious site-specific theatre project, Belfast is the inaugural collaboration between Northern Ireland’s c21 Theatre Company and Australian playwright Fleur Murphy. This new work explores the intertwined histories and futures of Belfast in Northern Ireland and Australia’s Port Fairy (formerly known as Belfast in the 1840s) and delves into the effects of climate change on those communities.
Global First Nations RISE Festival R and D
In partnership with BlakDance, Australia’s national industry organisation for First Nation contemporary dancers and choreographers, and independent Māori dance artist Paige Shand, Dance North Scotland is conducting research and development to realise the vision of a co-curated Global First Nations contemporary dance festival and exchange programme for Dance North’s annual festival of contemporary dance and performance, RISE, in 2026.
Jodee Mundy’s ‘Personal’: an expanded programme for deaf artists and families
The UK’s SPILL Festival and Australia’s Jodee Mundy Collaborations are presenting a programme of peer-to-peer artist development and intergenerational creative outreach connected to Mundy’s acclaimed performance work Personal, described by ArtsHub writer Andrea Simpson in 2018 as “a notable and important example of where … access is the performance”.
‘March Static 2.0’
A music work for massed wind, drum and percussion players by composer Thomas Meadowcroft (Australia/Germany), which reimagines the marching band, celebrating community and peace over military might, and is directed by Speak Percussion (Australia) and CoMA (UK).
YIRRAMBOI x Fierce: Creative Exchange
YIRRAMBOI (Australia) and Fierce Festival (UK) will address the severe underrepresentation of Australian First Nations artists in the UK by initiating a research and development phase to build and develop a network to bring First Nations artists to the UK through presentations, commissions and new collaborations.
Visit the British Council’s Connections Through Culture webpage to learn more and to see the full list of grantees.
