British Council New Narratives - Co-creation Grant

Eligibility Criteria

• Multidisciplinary hubs and/or collectives applying need to work directly with young people aged between 18 and 35years old and the core team can include creatives/practitioners/experts from different countries of Africa and the UK.
• The administrative lead of the application needs to be from one of the primary countries listed, with the rest of the members of the group being from any of the listed secondary countries.
• The group’s capability and skills must be spread across Africa and UK.
• There should be a clear articulation of the roles and responsibilities of each member of the group.
• The successful groups need to have Intellectual Property and other applicable rights agreed on and in place upon the signing of the contract.

Eligible Countries

• Primary Countries: England, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Northern Ireland, Nigeria, Scotland, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Wales, Zimbabwe.
• Secondary Countries: Algeria, Botswana, Egypt, Libya, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia.

Offered Benefits

Objectives of the Grant

• Storytelling – Using a variety of mediums and platforms, supporting the creation, sharing, and promotion of more nuanced stories that disrupt stereotypical narratives about countries of Africa and the UK.
• Creative output – To support young people to produce new works that offer more contemporary, diverse, and plural narratives.
• Young engagement – To support and engage with more young people to shape current narratives and to facilitate stronger connections between the young people across the countries of Africa and the UK

All applicants will have access to the New Narratives research (commissioned by M&C Saatchi World Services) as a reference point. The research presents:

• A historical review of the narrative trajectories, cultural and socio-political themes dominating relations between the countries of Africa and the UK from 1500 to the present.
• An analysis and comparison of how young people in countries of Africa and the UK view each other, using images from popular culture. These images were gathered by narrative scouts and young people across the two regions.
• Youth discussions with young people from countries of Africa and the UK.

Grants

• They are offering three co-creation grants of up to GBP20,000, to three different hubs/collectives.

Application Process

• Interested and eligible collectives/hubs will complete an online form with details of the proposed project and make-up of the collective.
• Hubs/collectives are requested to complete the online form by August 30, 2022 midnight CAT.
• The 3 successful hubs/collectives will be notified by September 12, 2022.