Grants

We support artists and cultural practitioners across disciplines with funding schemes promoting a broad range of artistic practices and intercontinental collaborations.

South Culture Fund

On behalf of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) artlink manages the grant scheme South Culture Fund, which facilitates access to the Swiss cultural market and to professional networks for artists and cultural practitioners based in Africa, Latin America, Southeast and Southwest Asia, and Eastern Europe (Non-EU countries).

South Culture Fund supports individual artists, art groups and collectives as well as cultural promoters and institutions working in the visual arts, performing arts, written arts and culinary arts. The South Culture Fund specifically welcomes transdisciplinary projects and collaborations.

The South Culture Fund only supports projects by artists from countries and territories eligible for official development assistance (ODA). Artists from SDC partner countries are given priority for support. The list of all eligible countries as well as an overview of the South Culture Fund beneficiaries of the last years can be found in here.

The South Culture Fund offers two types of funding opportunities:

  • The Ongoing Grant Programme accepts applications throughout the year.
  • The Call for Proposals Programme offers three grants targeting specific themes, practitioners, regions or disciplines and is intiated by artlink in cooperation with partners.

Ongoing Grant Programme

The Ongoing Grant Programme supports works and projects by artists across disciplines who are from and based in Africa, Latin America, Southeast and Southwest Asia, and Eastern Europe (Non-EU countries). This grant is exclusively for projects showcased in Switzerland in collaboration with a Swiss venue or partner. The programme supports residencies, literary translations, live performances, exhibitions, screenings and more.

For specifics on the individual funding formats, for application guidelines and submission deadlines visit the South Culture Fund website.

Call for Proposals Programme

South Culture Fund issues three types of call for proposals each year: New Stage, Travel Network and Response. Each of these proposals targets a specific region, theme, practitioners and artistic practices. Call for proposals are intiated by artlink in cooperation with international partners.

Current open calls within the Call for Proposals Programme can be found on this website. Once the call for a proposal is launched, grant documents outlining all application requirements can be found on the South Culture Fund website.

Subscribe to our Newsletter and follow us on Facebook and Instagram where we keep you informed about all the latest artlink funding opportunities.

Archive

CLOSED
Incubator: Call for workshop proposals

Selected applicants received a grant and were paired with an experienced partner who provided professional guidance, advice and support in the production and implementation of the proposed workshop. Application requirements included a workshop proposal and letters of recommendation.

Who: We invited artists that actively exercise a creative practice for 3 years or more that were from and were living in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Belize, Bolivia, Cambodia, Colombia, Cuba, Djibouti, DRC, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Timor-Leste, Uganda, Vietnam.

Field: All disciplines

Amount: Grant

Deadline: October 18, 2023

Partners: Initiated by artlink on behalf of the South Culture Fund in partnership with Global Landscapes Forum (Germany/Indonesia), Heritage Space (Vietnam), Lugar a Dudas (Colombia) and Meta Arts (India).

Result: The Incubator saw six transdisciplinary artist-grantees and creatives from across the world, furthering their capacities in crafting, coordinating, and leading captivating virtual and in-person workshops on themes canvassing Food Futures, Migration and Mobility, Indigenous, Afro-Caribbean Cosmogonies, Gender & Equity and Climate Action. Watch the video Incubator 2023/24!

Artist Grantees and Their Workshops:
Alex Nguyễn (Thì Collective), Vietnam, Southeast Asia - Arts as an Instrument to Weave Society Together – Blueprint.
Anne Kirya, Uganda, East Africa - Show and Tell – Blueprint.
Jeisson Castillo, Colombia, South America - Cosmopolitics and Cosmogeographies – Blueprint.
Linda Pongutá, Colombia, South America - The Origin of Colours – Blueprint.
Maham Chiragh, Pakistan, South Asia - Feminist Geographies – Blueprint.
Sudebi Thakurata, India, South Asia - Climate CompassIncubator Production – Blueprint.

Partners: Anna Denardin and Judith Sonneck, Global Landscapes Forum (DE/ID); Arnab Banerjee, Meta Arts (IN); Éricka Florez, lugar a dudas (CO); Nguyễn Anh Tuấn, Heritage Space (VN)

Incubator Team: Flurina Rothenberger (CH), Lead Project Developer and Co-Curator; Bouke Mekel, WHIRL Productions (NL), Showcase Architect, 2D Art/Sound Designer, and Co-Curator; Asawari Jagushte, Star Hopper (IN), Partner Film Development; Tristan Broere (NL), 3D Models; Armin Luschin (DE), Boarding Software; Kavya Srinivasan (IN), Showcase Onboarding Scriptwriter; Vikramjit Sardar (IN), Showcase Onboarding Videoeditor; Jennifer Zhang (CN), Showcase Presenter; Nadina Bazzi (CH), Social Media Coordinator; Varoon Anand (IN), Interpreter (Spanish-English); Uyên Bui (VN), Interpreter (English-Vietnamese); Huyền Nguyễn Thị Thanh (VN), Interpreter (Spanish-Vietnamese)

The showcase construction utilised pre-existing 3D models hosted by Sktechfab courtesy of bariacg, anitatirts, PolyKameStudio, and Aliaksandr.melas.

CLOSED
And... Action!

The call was aimed at artists in the early stages of their careers and granted them at least two screenings at film festivals in Switzerland, France and Germany. Application requirements included a biography and a film work.

Who: We invited female filmmakers from Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic Congo, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra-Leone, Togo, Uganda.

Field: Film

Amount: Grant

Deadline: April 30, 2023

Partners: Initiated by artlink on behalf of the South Culture Fund in collaboration with Africlap Toulouse (France), Afrika Film Festival Cologne (Germany), Black Movie Geneva and Festival cinémas d'Afrique Lausanne (Switzerland).

CLOSED
What are you working on?

This open call was aimed at artists staying in war zones offering an opportunity to continue creating and sharing their work with an international audience. Application requirements included a concept of a short video work, a biography, and work samples.

Who: We invited video artists and filmmakers based in Ethiopia, Libya, Myanmar, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, and Ukraine to enter this open call. Application requirements included a concept of a short video work, a biography, and work samples.

Field: Film

Amount: Grant

Deadline: November 6, 2022

Partners: Initiated by artlink on behalf of the South Culture Fund in collaboration with Bieler Fototage, Kaserne Basel, FIT Festival Lugano, Coalmine Winterthur and the support of Cultureloop Network.

CLOSED
100artists

We invited early career artists and art collectives working across all disciplines to submit their artist profile video.

Who: Artists and art collectives across all art forms who were both from and based in pre-listed countries in Africa, Latin America, Southeast and Southwest Asia and East Europe (Non-EU countries). The call for entries specifically supported artists and art collectives who were in the early stage of their careers with 2-10 years of professional experience.

Field: All disciplines

Amount: Grant of CHF 1,000

Deadline: May 8, 2022

CLOSED
airtime!

airtime! supported a total of ten artists who were commissioned to produce a project to be featured as part of a special broadcast by our five partner Swiss radio stations.

Who: Artists or art collectives in the field of music and sound who were based and work in pre-listed countries in Africa, Latin America, Southeast and Southwest Asia, and Eastern Europe (Non-EU countries).

Field: Music

Amount: Coverage of production costs

Deadline: February 10, 2022

Partners: Initiated by artlink on behalf of the South Culture Fund in collaboration with RadioX Basel, Radio RaBe Bern, Radio3Fach Lucerne, Radio Kanal Aarau und Radio Gwen Chiasso.