New support for international work

New opportunities to develop collaborations and cultural exchanges between the UK and India are to be opened up through a new British Council-led initiative, part of Re-Imagine: India, a research and dialogue initiative looking at the relationship between India and the UK in the 21st century. £5m has been committed by the British Council, plus a further £1.5m from Arts Council England, to the Re-Imagine Arts programme running from 2013-2017, with activity peaking during 2017 to mark the 70th anniversary of Indian independence. The programme will support projects that showcase the best of UK and Indian arts across a range of artforms, and reach beyond England’s major cities and India’s metropolitan areas. Connecting English and Indian artists with diaspora communities in England is a key aim of the initiative which also hopes to build skills and make use of digital technology. Speaking during a visit to India, Culture Secretary Sajid Javid said: “This is a brilliant project, not simply because of the creative links that will be formed but also because it will reach artists and audiences in communities that are sometimes overlooked, but whose passion for culture burns just as brightly as for those in the big cities.”

The announcement of this programme coincides with the launch of another British Council initiative, this one in partnership with the South African Department of Arts and Culture. A new fund is being made available to artists and art institutions to create new work in South Africa as part of the SA-UK Seasons programme of collaborative work designed to strengthen the cultural relationship between the two countries. Artists and arts organisations from all parts of the creative sector can apply for a grant to produce new work or develop partnerships. The initiative is linked to Connect ZA, a wider British Council South Africa programme enabling a series of cultural exchanges between the two countries marking this year’s celebration of 20 Years of Freedom in South Africa. Since 2013 it has supported cultural connections between young people in the UK and in South Africa with a series of art projects and used digital platforms to build creative networks through music, film, visual art, creative economy, theatre and design.