The British Council has declared the winners of the Connections Through Culture (CTC) Grant Programme for 2024. This year, four joint projects between Bangladesh and the United Kingdom will receive grants. A total of 84 innovative initiatives will get support from this program.
The CTC grant program is important for building strong partnerships. It helps artists from the UK and the Asia-Pacific region to work together.
In a significant step, artists from Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are included in the grant program this year. This is alongside artists from Australia, New Zealand, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, and Vietnam.
More than 11 crore taka will be given as grants in the Asia-Pacific region through the CTC Grant Programme. Out of this amount, over 60 lakh taka is set aside for winning projects from Bangladesh. This funding will assist artists and cultural groups to make their creative ideas a reality.
The projects that will receive grants in 2024 are diverse. They come from fields like film, creative technology, literature and visual arts. Other fields include stage, dance, design, fashion, crafts, and music. These varied projects will create new ideas. These ideas will help to deal with global challenges. Challenges like diversity and inclusion, and climate change can be addressed through these creative projects.
The Bangladeshi participants will receive funding for these projects:
- ‘Tiger Widow’: A project by Argon Theatre (England) and Youthnet Global (Bangladesh).
- ‘Blue Sky’: A project by Sampad (England) and Anindita Khan (Bangladesh).
- ‘Idris’: A project by Adam Lewis Jacob (Scotland) and Drik (Bangladesh).
- ‘The Story of Maya: Genesis (The Making of The Story of Maya)’: A project by Birmingham Contemporary Music Group (England) and Neel Kamrul (Bangladesh).
These projects show the strong cultural connections being built between Bangladesh and the UK, thanks to the CTC Grant Programme.