Tag Archives: art

BRITISH COUNCIL BIENNIALS CONNECT GRANTS FOR UK AND INTERNATIONAL BIENNIALS/FESTIVALS OF VISUAL ARTISTS

Application Deadline: 4 September 2025, 23.59 (BST). 

LOCATION: United Kingdom

Biennials Connect Grants support visual artists’ participation in UK and international festivals and biennials. The grants directly benefit artists by facilitating opportunities for travel, the production of new work, networking, skills building and showcasing through biennial partners. 

ELIGIBILITY:

Biennials Connect Grants are open to UK (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) and international biennials, festivals and art organisations. Individual artists are not eligible to apply. 

International biennials/festivals must be based in eligible countries. The full list of eligible countries can be found on the program website. 

Before making your application, please read the Application Toolkit and ensure your application meets these conditions:

Organisations applying must:

be one of the following:

UK biennials or festivals supporting international visual artists’ participation 

international biennials or festivals supporting visual artists’ participation from the UK 

or other visual arts organisations collaborating with a biennial/festival. 

be based in UK or an eligible international country (please see downloads below for the full list of eligible countries)

be primarily a visual art biennial or festival. Multi-arts biennials and festivals can apply but they must demonstrate a focus on visual arts within their programme

be supporting artists over the age of 18. If artist travel is included in the project, the artists must be able to travel internationally on valid passports (organisations must arrange travel, transport, accommodations, insurance and visas themselves)

be supporting artists you have either not previously worked with or supporting new projects with artists you have worked with before

share the British Council’s commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and will embed best EDI practices into the activity 

share the British Council’s commitment to paying artists fairly and will ensure artists are fairly compensated for their participation. 

 Applications by individual artists will not be eligible. 

The core activity or biennial/festival presentation will be from February 2026. The final activity and evaluation must take place before February 2027. Project proposals should have a timeline ending no later than February 2027.

Grant applications can be made for projects involving multiple artists, but only one application per biennial organisation can be submitted. 

Festivals can receive a maximum of one Biennials Connect Grant per edition. If you received a grant for a previous or current festival, you can apply and receive another for a forthcoming festival, but you cannot receive multiple grants in one festival edition. 

BENEFIT:

They have up to £9,500 available for: 

UK biennials/festivals collaborating with visual artists based in ODA* countries 

international biennials/festivals based in ODA* countries collaborating with visual artists in the UK.

They have up to £5,000 available for:

UK biennials/festivals collaborating with visual artists based in non-ODA* countries 

international biennials/festivals based in non-ODA* countries collaborating with visual artists in the UK 

You can apply for up to an additional £2,500 for project access costs

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CHEVENING OXFORD CENTRE FOR ISLAMIC STUDIES FELLOWSHIP (OCIS) AND OCIS ABDULLAH GÜL FELLOWSHIP

Application Deadline: 7 October 2025, at 12:00 (UTC)

LOCATION: United Kingdom

The Chevening Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (OCIS) Fellowships are aimed at mid-career academics or professionals who are dedicated to the promotion of academic activities that encourage a more informed understanding of the culture and civilization of Islam and contemporary Muslim societies.

ELIGIBILITY:

To be eligible for a Chevening OCIS Fellowship, you must:

Demonstrate the potential to rise to a position of leadership and influence.

Demonstrate the personal, intellectual and interpersonal attributes reflecting this potential.

Be a citizen of one of the following countries and a resident in one of these countries at the point of application: Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, the Philippines, Senegal, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, or Uzbekistan.

Return to the country of your citizenship at the end of the period of the fellowship.

Hold a postgraduate-level qualification (or equivalent professional training or experience in a relevant area) at the time of application.

Have significant professional and/or academic research experience (at least five years).

Have a good working knowledge of English to be assessed in your application form and if you are invited to interview.

Not hold British or dual-British citizenship.

Not be an employee, a former employee, or a relative of an employee of His Majesty’s Government, or have been within the last two years from the opening of Chevening applications (including the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office; all British Embassies/High Commissions; the Home Office; the Ministry of Defence; the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy; the Department for International Trade; and the UKVI), the British Council, or a sponsoring UK university.

* Note: Immediate relatives are defined as parents or step-parents, siblings or step-siblings, children or step-children, spouses, civil partners, or unmarried (where the couple have been in a relationship akin to marriage or civil partnership for at least two years).

Please note that applicants who have previously received financial benefit from an HMG-funded scholarship or fellowship are eligible to apply after a period of five years following the completion of their first HMG funded award. In these cases, applicants will be required to demonstrate their career progression from that point.

Applicants should be prepared to outline a short proposal on the area of academic research they would like to conduct at the time of application submission. The proposal should include a main research question and how the applicant intends to conduct this research while in residence at the Centre.

The Chevening Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies Fellowship (OCIS) and OCIS Abdullah Gül Fellowship selection process involves two rounds of interviews. The first interview will be with British embassies and high commissions. Candidates should be prepared to explain their suitability and motivations for the Chevening OCIS fellowship and should also be prepared to explain their research interests. Successful candidates will be invited to a second and final interview with representatives from OCIS which will focus further on your research interests.

BENEFIT:

Five-month period of research at OCIS.

Living expenses for the duration of the fellowship.

Return economy airfare from home country to the UK.

Allowance package for research-related activities.

Access to a programme of cultural events and activities organised by the FCDO and the Chevening Secretariat.

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