Cultural Bridge celebrates bilateral partnerships between the UK and Germany and announces the 15 awarded partnerships for its 2023–24 programme
Cultural Bridge celebrates bilateral partnerships between the UK and Germany through the collaboration between Arts Council England, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, British Council, Creative Scotland, Fonds Soziokultur, Goethe-Institut London and Wales Arts International / Arts Council of Wales.
We’re thrilled to announce 15 partnerships between UK and German-based organisations, who have been awarded funding to develop cultural projects exploring issues facing communities across both countries.
The aim of the programme is to act as a platform of artistic exchange, enabling artists to strengthen the exchange between the UK and Germany and foster cultural collaboration. It does this by providing funding for partnerships to develop projects around specific themes, including: community engagement in post-industrial areas, working in areas or with communities that have fewer opportunities to engage with cultural practice or those transformed by grass-roots movements, and projects that explore redefining the use of public space.
The new programme follows a pilot year that funded the creation of seven partnerships 2021–22. Three of the pilot projects, ENTER, FAILSTONE and Ode to Earth (Phase 2) have been awarded funding to continue to develop their projects through Cultural Bridge 2023–24.
The 2023–24 programme partnerships saw over 95 application; a testament to the international cultural sector’s commitment to developing work that enables social change. Applications were assessed and reviewed by an independent jury of professionals across the UK and Germany.
'What a thrill to see the second year of partnerships agreed upon under the great ‘Cultural Bridge’ programme. In 2021/22, some of the most creative, socially alert cultural groups of practitioners in Germany and across the UK brilliantly demonstrated how culturally like-minded Germany and the UK are. We know this next stage will play to our bilateral creative strengths even more impressively.'
Paul Smith OBE, Country Director Germany
Join the conversation on Twitter using the #CulturalBridge hashtag.
The 2023–24 partnerships are:
Tier 1
- Illuminate Together – Handmade Parade (England) and Kapuziner Kreativzentrum (Germany)
- Co-creating with young voices – Mahogany Opera Group (England) and Frequenz_Festival Kiel (Germany)
- Bespoke – Make Works Scotland 'Paved with Gold' (Scotland) and Kulturzentrum LUISE (Germany)
- Going spaces: forming new connections and fostering collaboration – Motorenhalle Dresden (Germany) and SET studios London (England)
- Growing together to facilitate community stories – THE bEAR e.V. (Germany) and Open Past (Scotland)
- Our EARTH Hour – MOTTE eV. Stadtteil & Kulturzentrum (Germany) and Head4Arts (Wales)
- Playing with Audio Walks: Storydive meets Produced Moon – Produced Moon (Scotland) and Storydive (Germany)
- At the Table – The MAC (Metropolitan Arts Centre) (Northern Ireland) and coculture e.V. (Germany)
- Strictly Scottish and Schottisch – Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland (Scotland) and Folk Dance Society of Germany (Germany)
- Female Spaces – vier.D (Germany) and ACCA / Slung Low (England)
- In Each Other’s Company – National Dance Company of Wales (Wales) and Of Curious Nature (Germany)
Tier 2
- ENTER – Creative Black Country (England) and Kuturvilla Nellie (Germany)
- FAILSTONE – Folkestone Fringe (England) and Fine Arts Institute Leipzig - FAIL (Germany)
- Ode to Earth (Phase 2) – VILLA Leipzig (Germany), Beyond Skin and DU Dance (Northern Ireland)
- Between Moons. Spree~Channelsea Transmissions – Soundcamp CIC (England) and Archipel Stations (Germany), with Blanc Sceol / Surge Cooperative and Radio Otherwise
