The Connections Through Culture grants programme nurtures fresh cultural partnerships between the Asia Pacific region and the UK. These grants support new ideas and collaborations from artists and cultural organisations at any stage of development.


The grants supported in this round of Connections Through Culture programme focus on two distinct areas: diversity and inclusion and addressing climate change. The collaborative efforts across borders and artistic disciplines will lead to new ideas to address global challenges.

The grants support new connections, exchanges, and collaborations. These grants help build long-term relationships and collaborations between artists, cultural professionals, creative practitioners and arts and culture organisations. 

2024 Grant Recipients: Viet Nam

Connecting Ecological Grief

UK: Youngsook Choi, Heart of Glass

Viet Nam: Á Space

Connecting Ecological Grief weaves artistic practices and community knowledge between Vietnam, Malaysia and the UK. Central to this project is a shared enquiry exploring ecological damage, focusing on coastlines and rivers. The project asks how we acknowledge the changes and losses to our environments and how we act as witnesses to the changes to our environments and ecological relationships.

 

Experimental Contemporary Performance: an exchange / connection between Viet Nam and Scotland

UK:  Mamoru Iriguchi, Take Me Somewhere

Viet Nam: Trà Nguyễn, The Run

This project aims to develop and nurture new connections between Scotland and Vietnam by undertaking an exchange around experimental performance. Mamoru Iriguchi will introduce his practice in Viet Nam and seek future collaborators while Trà Nguyễn (Artistic Director, The Run) and another selected artist will attend the Take Me Somewhere Festival 2025, exploring new Scottish and international work.

Kiều Reimagined: Women, Heritage, and Empowerment

UK: Timothy Allen

Viet Nam: Da Nang Tui 

Kiều Reimagined: Women, Heritage, and Empowerment is a cross-art-form exhibition that explores women's roles from the historical context of Nguyễn Du's Truyen Kieu to contemporary society. This project will feature a two-part exhibition that will use a multimedia approach, featuring a wide range of art forms, from traditional handcrafted to modern, tech-infused artworks such as projection mapping and AR, creating a dynamic and immersive experience.

 

Music Empowerment

UK: Music Ally

Viet Nam: Huong Doan

Based on their 2023 report funded by the British Council, Music Ally and Huong Doan will pilot a programme to address concerns about Vietnam's educational landscape for music creators. Using content and an AI chatbot, the project aims to develop an educational platform to empower Vietnamese creators and help them make a living from their art in a global context.

 

Sensing Photography: Vietnam & Vectors of Global Photography

UK: IC Visual Lab

Viet Nam: Studio Tum Lum


'Sensing Photography: Vietnam & Vectors of Global Photography’ is an innovative international symposium exploring photography's role in shaping Vietnam's historical narratives and cultural memory. Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, this event aims to critically examine photography's impact on local and global histories. This project is meant to be the first in a series of conversations on vernacular photography. 

Tradition for Tomorrow

UK: Fèis Rois

Viet Nam: Mai Thanh Son (Ho Chi Minh City Center for Arts and Literature)

Tradition for Tomorrow is a knowledge exchange project between Fèis Rois and the Ho Chi Minh City Center for Arts and Literature. The two organisations will explore ways to safeguard traditional music while also ensuring that it is a living tradition that artists can innovate with and interpret into the future. 

 

Queen Bee, Snake Bar and Tea Room, Saigon 2025

UK: Derek Lee-Muller. Rodney Dickson

Vietnam: Mai Do Tuyet

This project will return the Snake Bar to Saigon to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the American War in Vietnam. By recreating the bar based on Mai Do Tuyet's memories, the project will deal with the passage of time, healing, and finding hope after the sorrows of war.

Roots & Worlds: Beyond Borders

UK: Eugenie Shinkle, University of Westminster

Vietnam: Linh Pham & Ha Dao, Matca

Roots & Worlds is a three-month hybrid mentorship for early-career Vietnamese photographerss who wish to develop their visual language and produce socially conscious stories. Titled "Beyond Borders", the second edition explores the need to document, provoke and imagine with the camera as an attempt to grapple with what divides and unites us in times of global disruption.

 

Star Nhà Ease: Understanding the archive with community curatorial workshops and open source digital archive

UK: Tuyet Van Huynh

Vietnam: The Centre for Assistance and Development of Movie Talents (TPD)

Building on the success of its 2024 pilot, Star Nhà Ease will research Vietnamese cinema, music, and poetry from the 1990s to the 2020s through interviews and archive visits to Viet Nam. This includes workshops, panel discussions, and a five-week curatorial programme, culminating in hybrid showcases and an open-source digital archive launch.

Vietnam-UK Live Music Incubator 2024/2025 Programme

UK: Association of Independent Festivals (AIF)

Vietnam: Vietnam Music Industry Network (VMIN), Hozo International Music Festival

This programme is a collaborative initiative between the Vietnam Music Industry Network (VMIN), Association of Independent Festivals (UK) and Hozo International Music Festival (Viet Nam). Integrated with the Vietnam Music Week (VMW) conference, it aims to foster a vibrant live music ecosystem in Vietnam by building the capacity of independent music event organizers.