Art Labor Collective working in Gia Lai province, Central Highlands. Photo credit Art Labor

We are seeking for six cultural and creative hubs in Vietnam to become close collaborators for the implementation of Cultural and Creative Hubs Vietnam 2018-2021 – a project funded by the European Union and implemented by the British Council in partnership with VICAS.

We are looking to select hubs to reflect a variety of hub typologies and arts/creative disciplines and a geographic spread.

The typologies of hubs include:

Cluster: Co-located creative individuals and businesses in a geographic area.
Studio: Small collective of individuals and/or small businesses, in a co-working space.
Centre: A building including assets such as a café/bar, cinema, maker space, shop, exhibition space.
Network: Dispersed group of individuals and/or businesses – tend to be sector or place specific.
Online platform: Uses only online methods (website, social media) to engage with a dispersed audience. Alternative: Focused on experimentation with new communities, sectors, cultural practices, and financial models.

The geographic spread includes the northern, central, and southern parts of Vietnam.

Key basis for the selection will be the hubs’ capability and commitment to collaborate with the project in delivering all its expected outputs, ultimately to promote the freedom and diversity of artistic expressions and creativity. We strongly encourage hubs who work specifically with disadvantaged groups and communities outside of urban areas to submit your expression of interest.

The six successful hubs will enter a three-year-collaboration with the British Council and VICAS to:

  • Design and participate in a programme focusing on  capacity building for hubs owners, managers,  and their network of artists and creative practitioners. The capacity building will be in forms of both knowledge exchange (i.e. training, workshops, conference), and on-the-job learning and sharing  such as the collaborative process of designing and  delivering  arts and cultural projects and  activities reaching diverse audiences. We are interested in what YOU are interested in learning more about and being better at what you do. Therefore, your participation in the design of this programme is ESSENTIAL. As part of this programme, each of the hubs will receive a small grant of  up to 8,500 Euros, depending on their proposal, for a collaborative project with an emerging hub of their choice, to implement community outreach activities.
  • Design and engage in a series of open and direct exchanges with the government administration of the cultural sector at both local and central level, to facilitate the sustainability of hubs and their contribution to the development of the cultural industries. As part of the process, six hubs will receive the technical assistance (i.e. legal advice and support) necessary to register a legal status suitable for their business model, whether it is for-profit or not-for-profit, if applicable.
  • design and lead a series of networking and audience engaging activities to promote further exchange and sharing amongst the hubs community in Vietnam, and between the Vietnamese hubs and their European counterparts.

This collaboration will be an ideal opportunity for established cultural and creative hubs to further their sustainability and development, as well as to share their experience  with the hubs community in and outside of Vietnam. We would like to work with you to strengthen support to the network of hubs across the country, especially the young and emerging ones, and those are not in main urban areas.

If you are interested in joining us in this exciting new journey to promote artistic expressions and creativity in Vietnam, please send in:

1. An expression of interest (three pages maximum), demonstrating:

  • your track record in working in the fields of arts, culture and creativity in Vietnam, highlighting projects and activities that support artistic expressions and creativity, and connecting with a wide range of audiences/communities
  • your capability and commitment in fulfilling your role in this collaboration. Details such as capacity and availability of owners/managers/staff and the artists and creative practitioners you work with will be helpful.

2. A portfolio that best describes who you are, what you do and who you do it with as a cultural and creative hub. Note that big files such as images, videos, music files etc. should be sent as an internet link.

All applications should be sent by email to vnarts@britishcouncil.org.vn with subject line CHV EoI - [Your hub name] by 10 June 2018.

If you have any inquiries do not hesitate to contact us. We might also contact you for an interview and/or a visit to your hub during the selection process.

Successful candidates will be notified by 18 June 2018.

For more information, please contact:

Hong Pham
Arts Manager
British Council
20 Thuy Khue, Hanoi
hong.pham@britishcouncil.org.vn
T +84 1800 1299 ext. 1924

Duong Le
Programme Manager, EES and Arts
British Council
25 Le Duan, District 1, HCMC
duong.le@britishcouncil.org.vn
T +84 1800 1299 ext. 2601