Background
Cultural and Creative Hubs Vietnam is a project co-funded by the European Union and the British Council and implemented by the British Council in partnership with the Vietnam National Institute for Culture and Arts Studies (VICAS). The project aims to enhance capacity, build a network and provide legal and policy assistance for cultural and creative hubs across Vietnam. The overall objective of the project is to contribute to the sustainable development of a network of cultural and creative hubs in Vietnam. This in turn means continuing support for independent artists and creative practitioners, nurturing of freedom of artistic expression and creativity, and offering a diverse cultural life for Vietnamese people.
The project collaborates closely with six key cultural and creative hubs, namely Autumn Meeting (Gặp gỡ mùa thu), DNES (Vườm ươm doanh nghiệp Đà Nẵng), Hà Nội Grapevine, Heritage Space, Sàn Art and the Central Highland Centre for Rural Development (Trung tâm Phát triển Nông thôn Tây nguyên). Through the work of these six key cultural and creative hubs, it is envisaged that the project impact will be transmitted to the entire network of cultural and creative hubs in Vietnam as well as the wider society.
The British Council, VICAS and the six key cultural and creative hubs are currently planning for a series of online or face-to-face art and cultural events between 5–21 March 2021. These events will come under the umbrella of The Title Is A Work In Progress and to be organised in Hà Nội, Đà Nẵng/Huế/Buôn Mê Thuột/Đà Lạt, Hồ Chí Minh City and beyond. The purpose of The Title Is A Work In Progress is two-fold:
- to offer an opportunity for cultural and creative hubs from different parts of the country to connect with each other and to work with artists and creative practitioners in designing and organising art and cultural events. This opportunity will foster network building and capacity improvement for hubs across Vietnam, particularly for new and emerging hubs and those that are not in megacity areas
- to bring to the public high quality and diverse art and cultural events, particularly those with limited access to the arts, culture and creativity, contributing to enriching the cultural life of Vietnamese people.
What is The Title Is A Work In Progress?
We are inviting proposals from all parts of Vietnam to contribute to The Title Is A Work In Progress series of art and cultural events taking place between 5–21 March 2021. These could be diverse art and cultural events such as visual or multi-media art exhibition, performing art, film screening, roundtable, talk, workshop, street art, book launch, research presentation, interactive performance etc. in an either online or face-to-face format. Organisers of selected events will collectively choose a name for the series of events.
Who can apply?
- any cultural and creative hub in any part of Vietnam can apply as an organisation
- any artist, creative practitioner, art manager who run or collaborate with a cultural and creative hub in Vietnam can apply as an individual or on behalf of a group or collective.
How many event proposals will be selected?
Maximum 12 proposals
How will the event proposals be selected?
The British Council, VICAS and the six key hubs (Autumn Meeting, DNES, Hà Nội Grapevine, Heritage Space, Sàn Art and the Central Highland Centre for Rural Development) will jointly select successful proposals based on the following criteria:
| Criteria | Scoring |
| 1. The event proposal provides evidence that artists and creative practitioners will be engaged and supported during the process of organising the event | 20% |
| 2. The event proposal provides evidence that diverse audience groups will be targeted and engaged with during the event | 20% |
| 3. The event proposal provides evidence that content presented at the event will be of high quality and responding to the need of the targeted audience groups | 20% |
| 4. The event proposal provides evidence of adequate capacity for organising the event (i.e. portfolio of the cultural and creative hub or people making the proposal) | 20% |
| 5. The event proposal provides evidence of a feasible budget breakdown for organising the event | 20% |
| Total | 100% |
Priority will be given to young and emerging hubs/organisers, and those based or work with diverse audience groups outside mega-urban areas. Attention will be paid to ensuring that there is a diverse range of events in terms of geographical locations and artistic disciplines. Proposals with female artists and creatives and organisers are particularly encouraged.
What will be offered to each successful proposal?
1. An event organisation budget of maximum EUR1,000 or approximately VND 27,000,000, inclusive of all applicable tax (i.e. PIT, VAT). This budget can be used to cover the followings:
- time for artists or creative practitioners and organisers;
- venue cost if applicable – we will ask to see a valid invoice from a third-party venue provider;
- equipment, including software cost (i.e. Zoom account fee) in case of online event;
- design, printing, communications, etc.
- event catering;
- any other relevant costs.
Note that the British Council will require all supporting financial documentation in accordance with the laws and regulations of Vietnam.
2. Mentoring and support on content curation and event organisation by members of the 6 key hubs during preparation and at the actual events.
3. Communications support by the British Council, Hanoi Grapevines and the Vietnam Creative Hubs Imitative.
A briefing will be organised for all successful applicants on these offers.
What will be expected from cultural and creative hubs with successful proposals?
- to organise the proposed events between 5–21 March 2021 as outlined in the successful proposals, with exact dates to be discussed and agreed among all successful applicants to ensure minimum duplication
- to coordinate event communications with the British Council and Hanoi Grapevines to ensure that all events will come under the umbrella of The Title Is A Work In Progress – the final title will be discussed and agreed among all successful applicants
- to submit a brief report of the actual event (including photos, videos, presentations etc.) and an expense report using a form provided by the British Council.
How to apply:
Step 1: Download and fill out the application forms below (form in Vietnamese only)
Step 2: Send the completed application form to vnarts@britishcouncil.org.vn before 29 November 2020. Note that any file larger than 10MB should be sent in form of an internet link.
Any queries should be sent to the same email address above before 15 November 2020.