International Opportunities Fund

Individuals and organisations can apply for support for arts focused activity that takes place in-person outside of Wales and the UK, involves at least one international partner, and in the following areas:

International collaboration and partnership development:

• Creative collaborations and exchange where there is significant and clearly identified opportunity to develop artistic practice in a sustainable way
• Development and testing of new ideas and ways of working in collaboration with an international partner(s), and in particular responding to issues of inclusivity, fair collaboration and climate justice that are clearly linked to current artistic work
• Nurturing international connections, with a view to establishing longer term international partnerships that clearly demonstrate how they are equitable and mutually beneficial
• Shared learning, connections and experience through mutually beneficial and equitable international exchange with clearly defined benefit to artistic practice

Participating in arts focused international networks and events:

• Active participation in international networks, both formal and informal, where there is an existing engagement with Wales  
• Attending international events where there is clearly defined significant opportunity and benefits for shared learning, connections and experience and for a legacy that extends beyond the event itself.

Presentation of work:

• Presenting work following the invitation of an international partner, where there is significant opportunity to raise profile, develop international networks and future opportunities, and where the international partner is, at minimum, offering an appropriate fee

International Residencies:

Please note that, as from September 2024, there are two deadlines for applications for support for International Residencies:

• Arts focused residencies with an international partner where there is significant opportunity to develop artistic practice

The fund can support in-person activity taking place anywhere across the world unless current The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) guidance indicates travel is not recommended. 

Welsh Government have provided some investment in the Fund for activity taking place in the following countries and regions:

Individuals and organisations based in Wales and working within the artforms we support.

Applicants will need to show that:

1. They are living and working in Wales or have a practice based in Wales
2. They have an international partner
3. Activity is taking outside of the UK and in person

Applications are welcomed from informal or formal artist collectives, and from arts organisations supporting a number of individual artists from Wales as part of the project. We will need one Wales-based partner to be the named applicant who will take financial and reporting responsibility should an award be made.

See help notes for detailed information on required bank information.

The total budget available for 2024-25 is £210,000.

We anticipate making approximately 45 - 50 awards across the year.

You can apply for:

Up to £7,500 for:

• International Collaboration and International Partnership Development
• International Presentation of Work
• International Networks and Events

Up to £5,000 for:

• International Residencies

Please note the maximum percentage of your total eligible project costs that we can fund is up to 90%.

Should you be eligible, you can apply for personal access costs in addition.

Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:

About you or your organisation:

• An artistic track record that demonstrates quality of practice and a commitment to working in Wales, and the relevance of the proposal to current artistic practice
• Professional commitment to international exchange, collaboration and networking that is fair to people and to the planet and is equitable and mutually beneficial

Your activity:

• The quality, strength and innovation of the proposal to develop long term sustainable international connections and to positively impact artistic practice in Wales
• The relevance of the outcomes you are expecting in relation to the proposed activity
• The financial viability and value for money of the proposal. This includes the balance of costs, including fees, in relation to the location, length and scope of the opportunity
• The strength of the project plan and timeframe in showing that it is achievable and appropriate to the proposed activity
• How consideration has been given to the following:
  • fair pay to all participants in the project
  • equitable & mutually beneficial working across the project
  • the environmental impact of your activity and travel
  • the selection process if the project is supporting a group of Wales based individual creative practitioners

Your partner:

• The commitment of the international partner to working with you
• The quality of the international relationship, network, residency or event in relation to the aims of the proposal

We may also take into consideration the following:

• Applicants currently underrepresented in our funding
• Geographical spread of applicants across Wales
• Artform spread
• Spread of awards across different levels of international experience
• Previous funding through the International Opportunities Fund
• International activity taking place in priority areas of Welsh Government

• Activity that is taking place in Wales or elsewhere in the UK
• Projects that are not arts-related
• Projects that do not have an international partner based outside of Wales and the UK and can provide a letter of invitation
• Projects that are primarily focused on creative collaborations taking place digitally unless there are specific access or visa requirements
• Activity that has already taken place or will have taken place before you receive a decision
• Projects that require 100% funding from the Fund
• Activity that is covered by other sources of funding or income
• Continuation of an existing project without any clear new elements
• Activity that involves procuring the service of an international company or artist, rather than activity that develops mutually beneficial and collaborative relationship with an international arts company or artist
• Go see / exploratory visits with no or limited collaboration included. If the focus on a proposed international visit is research and development to inform the creation of work in Wales, then please refer to the Create Fund
• Tours and touring exhibitions, unless there is demonstrable evidence that the activity will develop new networks or is part of an international collaboration
• Music showcasing: we invest in PRSF’s ISF to support international showcasing of music
• Film or video production and cinema exhibition, unless it is in support of artists’ work in the moving image (including film and video)
• Publishing and production, if this is the primary purpose of the project
• Projects with a primary focus on social development (we will not consider the proposal eligible unless the focus of the project is clearly and primarily artistic or creative)
• Training and study, including training courses, masterclasses, full or part time study, individual tuition, lessons and vocational training course of study or tuition fees in a school, a college or a university and accredited qualifications. Certain training and professional development opportunities may be eligible for support through the Create fund
• Academic conferences or academic research
• Working scholarships or internships
• Participation or attendance at competitive events
• Fundraising events

• Costs for activity in Wales that are not associated with your international travel
• International artist costs: we expect that an international partner will have secured funding to cover the costs of international artist/s.  Exceptions may be possible if you are working with artists/organisations located in official development assistance (ODA) countries
• Capital items: the focus of the fund is on artist mobility so we do not expect to see capital costs (e.g equipment, software and instruments) included within budgets
• Your organisation’s general running costs and ongoing overheads (or a percentage of these costs), for example staff salaries, rent, utilities and directors’ indemnity insurance.
• Fees you’re charged for advice on and help with completing your application. If you require help to complete an application form and budget, access support is available prior to submission -
• Competitions and prizes
• Fundraising activities
• Launch costs
• Promotional merchandise
• Gifts   
• Fireworks and other pyrotechnic
• Publication costs unless it is a core aspect to the artistic collaboration

If you’re not sure if a cost can be included in the budget, please contact us.

Your project must take place outside of the UK

We can only fund activity taking place outside of Wales and the UK

You have an international partner in place.
An international partner needs to be based and working outside of Wales and the UK and can be:

• A collaborator in the creative process
• The organisers of a network, residency or event (where the activity proposed is to attend an arts and cultural network or event or participate in a residency)

Your project is time limited

This means it has a definite start and end date.  It’s a good idea to allow yourself some extra time in case you need to send us more information following an award being made.

You have other funding or income to contribute to the overall costs of your project

We can’t support the full costs of a project. We usually expect at least 10% of your project income to come from a non-Arts Council or National Lottery source. 

You have allowed adequate lead in time

We’ll expect to see enough time built into your project to deliver the work effectively – particularly see the next point around visa requirements and travel advice.

You’ll need to consider the time you’ll need to develop your application as well as the time it takes us to process and make a decision.

You must allow at least 8 working weeks between the date you submitted your application and the project's start date.
 
You have checked visa requirements and current travel advice

We’ll expect you to have researched and understood any visa requirements and allowed sufficient time to apply should you need one.  
We’ll also expect you to check and act on UK Government foreign travel advice

You will need to complete the application form online through the Arts Council of Wales online portal. You can see a copy of the application form at the end of this webpage.

If your activity is participation in an international residency, please read the additional guidance here to help you complete your application.

1. Project Summary:
We ask for a short summary of your project. We may use this information in any publicity we produce about your project [character limit 480].

2. Project Details (see also ‘Supporting documentation checklist’ section for documents you’ll need to upload):
We ask for more details about your project and expected outcomes. Please note as there’s a character limit of 3000, we recommend that you upload an additional document, if necessary, in order to cover all the points in relation to your project, which include:

About you:

Tell us about you and your creative practice:

• Summarise your current creative practice in Wales (and beyond as relevant) and your future ambitions to help us understand the importance and potential impact of the international project.
• Briefly reference any relevant previous international opportunities that have benefitted your practice
• Briefly reference any relevant any ACW or other funding you have recently received or are planning to apply for

About your international partner:

Tell us about your international partner (this might be a collaborator in the creative process or the organisers of a network, residency or event):

• Note who your international partner is and provide a link to them
• Briefly explain the background to your connection with the international partner
• What will be the role and contribution of the international partner in the project/activity be?

The international project:

Tell us what you will be doing and why:

• Explain what you will be doing and where the activity will take place.
• Explain your reasons for this activity.  Why is connecting with your international partner(s) or participating in this network, event or residency important to your practice at this particular point?
• Tell us about any key contacts other than your international partner that you will be meeting with and any networks you’ll engage with or events you’ll be attending
• If you will be supporting a group of Wales based individual creative practitioners, how you will select the participants and how you plan to support them?
• What considerations have you made around:
  • the environmental impact of your activity and how this guided your decisions on the development of the activity and travel
  • the cultural context of where and with whom you will be working
  • making sure that the relationship with your international partner is equitable and that you are both benefitting from the activity
  • travel requirements such as visas, vaccinations and government travel guidance
• Include further detail or explanation on your budget or timeline if needed

Project Outcomes / Legacy

Tell us about the proposed outcomes and potential benefits of the project:

• Please include three measurable outcomes that you expect from the project/visit. [These will be a part of how we’ll ask you to evaluate your project]
• How will you share the learning / connections with the wider sector in Wales? What will the potential legacy and wider benefits be?
• Will the project help develop new models of sustainable international work? If so, how?

You can apply to the International Opportunities Fund for support to participate in an international artistic residency.

Due to the current volume of applications for international artistic residencies, there will be two deadlines in 2024-25 to which you can apply for support to participate in a residency. This means that the process is fairer for all applicants and applications for residencies will be assessed together.

You can submit a maximum of one application for a residency in any 12 month period.

What we can support?

Artistic residencies that are:

• Organised by an international partner and hosted outside of Wales and the UK
• Offering the opportunity to focus on experimentation and exploration of practice, to connect with other artists and to establish contacts with local arts organisations and artists.
• Time limited
• Not available in Wales or elsewhere in the UK

What we are not able to support?

• Self-led or self-organised residencies
• A period of research and development that is intended to develop specific creative work in collaboration with an international partner
• Residencies which focus primarily on training
• Residencies which are not arts focused

Deadlines:

We will have two deadlines rounds per year: 
30 September 2024
10 February 2025

Additional information to provide:
In addition to the points listed under the previous section ‘What questions will I need to answer?’, you may wish to include information on the following:

• explain how you found this opportunity and what the selection process is.  Have you received an offer of a place? If not, when do you anticipate receiving notification of the decision? [Please note you’ll submit evidence of this with your application; if awarded, we will require confirmation prior to grant payment].  
• tell us how the residency opportunity is unique and not available within Wales or the UK.
• explain the timeliness of the opportunity: why now and how it will benefit your current and future practice and help you develop new international connections.  
• if you have been on an international residency in the past, briefly tell us the impact this had on your practice 

We will need some specific documentation in support of your application. Your application may not be assessed if these documents are missing.

1. A copy of or link to your CV and to recent relevant work and reviews. Include this for all the Wales based artists involved in the proposed activity.
2. A timeline and/or project plan for the activity. This can help us understand decisions you have made about the length of the visit, any preparatory and post visit work you will need to do and how the project will be managed.
3. A letter from the international partner which gives a clear indication of either:
   - their commitment to working with you and the benefits to them
   or
   - an invitation for you to participate in an event or network
   or
   - selection/invitation to participate in an international residency
   AND
   - their financial (in-kind or cash) contribution to the activity. If there is no direct financial contribution from the international partner, note the reasons for this.
4. CV and/or links to information about your international partner’s work or current programme
5. A budget detailing all expenditure and income (cash and in-kind support) using the budget template which can be downloaded at the end of this webpage.
6. A continuation document telling us about your project, should you need additional space, to cover the points under the section ‘Project Proposal’.

We’re able to accept application at any time while our fund is open for the applications that involve the following activity:

• International collaboration and partnership development
• International networks and events
• International presentation of work

You will receive a decision within 7 working weeks of applying.

Please bear in mind that you need to allow a minimum of 8 working weeks between the date you submitted your application and the start date of your project.

For applications that involve participation in an international residency, you will need to submit to the following deadlines:

30 September 2024
10 February 2025

You will receive a decision within 7 working weeks of applying.

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