The MAC and Brink! awarded Cultural Bridge funding for UK-Germany arts projects

With the newly announced programme, Cultural Bridge now supports 72 organisations through 35 partnerships through tiered funding for new and existing partnerships. This unique collaboration between the UK and Germany, is made possible through investment from seven major partners: Arts Council England, Arts Council Northern Ireland, British Council, Creative Scotland, Arts Council of Wales/Wales Arts International, Fonds Soziokultur, and Goethe-Institut London.

Four of the 2023 - 2024 partnerships have been awarded additional funding to further develop their work and several of the previously funded organisations continue to work together.

Applications were assessed and reviewed by an independent jury of professionals across the UK and Germany. The partnerships will explore a wide range of themes and artforms, from prison theatre, youth led and disability led work, climate change, migrant activism, feminism, rural arts and more.

In 2024 The MAC will exhibit The Shake by artist and activist Khaled Barakeh who is the founder of coculture e.V. (Berlin, Germany). The Shake is inspired by Maurice Harron’s iconic public sculpture Hands Across the Divide in Derry-Londonderry, symbolising the division within Northern Ireland. During 2024, Khaled will recreate The Shake as a large physical sculpture which will occupy the MAC’s largest Gallery. Inside The Shake will be a space where 100+ people can meet to co-create a diverse socio-political coalition steered by the principles of socially engaged arts practice. This project has been developed as an outcome of Weaving the Present Shaping the Future developed by Khaled Barakeh and led by the MAC and coculture with Cultural Bridge tier one support.

Elaine Forde, Creative Learning Manager at The MAC said: 

“We are delighted to receive continued support from Cultural Bridge which will enable us to deepen our partnership with coculture, who are rooted in the intersectionality between art, activism & community building & supports exiled cultural artists. Our The Shake project will use grassroots activism & contemporary art practice to explore social justice issues using socially engaged practice.”

Brink! in Belfast will partner with artpark Hoher Berg UG gemeinnützig in Schermbeck, Germany, in a climate project entitled Colour Stories. Sharing journeys of a dyer's garden. Both organisations share a passion for using art and cultural events as catalysts for social change and will work together on this project which explores the topic of climate breakdown.

Gawain Morrison of Brink! commenting on the project said, 

“What unites both our organisations is our desire to preserve our world for future generations and leave a lasting impact. With a shared passion for using art and cultural events as catalysts for social change, we want to work together on the topic of climate breakdown. We take all participants on a creative journey through a colour story. This ancient knowledge of extracting natural colour dyes from plants is the starting point. We will engage with the people of Belfast to bring their stories and identities to life through colour and nature.”

Gilly Campbell, Joint Director of Arts Development, Arts Council of Northern Ireland , said, 

“The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is delighted to partner with Fonds Soziokultur, Goethe-Institut London and our arts funding colleagues across these islands in the Cultural Bridge programme. This important initiative offers a valuable opportunity for our artists to engage with their counterparts in the UK and Germany with the aim of using the arts to connect communities, develop shared understanding and facilitate social change through the creation of new artistic work. Congratulations to all those who have received support in the third round of funding of this important initiative, I look forward to seeing the projects as they develop.”

The 2024 – 2025 partnerships are:

Tier one (new partnerships receiving funding up to £10k):

• ARCHITEXTS OF CHANGE - Angeprangert! Spoken Word (Weißwasser, Germany) and Young Identity (Manchester)
• Bridging Rural Communities - People, Process, Places - Dyffryn Dyfodol CIC (Llanrwst, Wales) and Syndikat Gefährliche Liebschaften (Quakenbrück, Germany)
• Chemnitz & Manchester Residency - Quarantine (Manchester, England) and ASA-FF e.V./ Freundinnen- und Förderkreis Arbeits- und Studienaufenthalte in Afrika, Asien und Lateinamerika (Chemnitz, Germany)
• Co-creating across borders: A tale of two cities - Brighton People's Theatre CIO (Brighton, England) and English Theatre Leipzig (Leipzig, Germany)
• Collectively Crossing: Affiliation Bridges - Kunstverein Leipzig (Leipzig, Germany) and Bistro 21 and Bidston Observatory Artistic Research Centre (BOARC) (Prenton, England)
• Colour Stories. Sharing journeys of a dyer's garden - artpark Hoher Berg UG gemeinnützig (Schermbeck, Germany) and Brink! (Belfast, Northern Ireland)
• Common Values, Shared Dreams - The Mighty Creatives (Leicester, England) and Werkhaus e.V. (Krefeld, Germany)
• Empowering mixedabled/inclusive dance across international communities - Anjali Dance Company (Derby, England) and com.dance (Horben, Germany)
• Feminism and Migrant activism - Stellar Quines Ltd (Fife, Scotland) and MPower (Berlin, Germany)
• New sustainable models for artist-led spaces - Assembly House CIC (Leeds, England) and E-WERK Luckenwalde (Luckenwalde, Germany)
• The Invisible City - Tortoise in a Nutshell (Edinburgh, Scotland) and Theater Gruene Sosse (Frankfurt, Germany)
• Uncomfortable Dialogues - Unveiling Marginalized Black Experiences through Dance, Film, and Storytelling - MINCE e.V. (Berlin, Germany) and Miss Lulu Creates LTD (London, England)
• Unlocked - Geese Theatre Company (Birmingham, England) and aufBruch (Berlin, Germany)
• Wetland: sharing practices of care and hospitality to engage communities and redfine former industrial spaces - Cement Fields (Kent, England) and Floating e.V. (Berlin, Germany)

Tier two (existing partnerships receiving funding up to £30k):

• An Audio Hunt in Easterhouse - Produced Moon (Glasgow, Scotland) and Storydive (Hamburg, Germany) (Previous Tier 1 partnership)
• ENTER: Robots exchange - Hijinx Theatre (Cardiff, Wales) and tanzbar-bremen e.V. (Bremen, Germany)
• Let the Grassroots Grow - SET Centre CIO (London, England) and riesa efau (Dresden, Germany) (Previous Tier 1 partnership)
• My Body is my Castle - An intergenerational and performative research - 4.D (Dortmund, Germany) and ACCA (Leeds, England) (Previous Tier 1 partnership)
• Rap School of Life - Improving Language and Mental Health - Kanzi GmbH (Berlin, Germany) and Forward Ever Education CIC (Birmingham, England)
• The Shake - The MAC (Belfast, Northern Ireland) and coculture e.V. (Berlin, Germany) (Previous Tier 1 partnership)

Mechthild Eickhoff, Executive Manager at Fonds Soziokultur, said, 

“We are enthusiastic about the ideas and ambitions of the cooperating organisations in the UK and Germany, the overwhelming response we received during our latest call out for applicants demonstrated a strong appetite for support to develop intercultural partnerships. As a nationwide fund in Germany we are thrilled that towns and villages from nine Federal States in Germany will exchange new approaches with their partner organisations in the four nations England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland, connecting people, arts, countries and nations. A clear statement on cultural democracy.”

Dr Katharina von Ruckteschell-Katte, Director, Goethe-Institut London, added, 

“The Cultural Bridge programme moves from strength to strength and we are delighted to continue to support exchange and growth of organisations in the UK and Germany, built on the foundations of cultural reciprocity. Cultural Bridge beautifully represents the Goethe-Institut’s mission of connecting through culture, so we are pleased to see yet again, and this time even more, brilliant grassroots organisations taking the opportunity to learn and improve their practice alongside each other. We look forward to seeing the funded projects develop over the coming year.”

For further information about the Cultural Bridge 2024 - 2025 projects, visit: www.culturalbridge.info