International Collaboration Grants encourage new international partnerships, providing support to enable organisations and artists develop creative projects, supporting new and innovative ways of artistic collaboration.
These grants demonstrate genuine international collaboration between the UK and partner countries, and an explicit benefit to individual artists and international partners. International Collaboration Grant projects can address any theme and support new connections, exchanges and collaborations.
International Collaboration Grantees
Real Contentment
- UK: Manchester City of Literature
- China: Nanjing City of Literature
Exploring the natural world through literature and exchange between UK and China, this project will forge a lasting partnership between Manchester and Nanjing, both UNESCO Cities of Literature and Lifelong Learning. Central to the nine-month programme is an artist exchange, uniting poets, illustrators, and playwrights from both cities to create new work. Outputs will include a bilingual illustrated poetry collection and a play, ensuring representation from under-represented groups, including female artists. The creative collaborations will explore the ecological theme of "Real Contentment," inspired by Han Dong's poetry, who is an established avant-garde Chinese poet based in Nanjing. Additionally, a schools engagement programme will involve 300 young people, fostering inter-cultural understanding and addressing the climate emergency through creative expression. A legacy tool-kit including all the elements of the project will be compiled by a Creative Producer for continuity.