Call for proposals: Culture Fund 2023-25 in Zimbabwe 

The project aims to:

• Strengthen individual practitioners and creative civil society organisations’ capacities in inter alia, digital skills, production, marketing, networking and arts education.
• Support innovative artistic and cultural creations from artists and cultural practitioners, creative civil society organisations and private operators in the cultural and creative industries.
• Empower the creative sector to participate in policy dialogue and advocacy in order to contribute to an enabling operating environment for the cultural and creative industries to strengthen capacities for creative civil society organisations and arts and culture practitioners in Zimbabwe.

The overall objective/impact of the project is to empower CSOs to meaningfully contribute to governance and development processes, particularly women, youth and people with disabilities (PwDs).

Eligibility

Nationality

• Zimbabwean nationals and permanent residents of Zimbabwe with proof of residence.

Who qualifies under CSO?

• Artists, cultural and creative actors.
• Apex bodies and consortia in the creative sector.
• Arts associations, unions and professional networks.
• Collective management organisations (CMOs).
• Arts education institutions.
• Schools, colleges, vocational training institutions, and universities.
• Community-based organisations (CBOs).
• Trusts.
• Non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
• Other non-state actors or not-for-profit-making institutions.

Activities that qualify for support

• Training, mentoring, accompaniment/technical assistance of creative CSOs that brings innovation and growth to the creative sector and organisation.
• Capacity building of artists and cultural practitioners in areas in the creative industry value chain such as professionalism, communication and marketing, leadership, entrepreneurship, sustainable natural resource use, resource mobilisation and other technical skills to nurture their talent.
• Information and knowledge sharing platforms among creative CSOs.
• Engagement and interactive dialogue with sector authorities and development partner.
• Governance of culture.
• Mobility of artists intra-African region and inter-continental to EU countries, and their cultural goods and services.
• Creating innovations that facilitates creation of income streams.
• E-commerce support towards the creative sector growth.
• Addressing intellectual property and copyright related matters.
• Support creative industries led by youth, women and people with disabilities (PwD) to improve livelihoods.
• Development or scaling up of innovative arts and cultural actions.
• Festivals, community theatre and actions that enhance diversity and promote indigenous groups and talents.
• Supporting youth to enhance digital media and Information communication and technology (ICT) use for driving music, comedy and other visual and audio artistic products as genres of creative society.
• Support artistic media production and dissemination (music, drama and audio-visual) to raise awareness about peace, gender equality and tolerance.
• Support and promote the revitalisation of positive traditional practices that reinforce unity, shared identity and mutual respect.
• Policy, lobbying and advocacy support and engaging with government and local authorities.
• Expanding artistic engagement with the local authorities.
• Support bold, innovative and exciting projects post COVID-19.

Non-eligibility

CreativeACTIONs 2 will not support:

• Tuitions and scholarships.
• Land acquisition, infrastructure development and construction.
• Payment of debts and loans.
• Individuals who do not possess legal residency permits for Zimbabwe.

Targeted regions

CreativeACTIONs 2 grants will target the following action Zimbabwean targeted regions:

• Harare and Mashonaland Central.
• Bulawayo and Midlands.
• Mashonaland East and West.
• Matabeleland North and South.
• Manicaland and Masvingo.

Culture Fund will run information sessions in the targeted regions to ensure potential applicants are offered grant application information.

The submission deadlines for proposals are as follows:

• Lot 1: First call for proposals – 10 April.
• Lot 2: First call for proposals – remains open.

How to apply

Where to access the application forms?

• When applying, applicants should read the CreativeACTIONs 2 grant making guidelines, which can be downloaded here.
• Lot 1 – Bigger grants application form can be downloaded here.
• Lot 2 – Smaller grants application form can be downloaded here.
• Alternatively, all these documents can be accessed upon request via email at info@culturefund.co.zw.
• All applications should be submitted via email at info@culturefund.co.zw.

Applicants are required to provide:

• Clear objectives, current status of the project to justify support.
• A clear outline of activities carried out for Lot 2 (smaller grants).
• A clear outline of activities carried out for Lot 1 (larger grants) within a period of nine months.
• Proof of registration or legal status for organisations, groups and associations.
• Recommendation letters and or other supporting material for review.
• Clear budget that merges well with their tentative work plan.
• Applications will be submitted in English language only.
• A balanced project proposal budget must be submitted in clear spreadsheet format

Required information for those requesting for mobility/travel support:

• One and half paged motivational letter for travelling.
• One paged CV showing the applicant’s background and work experience of applicant.
• Support, reference and invitation letter endorsed by the event organisers (where the applicants want to go).
• Detailed budget (one-and-a-half pages), include quotations/valid invoices of airfares.
• For groups, applicants should kindly indicate gender of group members intending to travel.
• Attach valid passport copies for people intending to travel outside of Zimbabwe.
• Requests for travel should be submitted at least 45 calendar days prior to travel in order to accommodate time for assessments.

Grant sizes

CreativeACTIONs 2 will be executed over a period of three years (2023 to 2025).

• Lot 1 (larger grants): Minimum of $11 000 and a maximum amount of $60 000.
• Lot 2 (smaller grants): Minimum of $1 000 and a maximum amount of $10 000.

View the original call here.