Arts Council Malta launches ‘Investment in Cultural Organisations

Deadline: 30-Sep-2024

The Arts Council Malta is offering grants to create partnerships with a number of organisations in Gozo focusing on, and active in, the cultural and creative sectors.

The organisations will help Arts Council Malta to deliver the ongoing strategy and aim to achieve the ultimate goal of placing arts and creativity at the heart of Malta’s future.

The partnership is intended to provide stable support for organisations to plan ahead, grow, develop and deliver their mission and vision in alignment with ACM’s strategic goals primarily addressing creative professionals and communities, namely to:

nurture creative potential and support its development into professional activity;
invest in artistic excellence;
connect Malta to the international artistic community;
provide more opportunities for people to engage in creativity.

Targeted Initiatives and Priority Areas

This initiative specifically targets organisations proposing festivals and/or yearly events. Through this initiative, Arts Council Malta addresses the following priority areas in Gozo:
- supporting high-quality festivals and events which would be part of a diversified and coordinated portfolio of activities and events;
- developing a more coordinated yearly programme of events;
- nurturing cultural tourism.

Funding Information

Session Budget: EUR 400,000 per year
Maximum Eligible Amount Per Project: EUR 85,000 per year. The amount will be granted for a period of three consecutive years subject to availability of Government funds.

What is the programme looking for?

The programme is looking for initiatives that have artistic excellence at the very core. The organisations need to demonstrate clearly how they are going to ensure that their artistic programme is able to reach high levels of artistic excellence.
It is important that the applicant organisations have a strong track record in relation to the production of the project proposed.
This can be shown through proper and solid collaboration agreements with main partners involved such as, for instance, the public cultural organisations, education institutions, hosting venues, etc. It is also important for the organisations to show how the platform proposed will encourage and facilitate co-creation and collaboration between the different stakeholders. The proposal needs to include a commitment for the organisations to discuss artistic programmes with the relevant stakeholders in order to maximise on the potential of collaborations and to make sure that the programmes proposed fit both platforms and artists involved. The final decisions remain the onus of the organisations/beneficiaries.
The programme also seeks to support an important level of risk-taking, and it will be looking favourably at organisations who intend to push their own boundaries on a number of levels — artistic and operational collaborators, artistic content and titles proposed (in the case of established productions). It is therefore important that the proposals include a clear plan for innovative input and updates which the organisations intend to carry out throughout the respective financial years.
The proposal needs to be supported by a plan for the management of the activity supported. It is important to provide a clear structure of the organisation and explain how each role will be essential for the fulfilment of the aims set by the strategic plan of the organisation. It is also important to highlight why that specific person is carrying out the mentioned role. The programme recognises the importance of voluntary workers and voluntary support for the implementation of the projects. In this regard, the proposal needs to include a clear plan for the inclusion and development of volunteer programmes to maximise on the already existing potential of these projects and initiatives. The programme is also seeking to support training programmes as well as shadowing & mentoring programmes, and will be looking at these favourably.
The programme also seeks to support extensive networking particularly on an international level. The proposals should also include a clear plan for international collaborations throughout the respective financial years.
The proposal needs to include a clear plan for audience development and community engagement. This needs to be supported by a detailed plan for market research and data collection as well as community engagement programmes (which cover the local communities as well as other identified communities in the ACM strategy).

Eligibility Criteria

The Investment in Cultural Organisations – Gozo is open for Voluntary Organisations enrolled with the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations that are compliant with the Voluntary Organisations Act requirements, form part of the cultural and creative sector, and that have a registered address in Gozo.

Ineligible

Applicants who do not qualify under the definition of applicant for this specific scheme;
- Applicants whose profile is not verified due to it being an incomplete profile for not having the below mandatory documents:
  - A copy of your Maltese ID card (including the front and back side) or your Maltese; residence permit or your Maltese citizenship certificate or your Maltese passport
  - A signed statute of the Voluntary Organisation.
- Beneficiaries who have not honoured previous funding commitments;
- Organisations/Activities receiving local public funds through established government line-votes;
- Voluntary Organisations which are:
  - not enrolled with the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations;
  - which have not presented their updated accounts to the Commissioner for Voluntary Organisations and are not compliant by the date of application;
  - which do not have a registered address in Gozo.

For more information, visit Arts Council Malta.