Deadline: 31 January 2019
To mark the 30th anniversary of the web in March 2019, the British Council in India would like to explore their changing concept of connection by supporting digital culture projects inspired by how the web has connected us and exploring what it could do for us in the future. The Embassy would like to use the opportunity of this milestone to explore what artists and art of tomorrow look like through digital creativity.
Proposals designed to be inclusive will be prioritised. By this the embassy mean projects which celebrate diversity, inclusion, equal opportunity and freedom of expression. At the heart of projects should be artistic experiences that can show collaboration between India and the UK. As the world wide web was created to allow for equal access and for people to connect, learn and have more opportunities. British Council in India’s open call wishes to honour this motto.
The aims for the Digital Open Call
- To excite and inspire young people with digital and mobile content and collaborations between the UK and India and continue to see the UK and the British Council as the source of inspiring and challenging work.
- To provide access to knowledge and information.
- To create new relationships between artists, producers, curators, storytellers and organisations in the UK and India and to develop new creative networks, build capacity and seed collaborations.
- Reach and engage large new audiences in India for UK arts and culture with a focus on the 18-40 age group.
- Respond to user needs (i.e. available technology & connectivity) and digital approaches to maximise audience reach.
Themes the call seeks to address
Projects can connect broadly to the thematic of the celebration of the creation of the world wide web and address as many of the points below as possible:
- Have artistic creativity, connection, culture and collaboration at their heart.
- Connecting people and providing access to information and conversations through artistic digital experiences – i.e. projects might look at what the artist of tomorrow is; crowd sourced experiences; explore themes such as data collection or privacy; changing communication such as social media and how we interact with one another digitally etc.
- Explore how we can make the web more inclusive through artistic platforms, looking especially at equal economic access or access to digital connectivity for women and girls for example.
- Be intended for an audience primarily in India but with potential to reach beyond.
- Have demonstrable potential to achieve large digital reach and engagement across the web.
- Have a particular emphasis on cross hardware engagement from desktop to smartphone – thus allowing for multiple types of interaction and activity – from accessing the projects in the public space or on the go.
- Promote greater social inclusion and cohesion.
- Respond clearly to the aims and outcomes.
Funding Information
From this open call, the embassy will select projects for funding of up to £40,000 (inclusive of marketing costs) to develop their idea which should launch during 2019.
Eligibility Criteria
- Be based in India or the UK.
- Have a track record of developing artistic digital projects or experiences that demonstrate strong impact and have successfully reached new audiences.
- Demonstrate innovation in previous work whether in technology or in engagement with audiences.
- Have clear benefit to India – The Embassy is looking for projects that focus on audiences in India and can deliver developmental outcomes in India.
How to Apply
Proposals must be submitted via the online application form available on the given website.
For more information, please visit https://www.britishcouncil.in/web-at-30-digital-call