Deadline: 4-May-25
The National Asian Culture Center (ACC) and the UNESCO Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific (MOWCAP) have launched the ACC-MOWCAP Small Grants Programme.
In the Asia Pacific region, many libraries, archives and memory institutions face formidable challenges: economic, climatic and geographic. The ACC-MOWCAP Small Grants Programme aims to contribute to addressing this challenge by assisting with the preservation of and universal access to documentary heritage of the Asia-Pacific region, and also to increase awareness of the existence and significance of this heritage.
The programme supports the efforts of the many groups and organisations that collect and preserve and provide access to documentary heritage in the Asia-Pacific region.
The ACC-MOWCAP Small Grants Programme has already had a significant impact in the region. The types of documentary heritage supported have been diverse, including wood blocks, palm leaf manuscripts, celluloid films, VHS tapes, photographic prints, stone inscriptions, newspapers and documents. The types of projects supported have also been diverse, involving preservation, digitisation, production of books, documentary films, etc.
Themes
- Asian traditional culture (daily life, festivals, rituals, celebrations, and games)
- Asian traditional attire (clothing, footwear, headgear, etc.)
- Asian music (traditional instruments, audiovisual materials, music recordings, etc.)
- Asian performances (dance, puppetry, mask theater, videos, etc.)
- Asian myths and legends (books, posters, postcards, videos, photos, etc.)
- Asian religions (folk beliefs, scriptures, religious texts, etc.)
Funding Information
- Grants of up to USD 8,500 are available for the preservation and sharing of the documentary heritage of the Asia-Pacific region. Grants are required to be fully expended, and the project should be completed and acquitted within a 6-month period (May-October 2025). The grants will be administered through the National Asian Culture Center, Gwangju, Republic of Korea.
Eligible Projects
- The development of e-publications;
- Conservation of documentary heritage (If a conservator is engaged, they should be a member of an accredited national or international conservation organisation);
- Cataloguing records and archival description (open source archival description software such as ICA-AtoM The development of exhibitions (including digital ones)
- Web projects that provide information or resources on documentary heritage;
- Digital storytelling about documentary heritage (including film and DVD projects);
- Apps for mobile devices;
- The digitisation and publishing of documentary heritage items and collections;
- And more (if you have a great idea please consult with us).
Ineligible Projects
- The ACC-MOWCAP Small Grants Programme does NOT fund:
- Projects that do not relate to documentary heritage as defined in the UNESCO Memory of the World programme and UNESCO Recommendation concerning the preservation of, and access to, documentary heritage including in digital form;
- Projects that do not relate to the suggested project theme
- Projects related to documentary heritage outside the Asia-Pacific (unless there is a clear link to the region);
- Provision of cash prizes, commercial gifts or grants to third parties;
- Retrospective costs –costs that the organisation has already paid for out of its own funds or costs incurred prior to successful grants being awarded;
- Ongoing operational costs such as salaries for ongoing positions, rent or utilities:
- Applicants who do not meet the Eligibility Criteria outlined in these guidelines;
- Applications not submitted in the format specified in these guidelines;
- Applications submitted after the funding round has officially closed (in 2025, this be the 4 May 2025)
Eligibility Criteria
- To apply for a grant through ACC-MOWCAP Small Grants Programme your organisation will need to meet the following criteria.
- The organisation applying must be:
- Based in the Asia-Pacific
- Non-Government
- Have support from your UNESCO National MoW Committee or UNESCO National Commission
For more information, visit UNESCO.
