Braid Arts & Culture Fund

Grant Categories

Braid Fund offers grants for projects which demonstrate an innovation around any or all of the three outcome areas:

Art and culture practitioners discover and share innovative ways to reach wider audiences with their work.
Stronger relationships and skills developed across art/culture practices and generations
Increased knowledge and understanding of the value of arts and culture disciplines, practitioners and spaces

The grants are in three categories as below:

Grant Categories

Amount Range and Grant Time Limits

Examples

Completion - CLOSED
To support the finalisation of projects that have already started

100,000 – 200,000 KES

Up to 3 months

Example 1: Printing a vernacular, cultural heritage book that has already been written and designed by a cultural group in Bomet, Kenya
Example 2: Post-production to finalise a music video incorporating AR
Example 3: Marketing costs for a storytelling event at night in a parking lot

Collaboration - CLOSED
To support collaborations between different generations and/or between different art/culture disciplines

300,000 – 500,000 KES

Up to 3 months

Example 1: Performance that integrates traditional dancers and traditional ceremony with contemporary dance and drama
Example 2: Mentorship program and new music developed between pioneer, retired musician and several emerging musicians
Example 3: Museum project that integrates digital artists, writers and others in a campaign or exhibition highlighting the changing landscape of their community

Champion - CLOSED
To support the local art and culture community and the Braid Fund community

500,000 – 700,000 KES
‍
3 to 6 months

Example 1: Ugandan cultural organisation supporting cultural practitioners with rehearsal space and technical assistance to apply to Braid Fund.
Example 2: Tanzanian movie theatre offering space to show local films and helping to identify potential Braid Fund applicants.
Example 3: Kenyan cultural organisation offering meetups between young people and Traditional Elders and helping to support Braid Fund grantees with reporting.

Grant Categories

Completion - CLOSED

To support the finalisation of projects that have already started

Amount Range
100,000 – 200,000 KES

Grant Time Limits
1 to 3 months

Examples

Example 1: Printing a vernacular, cultural heritage book that has already been written and designed by a cultural group in Bomet, Kenya
Example 2: Post-production to finalise a music video incorporating AR
Example 3: Marketing costs for a storytelling event at night in a parking lot

Collabortation - CLOSED

To support collaborations between different generations and/or between different art/culture disciplines

Amount Range
300,000 – 500,000 KES

Grant Time Limits
‍1 to 3 months

Examples

Example 1: Performance that integrates traditional dancers and traditional ceremony with contemporary dance and drama
Example 2: Mentorship program and new music developed between pioneer, retired musician and several emerging musicians
Example 3: Museum project that integrates digital artists, writers and others in a campaign or exhibition highlighting the changing landscape of their community

Champion - CLOSED

To support the local art and culture community and the Braid Fund community.

Amount Range
500,000 – 700,000 KES

Grant Time Limits
3 to 6 months

Examples

Example 1: Ugandan cultural organisation supporting cultural practitioners with rehearsal space and technical assistance to apply to Braid Fund.
Example 2: Tanzanian movie theatre offering space to show local films and helping to identify potential Braid Fund applicants.
Example 3: Kenyan cultural organisation offering meetups between young people and Traditional Elders and helping to support Braid Fund grantees with reporting.

Values of the Braid Fund

Equity and Inclusion‍

We are a diverse community of cultural practitioners with different languages, beliefs, genders, practices, educational levels, living arrangements, and more. The Braid Fund is committed to equitable and inclusive distribution and use of grants to reach all levels of our arts and culture communities.

Bravery and Emergent Thinking

Philanthropy can be a difficult sector for our communities to navigate for support. Together, we will find ways through this dynamic by being brave with our time and our resources and finding solutions with emergent thinking and experimentation with an eye on the overall systems and communities we aim to impact.

Trust ‍

We will approach creating and administering this fund from a trust-based lens. Together with the communities we aim to support, we will develop systems of mutual trust, open communication and an interest in evolving this work through relationships and listening.

Community and Participation

We are a diverse and powerful community and we will work to grow the connections and relationships within the community (and across practice, age, borders, etc) to ensure that our art and cultural practices, audiences and opportunities grow.

Voice and Health

The health of our arts and culture sector, our practices, our sites, our art, our bodies, minds, families and communities are intrinsically linked to our ability to practice our fundamental freedom of expression, to preserve and protect our arts and culture and to connect with our audiences.

Transparency and Accountability

All of us will take seriously the responsibility of this grant in an open, transparent manner and will work to be accountable to all our partners, donors and the communities impacted with this fund. We will invest in the processes, connections and resources to help each other be accountable. We will work together to ensure that the grants we award will reach far and wide and with the impact we all seek.

Braid Fund FAQs

Why “Braid?”

The art and culture sectors of East Africa are broad, diverse and dynamic. They are also fragmented and poorly funded.

Traditional practitioners are here, contemporary visual artists are over there, filmmakers and fashion designers in these different areas, museums and galleries in this other space, musicians, dancers, actors, writers… There are so many disciplines that generally operate in silos, especially outside of urban centres and class structures.

The art and culture sectors are also often competing for limited resources. This fund aims to create a process that is community oriented and equitable, one that recognises the unique ability of the cultural sector to respond and bring perspective to the most pressing issues society is facing.

By braiding together our practices, people and more, all of us in the creative and cultural sectors in East Africa can grow and strengthen our skills, networks and earning potential while safeguarding heritage for future generations.

Who is eligible for grants, What are the priority groups, and Which countries?

The grants are accessible to:

Art and Culture Practitioners
Artists and Artisans of Urban and Rural Communities
Art and Culture Organizations
Cultural practitioners who want to work together
Applicants who are willing to document and share their work online

While we are open to all art or culture practitioners and all mediums/disciplines, we will be giving priority to:

Early career practitioners
Rural practitioners
Women and gender nonconforming peoples
Artists from disciplines or spaces usually not represented in large-scale arts programs*

*Examples include but are not limited to:

Traditional practitioners (including musicians and instrument makers, weavers, textile artists, ceramists, carvers, woodworkers, cooks, healers, ceremonialists, storytellers, dancers, designers, architects, craftsmen)
Natural heritage (including biodiversity, sacred sites, flora and fauna, etc)
Food heritage (including traditional foods and crops, farming methods, ceremonial foods, food systems, heritage seeds, etc)
Body artists (including tattoo, henna, braiding, piercing)
Storytelling (including puppeteers, new media, folklore)
Illustrators (including cartoonists, caricaturists, political cartoonists)
Writers (including poets, creative writers, critics, historians, local publications/magazines)
Theatre (including actors, playwrights, set designers, costume designers, light designers, rehearsal time)
Digital Arts (graphic design, animation)
Music (studio time, collaborations, music videos)
Movement artists (including dance, acrobatics, martial arts, rehearsal time, space)
Local cultural centres (including museums, natural or sacred spaces, art spaces, galleries)
Visual arts (including curation, installation, conceptual arts, AR/VR, etc)
Sound arts (including sound design, soundscapes, etc)
Comedy (including comics, productions, writers, satirists)
Designers (including interior design, product design, fashion, traditional dress, accessories, costume)
Craft Festivals/Fairs

The Braid Fund will run in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda (in 2023) and later expand to Rwanda, Ethiopia and Sudan.

2023 Pilot Phase

For 2023, the Braid Fund will issue grants ranging from KES 100,000 to KES 700,000. The call for applications will be as follows:

GRANT CATEGORY

DATES OF OPEN CALL

Champion

CLOSED

Collaboration

CLOSED

Completion

CLOSED

Grant Categories

Champion
‍
Dates of Open Call: CLOSED

Collaboration

Dates of Open Call: CLOSED

Completion
‍
Dates of Open Call: CLOSED

Proposal Stage

Successful concepts move to this stage where a full proposal is developed either in the form of a submitted written proposal with a detailed budget and/or an proposal and budget interview with Braid Fund team members.

Expected timelines
Applicants should expect to hear back on their application within 2 to 3 weeks

Planning and Contracting Stage

Successful applications will move to this final stage where applicants will work with Braid Fund team members on a plan of action and sign their contracts.

Expected timelines
Applicants should expect to hear back on their application within 2 to 3 weeks

What does the application process look like and what are the timelines?

The Braid Fund application process is community led and shared through networks. Applications will be received only via the fund's online application form or official email address. Calls for applications will follow the schedule above.

The process involves two stages, each with questions for the applicant. Proposals will be evaluated and selections made by a team from the community, TICAH and the British Council. The process and expected timelines are:

STAGE

EXPECTED TIMELINES

Proposal Stage
Applicant submits information about themselves, their project idea, and a detailed budget and work plan

Applicants should expect to hear back on their application within 4 weeks

Due Diligence and Contracting Stage
Successful applications will move to this stage where applicants will submit documentation for due diligence then work with Braid Fund team members on a plan of action and sign their contracts.

Applicants should expect to hear back on their application within 2 to 3 weeks

Application process

Proposal Stage

Applicant submits information about themselves, their project idea, and a detailed budget and work plan

Expected timelines
Applicants should expect to hear back on their application within 4 weeks

Due Diligence and Contracting Stage

Successful applications will move to this stage where applicants will submit documentation for due diligence then work with Braid Fund team members on a plan of action and sign their contracts.

Expected timelines
Applicants should expect to hear back on their application within 2 to 3 weeks

Who are the Organisations behind the Braid Fund?

Trust for Indigenous Culture and Health (TICAH)
TICAH is a Kenyan trust founded in 2003 that believes culture and health are connected and that cultural practices can help us shape the health and wellness towards equitable, just communities. TICAH has supported artists and other cultural practitioners in Kenya for almost 20 years. Our work in the art and culture space has been through the lens of connecting and sharing positive cultural beliefs and practices as well as individual and collective support. We work to build relationships between practitioners because we believe that the benefits are meaningful at every level. It helps individuals and it builds the power and coherence of the creative sector.
British Council
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We were founded in 1934 and incorporated by Royal Charter in 1940. They create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust. The British Council works with more than 100 countries across the world in the fields of arts and culture, the English language, education and civil society. Last year, they reached more than 80 million people directly and 791 million people overall, including online, through broadcasts and publications.

The Braid Fund is part of #CultureGrows, a British Council program exploring ways in which local culture can improve the lives of individuals around the world with locally bespoke and responsive projects. Central to the programme is taking a people-centred approach and providing an enabling environment for inclusive growth, based on understanding of local contexts and an appreciation of cultural diversity. This means engaging with individuals and local communities and supporting them to promote and develop opportunities from their own cultural heritage, whilst also working across society to support and effect positive change.

Braid Arts & Culture Fund

Braid Arts & Culture Fund

Collaboration and Champion Grants are now closed.

Goal and Expected Outcomes

Grant Categories

Grant Categories

Completion - CLOSED

Collabortation - CLOSED

Champion - CLOSED

Terms of Reference

Values of the Braid Fund

Equity and Inclusion‍

Bravery and Emergent Thinking

Trust ‍

Community and Participation

Voice and Health

Transparency and Accountability

Title copy goes here

Braid Fund FAQs

Grant Categories

Proposal Stage

Planning and Contracting Stage

Application process

Concept Stage

Proposal Stage

Due Diligence and Contracting Stage

Ready to Apply

Collaboration and Champion Grants are now closed

Terms of Reference