In collaboration with the Goethe-Institut, the Music In Africa Foundation (MIAF) invites creative and cultural organisations in Southern Africa to apply for funds from the Sound Connects Fund (SCF).
The initiative, which the ACP-EU Culture Programme supports, aims to accelerate development in Southern Africa while also building the capacity of practitioners in the region. The second round of applicant submissions is already open, and it will close on April 15, 2022.
Practitioners from Mozambique and Angola (only) can now submit applications in Portuguese for the first time.
The Sound Connects Fund is a multifaceted project to accelerate the development and capabilities of Southern Africa’s cultural and creative sectors. It provides financial assistance in the form of grants and a comprehensive capacity-building programme for beneficiaries.
Performing arts, visual arts, animation, cinema, gaming, photography, and videography are just a few disciplines supported by the fund.
Countries eligible to apply are Botswana, Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, eSwatini, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
Applicants will be expected to speak to the theme of Sound Connects Us, as they did in the first call in 2021. For millennia, music and sound have served as a common language that has brought people and communities from all over the world together.
The fund seeks to support projects and activities in the cultural and creative sector that:
(i) Allow for the rapid production and distribution of high-quality goods both within and outside of the Southern Africa region
(ii) Increase the capacity of professionals
(iii) Encourage creators to move about and exchange ideas quickly.
(iv) Improves access to new markets
(v) Strengthens visual literacy (especially among underrepresented groups)
(vi) Promote activism for the protection of creators’ rights
(vii) Foster the existence of long-term funding structures
Interested organisations are urged to go to the Sound Connects Fund website for more information and application.
