Cultural Bridge announces funding for 20 new UK-Germany arts partnerships

Published: 28 Feb 2024

Image credit: Stellar Quines at Jupiter Art Land exhibition

Cultural Bridge has announced its third annual programme of 20 new partnerships for 2024-2025 between United Kingdom and Germany-based organisations, who have been awarded a total of £310,000 to develop creative and cultural projects exploring issues faced by communities across both countries.

With the newly announced programme, Cultural Bridge now supports 72 organisations through 35 partnerships through tiered funding for new and existing partnerships. This unique collaboration between the UK and Germany, is made possible through investment from seven major partners: Arts Council England, Arts Council Northern Ireland, British Council, Creative Scotland, Arts Council of Wales/Wales Arts International, Fonds Soziokultur, and Goethe-Institut London.

Four of the 2023 - 2024 partnerships have been awarded additional funding to further develop their work and several of the previously funded organisations continue to work together.

Applications were assessed and reviewed by an independent jury of professionals across the UK and Germany.

Caitlin Skinner, Artistic Director and CEO at Stellar Quines said: “As a feminist theatre company this award provides a rare and important opportunity for us to collaborate with and learn from another organisation using co-creation with young women to make change. This kind of artistic and skills development will enable us to nourish, inspire and grow the ambition of our company and the young people we work with so that we can continue to work towards a just future for all.”

Iain Munro, Chief Executive at Creative Scotland said: “International collaboration and creativity support arts and culture in both local and global communities. Even more so for the selected youth initiatives in Scotland, enabling young people to develop and use their creative voice across a variety of platforms, sharing and learning from their peers throughout the UK and Germany.  Made possible through Cultural Bridge, this approach enriches the lives of participants and their societies.”

The 2024 – 2025 partnerships are:

Tier one (new partnerships receiving funding up to £10k):

• ARCHITEXTS OF CHANGE- Angeprangert! Spoken Word (Weißwasser, Germany) and Young Identity (Manchester)
• Bridging Rural Communities - People, Process, Places -Dyffryn Dyfodol CIC (Llanrwst, Wales) and Syndikat Gefährliche Liebschaften (Quakenbrück, Germany)
• Chemnitz & Manchester Residency - Quarantine (Manchester, England) and ASA-FF e.V./ Freundinnen- und Förderkreis Arbeits- und Studienaufenthalte in Afrika, Asien und Lateinamerika (Chemnitz, Germany)
• Co-creating across borders: A tale of two cities - Brighton People's Theatre CIO (Brighton, England) and English Theatre Leipzig (Leipzig, Germany)
• Collectively Crossing: Affiliation Bridges -Kunstverein Leipzig (Leipzig, Germany) and Bistro 21 and Bidston Observatory Artistic Research Centre (BOARC) (Prenton, England)
• Colour Stories. Sharing journeys of a dyer's garden - artpark Hoher Berg UG gemeinnützig (Schermbeck, Germany) and Brink! (Belfast, Northern Ireland)
• Common Values, Shared Dreams -The Mighty Creatives (Leicester, England) and Werkhaus e.V. (Krefeld, Germany)
• Empowering mixedabled/inclusive dance across international communities -Anjali Dance Company (Derby, England) and com.dance (Horben, Germany)
• Feminism and Migrant activism -Stellar Quines Ltd (Fife, Scotland) and MPower (Berlin, Germany)
• New sustainable models for artist-led spaces -Assembly House CIC (Leeds, England) and E-WERK Luckenwalde (Luckenwalde, Germany)
• The Invisible City -Tortoise in a Nutshell (Edinburgh, Scotland) and Theater Gruene Sosse (Frankfurt, Germany)
• Uncomfortable Dialogues - Unveiling Marginalized Black Experiences through Dance, Film, and Storytelling -MINCE e.V. (Berlin, Germany) and Miss Lulu Creates LTD (London, England)
• Unlocked -Geese Theatre Company (Birmingham, England) and aufBruch (Berlin, Germany)
• Wetland: sharing practices of care and hospitality to engage communities and redfine former industrial spaces -Cement Fields (Kent, England) and Floating e.V. (Berlin, Germany)

Tier two (existing partnerships receiving funding up to £30k):

• An Audio Hunt in Easterhouse -Produced Moon (Glasgow, Scotland) and Storydive (Hamburg, Germany) (Previous Tier 1 partnership)
• ENTER: Robots exchange -Hijinx Theatre (Cardiff, Wales) and tanzbar-bremen e.V. (Bremen, Germany)
• Let the Grassroots Grow - SET Centre CIO (London, England) and riesa efau (Dresden, Germany) (Previous Tier 1 partnership)
• My Body is my Castle - An intergenerational and performative research -4.D (Dortmund, Germany) and ACCA (Leeds, England) (Previous Tier 1 partnership)
• Rap School of Life - Improving Language and Mental Health -Kanzi GmbH (Berlin, Germany), Forward Ever Education CIC and Hip Hop HEALS (Birmingham, England)
• The Shake -The MAC (Belfast, Northern Ireland) and coculture e.V. (Berlin, Germany) (Previous Tier 1 partnership)