2025 is the Welsh Government Year of Wales Japan
Wales and Japan 2025 to celebrate the nations’ “deep-rooted connections” | GOV.WALES
Arts, culture and well-being have played a significant role in developing rich and cultural connections between Wales and Japan and are a key part of the year’s focus.
As part of our contribution to the programme, Wales Arts International and British Council Wales, supported by Welsh Government, are inviting expressions of interest for funding towards arts focussed activity that will take place between Wales and Japan and between April and December 2025.
This funding opportunity aims to:
- extend and amplify existing arts partnerships and collaborations between Wales and Japan
- develop new artistic and cultural connections and collaborations that will build long-term sustainable relationships between artists, arts organisations and cultural practitioners
It is open to individuals and organisations working in the arts in Wales.
Funding available:
We have a total of £150,000 available.
You can apply for funding between £1,000 and £40,000
Tier 1: between £1,000 and £10,000
We anticipate making 8-10 smaller awards.
Tier 2: between £10,000 and up to £40,000
We anticipate making 1-2 large awards of up to £40,000 each.
Eligibility Criteria:
To be eligible to submit an Expression of Interest, you will:
- Have a plan for an arts focussed project or structured visit with a partner in Japan
- Have a partner in Japan
- Be able to deliver the proposed activity in Japan, in Wales or digitally between April and December 2025
- Be an individual arts practitioner or arts organisation based in Wales
Assessment priorities and criteria:
We will assess applications based on the following:
- The strength of your proposal as a collaboration with a partner in Japan where there is either an active and mutually beneficial artistic relationship or a commitment to testing and developing a creative relationship
- The ability to deliver the activity between April and December 2025
- How you will embed principles of equality, diversity and inclusion and sense of global responsibility throughout the planning and delivery of the proposed activity
You will also need to demonstrate that the arts activity will align with at least one (but not necessarily all) of the following priorities:
- Focus on the development of mutually beneficial artistic links between Wales and Japan including residencies and cultural exchanges
- Focus on the presentation of artistic work that will meaningfully connect audiences in Japan with Wales or in Wales with Japan
- Focus on language, which may include minority or Indigenous languages and multilingualism
- Focus on arts, health and wellbeing
- An exploration of issues relating to sustainability and global responsibility through artistic collaboration and which align with the goals of the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act
- Activity taking place in Himeji, Kitakyushu, Oita, Osaka or Hokkaido – areas where there will be particular Welsh Government focus during the Year of Wales and Japan 2025
Who can apply:
The fund is open to individuals and organisations working in arts in Wales.
How to apply:
- Complete the short Expression of Interest form and return to info@wai.org.uk by 5 March 2025 marked ‘Japan Culture Fund Expression of Interest’.
What happens next:
Your expression of interest will be reviewed by Wales Arts International and British Council in Wales, with input from Welsh Government Wales and Japan teams and British Council in Japan. We will use the stated priorities and criteria as a basis to make our decisions.
If you receive an offer in principle, you will be invited to further develop your activity plan, timeline and budget before we make the final funding offer.
Timeline:
- Deadline for submission of Expression of Interest: 5 March 2025
- Notification of award in principle: by 14 March 2025
- For awards in principle - submission of a detailed budget, activity plan and timeline: by 25 March 2025
- Notification of final funding offer: March/April 2025
Questions:
If you have any questions, please contact info@wai.org.uk.
If you would like to submit the EOI in an alternative format, please let us know.