Biennials Connect Grants are now offering grants of up to £9,500 to UK and international biennials / festivals in eligible countries.

Biennials Connect Grants support visual artists’ participation in UK and international festivals and biennials. The grants directly benefit artists by facilitating opportunities for travel, the production of new work, networking, skills building and showcasing through biennial partners.

Key dates

Applications open: 23 June 2025

Application deadline: 14 September 2025, 23.59 (BST)

Information session, option 1: 9 July 2025, 9.00–10.00 (BST)

Information session, option 2: 9 July 2025, 15.00–16.00 (BST)

Notification of decisions will be sent to applications in the autumn of 2025.

Projects start in February 2026.

Projects finish by the end of February 2027.

Who can apply?

Our Biennials Connect Grants are open to UK (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) and international biennials, festivals and art organisations. Individual artists are not eligible to apply.

International biennials / festivals must be based in eligible countries.

Before making your application, please read the Application Toolkit and ensure your application meets these conditions:

Organisations applying must:

• be one of the following:
  • UK biennials or festivals supporting international visual artists’ participation
  • international biennials or festivals supporting visual artists’ participation from the UK
  • or other visual arts organisations collaborating with a biennial/festival.
• be based in UK or an eligible international country (please see downloads below for the full list of eligible countries)
• be primarily a visual art biennial or festival. Multi-arts biennials and festivals can apply but they must demonstrate a focus on visual arts within their programme
• be supporting artists over the age of 18. If artist travel is included in the project, the artists must be able to travel internationally on valid passports (organisations must arrange travel, transport, accommodations, insurance and visas themselves)
• be supporting artists you have either not previously worked with or supporting new projects with artists you have worked with before
• share the British Council’s commitment to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and will embed best EDI practices into the activity
• share the British Council’s commitment to paying artists fairly and will ensure artists are fairly compensated for their participation.

Applications by individual artists will not be eligible.

For more details visit British Council website