Over €1.16 million were allocated to a total of 268 art projects since the Malta Arts Fund was launched at the end of 2009. With a broad spectrum ranging from film, music and dance to literature, theatre and the visual arts, the fund aims to support quality and excellence in the arts.
The majority of the funds were allocated to the Performing Arts - 140 projects receiving just under half a million euro), followed by the Visual Arts (€338,193 going to 64 projects), Multidisciplinary (€210,985 going to 37 projects) and Literature (€113,609 to 27 projects).
As the funding mechanism of the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts (MCCA), the Malta Arts Fund aims to support artists and arts organisations in fulfilling and realising their potential and in improving their skills and level of professionalism.
Last year alone, over €420,000 were allocated to a total of 100 projects. Of these, 52 projects in the Performing Arts received around €144,422; 20 projects in the Visual Arts received €134,036 while another 20 multidisciplinary projects received around €119,000. Eight literature projects received just under €23,000.
Last November, a new literature strand “Spreading Words”, was added to the Arts Fund Programme, bringing the current number of strands to four. With an annual allocation of €20,000, Spreading Words was devised to offer support to authors, translators and publishers for the translation of works written in Maltese. The aim of this fund is to make Maltese literature accessible to new reading communities, which will in turn expand and strengthen the Maltese literary scene. Application deadlines for this strand close on 1 March.
The other strands are the Project Support Grant, the Organisation Support Grant and the Mobility Grant. The Project Support Grant is divided into two strands: large and small projects. Projects with requests for funding up to €5,000 qualify as small projects; applications for this strand are open every three months. The large projects, whose funding ranges between €5,001 and €20,000 are allocated on a half-yearly basis.
The Organisation Support Grant caters for organisations seeking funds to support their operation in the arts sector in Malta and/or to operate an artistic programme. It provides organisations whose aims are in line with the goals and priorities of the National Cultural Policy with funds towards both programming and organisational costs. The Mobility Grant caters for outgoing artistic mobility for short training courses, workshops, participation in artistic activities overseas, and international collaborations.
Submissions to the Malta Arts Fund are competitive and therefore not all applications may be awarded.
Anyone interested in the Arts Fund can attend ArtsTalk, a series of open public discussions related to the Malta Arts Fund. These outreach sessions explain the application process with examples of good practice.
A list of projects awarded to date as well as application forms and the new and updated guidelines are available from the website www.maltaculture.com or from the MCCA offices at 230, Republic Street, Valletta. More info on Tel: 2124 5168 or [email protected]