Cultural Bridge celebrates bilateral partnerships between the UK and Germany

Cultural Bridge celebrates bilateral artistic partnerships between the UK and Germany through the collaboration between Arts Council England, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, British Council, Creative Scotland, Fonds Soziokultur, Goethe-Institut London and Wales Arts International / Arts Council of Wales.

We’re thrilled to announce the 20 partnerships for the 2024 - 2025 programme who have been awarded a total of £310,000 in funding to develop artistic practices and projects exploring themes and issues faced by communities across both countries.

The 2024 - 2025 programme marks the network’s third year of funding artistic exchange between the UK and Germany, bringing the total number of organisations supported by Cultural Bridge since 2021 to 72, through 42 awards supporting 35 partnerships. 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 connect and share practice.

The open call for applicants to the 2024 - 2025 funding exceeded expectations, with 138 applications from potential partnerships between the UK and Germany, demonstrating the cultural sector’s desire to learn, share and develop work that enables social change through international collaboration. Applications were assessed and reviewed by an independent jury of professionals across the UK and Germany.

The 2024 - 2025 partnerships will explore a wide range of themes and artforms, from prison theatre, youth led and disability led work, climate change, migrant activism, feminism, rural arts and more. 

Read about the announcement

Find out more about the funded partnerships

Explore the blog

Key learnings and the impact of the pilot year programme are available through the evaluation report, written and produced by tialt.  

Read the 2021 - 2022 pilot year evaluation in English

Read the 2021 - 2-22 pilot year evaluation in German

Image: The MAC and coculture e.V. from their Tier 1 partnership, At The Table

The 2024 - 2025 projects:

ARCHITEXTS OF CHANGE

– Partners: Angeprangert! Spoken Word (Weißwasser, Germany) and Young Identity (Manchester, England)

Bridging Rural Communities - People, Process, Places

– Partners: Dyffryn Dyfodol CIC (Llanrwst, Wales) and Syndikat Gefährliche Liebschaften (Quakenbrück, Germany)

Chemnitz & Manchester Residency

– Partners: 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

– Partners: Brighton People's Theatre CIO (Brighton, England) and English Theatre Leipzig (Leipzig, Germany)

Collectively Crossing: Affiliation Bridges

– Partners: 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

– Partners: artpark Hoher Berg UG gemeinnützig (Schermbeck, Germany) and Brink! (Belfast, Northern Ireland)

Common Values, Shared Dreams

– Partners: The Mighty Creatives (Leicester, England) and Werkhaus e.V. (Krefeld, Germany)

Empowering mixedabled/inclusive dance across international communities

– Partners: Anjali Dance Company (Derby, England) and com.dance (Horben, Germany)

Feminism and Migrant activism

– Partners: Stellar Quines Ltd (Fife, Scotland) and MPower (Berlin, Germany)

New sustainable models for artist-led spaces

– Partners: Assembly House CIC (Leeds, England) and E-WERK Luckenwalde (Luckenwalde, Germany)

The Invisible City

– Partners: Tortoise in a Nutshell (Edinburgh, Scotland) and Theater Gruene Sosse (Frankfurt, Germany)

Uncomfortable Dialogues - Unveiling Marginalized Black Experiences through Dance, Film, and Storytelling

– Partners: MINCE e.V. (Berlin, Germany) and Miss Lulu Creates LTD (London, England)

Unlocked

– Partners: Geese Theatre Company (Birmingham, England) and aufBruch (Berlin, Germany)

Wetland: sharing practices of care and hospitality to engage communities and redefine former industrial spaces

– Partners: Cement Fields (Kent, England) and Floating e.V. (Berlin, Germany)

An Audio Hunt in Easterhouse

– Partners: Produced Moon (Glasgow, Scotland) and Storydive (Hamburg, Germany)

ENTER: Robots exchange

– Partners: Hijinx Theatre (Cardiff, Wales) and tanzbar-bremen e.V. (Bremen, Germany)

Let the Grassroots Grow

– Partners: SET Centre CIO (London, England), Videocity and riesa efau (Dresden, Germany)

My Body is my Castle

– Partners: 4.D (Dortmund, Germany) and ACCA (Leeds, England)

Rap School of Life - Improving Language and Mental Health

– Partners: Kanzi GmbH (Berlin, Germany), Forward Ever Education CIC and Hip Hop HEALS (Birmingham, England)

The Shake

– Partners: The MAC (Belfast, Northern Ireland) and coculture e.V. (Berlin, Germany)

The 2023 - 2024 projects:

Illuminate Together

– a collaboration between Handmade Parade (England) and Kapuziner Kreativzentrum (Germany)

Co-creating with young voices

– a collaboration between Mahogany Opera Group (England) and Frequenz_Festival Kiel (Germany)

Bespoke

– a collaboration between Make Works Scotland 'Paved with Gold' (Scotland) and Kulturzentrum LUISE (Germany)

Going spaces: forming new connections and fostering collaboration

– a collaboration between Motorenhalle Dresden (Germany) and SET studios London (England)

Our EARTH Hour

– a collaboration between MOTTE eV. Stadtteil & Kulturzentrum (Germany) and Head4Arts (Wales)

Playing with Audio Walks: Storydive meets Produced Moon

– a collaboration between Produced Moon (Scotland) and Storydive (Germany)

Growing Together to Facilitate Community Stories

– a collaboration between THE bEAR e.V. (Germany) and Open Past (Scotland)

At the Table

– a collaboration between The MAC (Metropolitan Arts Centre) (Northern Ireland) and coculture e.V. (Germany)

Strictly Scottish and Schottisch

– a collaboration between Traditional Dance Forum of Scotland (TDFS) (Scotland) and Folk Dance Society of Germany (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Volkstanz e.V.) (Scotland)

Femxle Spaces

– a collaboration between vier.D (Germany) and ACCA/ Slung Low (England)

In Each Other's Company

– a collaboration between National Dance Company of Wales and Of Curious Nature (Germany)

ENTER

– a collaboration between Creative Black Country (England) and Kuturvilla Nellie (Germany)

FAILSTONE

– a collaboration between Folkestone Fringe (England) and Fine Arts Institute Leipzig - FAIL (Germany)

Spree ~ Channelsea Radio Group

– a collaboration between Soundcamp CIC (England) and Archipel Stations (Germany), with Blanc Sceol / Surge Cooperative and Radio Otherwise

Ode to Earth (Phase 2)

– A collaboration between VILLA Leipzig (Germany) and Beyond Skin & DU Dance (Northern Ireland)

Partners

  • Arts Council England
  • The Arts Council of Northern Ireland
  • The British Council
  • Creative Scotland
  • Fonds Soziokultur
  • Goethe-Institut London
  • Wales Arts International