The British Council has announced the recipients of the 2024 Connections Through Culture (CTC) Grant Programme, with three Sri Lankan projects awarded grants for the first time since the programme’s inception.

Initially founded as a platform for fostering vibrant collaborations between artists in the United Kingdom and the East Asia-Pacific, this year's grant cycle, however, marked an exciting milestone as the programme expanded to include South Asia, welcoming grantees from Sri Lanka and Bangladesh alongside those from Australia, New Zealand, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

The British Council's CTC Grant Programme stands as a testament to the organisation's commitment to cultivating international artistic connections and promoting the exchange of ideas and creativity. The programme supports 84 innovative projects this year, three of which are collaborations between participants from the United Kingdom and Sri Lanka, cultivating stronger cultural partnerships in the Asia-Pacific that transcend borders; fostering dialogue, innovation, and mutual understanding.

The CTC grant programme will provide over GBP 741,000 in funding across the region, enabling both artists and cultural organisations to bring their creative visions to life.

The 2024 grantees represent a dynamic mix of projects across diverse disciplines, including film, creative technology, literature, visual arts, theatre, dance, design, fashion, craft, and music. The array of collaborative efforts across borders and artistic disciplines will lead to new thoughts and ideas created to address global challenges such as diversity and inclusion and climate change.

"We are thrilled to announce our 2024 grantees, which demonstrate the strength of the Sri Lankan arts scene. These projects, which celebrate diversity, heritage and inclusivity, showcase the incredible potential of cross-cultural collaboration," said Orlando Edwards, Country Director - British Council Sri Lanka.

"We are excited to be contributing to the growth and development of Sri Lanka’s cultural sector, which we think can play a vital role in the economic growth of the country, together with tourism, for example. These partnerships celebrate some of the richness of UK-Sri Lankan artistic exchange, while tackling some of the most pressing issues of our time. I’m proud to see that artists from Northern Ireland and Wales are among the successful UK partners for this round. We look forward to seeing the transformative impact of these projects as they come to life, and to welcoming more partnership proposals when we announce the next round later in the year” Edwards said further.

List of Project grantees from Sri Lanka:

1. Empowering Handloom Artistry: A Digital Approach to globalise the Heritage Handloom Industry in Sri Lanka

UK (Wales): Cardiff Metropolitan University (Prof. Chaminda Hewage) supported by Dr Tharindu Liyanagunawardena (University of Reading)

Sri Lanka: Dr Sumith Gopura (Department of Textile and Apparel Engineering, University of Moratuwa) supported by Dr Ayesha Wickramasinghe (University of Moratuwa)

2. Roots and Routes: A Journey Through Memory and Migration

UK (Northern Ireland): Anushiya Sundaralingam (Visual Artist)

Sri Lanka: University of Jaffna (Ahilan Packiyanathan)

3. Unified Stages: Inclusive Theatre Exchange

UK (England): Michael Jenn (Actor, director, and movement teacher)

Sri Lanka: Sunera Foundation (Chandrika Subasinghe)