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ICOM UK and British Council offer museum grants for international projects

Main Image: Natasha Howes and Clare Gannaway (centre) of Manchester Art Gallery visit the Lahore Fort, Pakistan with the Lahore Biennial team

ICOM UK with the support of the British Council has launched a new round of travel grants available for 2018-19 totalling £17,000

The travel grants aim to support museum professionals to develop mutually beneficial international projects and partnerships for their organisations

The 2018-19 ICOM UK – British Council Travel Grant Scheme enables recipients to undertake an international visit to meet with colleagues and share skills, expertise and experience. The Travel Grant Scheme supports museums who are starting to develop mutually beneficial international projects and partnerships.

“The scheme is open to all UK museum professionals and is unique in terms of the support it offers for international travel to develop mutually beneficial projects and partnerships,” said Dana Andrew, Executive Director, ICOM UK.

Applications will be considered for grants up to £1,500 per organisation or consortium for visits beyond greater Europe and up to £700 for visits within greater Europe.

Priority will be given to non-national museums, museums who have not previously undertaken international work, and mutually beneficial visits to countries on the Overseas Development Aid (ODA) list (see pages 4-5 of the application form).  Half of the funding in each round will be ring-fenced for visits to countries on the ODA list.  “We encourage applications from organisations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland,” said Andrew.

Previous travel grants have seen Manchester Art Gallery curators Clare Gannaway and Natasha Howes travel to Pakistan in April 2016 as part of information gathering for South Asian projects that took place in autumn last year. Gannaway said that as well as learning a great deal about the social, political and historical history of Pakistan, the ICOM UK-funded trip also led to a successful Ambition for Excellence bid to the Arts Council to develop a major three-year programme between a network of three cities and five South Asian biennials/meetings.

How to Apply and Deadlines

Download the application form and guidelines on the ICOM UK website.

Please complete one application form per organisation or consortium and email it to: Dana Andrew, ICOM UK Executive Director, [email protected] before the deadline.

You can read the Case Studies from previous Travel Grant recipients.


Deadline for applications: 9am Monday 24 September 2018

Successful applicants notified: w/c 1 October 2018

Travel must be completed by: 11 February 2019