The Connections Through Culture (CTC) programme nurtures fresh cultural partnerships between the UK and select countries in Asia Pacific and Europe. These grants support new ideas and collaborations from artists and cultural organisations at any stage of development.

The latest round of Connections Through Culture programme supports a diverse range of projects spanning artistic disciplines and themes. From diversity and inclusion to climate change and beyond, these collaborations bring together partners across borders to generate fresh ideas and creative solutions to today’s shared challenges.

CTC supports new connections, exchanges, and collaborations between artists, cultural professionals, creative practitioners and art and cultural organisations.

2025 Grant Recipients: Australia

Bat Night Market

Australia: World Science Festival Brisbane
UK: Robert Charles Johnson
 

Bat Night Market is a multi-sensory installation set in a speculative future where bats are extinct. Styled as a futuristic Asian night market, it invites audiences to reflect on bats' ecological importance and the impact of their loss. Its Brisbane presentation marks a new phase with fresh collaborators, running for ten days at Queensland Museum Kurilpa during World Science Festival Brisbane 2026.

Collaborative Curatorship: Indigenous Voices at Rise 2026

Australia: Jacob Boehme
UK: Dance North Scotland

Choreographer and curator Jacob Boehme will lead a residency hosted by Dance North Scotland as part of their next Rise festival in 2026 that will focus on Indigenous and First Nations artists. He will pilot a new framework - a Land Lab- that will lay the foundation for future First Nations artist exchanges with the organisation.

From the Margins: Creative Survival within Marginalised Economies

Australia: TextaQueen
UK: Raju Rage
 

From the Margins brings together creatives Raju Rage and TextaQueen to explore the theme of 'Marginalised Economies', focusing on issues of diversity and accessibility for precarious and underrepresented artists. The project will unfold through a hybrid in-person and online engagement model, cultivating international dialogue, creative exchange and collaborative resource making for creative survival.

Regenesis

Australia: Dr. Sam McGilp
UK: Luisa Charles
 

Regenesis is a new media art and regenerative design project that seeks to build new knowledge in ecologically sustainable practice for emerging technologies through neurodivergent perspectives. This grant supports the initial development of this creative work, culminating in an online artist lab with neurodivergent new media artists in Australia and the UK.