The last few years have seen significant change in the cultural and creative industries. This has been caused not only by the outbreak of COVID-19, and the rapid conversion to digital technologies, but also by the powerful impact of international social movements. Arts and cultural organisations are questioning their role within our societies, seeking new ways of engaging with audiences, and responding to the challenges of our times.
Open to all non-profit European cultural organisations, the European Award encourages new forms of audience engagement and participation in arts and culture, supporting innovative projects, across all art forms, that can be shared, replicated and scaled across Europe. Working against all social, economic and geographic barriers, the Award encourages access to arts and culture for everyone, and champions new dialogues between the arts and audiences.
Who can apply?
Applicants must be registered non-profit and cultural institutions or organisations, with a venue open to the public, from the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
The award is open to the entire artistic and cultural sector, meaning it is open to institutions or organisations of any art form. Museums, theatres, galleries, operas, orchestras, art centres, grass-roots organisations and other independent arts organisations, are welcome to apply.
In which category should I apply?
3 prizes of €50.000 each and 1 Audience Choice Award of €10.000 to support and stimulate best practices. Applicants are invited to apply to one of the 3 categories based on the cultural organisation’s annual expenditure in financial year 2019 :
Category 1 – cultural organisations up to €500,000 annual expenditure
Category 2 – cultural organisations from €500,000 to €2 million annual expenditure
Category 3 – cultural organisations over €2 million annual expenditure
Please note: given the recent health context that led to the closure of most cultural organisations, we invite you to take into account your annual expenditure figures for the year 2019.
What are the eligible projects?
Applicants must submit either a new project proposal or an existing project with a new dimension.
The jury will pay particular attention to the following criteria:
- Innovation & engagement: demonstrate innovative audience engagement, participation and access to arts and culture. We are looking for projects with clear plans for lasting impact and legacy.
- Partnership: ability to collaborate or develop partnerships within and beyond the cultural and artistic sector, for example education, health, etc.
- Replicability: ability of the project to be shared, replicated and scaled across Europe.
- Impact & reach: ability to assess the impact of the project in terms of the quality of the audience engagement and the numbers of people involved, and the ability to reach under-served audiences.
Estimated project budget
Applicants must submit an estimated project budget where the Award income is no more than 80% of the budget presented.
Language
Please submit your application in English or French.
You will find the rules here.
