The Asia Culture Center (ACC) and MOWCAP are pleased to announced that the ACC-MOWCAP Small Grants Programme is being reinitiated.
In the Asia Pacific region, many libraries, archives and memory institutions face formidable challenges: economic, climatic and geographic. The ACC-MOWCAP Small Grants Programme aims to contribute to addressing this challenge by assisting with the preservation of and universal access to documentary heritage of the Asia-Pacific region, and also to increase awareness of the existence and significance of this heritage.
In order to address this challenge, in 2018, the National Asian Culture Center (ACC) and the UNESCO Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific (MOWCAP) launched the ACC-MOWCAP Small Grants Programme. The programme supports the efforts of the many groups and organisations that collect and preserve and provide access to documentary heritage in the Asia-Pacific region.
The ACC-MOWCAP Small Grants Programme has already had a significant impact in the region. The types of documentary heritage supported have been diverse, including wood blocks, palm leaf manuscripts, celluloid films, VHS tapes, photographic prints, stone inscriptions, newspapers and documents. The types of projects supported have also been diverse, involving preservation, digitisation, production of books, documentary films, etc.
Grants of up to USD 8,500 are available for the preservation and sharing of the documentary heritage of the Asia-Pacific region. Grants are required to be fully expended, and the project should be completed and acquitted within a 6-month period (May-October 2025). The grants will be administered through the National Asian Culture Center, Gwangju, Republic of Korea.
The ACC-MOWCAP Small Grants Programme is made possible through the generous financial support of the National Asian Culture Center.
Who can apply
The organisation/individual applying must be:
(a) Based in the Asia-Pacific region
(b) Non-Government *
(c) Have support from the UNESCO National MoW Committee or UNESCO National Commission of where they operate **
* Government agencies (archives, museums, etc.) may partner with a non-government organisation to apply.
** https://en.unesco.org/programme/mow/national-committees
https://pax.unesco.org/countries/NationalCommissions.html
What sort of projects will be considered for funding?
In light of the partnership between ACC and MOWCAP, the ACC-MOWCAP Small Grants Programme is willing to fund projects that relate to documentary heritage as defined under the UNESCO Memory of the World programme and UNESCO Recommendation concerning the preservation of, and access to, documentary heritage including in digital form. Furthermore, concerning the ACC’s mission to create, produce and distribute cultural contents based on researching and archiving cultural resources in Asia, the projects related to documentary heritage with the following themes will be considered for funding.
Project Theme:
- Asian traditional culture (daily life, festivals, rituals, celebrations, and games)
- Asian traditional attire (clothing, footwear, headgear, etc.)
- Asian music (traditional instruments, audiovisual materials, music recordings, etc.)
- Asian performances (dance, puppetry, mask theater, videos, etc.)
- Asian myths and legends (books, posters, postcards, videos, photos, etc.)
- Asian religions (folk beliefs, scriptures, religious texts, etc.)
Such project may include:
- The development of e-publications;
- Conservation of documentary heritage (If a conservator is engaged, they should be a member of an accredited national or international conservation organisation);
- Cataloguing records and archival description (open source archival description software such as ICA-AtoM (https://www.ica-atom.org/)
- The development of exhibitions (including digital ones)
- Web projects that provide information or resources on documentary heritage;
- Digital storytelling about documentary heritage (including film and DVD projects);
- Apps for mobile devices;
- The digitisation and publishing of documentary heritage items and collections;
- And more (if you have a great idea please consult with us).
What will NOT be considered for funding?
The ACC-MOWCAP Small Grants Programme does NOT fund:
- Applications submitted after the funding round has officially closed (in 2025, this be the 4 May 2025)
- Projects that do not relate to documentary heritage as defined in the UNESCO Memory of the World programme and UNESCO Recommendation concerning the preservation of, and access to, documentary heritage including in digital form;
- Projects that do not relate to the suggested project theme;
- Projects related to documentary heritage outside the Asia-Pacific (unless there is a clear link to the region);
- Provision of cash prizes, commercial gifts or grants to third parties;
- Retrospective costs –costs that the organisation has already paid for out of its own funds or costs incurred prior to successful grants being awarded;
- Ongoing operational costs such as salaries for ongoing positions, rent or utilities:
- Applicants who do not meet the Eligibility Criteria outlined in these guidelines;
- Applications not submitted in the format specified in these guidelines;
- Applications submitted after the funding round has officially closed (in 2025, this be the 4 May 2025)
HOW TO APPLY
Please submit the application by completing the form online: https://forms.gle/r2ZF6uxwNxUNTzkp9
Submission Deadline: 4 May 2025.
The application form must be completed by a person authorised to submit the application on behalf of the applicant organisation.
For more information, including download links to application files, please visit the ACC website’s announcement page.
