British Council Selects 19 Innovative Projects for Catalyst Grants, Including Four Ignite Culture Grantees

The British Council has recently announced the selection of 19 innovative projects to receive the Catalyst Grants. Among these, four projects supported by Ignite Culture have been selected: Black Rhino VR, Jukwaa arts, Stand Up Collective, and the Kenya Cultural Centre.

As part of the UK/Kenya Season 2025, the British Council, in collaboration with partners in the UK and Kenya, will present a programme of activities celebrating creativity, innovation through the arts, and the cultural and educational links between the UK and Kenya in 2025.

The Catalyst Grants aim to catalyze connections, exchanges, and collaborations between artists, creative practitioners, and cultural organizations in the UK and Kenya.

Joyce Nzovu, Arts Project Manager – Kenya, commented, “The Catalyst Grants are an essential step in fostering cultural exchange and creative collaboration between the UK and Kenya. Supporting these exchanges enables artists from diverse cultures to connect, innovate, and share ideas. The wide range of art forms creates meaningful opportunities for artists to engage, learn from one another’s experiences, explore new ways of working together, and spark fresh ideas that can inspire future innovation in the arts.”

Tom Porter, British Council’s Country Director and East African Cluster Lead, added, “The Catalyst Grants showcase a diverse range of art forms — photography, theatre, visual arts, music, comedy among others — highlighting the rich creativity of Kenya and the UK. We are excited to see the impactful outcomes of these collaborations.”

Discover the four initiatives that IC grantees will participate in:

• Jermyn Street Theatre & KITFest – Coproduction Scoping

The partner organisations, Jermyn Street Theatre from the UK and KIT Fest from Kenya will embark on a co-production scoping project to deepen their collaboration and understanding, laying the groundwork for a joint theatre production in 2025. Building on their shared commitment to theatre excellence and previous interactions, the project aims to facilitate exchanges between key members of each organization’s artistic team.

• Nairobi to Manchester – Standup Comedy Exchange

The project partners, Douglas Mutai of Standup Collective (Kenya) and Creatures Comedy (UK) aim to bridge the comedy scenes of Nairobi and Manchester through a transformative partnership. Leveraging their shared commitment to promoting comedy as cultural exchange, the project facilitates an exciting collaboration to showcase comedic talent from diverse backgrounds.

• International New Artist Collective (INAC)

The project, International New Artist Collective (INAC), through the grant will fund one UK artist and a UK New Artist (UKNA) staff member to visit Mombasa, presenting Jukwaa Arts Production’s weekly Art Cocktail event in summer 2024. Likewise, one Kenyan artist and a Jukwaa Arts staff member will visit UKNA’s “Weekend Celebration of Creativity” in Derby in October 2024, taking part in the UKNA Symposium, “Navigating the Present, Shaping the Future”.

• Hack the Future Lab Scoping

Hack the Future Lab is an event by Intercative Film Ltd located in the UK, and Black Rhino VR in Kenya. The Catalyst Grant will facilitate a two-day workshop in Nairobi, hosted by Black Rhino, bringing together artists, technologists, activists, and researchers to envision decolonized technology systems. The event will pilot ideas for subsequent Hack the Future Labs globally. Key activities: a comprehensive workshop agenda spanning creative sessions, local visits, and final meetings.

Read more:

• Catalyst Grant Grantees (list)

Photo Credit: © Stand Up Collective