Pacific: 8 grants awarded to cultural operators in the region

The ACP-EU Culture Regional Hub for the Pacific – Enhancing capacity for the sustainability of the cultural and creative industries in the Pacific – revealed the winners of their second call for projects at a press conference held at the Pacific Community site in Nabua, Fiji.

The event was attended by H.E. Sujiro Seam, Ambassador of the EU to the Pacific, Miles Young, Director of the Human Rights and Social Development Division of the Pacific Community, and the grant recipients.

The list of winners is as follows:

Grants ranging from EUR 5 000 to 12 000

• Motiv8 Productions Fiji, a production company supporting the Rotuma project which aims to preserve the cultural heritage of Rotuma, a special dependency of the Fiji Islands.
• Tabs Investment Fiji, a company producing ukuleles from mahogany off-cuts, with the aim of promoting Fijian mahogany to major guitar brands.

Grants ranging from EUR 12 001 to 70 000

• Film Fiji, a public statutory body supporting a producer acceleration programme.
• Film Fiji, supporting a script development programme.
•  iTaukei Trust Fund Fiji, an organisation working with cultural and creative producers on the island of Rotuma on skills transfer and income generating activities.
• PNG Highlands Adventure, a tour operator offering a training programme for cultural producers and creative practitioners.

Grants ranging from EUR 70 001 to 180 000

• Save Papua New Guinea, an organisation that seeks to revitalise the bilas, using peer education, digital literacy training and information and communication technology innovations to empower young people to engage in traditional arts and cultural resilience in rural and remote areas of PNG.

Culture for development

The ACP-EU programme “Capacity Building for Sustainable Cultural and Creative Industries in the Pacific” aims to increase the contribution of the cultural and creative sector to economic development, and to improve the recognition of its role in the national economies of the Pacific.

With the protection and promotion of positive expressions of culture at the heart of the Pacific Community’s mandate, Miles Young said: “We recognise that the cultural and creative industries contribute significantly to the sustainable development of the Pacific region. They enhance our daily lives in many ways. We are excited about the various initiatives that will be funded and are confident that they will help to revitalise this vital sector of our economies as it recovers from the negative effects of COVID-19”.

To date, the programme has only had project applicants from Fiji and Papua New Guinea. However, the Pacific Community is making every effort to encourage and support beneficiaries from other Pacific islands in the next funding round.

As the EU is a strong promoter of cultural diversity, H.E. Sujiro Seam underlined the organisation’s pride in supporting projects that, thanks to ACP-EU Culture grants, “will increase the contribution of cultural and creative industries to generate income, create jobs and promote Pacific art and identity”.