Aboriginal Peoples Collaborative Exchange: National and International Project Grants
Deadlines
15 November and 15 May
Program Description
The Aboriginal Peoples Collaborative Exchange program assists Aboriginal artists (individuals) or artistic groups from Aboriginal communities to travel to other Aboriginal communities to share traditional and/or contemporary knowledge or practices that will contribute to the development of their artistic practice. The program fosters unique artistic relationships and networks through these collaborative exchanges among Aboriginal artists across all disciplines.
This program has two components: National and International Project Grants, and National and International Travel Grants. (There are separate guidelines and forms for the Travel Grants component.)
All Canada Council for the Arts programs are accessible to Aboriginal artists, arts organizations and artists’ collectives.
Eligibility
Canadian individual applicants, groups, collectives and organizations are eligible to apply to this program. Foreign applicants must have a Canadian group, collective or organization apply on their behalf.
Individual applicants must be Aboriginal artists. They must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada, as defined by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Individual artists must have:
- completed their basic training (not necessarily in a formal educational institution but perhaps through a mentorship process)
- produced an independent body of work
- received the recognition of their peers through the public presentation of their work or have been recommended by an established Aboriginal artist or an Aboriginal arts organization.
Groups or collectives must have Aboriginal artists as a majority of their members. Their artistic direction must be provided by Aboriginal artists of Canada. Arts organizations must be owned and operated by Aboriginal people. At least 51 percent of the directors on their board must be Aboriginal people, and one of them must sign the application.
Groups, collectives or organizations must show an ongoing commitment to Aboriginal arts.
In Canada, Aboriginal peoples include Status, Non-Status, Métis and Inuit people. For this program, Aboriginal peoples also include Indigenous and Aboriginal people from outside Canada.
Full-time undergraduate students at a school, college or university are not eligible to apply. Graduate students are eligible only if they meet the Canada Council's definition of a professional artists, and if the project for which they are applying is not related to their program of study. (A letter from the applicants's program director that verifies this information must be included with the application.)
Note that meeting the eligiblity criteria allows you to apply to the program. However, it does not guarantee that you will recieve a grant.
Eligible Activities
The grants may be used for:
- National project travel, which allows Aboriginal artists and artistic groups to travel within Canada to collaborate with prominent Aboriginal artists and artistic groups. This category also assists prominent Aboriginal artists or artistic groups to travel to an Aboriginal community in Canada to collaborate with Aboriginal artists and/or arts organizations.
- International project travel, which allows Aboriginal artists and artistic groups from Canada to travel to other countries to collaborate with prominent or highly regarded Aboriginal artists and artistic groups, in response to an invitation.
This category also supports projects to bring established Aboriginal artists and artistic groups from other countries to Canada, to work with Aboriginal artists and/or arts organizations.
Examples of Successful National Project Grants
- A dance company from British Columbia was invited to workshop and share their knowledge with a dance group from Ontario, and to give a public presentation of their works.
- An invitation was extended to an Inuit women’s video collective to lead workshops for a one-week residency.
Examples of Successful International Project Grants
- An elder from British Columbia traveled to an Alaskan exhibition, Robes of Power, where she collaborated with Chilkat and button blanket artists.
- A basket maker from Alberta traveled to the eastern United States to work with an elder/master basket maker to learn a new technique of cane basket weaving.
Grant Amount
Individuals
Individuals traveling within Canada may request a maximum of $5,000. If they are traveling outside Canada, they may request a maximum of $10,000.
Only established Aboriginal artists may apply for a living allowance of up to $2,000 per month (minimum stay of one month), which must be included in their budget submission. Established artists are those at a mature stage in their careers who have created an extensive body of work and have made a nationally and/or internationally recognized contribution to their discipline through public presentation of their work.
Groups, Collectives or Organizations
Groups, collectives or organizations may apply for a maximum of $20,000 for travel within Canada. They may apply for a maximum of $30,000 for travel outside Canada.
Those traveling to or from northern Canada may request a higher amount. The circumstances creating the higher costs must be clearly described in the application.
Groups, collectives or organizations applying for assistance to bring an individual or group to Canada are subject to the same maximum amount as noted above.
Eligible Costs
- Travel (excursion fares only), accommodation and per diem costs.
- For established artists only, a living allowance to defray the costs of living in two places at once (maximum of $2,000 per month) for the duration of the project.
- Fees or honoraria for guest artists or groups.
- Administration costs (for example, fax or telephone costs), to a maximum of 10 percent of the total budget.
- Freight, shipping and insurance charges (the declaration of contents must be submitted as part of the final report required from successful applicants).
- The cost of materials, supplies and various other items directly related to the work being created.
- Rental fees for equipment (for example, video, photographic and audio equipment).
- Rental fees for rehearsal and presentation or workshop space.
- Costs for promotional and marketing material (this applies to arts organizations only).
Ineligible Costs
- Production costs related to film, music, dance, theatre, conferences or concerts.
- Publishing-related costs.
- The cost of purchasing electronic equipment or power tools.
- Costs related to a powwow competition.
- The costs associated with fundraising events, galas and award ceremonies.
- The cost of attending museum exhibition openings and film launches.
- Costs related to university studies or university research projects.
- Honoraria for the applicants.
Assessment Criteria
Requests for National and International Project Grants are reviewed by a peer assessment committee selected from the Aboriginal arts community. This committee includes representatives from the disciplines most frequently represented in the applications to each competition. Committee members are also chosen to ensure fair representation of gender, regional diversity and Canada’s two official languages.
The peer assessment committee will make its funding decisions based on the availability of funds, the overall artistic merit of each project in comparison with all other eligible applications, and the assessment criteria listed below. Committee decisions for this program are final recommendations for approval by the Canada Council.
The main assessment criterion is the nature of the collaboration between the traveling artist or artistic group and the home artist or artistic group as well as the compatibility of the work and experience of the two parties. The proposal must address clearly the planned collaboration between the artists or groups as well as the disciplines and communities involved.
The project must provide a unique opportunity for developing and/or furthering the applicant’s or collaborator’s knowledge of Aboriginal artistic practices (contemporary or traditional).
The artistic quality of the body of work previously produced by all the collaborating artists will be evaluated. The artistic quality of the proposed project will be evaluated, based on the support material provided.
Groups, collectives or organizations must show their commitment to the development of Aboriginal arts.
Projects for professional artistic development, proposed by individual artists or arts groups, will be considered. However, projects that include public presentation will be given priority.
Application Form
Aboriginal Peoples Collaborative Exchange: National and International (pdf, 147 KB)
This form can only be printed and cannot be filled out on-line.
Further Information
This program summary provides an overview of the Aboriginal Peoples Collaborative Exchange program. For further details or to obtain an application form, contact Louise Profeit-LeBlanc, Aboriginal Arts Coordinator in the Aboriginal Arts Secretariat.
Telephone: 1-800-263-5588 (toll-free) or (613) 566-4414, ext. 4222
TTY (TDD) machine, for hearing-impaired callers: (613) 565-5194
Fax: (613) 566-4406
Aboriginal Arts Secretariat
Canada Council for the Arts
350 Albert Street, P.O. Box 1047
Ottawa ON K1P 5V8
May 2006