This project takes as its focus the documentation and dissemination of performance art from the former communist and socialist countries of Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, from the period of c. 1960-1989. Performance art in the West emerged as a self-conscious genre, and a deliberate alternative to the production of painting and sculpture for display in the gallery space. However, in Eastern Europe, artists such as Jiří Kovanda (Czechoslovakia), Andris Grīnbergs (Latvia), and Ion Grigorescu (Romania) often created performance art for a select group of friends and colleagues, and even sometimes only for themselves. If in the West, documentation was often an essential component of performance art, and necessary to exhibit the work in the gallery, in the East, the recording of performances, by video or photography, was more haphazard. At times, artists were intent on documenting their work for posterity, in the hope that someday, somewhere (outside of the totalitarian regime) it would have an audience. At others, photographs were taken simply as a record, without any thought that they would ever be seen.
The U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) announces an open competition for organizations interested in submitting applications for projects focused on understanding and exploring how communities define impact(s) related to democracy and human rights contexts.
MENA governments - especially in Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, and Tunisia - have undertaken important reform initiatives to modernize their public administrations and pass access to information laws. Several have applied to join the Open Government Partnership (OGP), an international initiative that aims to leverage capabilities of new technologies to strengthen participatory governance and fight corruption. Further actions are required to sustain this progress and implement open government principles that foster civil society collaboration with government.
This project will assist governments in developing action plans to improve management and governance activities such as: budgeting, human resources management, regulatory practices, public integrity, public procurement, digital government, open government and data, risk management, and innovations. By focusing on public governance areas and creating inclusive economies and societies, this project will guide governments to benchmark their countries' progress on public sector reforms at the national and regional levels, and to compare them against international standards. Additionally, it will create the first MENA long-term strategic partnership and governance network for policy dialogue and exchange of good practices. Finally, it will deliver ad hoc policy recommendations to advance public sector reform agendas in specific sectors at the national or regional level with a focus on policies pertaining to women and youth.
The U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL) announces an open competition for organizations interested in submitting applications for projects that support Religious Freedom globally.
"Religious freedom" refers to the right set out in Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, including the freedom to adopt a religion or beliefs, change your beliefs, practice and teach your beliefs (which may include through publications, public and private speech, and the display of religious attire or symbols), gather in community with others to worship and observe your beliefs, and teach your beliefs to your children. Proposed programming must be responsive to restrictions on religious freedom and must be in line with the U.S. Government's religious freedom, democracy, governance, and human rights goals.
Helpful resources for applicants include the annual country-specific International Religious Freedom Reports https://www.state.gov/international-religious-freedom-reports/ and annual country-specific Human Rights Reports https://www.state.gov/reports/2018-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/.
Applicants will be responsible for ensuring program activities and products are implemented in accordance with the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution.
DRL programming will engage youth to foster an environment of greater inter-communal and intra-communal respect and peaceful coexistence among religious communities in Pakistan promoting the rights of all people to live free from discrimination, abuse, and violence on account of their religious identity, practices, or affiliation. Proposals should be gender inclusive and include religious minorities.
This program aims to extend the opportunity to participate in the digital transformation of humanistic inquiry to a greater number of humanities scholars. ACLS Digital Extension Grants support projects that have advanced beyond the start-up phase of development as they pursue one or more of the following activities:
Developing new systems of making established digital resources available to broader audiences and/or scholars from diverse institutions
Extending established digital projects and resources with content that adds diversity or interdisciplinary reach
Fostering new team-based collaborations between scholars at all career stages. Projects that convene, train, and empower communities of humanities faculty and/or graduate students around established digital research projects, as well as projects that allow scholars from institutions with limited digital infrastructure to exploit digital resources or to participate in existing labs or working groups, are especially welcome
Creating new forms and sites for scholarly engagement with the digital humanities. Projects that document and recognize participant engagement are strongly encouraged.
FilmWatch grants support curated screening programs at North America-based film festivals, film societies and other film-related organizations. Targeted programs include those that create culturally diverse viewing experiences, promote motion pictures as an art form, provide a platform for underrepresented artists, and cultivate new and dedicated audiences for theatrical film. Grants typically range from $5,000 to $20,000.
FilmCraft grants support high-quality educational programs that identify and empower future filmmakers from nontraditional backgrounds. Targeted programs include those that encourage an appreciation of film as both a vocation and an art form, and those that provide direct, hands-on opportunities for participants to gain the filmmaking skills they need to tell their stories. Grants typically range from $5,000 to $20,000.
The program also supports the Academy's commitment to diversity in the industry. Diversity encompasses artists as well as audiences; the cultural and geographic communities to which they belong; their age, gender, race, ethnicity, disabilities, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, and gender identity. The Academy seeks to fund proven and rising institutions that open pathways for storytellers from a wide range of backgrounds, and especially those from underserved communities.