Creative Grants provide financial assistance towards enabling creative projects in Tankwa Town. They’re intended to support projects by alleviating some of the financial burdens, but all applicants should expect to carry some responsibility for funding their projects themselves.
Be aware that our Grant is to cover the hard costs of the project, things like materials, lighting and transport costs, for example.
The Creative Grant will NOT cover labour, performance fees, or personal expenses, even if related to the project (e.g. AfrikaBurn Event Tickets, travel of the team to Tankwa Town, camping expenses like tents and food, etc.)
This said, we also recognise that projects with a solid social development component (Incubation Projects or Process Driven Projects) can be seriously compromised by the absence of some sort of access and welfare assistance; we have mechanisms to address this.
The AfrikaBurn Grant process upholds the Principle of Radical Inclusion in the South-African social context:
Everyone should be able to be a part of AfrikaBurn. As an intentional community committed to inventing the world anew, we actively pursue mechanisms to address imbalances and overcome barriers to participation, especially in light of past, current and systemic injustice.
AfrikaBurn is a non-profit organisation and relies solely on ticket sales to fund Creative Grants. Every year we get many grant applications requesting funding totalling many times the value of the Creative Grant pot. This means that many projects won’t get funding.
There are many other ways to garner support for your project. Ask for donations or discounts, hold fundraisers, raffles, get sponsored for doing something silly, form a collective and get everyone to chip in. The more people involved, the more connections you can explore, the more hands there are to help and the more fun it is to gather and create. Be resourceful – recycle, up-cycle, use scrap and waste material. It’s AfrikaBurn – be inventive!
If you’re successful, a percentage of the Grant will be provided upfront, and the balance paid out after the event, provided that the artwork was successfully installed, no trace of it remains on site, and receipts have been submitted.
Please read the full Creative Grant Policy if you plan to apply for a Grant.
Applying for a creative grant
Before you fill in your Creative Grant Application, please read all the info available – it will help you to make an application that is more likely to be successful.
The absolute basics:
2. Be Thorough
We need a detailed breakdown of the projected expenses. Listing one lump sum, means we will not be able to properly consider your application and this will lower your chances of getting a grant.
3. Check Your Email
Be sure to check your email regularly in the weeks after you submit your application. If we have questions for you, we’ll email them through, and we’ll need you to answer them quickly.
Who decides and how?
The Creative Grants assessment process is a very considered and participatory one, which the AfrikaBurn Art Committee puts all efforts in conducting it in a fair and transparent way. Anybody can apply, you don’t need to be a “good-ol’ burner” to apply for a Grant. Applications are assessed anonymously, based on the merit of the proposal, and according to a set of predefined criteria.
The identity of the applicants only comes to play at an advanced stage of the assessment. An history of red MOOP Map score, under-delivery, unfulfilled contractual clauses, etc., will affect the outcome of the application.
Interested in finding out how we assess Creative Grants? Read all about it below.