NEW YORK, NY.- The Asian Cultural Council announced its 2024 grant recipients, awarding 92 grants totaling $2,338,132 in its four programs: New York Fellowships, Individual Fellowships, Graduate Fellowships, and Organization Grants. The multi-faceted support provides artists, scholars, and arts professionals with funding and opportunities for research and cultural exchange between Asia and the U.S. and within Asia. This year, 44 artists will visit the U.S. while 48 artists will travel to countries and regions in Asia. For a complete list of 2024 recipients, please visit the ACC website.
The 27 New York Fellows are from Bangladesh, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. During their six-month New York City-based stays, these individuals will pursue a diversity of projects—from targeted research to open-ended explorations. With logistical and programmatic support provided by ACC staff, Fellows are connected with peers and ACC alumni to discover the cultural environment of the U.S. and seek new experiences. Since ACC’s founding over 60 years ago, these activities have nurtured mutual understanding that is globally impactful, expanded individual artistic practices and activities, contributed to new scholarship, and allowed grantees to share their experiences with their communities and beyond.
Grants to 46 Individual Fellows (either single parties or with up to three additional collaborators) enable the recipients to spend between one to six months undertaking self-directed research outside of their home countries and regions. The 2024 awardees were selected by panels of esteemed professionals in the performing and visual arts assembled by ACC’s offices in New York, Hong Kong, Manila, Taipei, and Tokyo. Awardees represent 15 out of ACC’s eligible disciplines: Archaeology, Architecture, Art History, Arts Administration, Arts Criticism, Conservation, Crafts, Curation, Dance, Ethnomusicology, Film/Video/Photography, Literature, Museum Studies, Music, Theater, and Visual Arts.
ACC Executive Director Judy Kim said, “The 2024 grantees represent a wide range of creative practices and scholarly pursuits. Advancing international dialogue through cultural exchange to foster mutual respect is at the heart of ACC’s mission--a mission that is more relevant today than ever--and these grantees’ projects exemplify those values. With ACC’s financial and logistical support, they are free to explore new cities, engage with colleagues and cultures internationally, and chart their own courses. At the conclusion of their journeys, they will join the ranks of our esteemed alumni, becoming part of a formidable cultural community.”
ACC Director of Programs Shinnie Kim added, “What distinguishes ACC’s grants is that they provide recipients with precious opportunities that often elude people in the creative sector: time to investigate their practice abroad and connect meaningfully with peers. With our unrestricted grants, they can engage in dialogue, experimentation, and research—pursuits that undergird creative expression.”
The next ACC application process opens in November 2024, for applicants with citizenship from China, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong SAR, and Macau SAR.
The New York Fellowship is a 6-month program that provides support to artists, scholars, and arts professionals working across disciplines, empowering them to take risks, develop their artistic practices, and take time to immerse themselves in the rich and varied cultural life of New York City.
Highlight of New York Fellowships:
Nursalim Yadi ANUGERAH | Music | Indonesia
Composer and multi-instrumentalist Anugerah plans to observe and participate in the experimental music scene in New York, studying how artists and institutions use sound-making as a tool for music diplomacy to help enhance communities and build bonds both locally and internationally.
The Individual Fellowship program provides support to artists, scholars, or arts professionals working in ACC’s eligible disciplines conducting self-directed research on focused projects that enable and promote cultural immersion, dialogue, relationship-building, collaboration, and/or exchange of knowledge among peers.
Highlights of Individual Fellowships:
Candy CHANG | Visual Arts | United States
Chang will research Hakka earth buildings, sacred architecture, and Chinese ink rubbings to inform a new model of participatory public art installations during a six-week fellowship in Taiwan and China. Chang is interested in developing an installation prototype that combines installation, video, and painting in one space to provide emotional communion, connection, and belonging in an age of increasing loneliness and political polarization.
Cathy Linh CHE | Literature | United States
While stateless in a refugee camp after fleeing the Vietnam War, Che's mother was hired to play an extra in the film Apocalypse Now (1979) about that war. Che plans to retrace her parents' journey in the Philippines and Vietnam to immerse herself fully in their story through embodied research and create a memoir called Fade In, centered on their story. Furthermore, she hopes to engage in conversation with Vietnamese poets who have written books of prose in inventive ways.
Nanditha NAIR | Crafts | India
Nair will explore and document the traditional weaving techniques in Okinawa and delve into the intricate art of weaving by artists such as Yomitanzan Hanaori, Shuri Ori, and Kijoka Bashofu, as well as the unique dyeing technique known as Ryukyu Bingata. Nair will collaborate with local artisans, weavers, and cultural experts in Okinawa who have inherited and continue to practice these traditional crafts.
Jacqueline Wen Xi TONG | Curation | Hong Kong | HKETONY Fellowship
As a curator and moving image programmer, Tong will study models for cross-disciplinary arts festivals in the U.S., where moving image is a starting point, to see how experiences can be adapted for the Hong Kong and Greater Chinese contexts. She aims to learn how these festivals engage local audiences, experience their venues and programs, share her own experiences, and help make connections to Hong Kong. She will also meet with filmmakers and representatives of U.S. institutions to explore possible Hong Kong-U.S. exchanges in the future.
Xiang XU | Dance | United States
"Dance Dialogues: Journeying into China's Cultural Tapestry" is a research project led by Temple University faculty members Xiang Xu and Jillian Harris to explore Chinese classical dance, martial arts, and ethnic minority folk dances to inform their innovative Sinocontemporary technique, blending Western contemporary dance with Asian philosophies. Upon returning to the U.S., they will create a documentary and hold a colloquium to share insights and promote cross-cultural understanding.
ACC Graduate Fellowships are awarded to a select number of international students from ACC eligible countries who have received admission to degree-granting graduate programs in the U.S. ACC prioritizes applicants who pursue study abroad opportunities because comparable programs are not available in the applicant’s home country and/or whose fields are under-represented in their home countries. Graduate Fellowships support living expenses but do not cover tuition assistance.
Highlight of Graduate Fellowships:
Maria Patricia BERNAS | Theater | Philippines
Bernas will pursue an MA in Dance Movement Therapy at Sarah Lawrence College, studying more inclusive approaches to dance and movement. Bernas plans to immerse herself in various dance forms and methodologies, deepen her understanding of cultural contexts, and ultimately contribute to holistic wellness initiatives in her home country, envisioning a center for creative arts therapy and community development. The program will prepare her to become a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist and Board-Certified Dance Movement Therapist, skills she aims to bring back to and establish in the Philippines.
Organization and Project Grants are awarded to support cultural exchange opportunities for individual project participants in collaboration with organizations. Host organizations offer residency, peer-to-peer exchanges, performances, and public programs to facilitate project participants engagement with the public or creative communities.
Highlight of Organization Grants:
Crossing Borders Music Collective | Conservation | United States
Members of Crossing Borders Music Collective will to travel to Kutupalong Refugee Camp in Bangladesh, to connect with Rohingya refugee musicians, learn about Rohingya music, and exchange ideas on music education. Through discussions with local musicians and community members, they will delve into Rohingya music-making traditions, pedagogy, and the impact of displacement on musical practices. The insights gained will inform the development of a Rohingya music education program in Chicago, preserving a threatened cultural heritage, fostering community identity, and offering the benefits of music education to Rohingya refugees amidst cultural suppression and displacement challenges.
