North Africa Cultural Program Opens Call for Second Cycle

Since its inception, AFAC has strived to foster a vibrant, independent and open arts and culture landscape through the support of artists and institutions that are active in the Arab region and diaspora. In 2019, with the support of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, AFAC launched a new initiative that focused on North Africa, and more specifically Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia, to strengthen independent arts and culture entities across and encourage regional collaborations in the region. Over the course of four years (2019-2023), the North Africa Cultural Program (NACP) supported more than 50 cultural organizations and over 2,500 practitioners and professionals, through diversified grants, training, events, and encounters that offered opportunities for networking and exchange among participants.

The National Cultural Opportunities Fund (NCOF) scheme is dedicated to arts and culture institutions and spaces in each of the five North African countries mentioned above. It offers institutional and programmatic support for entities with a track record of strong public programming, and who contribute to the diversification of cultural activities in city centers and peripheries equally, through three different grants:

• Core Institutional and Programmatic Support Grant for organizations that have not previously received NCOF support
• Continuity Grant for NCOF grantee organizations of NACP Cycle I
• Local Alliances and Collaborations Grant for NCOF grantee organizations of NACP Cycle I + new partner entities