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AFAC's Training and Regional Events grant supports training and workshops, archive and documentation platforms, residencies, symposiums, forums, and festivals across cultural and artistic fields, including multidisciplinary, music, film, performing arts, visual arts, and literature. Grants are awarded for projects at any stage, whether in research and development, early-stage production, or actively in production. They may cover project-related expenses, including but not limited to materials, space or equipment rentals, and fees for artistic and technical labor and collaborations.
| 15 December 2026 | Announcement | |
| 15 April 2027 | Next open call |
The Training and Regional Events program provides annual grants of up to USD 25,000 for individuals and teams, and up to USD 35,000 for collectives and institutions.
The grant may cover production-related costs, including fees for professionals, collaborators, team members, and other costs directly tied to the implementation of the project.
Artist or institutional fees may not exceed 30% of the total grant amount. If you are hesitant about how these fees work, you can always contact us with questions before submitting your final budget.
The grant does not cover the purchase of equipment or costs related to the establishment of infrastructure (e.g. establishing an institution) or other costs not directly linked to the implementation of the funded project.
Mobility support is not offered as part of the grant, but travel expenses that are part of a project’s implementation and/or research may be covered.
Retroactive support is not provided for projects that have already been completed. For projects already in progress, only expenses incurred after the agreement's signature date are covered.
Given the high demand for support, AFAC cannot guarantee that all selected grantees will receive their requested amounts in full. We encourage applicants to diversify their sources of funding whenever possible.
AFAC welcomes proposals from individuals from all Arab countries (22 member states of the Arab League), irrespective of ethnicity, gender, religion, country of residence, national identification, age, or years of experience.
AFAC also accepts proposals from local, regional, and international institutions and organizations whose projects are related to arts and culture from the Arab region. These include artistic and cultural institutions, galleries, venues, and both nonprofit and for-profit entities.
Each applicant (individual or institution) can only submit one application during each open call.
To avoid conflict of interest or favoritism, members of the AFAC board of trustees and AFAC staff members, their business partners, or family members are not eligible to apply. Likewise, members of the current year’s reader and juror committees cannot apply for the categories they are evaluating.
Recipients of grants in two consecutive years will not be eligible to apply for the next two consecutive years. For example, if you received a grant in 2023 and another one in 2024, you will only be eligible to apply in 2027. Applicants with a current open grant are also ineligible to apply.
Before submitting your application, we encourage you to read the full application form and consult our FAQs.
Applications are only accepted through the online form.
Applications submitted via regular mail or email will not be considered.
Applicants will receive a confirmation email once their application has been successfully submitted.
Please make sure your application is complete with all the requested supporting materials before submitting. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
We encourage you to read the full application form before applying.
The deadline to submit your application is at 5:00 PM +3 GMT (Beirut time) on the deadline day. Please submit your application 24 hours before the deadline so we can help you in case of any technical difficulties. We will not be able to assist you with any technical issues on the deadline day.
You can find a preview of the application form here:
Training and Regional Events grant application form for individuals
Training and Regional Events grant application form for teams
Training and Regional Events grant application form for collectives
Training and Regional Events grant application form for institutions
You are required to submit supporting materials and samples for the project you are applying for. Supporting documents are essential to help the reader and juror committees understand your artistic approach as well as the overall feasibility of your project.
We will not consider applications that do not include the required supporting materials and will not contact applicants regarding any missing documents or work samples. If you are in doubt about what documents to include, please reach out to us before submitting your application. We are happy to guide you through this process.
Supporting materials for all Training and Regional Events applications
Supporting materials per type of project
Festivals, concerts, events, residencies, conferences, and exhibitions:
Training and workshops:
Archival projects:
Podcasts:
Digital files of up to 10 MB should be uploaded directly to the application.
Submissions are evaluated by annually appointed independent readers’ committees and juries composed of regional experts.
When the call for applications is closed, our grants management team reviews all submissions to make sure they are complete and adhere to guidelines. Applications that do not meet the eligibility criteria or are missing supporting materials will be disqualified.
The grants management team sends all eligible applications to an independent committee of readers, who evaluate them according to our evaluation criteria to arrive at a first selection. This selection is sent to an independent jury committee, chosen anew each year for each program. The jury committee meets to discuss the applications and reach a final selection decision.
Once a grantee has been selected, AFAC may conduct further due diligence on the grantee whether an individual or an entity, and, where applicable, its stakeholders, including legal, reputational, ethical, compliance checks, or violations of AFAC’s anti-harassment policy. As part of this process, AFAC may request additional documents and may investigate the grantee and, where applicable, its stakeholders. If this due diligence reveals information that, in our sole discretion, raises legal, reputational, ethical, or compliance concerns, we reserve the right to withdraw or retract the grant, in whole or in part, at any time and without liability.
Applicants will receive an email before the announcement informing them whether or not their application was selected for a grant.
Selected projects are published on our website and social media platforms with a statement from the jury committee.
Upon selection, our grants management team will draft an agreement to be signed between AFAC and each grantee.
We expect projects to be completed within a maximum of two years from the signature of the grant agreement and any extension should be requested and approved in writing.
If you are not granted the requested amount in full, you will be asked to submit an updated budget.
If the amount you are granted is more than USD 10,000 but does not cover your full project budget, you will be asked to show proof that you have secured at least 50% of the remaining budget and can continue with the project. This requirement applies only to grant recipients, not applicants.
The grants management team is available to help answer any questions and guide you through this process.
For grants that are below USD 10,000
For grants that are above USD 10,000
Grantee reports are a routine part of the process and help us know more about your project while also learning ways to improve AFAC’s grantmaking approach. You will be expected to report on the project’s overall progress and expenditures through narrative and financial reports.
Details on the specific reports and documents you'll need to submit will be shared with you along the way.
AFAC does not own any material or moral rights arising from the supported projects.
While grantees are contractually required to indicate AFAC’s support in their project communication, we consider them as natural partners in our pursuit of sustainability for the Arab region’s cultural scene. Your endorsement and mention of AFAC in media, festivals, platforms, and other avenues help raise awareness on the importance of our work in supporting arts and culture and allow us to continue assisting future generations of artists.
Grantees are required to use the AFAC logo and complete title (AFAC - The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture) according to our guidelines in all project publications and deliverables (trailers, films, books, CDs, posters, etc.), as well as to indicate AFAC’s support in any press releases, interviews, or outreach materials. We will provide you with these guidelines alongside the grant agreement.
Grantees are also required to provide AFAC with print or digital copies of the final product and/or invitations to the final output events, as well as any related media. We might use media from supported projects in our noncommercial print and digital publications.
