The following is issued on behalf of the Advisory Committee on Arts Development:

     The Advisory Committee on Arts Development (ACAD) today (November 23) launched the 12th-round funding exercise under the Arts Capacity Development Funding Scheme (ACDFS).
      
     The ACDFS provides funding support for innovative and impactful proposals that contribute to four objectives, namely capacity development of arts practitioners, arts groups, art forms and/or the arts sector; programme/content development; audience building; and arts education. Over 160 successful applications have received funding in the previous 11 rounds to implement large-scale and cross-year arts and cultural initiatives that cover various art forms and practices including performing arts, visual/media arts, multi-disciplinary arts, community arts, arts education/appreciation/promotion and arts administration. The "Arts Technology" category, has been introduced since the 10th-round of the ACDFS with a view to supporting proposals that aim to promote the convergence of arts and technology in the creation of novel presentation, curation and audience experiences. Applicants are encouraged to manifest their artistic vision and aspiration through the use of technology in a creative manner.
      
     The assessment criteria for applications include artistic/professional merit, creativity and originality, impact on the arts sector and the community, technical feasibility of the proposed initiatives/activities, capacity in financial planning and management, and the management ability of the applicant and the project team.
      
     The ACDFS will continue to provide two types of grants, namely Springboard Grants and Project Grants. Springboard Grants are matching grants that support arts groups in their overall development, elevating them to a higher level of professional operation. The minimum amount of pledged income or sponsorship of arts groups for matching is $1 million, of which not less than $250,000 has to come from non-government sponsorships and/or private donations. A 200 per cent matching grant up to a maximum amount of $4 million may be provided over a maximum of two years. To further facilitate the growth of arts groups, successful applicants with proven performance may apply for a second Springboard Grant up to a maximum amount of $5.5 million with a funding period of three years at most. Upon completion of the second Springboard Grant, the arts group would be admitted as Graduated Springboard Grantee eligible for applying for the Art Development Matching Grants Scheme. 
      
     Project Grants are direct grants which provide successful applicants with funding support up to a ceiling of $3 million to organise large-scale and impactful projects, which may require a longer duration for implementation.
      
     The 12th-round funding exercise under the ACDFS is open for application from today and will close at 6pm on January 18, 2023. Applications can be submitted online, by post or by hand. The Guide to Application and relevant materials have been uploaded to the website of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau (www.cstb.gov.hk). Representatives of successful applicants will be invited to share in two sessions of briefing on December 2 and 6, respectively at the Hong Kong Central Library and the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Details can be found on the above website. The application results are expected to be released around June 2023.

Ends/Wednesday, November 23, 2022
Issued at HKT 11:45

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