The Capital City Hall through ARCUB - Cultural Center of Bucharest launches on May 26^th, 2021, the non-reimbursable financing session "Bucharest - Open City" within the 2021 Financing Program for the creative sector in Bucharest.

Programme theme

The funding programme "Bucharest - Open City" 2021 aims to support the creative sector in Bucharest, deeply affected by the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, and to respond to the acute need for direct encounter and interaction with the artistic and cultural experience of the citizens of Bucharest after a year of restrictions and physical distance.

"We wanted to resume ARCUB's annual funding session, which was stopped in 2018, even more so this year, which is a complicated year for the cultural sector. Through the Bucharest - Open City funding programme, we want to open up Bucharest, to stimulate the revival of the creative and cultural communities in the city. It is a necessary step in ARCUB's strategy for 2021," says Mihaela Păun, director of ARCUB.

Reference areas

The programme addresses all cultural fields - performing arts (theatre, dance, music), visual arts (including but not limited to: painting, sculpture, design, graphics, decorative arts, street art, photography, installations, video art, digital art and new media, film), education through culture, cultural and urban intervention, heritage and architecture and promotion of written culture. The funding programme also encourages interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches.

Proposals for programmes, projects and actions can take place both in physical and online spaces and must be adapted to the restrictive conditions imposed by the pandemic and the forecast evolution for this year.

Objectives "Bucharest - Open City"

As part of this year's theme "Bucharest - Open City", ARCUB invites cultural operators in Bucharestto propose cultural programmes, projects and actions in line with the Cultural Strategy of the Municipality of Bucharest 2016-2026 - a document in the process of operationalisation, which will be implemented by the Department of Culture, Education, Tourism of the Municipality of Bucharest - and adapted to the specific context of 2021.

The main objectivesof the Cultural Programme "Bucharest - Open City" in 2021 are to support the widest possible participation and involvement of the city's citizens, both in physical and online spaces, with a focus on activating the public space, and to develop, innovate and make the cultural sector more resilient by reinventing and adapting to the changes caused by the pandemic.

Eligible applicants

Non-reimbursable funding may be applied for by authorised individuals, associations, foundations, public institutions that are not subordinated to the City Hall, commercial companies that carry out cultural or educational activities.

Budget

The budget available for this year's grant funding session is 3.5 million lei. Applicants will be able to benefit from a maximum funding ceiling of 100,000 leifor large projects, 50,000 lei for medium-sized projects and 25,000 lei for small projects.

The funding session for cultural projects will be followed by a session of idea grants for individuals active in the cultural sector in Bucharest.

In this funding session, the eligible expenses also respond to the need to support the applicants' current activity (rent of administrative premises, utilities), during the project period, including for private cultural spaces, deeply affected by the pandemic.

Calendar

Non-reimbursable funding will be granted for cultural offers to be held exclusively in Bucharest, between the date of signature of the funding contract and the 15^th of November 2021.

Projects can be submitted until June 25^th 2021, 17:00, by e-mail to finantare2021@arcub.ro.

Useful information

The Funding Regulations, the Public Notice on the launch of the Cultural Programme and the Programme Calendarare available on the ARCUB website, Funding section.

About the ARCUB Grant Programme

In order to diversify Bucharest's cultural offer and to maximize the impact of culture on the citizens of Bucharest, the City Hall and ARCUB have launched the Cultural Projects Financial Support Programme, an open call for artists and cultural organizations to carry out innovative projects and actions that enrich and diversify the cultural life of Bucharest.

Funding the projects of cultural organisations in Bucharest is a fundamental part of ARCUB's history, the institution have been founded in 1996 to serve exactly this purpose, which it has pursued in various forms throughout its activity.

In 2014-2017, ARCUB supported, through the annual Grant Programme for Cultural Operators, more than 300 projects in all cultural fields - theatre, visual arts, dance, music and education through culture, including the only Roma festival in the country, theatre plays initiated by young students, anti-discrimination projects, animation, improvisation, guitar and early music festivals, residencies for emerging artists, Balkan music and Armenian culture festivals, dance events, children's plays and reading festivals, and last but not least, events dedicated to revitalising old industrial areas and turning them into centres of art and design. The grants were non-reimbursable and awarded annually, following a selection process.

ARCUB - Cultural Centre of Bucharest has been cultivating the cultural identity of the Capital since 1996. The projects initiated and carried out by ARCUB in 25 years of activity have contributed to the diversification of the cultural life of the city and to its inclusion among the great capitals of the world.

ARCUB is the organiser of the International Festival of Light - Spotlight, the International Street Theatre Festival - B-FIT in the Street! and the International Jazz Festival - Bucharest Jazz Festival.