NEW YORK CITY: Theatre Communications Group has named the 11 recipients of the latest round of its Global Connections grants, which encourages cultural exchange. The grants, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, total $80,000.
“From Palestinian refugee camps in Beirut to indigenous communities in Norway, from innovative transmedia strategies to the oldest of cultural traditions, these Global Connections recipients are forging new ways of working across aesthetic and political borders,” said Teresa Eyring, executive director of TCG, in a statement. “Thanks to enduring support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, these projects will strengthen our shared commitment to fostering global citizenship in a time of discord and division.”
The Global Connections grants are divided into two programs: On the Road and In the Lab. The five On the Road grants are for $5,000 each and will fund travel to foster new relationships with international colleagues. The recipients of that grant are playwright Annalisa Dias (who will travel to the Sámi Center for Contemporary Art in northern Norway); EgoPo Classic Theatre in Philadelphia (who will travel to Central Java); playwright/director Ismail Khalidi (who will travel to Beirut); director Emily Mendelsohn (who will travel to Kampala); and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (who will collaborate with a Zimbabwean theatre director on a production).
The In the Lab grants includes $10,000 and supports the continuing development of pre-existing international collaborations. The recipients are artist Ty Defoe (for Water is Sacred, a collaboration with four indigenous nations), W David Hancock (for Cathexis, partially supported by the European Union’s Creative Europe program), Wendy Jehlen (for The Conference of the Birds, a collaboration with artists from eight countries), Zoey Martinson (for #HASHTAGPROJECT, with creators from Germany and China), Ron Ragin (for Vessels, with artists from Ghana), and Tricklock Company (for Mother of Exiles, with artists from Poland and Colombia).
Now in its sixth year, the Global Connections program has awarded 94 grants and over $784,000, allowing artists to work with colleagues in 53 different countries. Founded in 1969, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation supports artists as they pursue ambitious, path-breaking work.
