Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2019, the arts and culture industry in Taiwan has undergone drastic impacts and experienced dramatic changes. At this critical moment, seeking to break its previous grant-based approach, the National Culture and Arts Foundation (NCAF) launched “Act for the Future,” hoping that this unprecedented program can encourage arts organizations and practitioners to examine their creative work and the overall industry ecosystem and to apply forward-looking thinking in proposing plans of action to drive the future competitiveness of the industry. NCAF also vows to provide the greatest support possible to help the selected candidates realize their vision.
The total budget allotted for “Act for the Future” is NT$300 million, which is from NCAF’s accumulated surplus in recent years and transferred into a special surplus account that’s designated for this program. The program is arts-focused and open to groups and practitioners from all arts disciplines. In addition to providing substantial financial support (up to NT$15 million for groups and NT$3 million for individuals), a period of two to three years is permitted for the selected projects, with the objective of encouraging medium to long-term strategic planning for the groups or individuals’ proposed projects.
With the substantial grants offered, “Act for the Future” is, therefore, a highly competitive program; it calls for interdisciplinary entries and evaluation, with the jury committee comprised of professionals from different fields. The program’s grants are open to projects that aim to self-refine or transform, creative art projects that aim to strengthen one’s creative foundation, or projects that involve social, public, or ecological factors in the applicant’s respective field. The objective is to support projects that show different perspectives, and ones that are carefully thought out and demonstrate future potential. In addition to providing financial support, NCAF will also provide further assistance and support to the program’s awardees and will also organize large-scale presentations for the awardees to introduce their projects to representatives from different industries, enterprises, arts venues, and the media, in the hope that the results of the awarded projects will have a greater impact on society.
NCAF recognizes that Taiwan has a wealth of professional talents and strong expertise in various fields of art. Therefore, it is hoped that through this forward-looking grant initiative, the competitiveness of arts groups and practitioners can be further strengthened to take on different challenges, and it is hoped that through this program which aims to prepare for the future, we can soon welcome the next surging wave of brilliant art in Taiwan.