The Artist Protection Fund (APF) 2023 calls for applications to support threatened artists from any field of practice, and places them at host institutions in safe countries where they can continue their work and plan for their futures.
What is APF
APF stands for The Artist Protection Fund (APF), it is an initiative of the Institute of International Education(IIE), sponsored by the Mellon and Ford Foundations to preserve lives, voices, and ideas, providing relief and safe haven to artists on a large scale, and for extended periods from around the globe
What are the threats?
⦁ Any threat of persecution or violence due to an artist’s practice, identity, or beliefs would qualify. This includes intimidation, harassment, repression, censorship, unjust punishment, and violence arising out of an artist’s work, and/or exercise of their fundamental human rights.
⦁ APF may also make a limited number of awards to artists facing general insecurity, instability, or civil conflict that affects the whole population of a country or region.
Duration:
Artist Protection Fund (APF) Fellowships are for up to one year.
Eligibility Criteria
Artists from any country and artistic discipline may qualify. Applications are reviewed for artistic merit, the quality/potential of the applicant’s work, and the severity of the threats that the applicant faces. Preference is given to artists who:
⦁ Are facing or have recently fled from immediate, severe, and targeted threats to their lives and/or artistic practice in their home countries or countries of residence;
⦁ Demonstrate accomplishment and promise in their artistic practice;
⦁ Will benefit their home and/or host communities.
Artist Protection Fund (APF) 2023 encourages applications from women and members of ethnic, racial, cultural, or religious minority groups, or those otherwise underrepresented in their fields.
Priority is given to?
⦁ Artist Protection Fund (APF) 2023 gives priority to individuals still living in their home country
⦁ who have recently fled.
Fellowship is not granted to?
⦁ Artist Protection Fund (APF) 2023 does not grant fellowships to students seeking to continue their academic studies.
⦁ Artist Protection Fund (APF) 2023 typically does not consider applications from individuals who have been displaced or in exile for more than two years, or who hold citizenship or other permanent status in a second country.
How to Apply for Artist Protection Fund (APF) 2023
Fill out the online Application form as returning user or as a first timer
Artist Protection Fund (APF) 2023 Required Application Materials
If you would like to apply for an APF fellowship, you will have to submit the following required materials online.
1. Completion of the Online Application.
2. Current CV or resume. Please include the following information:
i. Current position (location, dates of tenure, professional title & responsibilities),
ii. Previous positions (in chronological order: location, dates of tenure, professional title & responsibilities),
iii. List of recent exhibitions, performances, productions, publications, etc.
iv. Other relevant work (including, artist presentations, grants/honors/awards, artistic/professional affiliations).
3. An Artist Statement. Please discuss your artistic background and process, and explain what projects you would undertake during a fellowship. Please note that artist
statements are generally a maximum of one page.
4. A Personal Statement. Please explain why you are applying to the Artist Protection Fund for support. Include a clear account of the threats or risks that you have been facing. Please note that personal statements are generally a maximum of one page.
5. Two (2) professional letters of reference from creative professionals who can speak to your artistic practice, exhibitions, publications, teaching, or other advanced artistic experience.
6. Two (2) personal letters of reference from colleagues or persons who are aware of the difficulties that you have been facing. These letters can include artistic merit.
Application Guidelines
⦁ Letters from colleagues both inside and outside of your home country are preferred.
⦁ Please note that the APF requires original reference letters. Letters should not use
identical text.
⦁ Each referee should speak to her/his particular knowledge of your artistic background and/or circumstances.
Emergency Applications
Emergency applications can be considered out of cycle if a candidate’s circumstances do not permit waiting for the next Selection Committee Meeting.
Overview
Types of opportunity: Grant/Funding
Duration: 1year
Deadline: Ongoing
Open to: all
Organizer: IIE Artist Protection Fund
Country: Worldwide
For more information, visit the Institute of International Education
you can send direct questions to APF@iie.org.
