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Overview of the Creation Grant

Creation Grant

The National Arts Council (NAC)’s Creation Grant supports the creation, adaptation and re-development of distinctive artistic content. Through a rigorous creation process, we seek to expand the canon of works that engage audiences at home and abroad. 

The grant is open to individuals and collectives with a strong track record of artistic achievement and production. Applicants must be Singapore citizens or Permanent Residents, with priority given to artists who reside in Singapore and actively contribute to the arts scene.

 

What does it cover?

The grant supports the creation process of performing, visual, literary, digital and multi-disciplinary art forms for up to 18 months, including:

 

Creation Grant Supports

  • The creation of original new works; or
  • The adaptation and redevelopment of works across artistic disciplines (e.g. from book to musical), or across other media to the arts (e.g. from film to play with priority given to the adaptation of Singapore content; or
  • Translating Singapore works by authors of established literary merit (preferably Asian) into any of Singapore’s national languages. Priority will be given to translating Singapore works into Singapore's official languages. 
  • For the 2024 cycle, projects with strong use of digital technology as part of their creation process and/or as a platform to present its mini-showcase will be prioritised for funding under the Creation Grant.

 

For Performing and Visual Arts projects, you will also be supported to present a mini-showcase to potential producers and presenters, followed by a post-show discussion.

The creation stage should result in an original, complete script / score / recording / exhibition / live presentation of excerpts. Digital Arts projects should result in a prototype, playable demo or trailer, online platform or website.

The grant is capped at $50,000 per applicant and covers direct expenses of the creation and developmental process. Funding is prioritised towards proposals with effective national, and preferably international, marketing and distribution plans.

 

Application requirements

To provide a clearer sense of what form the resulting work will take and the artistic merit of the proposal, we require applicants to submit supporting samples of both past works and an excerpt of proposed work. Please refer to the project details and guidelines for more information.

 

Specific Information for Literary Arts Applicants

The Creation Grant for the Literary Arts is an investment in the creation of a work of both high literary merit and readership appeal. To help writers achieve this, a residency stint and editorial consultancy, while optional, are potentially supportable as part of the Creation Grant:

1. Editorial Consultancy (Strongly recommended)

Recipients are encouraged to appoint an editor at the start of the writing process and/or after their first draft is completed. Editors are expected to play a developmental role, functioning as a sounding board throughout the writing process. You may either work with an editor identified by NAC or with your choice of an editor (subject to approval).

2. Genres Supported

The following genres are supported:

• Fiction
• Creative/Literary Non-Fiction (including literary biographies, memoirs, essays on ideas, culture and the arts, etc.)
• Young Adult Literature
• Graphic Novel
• Poetry
• Translation