The UNESCO Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific (MOWCAP) and the Asia Culture Center (ACC, Gwangju, Republic of Korea) have launched a new grants programme aimed at the preservation of documentary heritage in the Asia-Pacific region. The first call for projects is now open. The programme emerges from the observation that, in the Asia-Pacific region, many libraries, archives and memory institutions face formidable challenges: economic, climatic and geographic. The MOWCAP-ACC Grants Programme aims to contribute to addressing this challenge by assisting with the preservation of, and universal access to, the documentary heritage of the region, and also to increase awareness of the existence and significance of the heritage.

Eligible applicants

The programme will support the efforts of the many groups and organisations that collect, and preserve and provide access to documentary heritage from the Asia-Pacific region. It aims to encourage collaboration and partnerships to undertake projects (e.g. preservation of materials, digitizing, exhibitions, publications etc) as well as to develop skills and resources (eg. workshops, training programs, expert assessments etc). Applicants must be:

• Based in the Asia-Pacific
• Non-governmental organisations (although government agencies, including archives, museums, etc., may partner with a non-governmental organisation to apply)
• Have support from their national Memory of the World Committee or UNESCO National Commission

Eligible projects

A wide range of projects, including the development of e-publications; cataloguing records and archival descriptions; the development of exhibitions; web projects; digital storytelling about documentary heritage; apps for mobile devices; training and capacity-building; and others are eligible. A list of possible activities is included in the guidelines of the MOWCAP-ACC Grants Programme.

Conditions

Grants of up to $US 10,000 are available for the preservation and sharing of the documentary heritage of the Asia-Pacific. Grants are required to be fully expended, and the project completed and acquitted, within a 6-month period (July-December 2018). Applications should be submitted by 8 July 2018. The grants are administered through the MOWCAP Office, Asian Culture Center, Gwangju, Republic of Korea. For further information, please visit the website of the MOWCAP-ACC Grants Programme at http://www.mowcapunesco.org/grants/