The President’s Fund for Creativity is one of a series of initiatives aimed at strengthening inclusivity, community development, and well-being through cultural participation and creative expression by supporting projects and programmes. The fund forms part of a diverse portfolio of schemes and initiatives to maximise the potential of Malta’s creative growth by encouraging engagement in the cultural sectors, facilitating cultural exchange, and championing cultural rights. Applications may seek support for a pilot initiative, or for the development of an initiative that the organisation has already tried and tested.
The potential of creative expression in fostering social and cultural change and regeneration has been shown and proven in a number of contexts, including those characterised by socially challenging environments, poverty, and exclusion. This understanding is the basis for The President’s Fund for Creativity.
The fund provides recognition and support at the highest level of the state to exciting initiatives built on the values of equity, diversity, inclusiveness, and sustainability in the sector of culture and the arts and in the social sector respectively—especially those working with disadvantaged groups, to engage the groups in creativity and arts-driven projects and increase their level of integration and engagement in society.
The President’s Fund for Creativity is linked to the implementation of Arts Council Malta’s ongoing strategy, with a particular focus on championing cultural rights and providing further opportunities for people to engage in creative expression.
The fund is specifically linked to important priorities articulated in the Council’s ongoing strategy, namely, to invest in:
- A wider spectrum of quality work that inspires community cultural exchange and engages with a broader range of people—both as participants and audience.
- Artists and organisations that promote cultural diversity and address cultural inclusion and accessibility.
- Championing cultural rights.
The fund forms part of our funding programmes for community exchange, which aim at investing in:
- Increased cultural participation across Malta and Gozo;
- Better understanding and engagement between artists and communities;
- More diversity in cultural programming;
- More importance devoted to a culture that is much more representative of Maltese society in general;
- Sustainable development.
The President’s Fund for Creativity aims at:
- Supporting organisations and institutions that target the social needs and well-being of the community, especially disadvantaged and hardly-reached groups—with a special emphasis on children, youth, senior citizens, disabled people, and people with different ethnic backgrounds—through cultural participation and creative expression.
- Providing disadvantaged groups with accessibility to a wide range of quality art experiences and art-engagement activities, as well as acting as a platform for young promising talent and intergenerational as well as intercultural dialogue.
- Incentivising the contribution of organisations active in the arts and culture sector towards community development and collaborative arts projects.
This fund provides support for the development of collaborative projects, programmes, and practices designed to foster diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging, well-being, and regeneration through cultural engagement. It invests in collaboration between organisations active in the cultural and creative sector and in the field of social and community development. The application shall clearly demonstrate the benefits of the project to the community.
The lead partner may collaborate with one or more other organisations and/or with one or more individual practitioners to develop a community arts project, programme, practice that combines the highest standards of quality and good practice, both from the artistic perspective and from the social perspective.
In line with Strategy 2025, and with ACM’s commitment to support the arts, namely that of adopting a sustainable and accountable approach to public investment:
Applicants are encouraged to give due consideration, as appropriate, to the principles explained in the Right to Culture – Resource Pack, with particular regard to community engagement and the adoption of a rights-based approach to their work. This resource pack is aimed at increasing awareness regarding inclusivity and supporting the implementation of cultural rights in our day-to-day practice.
Applicants are also expected to give due consideration, as appropriate, to the principles outlined in the Charter for the Status of the Artist, to ensure fair and just working conditions for artists, embracing artistic freedom, accessibility, formal/informal/non-formal skill recognition, appropriate socio-economic conditions, non-discrimination and equity, due ethical considerations and upholding intellectual property rights and international labour law. The Charter for the Status of the Artist provides a dynamic frame of reference for legislation, policies, and initiatives which directly or indirectly impact artists and cultural and creative sectors, ensuring that actions are aligned with the ultimate long-term vision of elevating the status of artists and cultural workers in Malta in line with their value in society.
The President’s Fund for Creativity is managed jointly by the Office of the President of the Republic and Arts Council Malta.