Ministry of Culture-Performance Venues & Architectural Heritage

Grants for Cultural Exchanges & Collaborative Projects with Personnel from Southeast Asia

Formerly known as The Emerald Initiative

Introducing the Project

A cornucopia of cultures, Southeast Asia radiates like an emerald, its brilliance and strength attracting attention and inviting engagement. To enhance Taiwan's understanding and appreciation of Southeast Asian cultures, histories, and social development, the Ministry of Culture launched the Emerald Initiative in 2013 to support cultural exchanges and collaborative projects between Taiwan and Southeast Asia.

The aim of this project is to encourage private organizations to recommend and invite personnel from Southeast Asia to experience life in Taiwan and engage in activities such as citizen journalism, writing, translating and publishing select short novels, theater training, photography, design, or other multi-faceted endeavors.

Such exchanges with Taiwan's arts and cultural groups and diverse communities will broaden the scope of possibilities made possible by the collision of Southeast Asian and Taiwanese cultural elements. This beautiful chemistry will then spark off more changes down the road as participants return to their respective countries and engage in social dialogue with a new understanding of Taiwan. Let such creative exchanges and new friendships pave the way to a new era of regional cooperation.

The Project in Numbers

How to participate?

Each approved collaborative cultural project will be eligible for up to NT$500,000. An additional NT$400,000 is offered for the international promotion of the project's results.

Applicant eligibility

• Domestic legal persons or private groups registered in accordance with the laws of the Republic of China (ROC) are welcomed to apply.

• Participants may recommend personnel from Southeast Asian nations, namely Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia.

• Exchanges and collaboration projects may take the following forms: activities such as curation, performance, creating/writing, community development, cultural asset preservation/restoration, internship, field work/documentation, research, interviewing, reporting, workshops, and filmmaking, or participation in/cooperation with civil society's activities.

• The residency period is not to exceed six months.

Interested? Here are some of our past participants.