29 May Additional selected application

SCF would like to additionally announce that the proposal “Tulla Visual Art Lab” by Tulla Culture Center, has been selected for support under the 2023 grants scheme.

03 May Selection results for the calls of 2023

SCF would like to announce the successful applicants for our Grant proposals for cultural actions call, which was launched on February 15th. Each application was carefully evaluated by a trilateral board, consisting of representatives from the Swiss Cultural Fund, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and independent experts. We extend our thanks to all who applied for our 2023 calls. We received an overwhelming number of high-quality applications, making the selection process a challenging one.

2023 Grants Selected Projects

“Unseen View: Image as Idea, Idea as Image.” – Renato Balla

Pjeter Gjini meets the youth – CODE Partners

“Arti i barabarti” (Arti, the equal one) – Gentian Minga

Open Mind – Tirana Ekspres

Where the Fairies of the River live. – Qendra Uja

Urban Anomalies – Void Design

Rrok Academy – Jazz – Shoqata Kulturore Rrok Jakaj

Paragraph – creation and exhibition of typography – Joreld Dhamo

Training on Digitalization Techniques – Virtual Tour” and Production of Virtual Tour

07 Mar Questions and Answers

In regards to the open call for applications for the 2023 grants, launched on February 15th, We have the pleasure to share with you the answers to the questions that we have received until March 15th. Please click on the button below to receive the Q&A document.

15 Feb Open call for proposals for the 2023 grants

Important dates

Launch of call: 15.02.2023

Deadline for applications: 15.03.2023

Deadline to submit questions: 05.03.2023

Swiss Cultural Fund has the pleasure to announce the open call for proposals for the 2023 grants.
This call is open to applicants that fall under one of the following categories:

• Young or emerging artists or culture experts (individuals) whose activity is related to the Albanian independent cultural scene;
• Informal groups of young or emerging artists or culture experts. In this case, one single individual must represent the group;
• Organisations whose activity and scope of work are related to the Albanian independent cultural scene. Organisations are required to design proposals that involve young or emerging artists or culture experts;

SCF invites eligible applicants to submit proposals based on the following thematic areas:

1. Dealing with the past through jazz music;
2. Visual arts;
3. Digital arts;
4. Contemporary Dance;
5. Literature;
6. Cultural Heritage.

If you are interested to apply, please download the application package in the link below.

PLEASE NOTE: The download link may not work if you have reached this page through Facebook or Instagram app..

If the above download link doesn’t work, you may download the application package here, or by opening this page in another browser.

15 Jun Selection results for the calls of 2022

Following the calls launched on April 25th for:

• Grant proposals for cultural actions;
• Consultancy for capacity building;

the Swiss Cultural Fund has the pleasure to announce the successful applicants. All applications were carefully evaluated by a trilateral board representing SCF, SDC and independent expert. We take the opportunity to thank once again everyone who applied in our calls for 2022. We received a high number of quality applications and the decisions were not easy. The winning proposals are:

2022 Grant Calls

1. Elsa Demo – When the lights are off

Cycle of writings in the genres of analysis, critique (review) and essays on cultural and artistic events in Tirana and in those cities where events take place.

2. Bes Bitraku – On how to become a man, a feminist view

An original theatre play that deals with a severe social issue, that of being raised with the traditional concepts of masculinity in pheripherical Albania. The play will treat boyhood as opposed to the misogyny, tradition and partiarcalism.

3. Olsi Hoxha – Occasional photos

“Occasional photos” is a community driven analogue photography project that aims at a contemporary photographic publication, through the inclusion of new talents from youth and marginalised communities. The work will be produced by the talents under the guidance of expert Jochen Rohnen.

4. Robert Bisha – On the road, piano solo

The “On the Road” piano solo concert tour by Robert Bisha arises from the desire to decentralize artistic adventures from the capital to the almost unnoticed villages in Malesi, Zadrime and Mirdita. A Piano on a van is introduced to village children but also to adults.

5. Klaudia Piroli – without a voice

“Without a voice” by Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava, directed by Klaudia Piroli aims to make theater as accessible as possible to the marginalized and to raise awareness in remote communities about women’s rights.

6. Mardit Lleshi – Saggio

A concert tour aimed at promoting the authentic creativity of contemporary music. Based on the title of the work “Saggio” (used in classical music for scholastic purposes) the authors aim to treat the concept from its opposite point of view, going beyond traditional contours of music.

7. Sabian Hasani – Cultural Heritage in Albania through my lens

A photographic series of various cultural heritage sites to promote the value and exploration of cultural heritage in Albania amongst locals

8. Trio Reve – Romantics of Albanian Classical Music

Trio Rêve will organise four concerts under the title “Romantics of Albanian Classical Music”, promoting authentic Albanian music arranged for classical trios and offered in public places for a wider and comprehensive approach.

Consultancy for capacity building

In merit of budget efficiency, qualification, proposal quality and clarity, the evaluation board selected SEKTRA as consultant on capacity building .

18 May Questions and Answers

In relation to the calls launched on April 25th:

• 2022 Grant Calls
• Consultancy for capacity building

we are publishing the answers to the questions that we received until May 15th. Please click in the button below to download the document.

25 Apr Open call for proposals for the 2022 grants

Important dates

Launch of call: 25.04.2022

Deadline for applications: 25.05.2022

Deadline to submit questions: 15.05.2022

Swiss Cultural Fund has the pleasure to announce the open call for proposals for the 2022 grants.
This call is open to applicants that fall under one of the following categories:

• Young or emerging artists or culture experts (individuals) whose activity is related to the Albanian independent cultural scene;
• Informal groups of young or emerging artists or culture experts. In this case, one single individual must represent the group;
• Organisations whose activity and scope of work are related to the Albanian independent cultural scene. Organisations are required to design proposals that involve young or emerging artists or culture experts;

SCF invites eligible applicants to submit proposals based on the following thematic areas:

1.        Theatre on the move

2.        Instrumental music on the move

3.        Photography

4.        Cultural heritage documentation

5.        Cultural research and/or documentation 


6.        Virtual reality, interactive technologies or digital art

If you are interested to apply, please download the application package in the link below.

25 Apr Call for capacity building consultancy

Important dates

Launch of call: 25.05.2022

Deadline for applications: 25.05.2022

Deadline to submit questions: 15.05.2022

Swiss Cultural Fund has the pleasure to announce the open call for capacity building consultancy.
Under the Capacity Building pillar there are included Training Packages for the Local Grant Applicants:

• Training Package 1 including nutshells courses into:
  • Writing a grant proposal;
  • Understanding SCF calls and application process;
  • Use of digital tools in Art and Culture to document and promote cultural events and artistic products.
• Training Package 2 including nutshells courses into:
  • Project management under SCF support;
  • Event organization and logistics;
  • Communication strategy;
  • Financial management;
  • Narrative and financial reporting.

This Program is designed to provide trainings on how to write project proposals with cultural backgrounds and how to use technology in this field, for the young artists, organizations and other sectorial stakeholders, and equip them with the knowledge and tools required to achieve excellence in cultural grant applications. The trainings are aimed to be fit for the local art community.

The Capacity Building instrument especially targets potential emerging artists with innovative initiatives that will be interested to apply for the projects under the local calls for proposal, which will be issued during this project or other similar-related projects. 
If you are interested to apply, please download the application guidelines in the link below.

03 Feb Information session and discussion about the 2022 Swiss Cultural Fund Calls

The Swiss Cultural Fund organised on January 28th the Information Session and Open Discussion in regards to the upcoming 2022 calls for application.

Following a survey about the challenges and issues of the independent cultural scene for implementing cultural projects outside of Tirana, 65 young artists and cultural professionals attended the online webinar.

The SCF team highlighted that during 2022 up to ten projects will be supported by grants. The info-session was followed by an open discussion about SCF’s objective to further the geographical distribution of its support on cultural projects – based on the answers of more than 100 young and emerging artists and culture professionals who filled the survey.

This is the second information session organised during the second phase of the project.

You can watch a recording of the webinar our facebook page.

10 Jan 2021 in figures

2021 was the first year of the second phase of the Swiss Cultural Fund. This year brought us even closer to young artists, culture professionals and the wide audience.

The survey and information session that we organized with the community of artists in the end of March, helped us better understand how we could help the independent cultural scene in Albania in the context of the consequences of the pandemic. The 2021 calls were drafted on the basis of this discussion and resulted in the highest number of applications that the Swiss Cultural Fund had received since its inception.

Through the projects that we supported during this year, we managed to bring the theatre to marginalised communities, to document folkloric traditions and dances, to present the innovations of digital art with young artists, to bring to attention the

the activity of young musicians and the interventions of artists in public spaces, as well as to take a look at the history of Albanian music videos.

We would like to close this year by thanking for the contribution all those who participated in our discussion on calls, the applicants for their patience and interest, and of course the implementing teams of the eight SCF projects for their hard work and results.

In 2022 we will aim to make further progress with our initiative to strengthen the independent cultural scene in Albania.

In the meantime, we are pleased to share with you the following results: