Connections Through Culture Grants 2025, image

The Connections Through Culture programme nurtures fresh cultural partnerships between the UK and select countries in Asia Pacific and Europe, including Azerbaijan. This programme supports new ideas and collaborations from artists and cultural organisations at any stage of development.

The funding in this round of the Connections Through Culture programme focus on two areas: diversity and inclusion as well as addressing climate change. The collaborations across borders and artistic disciplines will lead to new ideas to address these global challenges.

The programme supports new connections, exchanges, and collaborations between artists, cultural professionals, creative practitioners and art and cultural organisations.

2025 Projects: Azerbaijan

Three performers reading scripts on stage under blue lighting during a cultural performance.

Characters On Stage

UK: Rory Mullarkey

Azerbaijan: Ismayil Iman

This collaborative theatre project will stage a full production of a play by British playwright Rory Mullarkey in partnership with a Baku-based theatre. With local actors, designers, and technical teams, it aims to expand the Azerbaijani repertoire, engage new audiences, and host Mullarkey in Baku for the premiere and follow-up sessions.

A small group of people watching a performance in a dimly lit room with a relaxed, creative atmosphere.

Echoes of the Rising Tide: A Site-Specific Theatre Project on Climate Change

UK: Sebastian Harcombe

Azerbaijan: Ritual Theatre and Creativity Laboratory

This is an innovative theatre project that unites artists, theatre makers, actors, choreographers and playwrights, to confront the defining challenge of our generation: climate change. Over five days, participants will be mentored in an immersive workshop by renowned theatre professionals, a UK-based theatre maker and an Azerbaijani theatre director.

A group of people walking through a shallow wetland area, exploring nature together.

Rooted Hands

UK: Rush Matters

Azerbaijan: VarYox.az

This project is a six-month cultural and economic empowerment project with women artisans from Musakuche, Masalli - the last known reed weavers in Azerbaijan. Collecting reeds by hand from the Caspian shoreline, they preserve generations-old techniques threatened by modernisation. A UK expert weaving mentor will conduct workshops, introducing innovative methods and contemporary design applications to enhance skills and the marketability of their products

A black and white view of a dry riverbed stretching across a wide, open landscape.

Sleeping Rivers, Vanishing Seas

UK: Michael Takeo Magruder

Azerbaijan: YARAT Contemporary Art Centre

The physical landscapes of Britain and Azerbaijan are both facing existential threats triggered by shifting climate. Simultaneously, generative AI is recalibrating how people see, represent, and understand the landscapes around them, in ways that are profoundly ambiguous. In this fraught environmental and technological context, this project seeks to use leading-edge digital tools to reveal fresh perspectives on climate change.