Cultural Bridge supports arts and cultural organisations across the UK and Germany to develop partnerships that explore social arts practice.
By enabling new and existing connections, Cultural Bridge supports a growing network of organisations committed to sharing expertise and skills, exchanging ideas and collaborating on artistic practices and projects that explore themes and issues faced by communities across both countries.
Through co-investment from Arts Council England, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, British Council, Creative Scotland, Fonds Soziokultur, Goethe-Institut London and Wales Arts International / Arts Council of Wales, Cultural Bridge has so far supported 68 partnerships through 85 awards, across five rounds of funding since its pilot year in 2021.
We have recently announced the 23 partnerships receiving funding for our fifth round, supporting activities across 2026 - 2027.
Read more about the 2026 - 2027 Cultural Bridge programme announcement and partnerships.
Celebrating the reach and impact of Cultural Bridge partnerships
The Cultural Bridge programme has commissioned tialt (there is an alternative) to evaluate the programme and understand key learning and impacts on the partnerships, participants and communities involved.
‘Funding empowers collaborative exchange, laying the groundwork for sustained partnership and meaningful community involvement’ Cultural Bridge funding awardee
‘a rare opportunity to build a cross-border partnership in a manageable, step-by-step way.’ Cultural Bridge funding awardee
Read the 2021 - 2022 pilot year evaluation in English
Read the 2021 - 2022 pilot year evaluation in German
Read the 2023 - 2024 programme evaluation in English
Read the 2024 - 2025 programme evaluation in English
The map below shows the geographical spread of the partnerships from round 1 - round 4:
Find out more:
Explore the current and previously funded partnerships
Read the latest programme and partnership news on the blog
Sign up to the mailing list for the latest news and opportunities
Follow @CulturalBridgeNetwork on Instagram
Main image: Image © Kulturbühne Neustadt who are in a Tier One partnership with The Highrise Project named Bureau de Change.
Map produced by tialt.
The 2026 - 2027 projects:
Bridging Cultures: Latin Womanhood Across the UK and Germany
– Partners: Latinas in Bristol CIC, Arnolfini Arts (Bristol, England) and Schaubühne Lindenfels (Leipzig, Germany)
Bridging Spaces – Queer Care and Shared Resilience
– Partners: Quiplash CIC (Sheffield, England) and Praxis für Visionen (Duisburg, Germany)
Bridging Voices: Youth Arts for Inclusion
– Peshkar Productions (Oldham, England) and Miteinander leben e.V. (Mölln, Germany)
Bureau de Change
– Partners: The Highrise Project CIC (Leeds, England) and Kulturbühne Neustadt e.V. (Halle, Germany)
Cultural Echoes – where motion and voice unites all abilities
– Partners: This is us dance company, Randolph Matthews (Hawkhurst, England) and Fantasia gAG (Rostock, Germany)
Cultures of Giving
– Partners: PROJEKT EUROPA (Margate, England) and edugrapes – Studio for Artistic and Transcultural Learning (Leipzig, Germany)
Floating Fortress: Exploring New Urban Niches
– Partners: Kabosh Theatre (Belfast, Northern Ireland) and Griesbadgalerie, Förderverein für junge Künstler e.V. (Ulm, Germany)
Language of Food: The Art of Community
– Partners: Fall into Place (Leeds, England) and Tausend Hektar Kunst, Kulturlandbüro gUG (Uckerland, Germany)
never walk alone meets footnotes
– Partners: fences and frontiers, Taran N Khan (London, England) and footnotes, (Hamburg, Germany)
Perfect Strangers - Bekannte Unbekannte
– Partners: Story and Studio CIC, The Auxiliary (Middlesbrough, England) and kitev - Kultur im Turm e.V. (Oberhausen, Germany)
performing neighbourhood
– Partners: Volcano Theatre (Swansea, Wales) and Ost-Passage Theater e.V. (Leipzig, Germany)
Re:Found
– Partners: Red Note Ensemble Ltd, (Edinburgh, Scotland) and Elbland Kunsthalle MUSKATOR e.V. (Riesa, Germany)
Shared Lines
– Partners: This New Ground CIC (Portsmouth & London, England) and kaethe:k Kunsthaus (Pulheim, Germany)
Sustaining Rural Culture: A Saxon-Scottish Exchange on Community Arts, Community Benefit and Succession
– Partners: Girvan Traditional Folk Festival SCIO (Girven, Scotland) and Kulturwerkstätten JohannesHof e.V. (Hainichen, Germany)
Tactics for Togetherness - Creating Community-Developed Cultures of Care
– Partners: Take A Part CIO (Plymouth, England) and iCollective e.V. (Berlin, Germany)
The House of Hexham at Kunstfest Zeitz
– Partners: Queens Hall Arts (Hexham, England) and Kunstverein Zeitz e.V. (Zeitz, Germany)
Connected Frames - Building Inclusion
– Partners: Media Education CIC (Edinburgh, Scotland) and Q3 Quartier für Medien Bildung Abenteuer (Traunstein, Germany)
Dwelling Together / Zusammen Wohnen
– Partners: Artist-Led St Helens (Merseyside, England) and GEDOK Stuttgart e.V. (Stuttgart, Germany)
Letters From Home
– Partners: RISE Youth Dance (Bristol, England) and Freizeitheim Linden (Hannover, Germany)
Motivation and participation: How community and civic engagement change places
– Partners: People's Voice Media (Shropshire, England and Dalry, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland) and Agora Köln e.V. (Köln, Germany)
Sensing Loss
– Partners: Cement Fields (Chatham, England), Three Rivers (Bexley, England) and Floating University Berlin (Berlin, Germany)
The 2025 - 2026 projects:
Act Your Age! Youth Leadership in Art and Activism
– Partners: Common/Wealth theatre (Bradford, England & Cardiff, Wales) and FUNDUS THEATER / Theatre of Research (Hamburg)
Bridging Borders: A Collaborative Arts Exchange
– Partners: Sheba Arts (Salford, England) and Iranisches Kulturfest/Termeh Festival (Munich, Bayern)
Bridging Cultures: Digital Storytelling and Creative Connections for Community Empowerment
– Partners: Intercultural Roots for Public Health (Coventry, England) and MakingCulture® e.V. (Coburg, Bayern)
Dance Ability Bridge
– Partners: Dylan Quinn Dance Dance Theatre (Enniskillen, Northern Ireland) and unperform e.V. (Bremen)
Everybody needs a puppet
– Partners: Swallow's Wings Puppetry (London, England) and Dialogus – Kulturelle Vielfalt leben e. V. (Mittweida/Chemnitz, East Germany)
Missing Link
– Partners: Think Circus SCIO (Edinburgh, Scotland) and wheels e.V./Junges Theater (Munster & Berlin)
Sharing Creative Practice
– Partners: Media Education CIC (Edinburgh, Scotland) and Q3.Quartier für Medien.Bildung (Traunstein, Bayern)
Social Circus - Building Bridges
– Partners: Circusful (Belfast, Northern Ireland) and Coraggio (Berlin)
Songs of Neighbours and Strangers
– Partners: Das Clarks (Newport, Wales) and Cargo-Theater (Freiburg, Baden-Württemberg)
Stubborn Optimism: Social Arts Co-Creation and Positive Change in Community Contexts
– Partners: Bright Shadow CIO (Herne Bay, England) and Raum der Künste e.V. (Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg)
The Quiet Room
– Partners: Disability Arts in Shropshire (Shrewsbury, England) and Berlinklusion GbR (Berlin)
Water Chronicles: exploring stories of accessibility in urban water spaces
– Partners: Surge Coop (Newham, London) and Insola (Berlin)
Colour Stories. Evolving journeys: the art of flax & linen
– Partners: Brink! (Belfast, Northern Ireland) and artpark Hoher (Schermbeck, nr Essen)
Exploring Flows
– Partners: Dyffryn Dyfodol (Wales) and Syndikat Gefährliche Liebschaften (Quakenbrück)
Sick in the City: Investigating Queerness and Disability in Public Urban Space
– Partners: University of Atypical (Belfast, Northern Ireland) and COVEN BERLIN (Berlin)
