Mekong Cultural Hub

Experiments in Community Collaboration: Frequently Asked Questions

Thank you for joining the Q&A session on the Experiments in Community Collaboration open call with us on April 6th. We are sharing a summary of the Q&A from the session. If you have any further question regarding the call, you are always welcome to chat with MCH.

About the ‘Community’

Q: How do you define ‘Community’? 

A: Community can refer to people with a common identity, or experiencing a common issue or from a common location. 

For this program what is important is that you already have an existing relationship with a community. Either you’ve already worked with the community within the last 3 years (2020-2022), and there are members of that community you could re-engage with to implement your experiment; or you have already got a project planned with that community during 2023, and the people involved in it would be willing to work with you on your experiment. 

The program is designed to support in-person practice, so if your community formed on the basis of a common issue or identity, but comes from various locations/ countries, for the purposes of this program we would need you to be able to work with members of that community who are in (or able to meet in) a common location. 

Q: I work with a certain community which I can find in many different cities, so I can easily find any and to work on the topic I want to explore more and work with the community.   Can this be identified as I have a community to work with?

A: This learning program targets practitioners who have existing experiences with a certain community and they want to work with the same community to improve their skills or find out better ways to work with the same community.  It’s not for practitioners to start or explore new relationships with the community they want to work with.

Q: I am working for a community and I do not live in the same city.  Is it ok to apply?

A: If the distance and cost of travel between the participant and their community is manageable within the time and budget framework of the program, particularly the learning experiment, this is fine.

Q: Do we need to stay with the community for two whole months of the learning experiment?

A: The participants will implement and accomplish their activity with the community within the two month period identified in the program (September-October 2023). This program does not expect you to stay with the community for two whole months, unless you already plan to do so. We estimate the time spent on your experiment might be 3-4 days. 

Q: Do I need to propose a project I want to do with my community?

A: This program doesn’t require you to propose a project with your community. What we are looking for is that you are able to clearly identify some objectives related to your own practice in community arts. For example skills you want to learn or improve. The learning experiment will be a practical way you can work on this learning. You can draw on past and current experiences of projects with your community to identify these goals. During the program you will have time and support to design your learning experiment. 

Eligibility

Q: Community arts is not my only practice, but in my artistic practice I do have some activities that work with the community; am I eligible to apply? 

A: If community arts forms only part of your practice that is fine. As long as you have at least 2 years experience working in community arts.  The applicants also need to meet other criteria stated in the Program Overview Document.

Q: Can collectives apply to the program?

A: Collectives are welcome to apply. We would want to have continuity of who joins the sessions so if you are offered a place we will ask you to confirm names of individuals who will represent your collective in the core sessions.

All Collective members could join in the learning experiment, as this will be implemented at ‘home’.

Practical constraints for any collective that is selected will include:

Q: I’m not a citizen of the countries listed in the eligible criteria but I am living and working in the eligible countries. Can I apply? 

A: In this program, the applicants have to be a citizen from Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Taiwan, Thailand or Vietnam, as well as being resident in one of these countries during the period of the program. 

Program Logistics

Q: Is there a fixed time for the orientation and the study group sessions? There are fixed dates but not the fixed time, it will be helpful for applicants to commit if there are fixed dates and times.

A: This is a very helpful reminder.  Following this question, the organising team has discussed and agreed that all Large Group and Small group sessions will start at:

Q: I usually spend some budget to cover the community’s time, for example, the stipend like 5 USD for each community member to participate in the activity.   Will this be an allowed expense item while we are using the grant provided in this program while we implement our experiment ideas?

A: Yes, this is considered a reasonable usage of the grant. 


Related News