UNESCO International Fund for Cultural Diversity
Switching gears a little now to talk about the other big news the Dundas has to share.
In 2022, the Dundas applied for a grant from the UNESCO International Fund for Cultural Diversity (IFCD). The purpose: to professionalize the theatre industry in The Bahamas. The IFCD is a global fund designed to “promote sustainable development and poverty reduction in developing countries that are Parties to the 2005 Convention.”
We narrowly missed being recommended for a grant back in 2022.
In 2024, we tried again. This time we took note of the feedback from our earlier application, and submitted an updated, refined version of the same project.
This time we were successful!!
Check us out here, on the UNESCO website, alongside the other funded projects from 2025! We’re the only representative from the Caribbean this year. More details here.
Our project is scheduled to last about 20 months (mid-2025-early 2027), and has 4 objectives.
Raise the standard of theatre performance and production
Strengthen business principles among theatre practitioners
Conduct research on the sustainability of professional productions
Strengthen the policy framework for professional theatre
Objective 1 began this month with the Dundas/UNESCO Summer Intensive Workshops for beginning and intermediate practitioners.
Objective 3 is going to start in October with the first professional production being mounted (after Shakespeare in Paradise) and the commencement of research into its sustainability.
Objective 2 is going to start in November with the first of four business principles workshops.
Objective 4 is going to develop over the course of the next two years.
Check below for some images from the Intensive Workshops, which began this week!!
