Deadline: 6 December 2019

U.S. Embassy Lusaka, Public Affairs Section is currently accepting applications for its Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP) to support the preservation of cultural sites, cultural objects, and forms of traditional cultural expression.

AFCP-supported projects include the restoration of ancient and historic buildings, assessment and conservation of rare manuscripts and museum collections, preservation and protection of important archaeological sites, and the documentation of vanishing traditional craft techniques and indigenous languages.

Project Categories

AFCP supports preservation projects in the following three categories:

• • Cultural Objects and Collections from a museum, site or similar institution: This includes archaeological and ethnographic objects, paintings, sculpture, manuscripts, photographic and film collections and general museum conservation activities.
    • Proposals in this category may involve, for example:
      • Conservation treatment for an object or collection of objects;
      • Needs assessment of a collection with respect to its condition and strategies for improving its conservation purposes;
      • The creation of safe environments for storage or display of collections;
      • Specialized training in the care and preservation of collections;
  • Cultural Sites: This includes (but is not limited to) historical buildings and sites, sacred places, monuments, and archaeological sites.
    • Proposals in this category may involve for example:
      • Restoration of an historic building;
      • An archaeological survey as a component of a preservation plan;
      • Preservation management planning for a site;
      • Documentation of sites in a region for preservation purposes;

• Forms of Traditional Cultural Expression: This includes the documentation and audiovisual recording of traditional music, indigenous languages and dance forms for broad dissemination as the means of teaching and further preserving them, or support for training in the preservation of traditional applied arts or crafts in danger of extinction.
  • Proposals in this category may involve for example:
    • Documenting and audiovisual recording of traditional music and dance forms as part of a traditional expression and making the information and recordings available;
    • Support for training in the preservation of traditional arts or crafts that are threatened by extinction.

AFCP supports small, medium and large scale projects.

Award Information

• Floor on Amount of Individual Awards: US $10,000 per project
• Ceiling on Amount of Individual Awards: US $200,000 per project

Eligibility Criteria

Project proposals will be accepted from among the following:

• Non-governmental organizations
• Museums
• Government Ministries of Culture or similar institutions

Exclusions

AFCP does not support the following:

• Preservation or purchase of privately or commercially owned cultural objects, collections or real property;
• Conservation of natural heritage (physical, biological and geological formations, paleontological collections, habitats of threatened species of animals and plants fossils etc);
• Preservation of news media (newspaper, newsreels etc);
• Archaeological excavations or surveys for research purposes
• Historical research, except in cases where historical research is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project;
• Construction of new buildings
• Commissions of new works of arts or performances for commemorative or economic development purposes;
• Acquisition or creation of new collections for new or existing museums;
• Creation of replicas or re-creation of cultural objects or sites that no longer exist;
• Relocation of cultural objects or collections, unless part of a larger, clearly defined conservation effort;
• Remove of cultural objects or elements of cultural sites from the county for any reason;
• Cash reserves, endowments or revolving funds – funds must be expected within the award period and may not be used to create an endowment or revolving fund or otherwise spent over many years;
• Costs of fund-raising campaigns for preservation;
• Costs for administrative time or materials not directly related to performing project work;
• Costs of work performed prior to announcement of the award;
• Contingency or miscellaneous fees;
• Administrative staff or administrative fees greater than 5% of the overall project costs;
• International travel, except in cases where travel for outside specialists is justifiable and integral to the success of the proposed project (international travel will be considered on a case-by-case basis).
• Awards to individuals

For more information, visit https://zm.usembassy.gov/pas_small_grants/