Mobility Funding Guide: Malaysia

The Mobility Funding Guide: Funding Opportunities for International Cultural Exchange in Asia, Guide to Malaysia provides an overview of funding available for cultural project to and from Malaysia. 

The latest edition of the Guide to Malaysia lists a total of 16 organisations: 5 organisations that have opportunities with a focus on Asia or Southeast Asia, 7 with a focus on emerging and developing countries, 4 that focus on specific countries (including those in Asia). 

To make sure that the publication uses reliable sources, only regular opportunities accessible online are listed. This means that there are a number of resources that are not listed: funds for which information is only available offline, funds that are not based on open calls, and ad hoc or short-term funding. 

The guide is an attempt to gather all the resources in one document and is by no means complete. Rather, it is a starting point for research into funding for mobility in the context of Malaysia. You can learn about how to read the mobility funding guides here. 

Since 2012, the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) and On the Move (OTM) have jointly presented the Mobility Funding Guides for International Cultural Exchange for the 51 countries of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM).  

Download the guide to Malaysia here and the regional guide here

If you're an artist or cultural professional from Malaysia, explore this section for funding for the Malaysian sector: 

1. Hai-O Foundation

• Hai-O Arts & Culture Grant: The Hai-O Arts and Culture Grants supports artistic initiatives that articulate the Malaysian identity through interdisciplinary, multicultural, and experimental approaches. 

2. Krishen Jit Fund 

• Krishen Jit Fund: The Krishen Jit Fund supports experimental creative work in Malaysia across a range of disciplines, and encourages the pursuit of innovative modes of expression and intervention. 

3. The National Department for Culture and Arts (JKKN)

• JKKN Art Incentives: JKKN offers several financial incentives to Malaysian arts and culture NGOs and practitioners to increase their capacity to organise activities related to the cultural arts. Priority will be given for cultural arts activities that are based on or elevate Malaysian arts, culture and heritage.

4. Think City

• Think City Grants: Open to individuals, collectives, community/civil society organisations based in Malaysia, the grant supports projects and initiatives that contribute to making cities within Malaysia, specifically within the cities of Butterworth, George Town, Johor Bahru, and Kuala Lumpur,  more liveable, creative, vibrant, and sustainable. This includes efforts such as the conservation of heritage buildings, activating under-utilised public spaces through arts initiatives, and research that supports the conservation of history and heritage. 

5. Yayasan Hasanah

• Arts for All Seasons (ArtsFAS) Grant: The grant programme is dedicated to preserving Malaysia’s diverse arts, heritage, and culture. It is open to Malaysian arts practitioners for a variety of arts and culture initiatives, from screenings, theatre productions, workshops, exhibitions, festivals, to place-making activities. 

6. Yayasan Sime Darby 

• Yayasan Sime Darby Sponsorships: Offers sponsorships for projects related to arts and culture, with a focus on projects that benefit society at large. 

While the guide focuses on funded types of support relating to mobility and cross border travels, here are additional funding schemes available that support other project related expenses:

1. Australia-ASEAN Council

• Australia-ASEAN Council (AAC) grants: Provides seed funding for innovative projects that support knowledge development. Multi-country applications with strong community outreach and lasting partnerships are encouraged to better develop relations between countries. While only Australian cultural professionals and organisations are eligible to apply, applicants must show evidence that they will be working with a Southeast Asian partner.

2. Goethe-Institut

• International Co-production Fund (IKF): Supports co-productions worldwide that grow out of collaborative and dialogue-based working processes in the fields of music, dance, theatre, and performance art. The fund promotes innovative productions and international cultural exchange as well as new approaches to intercultural collaboration and networking. Individuals from the performing arts sector and particularly those from Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam are encouraged to apply to realise an International project partnership and artistic collaboration.  

3. International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA)

• IDFA Bertha Fund: This fund lends assistance to film documentary professionals from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam to produce their creative documentaries and garner international exposure. The fund supports documentaries that use strong visual treatments, focusing on both unknown and seasoned filmmakers, supporting their breakthrough from marginalised positions.

4.  International Film Festival Rotterdam 

• Hubert Bals Fund: The Hubert Bals Fund is designed to help remarkable or urgent feature films by innovative and talented filmmakers from Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and parts of Eastern Europe on their road to completion.

5. Sørfond / The Norwegian South Film Fund

• Sørfond: The fund aims to strengthen film as a cultural expression, and support freedom of speech and human rights in Development Assistance Committee (DAC) countries where these rights are limited for political, social, or economic reasons. The fund provides production support to independent film producers making fiction or documentary films, and seeks to forge close cooperation between Norwegian filmmakers and filmmakers in DAC countries.

6. The Commonwealth Foundation

• The Commonwealth Foundation Grants: Supports projects by civil society organisations based in Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and other Commonwealth countries, lasting up to two years. The projects should seek to facilitate constructive engagement between civil society and decision makers, including civil society participation in policy development and decision-making. Applications must address one or more of our three priority themes: health justice, freedom of expression, climate justice. Applicants are encouraged to explore the intersections between the three themes and, where appropriate, to consider addressing more than one.

7. The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur 

• Small Grant programme: The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur (JFKL) offers grants to support activities that promote, introduce, and deepen understanding of Japan, and its language and culture, as well to support projects that encourage multilateral cultural exchange between the applicant countries of Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Singapore, and Japan. For arts and culture projects, this may include performances, exhibitions, and film screenings.

8. World Cinema Fund 

• World Cinema Fund (WCF): Promotes filmmaking in regions with a weak film infrastructure, while fostering cultural diversity in German cinemas as well as supporting collaboration between German and producers and partners in WCF countries such as Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam. The WCF provides support in the fields of production, post-production and distribution for feature length films and creative documentary features (minimum length 70 minutes).