WOW Bangladesh 2025–2026 Open Calls
British Council invites artists and organizations in Bangladesh to submit proposals celebrating women and gender equality through art and culture.
The British Council has launched two open calls for artists, cultural practitioners, and arts organisations based in Bangladesh or the UK to participate in WOW – Women of the World, a global movement celebrating women and girls while addressing gender equality through art and culture.
The first open call, WOW Bangladesh Commissions 2025, offers grants of up to £12,000 (equivalent in Bangladeshi Taka) to support individual artists and cultural practitioners in developing, producing, and presenting new works, exhibitions, performances, or screenings in Bangladesh during 2026.
The second open call, WOW Bangladesh Chapters 2026, provides grants of up to £23,000 (equivalent in Bangladeshi Taka) to support arts organisations located in Chattogram, Dhaka, Rajshahi, and Sylhet to host, curate, produce, and present day-long WOW Bangladesh Chapter events between 1 January and 30 August 2026.
Proposals should engage with gender through artistic or cultural expression, focusing on one or more of these themes: Film, Moving Image and Media Aesthetics; Hyperobject meets hyperobject: Gender and the climate emergency; and STE(A)M: Science, Technology, (Arts), Engineering and Maths.
Applicants are encouraged to think boldly and collaboratively, proposing public exhibitions, performances, discussions, screenings, and other creative events exploring gender and contemporary social themes. Multiple grants will be awarded across all artistic and cultural disciplines. An online information webinar for registered applicants will be held on Thursday, 6 November 2025 at 5:30pm.