New UK-Sri Lanka artistic collaborations unveiled through British Council’s Connection Through Culture grants

The British Council is proud to announce the recipients of the 2025 Connections Through Culture (CTC) Grant Programme, which supports a new wave of artistic collaborations between the United Kingdom and international partners.

This year, 127 projects have been awarded grants globally, with six from Sri Lanka. Each brings artists and organisations from the UK and different parts of the world to exchange ideas, co-create, and explore bold new approaches to some of today’s most pressing global challenges.

From reimagining traditional craft, digital technology and tackling the climate crisis through performance and visual storytelling, the 2025 grantees reflect the extraordinary power of the arts to spark innovation, dialogue, and change.

"Each of the 2025 projects tells a story of artists finding common ground, experimenting, and creating something new together. These collaborations remind us that the arts thrive on mutual exchange and that when people connect across cultures, they create work that resonates far beyond their own communities," said Orlando Edwards, Country Director, British Council Sri Lanka.

As the programme grows, so too does its reach. First launched in the Asia Pacific region, Connections Through Culture welcomes grantees from Europe and South Asia, with Nepal joining the programme for the first time in 2025. This expansion means more artists than ever can connect with the UK, exchange knowledge, and co-create projects that celebrate cultural diversity and explore shared futures.

"What makes Connections Through Culture so special is the diversity it brings together. Different traditions, ideas, and artistic practices converging to create something new," said Ruth Mackenzie CBE, British Council Director of Arts. "With its expansion, the programme connects even more voices and communities, strengthening the role of arts in fostering peace, trust, and prosperity across borders."

Through this cycle, the British Council will provide over GBP 1, 200, 000 in funding globally, supporting grantees to take risks, experiment, and create work that transcends borders.

The six 2025 Sri Lanka recipients:

An Oak Tree to a Banyan Tree

Sri Lanka: Kanchuka Nayani Dharmasiri

UK: Tim Crouch

“An Oak Tree to a Banyan Tree” is a theatrical collaboration that explores translation, performance and cross-cultural exchange. It reimagines Tim Crouch’s internationally acclaimed play An Oak Tree in a Sri Lankan context, translated into Sinhala by Kanchuka Dharmasiri. This radically experimental play invites audiences to rethink the politics and poetics of performance, as well as personal and political realities.

Emerging Voices: South Asia x UK

Sri Lanka: Academy of Design (AOD)

UK: Fashion Scout (Merit Events Ltd)

Emerging Voices: South Asia x UK is a cross-cultural collaboration between emerging designers from Sri Lanka and the UK, supported by AOD and Fashion Scout. Blending traditional South Asian craftsmanship with contemporary design, it explores identity, sustainability, and cultural heritage. The project empowers young creatives to craft authentic narratives using techniques such as batik, beeralu lace, and dumbara weaving.

Living Looms, Breathing Lacquer: Co-creating Ecological Futures with Sri Lankan Artisan Heritage

Sri Lanka: Prof. Sudarshana Bandara (University of Peradeniya)

UK: Royal College of Art (Dr Dilusha De Zoysa Rajapakse)

Other partners: The Media and Special Project Bureau of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic (Sri Lanka).

The project safeguards endangered ecological knowledge embedded in two traditional Sri Lankan crafts: ceremonial sunshade weaving (Seesath) and lacquer work (Laksha). Through Oral history interviews and co-design workshops, it co-creates a digital storytelling archive.

Sri Lanka and Scotland: connections through tea

Sri Lanka: Dr. Shyamantha Bandara (Tea Research Institute of Sri Lanka)

UK: University of the Highlands and Islands - North, West and Hebrides

This research project will explore the personal histories of Scottish tea planters who lived and worked in Sri Lanka through interviews with themselves and their families. It will look at their motivations, daily work, business affairs, legacy, and the experience of living and working across two worlds.

Weather Reports: Sounding Sri Lanka’s Climate Across Diaspora and Homeland

Sri Lanka: Imaad Majeed

UK: Cassie Layton (aka Toulip Wonder) 

Other partners: Colomboscope Festival (Sri Lanka), DreamSpace Academy (Sri Lanka) and Suren Seneviratne (UK)

Weather Reports is a collaborative trilingual sound and performance project bringing together 10 Sri Lankan artists from the homeland and the UK to creatively respond to climate change in Sri Lanka. A programme of talks, workshops, skillshares and performances will be presented during the Colomboscope festival.

Weathering Grounds

Sri Lanka: Meshground

UK: ClimArts

Other partners: Alleyne Dance (UK)

Weathering Grounds: A Choreographic Exchange for Intersectional Climate Justice is a Sri Lanka–UK research project exploring how dance can respond to climate change, inequality, and post-conflict trauma. Through online labs, an intensive and choreographic R&D in Colombo, Sri Lankan artists will engage in climate storytelling, embodied resilience, and movement research.

For more information on the UK - Sri Lanka collaborative projects, visit: https://www.britishcouncil.lk/programmes/arts/connections-through-culture-grantee-2025