U.S. Embassy Belgrade - Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation

AFCP Program Objectives:

AFCP was established to help countries preserve cultural heritage and to demonstrate U.S. respect for other cultures. The aim is to preserve cultural sites or objects that have an historical or cultural significance to the cultural heritage of Serbia.

AFCP gives top priority to project activities in keeping with international standards for the preservation of cultural heritage. An appropriate preservation activity is one that protects the values of the site, object or collection, or form of traditional cultural expression, as they are understood by stakeholders. Stakeholders may include national, regional, or local cultural authorities, the local community, and others with vested interests in the site and the outcome of a project.

Through the AFCP Program, the Department of State supports projects to preserve cultural heritage in the following three areas:

· CULTURAL SITES: This might include (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, or documentation of sites in a region for preservation purposes.

· CULTURAL OBJECTS AND COLLECTIONS: from a museum, cultural 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 state of conservation; inventory of a collection for conservation purposes; the creation of safe environments for storage or display of collections; or specialized training in the care and preservation of collections.

· FORMS OF TRADITIONAL CULTURAL EXPRESSION: This includes traditional music, rituals, knowledge, languages, dance, drama, and crafts. Proposal in this category may involve documenting and audiovisual recording of traditional music and dance forms as part of a traditional expression and making the information and recordings available, or support for training in preservation or traditional arts or crafts that are threatened by extinction.

Full implementation of the program is pending the availability of FY 2022 funds. Interested institutions are urged to consult with the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy as soon as possible for details and guidance on the AFCP 2022 competition.

The detailed text of this Notice of Funding Opportunity and the required application forms are located in the "Documents" tab and on the Embassy Belgrade website: https://rs.usembassy.gov/sr/.

If you have any questions about the grant application process, please contact: BelgradeAFCP@state.gov.