The U.S. Embassy and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State are pleased to announce the 2011 call for proposals for the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP).

The Fund was established to help countries preserve cultural heritage and to demonstrate U.S. respect for other cultures. The Fund is aimed at preserving cultural sites or objects that have an historical or cultural significance to the cultural heritage of Malaysia. The deadline for submitting a proposal in English is Friday, December 10, 2010.

• The Fund was established to help countries preserve their cultural heritage and proposals may be submitted targeting the following criteria:
• Cultural sites: This might include (but is not limited to) historical buildings and sites, sacred places, monuments, and archaeological sites.
• 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.

Forms of Traditional Cultural Expression: This includes traditional music, rituals, knowledge, languages, dance, drama, and crafts.

PRIORITY ACTIVITIES

AFCP gives top priority to project activities in keeping with international standards for the preservation of cultural heritage. These activities may include:

• In the case of Cultural Sites, restoration of a 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 purpose.
• In the case of Cultural objects and collections, 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.
• In the case of Forms of traditional cultural expression, documentation and audiovisual recording of traditional music and dance forms for preservation and eventual dissemination, or support for training

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.

Special Note Regarding Sites and Objects that have a Religious Connection: The establishment clause of the U.S. Constitution permits the government to include religious objects and sites within an aid program under certain conditions. For example, an item with a religious connection (including a place of worship) may be the subject of a cultural preservation grant if the item derives its primary significance and is nominated solely on the basis of architectural, artistic, historical or other cultural (not religious) criteria. For more information, please contact the Embassy’s Public Affairs Section at PublicAffairsKL@state.gov

For further details, application guidelines and F.A.Q., go here.