Namibia has approved an additional 342,000 Namibian dollars (about 19,700 U.S. dollars) as part of the grant to bail out the country’s arts sector, which has been grounded by a State of Emergency imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The country had earlier approved a five million Namibian dollars grant to bail out the country’s arts sector.
The funds were made available through the National Arts Council of Namibia’s Arts and Culture COVID-19 Relief Fund for the cultural and creative industries, the council’s administrator Gretta Gaspar said Sunday.
“The Arts and Culture COVID-19 Relief Fund of the National Arts Council of Namibia with the support of the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, is a temporary project-based relief fund to support the cultural and creative industries to continue implementing their mandate, and sustain their operations during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Gaspar said.
The fund is open to individual artists, cultural workers, groups, and registered organizations.
About 47 eligible applications were received for the second cycle for review.