U.S. Ambassadors’ Fund for Cultural Preservation Announced

The Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa is now accepting applications for the 2016 Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation. The deadline for applications is December 31st 2015. No extensions will be granted. Please contact Cultural Affairs Team at PASKinshasaGrants@state.gov for more information and to receive the necessary paperwork.

Since its creation by the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation has provided financial support to more than 640 cultural preservation projects in more than 100 countries. This accomplishment, now 10 years in the making, represents a contribution of nearly $26 million towards the preservation of cultural heritage worldwide.

The Fund supports a wide range of projects to preserve cultural heritage, such as the restoration of historic buildings, assessment and conservation of museum collections, archaeological site preservation, documentation of vanishing traditional craft techniques, improved storage conditions for archives and manuscripts, and documentation of indigenous languages.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Ambassador’s Fund has supported projects at the National Ethnological Museum and the University of Kinshasa, among other institutions, to protect their collections and to preserve Congolese culture. The fund has also sponsored efforts to preserve the traditional music of the Pygmy people.