The National Folk Fellowship is a creative fellowship offered by the National Library of Australia and the National Folk Festival, which provides support for professional development of artistic practice through research in the Library’s extensive folklore and related collections. It is available for Australians and international applicants for the year 2023.

This is a unique opportunity for established and emerging folk practitioners, including musicians, singers, dancers, poets, performance artists and collector/performers to conduct research and produce original work at the National Library of Australia. The fellowship provides a stipend of $8,000, studio access for up to 30 hours, a workstation with internet access, and digital copies of source materials.

The National Library of Australia (NLA), located in Parkes, Canberra, is the country’s biggest reference library. The Library’s collections of Australian have developed into the nation’s single most important resource of materials recording the Australian cultural heritage.

Why should join the National Library of Australia? Benefits of joining the National Library of Australia include access to extensive collections of materials for research and artistic development, opportunities for fellowships, scholarships, and grants, and the chance to contribute to and participate in various cultural events and initiatives.

Application Deadline: June 19, 2023

Brief Description

• University or Organization: The National Library of Australia
• Department: NA
• Course Level: Research program
• Award: NA
• Access Mode: Online
• Number of Awards: Varies
• Nationality: Australian and overseas citizen
• The award can be taken in the Australia

Eligibility

• Eligible Countries: Both Australian and overseas applicants are eligible to apply.
• Acceptable Course or Subjects: The fellowship will be awarded in any subject offered by the NLA.
• Admissible Criteria: To be eligible, the applicants must meet all the following criteria:
• A four-week residency,?which may be taken between October 2023 and February 2024.
• Performance at the National Folk Festival (April 2024).
• A live streamed, public presentation/performance at the National Library of Australia (October/November 2024).

How to Apply

• How to Apply: The applicant can apply by filing up the online application form.
• Supporting Documents: Applicants must provide the following supporting documents:
• A curriculum vitae
• Academic certificates and proofs
• Master’s and bachelor’s mark sheets
• To support your application, you may need to upload/submit attachments. This is quite straightforward, but you must have the documents saved on your computer or a storage device.
• Allow enough time for each file to upload before attempting to connect another. Files can be up to 25MB in size; it is recommended to keep files to a limit of 5MB in size – the larger the file, the longer the upload time.
• Admission Requirements: Applicants must fulfill the following admission requirements:
• A degree of talent.
• A successful project strategy and plan that employs original source materials in enhancing the performance.
• The ability to conduct research in the National Library’s collections.
• Language Requirement: Applicants must fulfill the following language requirements:
• Applicants must be fluent in English language. (both verbally as well as written)

Benefits

The university will provide all the following benefits to the selected candidates:

• The fellowship provides a stipend of $8,000, studio access for up to 30 hours, a workstation with internet access, and digital copies of source materials.
• The recipient is required to create material suitable for inclusion in the Library’s Oral History and Folklore collection, and a performance at the 2024 National Folk Festival and a presentation at the National Library.
• The fellowship is awarded to an individual, and funding is paid directly to the individual for the purposes of supporting their fellowship.

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