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Fundraising Lab
A collaborative research and learning programme for curators and cultural practitioners.Overview
Fundraising Lab is a collaborative research and learning programme initiated by AZIMUTH. Rather than operating as a single collective funding body, it supports curators and cultural practitioners in collectively researching UK and international funding ecosystems while developing strategies that remain aligned with their individual practices.
Participants remain independent practitioners, and the programme does not assume any mandatory affiliation to a specific project or organisation.
Programme Positioning
Fundraising Lab is designed as a shared space for research, exchange, and strategic learning around funding structures. It supports participants in navigating public and private funding systems while maintaining the independence of their own practices.
Core Objectives
Collective study of funding ecosystems
Research into public and private funding structures
Sharing application strategies
Peer feedback and review
Opportunity mapping
Sustainable knowledge sharing
Reducing informational isolation around funding systems
Fundraising Lab is not structured as a fixed collective.
Instead, it operates as a flexible alliance model in which different forms of collaboration may emerge depending on the needs and context of each project.
Possible structures may include individual applications, temporary curatorial collaborations, artist curator partnerships, and research based collective proposals.
Project based Role Distribution
When collaborative projects emerge, the programme values horizontal relationships while recognising the importance of practical role distribution.
Depending on the nature of each project, roles may include:
- Initiating curator
- Lead curator
- Research support
- Programme coordination
- Administration support
- Partnership development
- Communications support
- Archive support
- Display and Spatial Coordinator
- Event Operations
- Point of Contact
These roles are not intended to establish hierarchy, but to support workload distribution, strategic efficiency, sustainability, and practical execution.
Long-term Vision
Fundraising Lab is not simply a funding application workshop. It functions as a platform for long term experimentation in curatorial infrastructure building, peer led ecosystem learning, collaborative knowledge production, and sustainable support networks.
Through collective research, exchange, and evolving forms of collaboration, the programme creates conditions for more sustainable cultural practice.
Format
Session 1. Research & Sharing: 11 May 2026
Participants share fundraising case studies they have researched and discuss them in detail to collectively develop new ideas.
Session 2. Proposal Development: 18 May 2026
Participants design project structures suited to fundraising contexts and develop their proposals in more concrete terms.
Details
- 2-week programme (2 sessions, 3 hours each)
- Small cohort (6-10 participants)
With venuew support from 📍Chisenhale Art Place
64 Chisenhale Road, London, United Kingdom