The second call for applications was announced in March 2019. A total of 29 arts and culture organisations, including art collectives and academic institutions active in the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, applied for the grant. The applications were assessed through a series of evaluation phases that continued over four months, with an independent jury consisting of the artist Tayseer Al Batniji, artist and curator Khaled Hourani, academic Alaa al-Azza, social activist Majd Nasrallah, and the Chairperson of the Advisory Committee of the Rawa Creative Communities Palestinian Fund, Fadya Salfiti, writer Adania Shibli and curator Samar Martha. The seven jurors reviewed the eligible applications individually, and then met to discuss their individual assessments. The jury also conducted explanatory interviews with representatives of a number of the applicant organisations. Twelve organisations were selected for the initial shortlist. Grant applications were evaluated on the basis of the following criteria with regard to how the proposed projects would:
• contribute to the achievement of all (or some) of VAFF’s defined outcomes
• enhance the efficiency and sustainability of the applicant organisations
• improve the quality of the applicant organisation’s programmes
• develop the capacities of the applicant organisations for reaching wider audiences.
In the second evaluation phase, the jury assessed the modifications to the applications submitted by the organisations in accordance with the jury’s comments and recommendations, and reviewed the results of an Organisational Capacity Assessment (OCA) conducted by audit firms contracted by the Foundation to evaluate the applicant organisations and those selected for the shortlist.
This second phase resulted in the announcement of the second shortlist for the VAFF project comprising ten applicant organisations.
This phase of evaluation concluded with approving the initial short list of art institutions and collectives nominated to receive a “Visual Arts: A Flourishing Field” (VAFF) grant in its second cycle, based on the work plans and final budgets submitted by these institutions for each proposal.
As a result of the previous phases, ten grant implementation agreements were signed with ten institutions from the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, to implement the second cycle of the project, extending over 18 months. The institutions received grants totalling 13 million Swedish Kronor (1.4 million USD). During the stage of signing the agreements, a preliminary study of the institutions was carried out by two external consultants. The project implementation phase began with follow-up procedures such as field visits and reviews of the reports from the partner institutions.
Meanwhile, annual reports are sent to the funder of the project, Sweden, with whom annual meetings are held, as stipulated in the project’s work plan.
The second cycle of the project will be completed gradually by the end of 2021. This will be followed by preparing the final reports of the project, including the audited financial report, and a review of VAFF’s final evaluation by an external consultant.
The implementation methodology of the second round is summarised in the following diagram: