The Inter-Asian Fund is a project of Arts Network Asia, a group of independent artists and arts activists, primarily from South East Asia, which aims to encourage and support regional artistic collaboration and to develop managerial and administrative skills in the creative arts of Asia. Through the Inter-Asian Fund, Arts Network Asia provides approximately 8 to 10 awards annually, aimed at developing (i) inter-cultural and cross-national collaborations and exchanges that can take the form of dialogues, workshops, seminars, residencies and productions; (ii) artistic networks that will create links between South East Asia and South and East Asia by way of exchange and information sharing; (iii) an arena for challenging and provocative collaborations that face the questions of difference, as well as explore the tensions between global and local identities; and (iv) administrative and management skills through exposure and internship schemes. It invites applications from artists of all disciplines (dance, theatre, music, video, film, multimedia and visual arts) who share or extend its philosophy covering all the arts disciplines. It will also consider applications for research and study grants and exchange projects (not limited to collaborations) that foster inter-cultural interaction, exchange and understanding. Arts Network Asia takes a nurturing role in projects by Asian artists, working together with those artists to develop projects to fruition. The Network adopts an approach of openness and transparency and works with the major languages of Asia, including Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Malaysia, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Thai, Vietnamese and English.