The Digital Design and Art Grants offer an opportunity for designers and artists to develop a digital project of their choosing.
Introduction
The School of Communication & Design (SCD) at RMIT Vietnam is pleased to announce the 4th edition of the RMIT Vietnam Digital Design & Art Grants.
This grant offers an opportunity for designers and artists of Vietnamese nationality to develop a digital project of their own choosing. SCD is seeking two candidates with demonstrated interest and experience in Digital Design and Art.
RMIT Vietnam will provide access to its software and hardware tools and appropriate technical support. All proposals will be considered in relation to the relevance, availability of resources and expertise within SCD. Further details are as follows:
- Be a Vietnamese citizen (Vietnamese passport or National ID holder).
- Be competent in written and spoken English.
- Not be a current RMIT employee or student at the moment of submission and during the project timeframe.
- Not be immediate family member (parents, children, siblings, half-brother, spouses) to any current RMIT employee.
- Have a minimum of 4 years of proven experience in Digital Art and Design fields if the applicant is not a former student of RMIT Vietnam.
- Have a minimum of 2 years of proven experience in Digital Art and Design fields after graduating from RMIT Vietnam, if the applicant is a former student
The following obligations apply to selected grantees upon award of the grant.
- Develop the chosen project within the specific timeframes approved by SCD.
- Be project-based: to deliver an outcome that has been stated in the proposal.
- Result in work that is digital in its outcome.
- Share or present the work in a public exhibition; this may be supplemented with an artist talk or related public program.
- Take part in occasional extracurricular activities for the benefit of our students (e.g., guest lectures, field trips, demonstrations, etc.) to share the progress of creating the work.
- Be in Ho Chi Minh City by the time of exhibition.
- Access to appropriate technical support and SCD’s resources for their project development.
- A budget of up to VND 55,000,000 per project to cover all production costs and all other expenses (i.e. Personal Income Tax).
- A budget of up to VND 50,000,000 (per grantee) for a joint showcase of the two projects whose quality must be reviewed and approved by SCD, RMIT Vietnam. The budget covers all exhibition costs (i.e. curator’s fees, equipment and venue costs) and other expenses (i.e. Personal Income Tax).
- Support from the SCD, RMIT Vietnam for other sponsorship opportunities (exhibition venue, equipment, etc.) given no conflicts of interests.
Application will be evaluated based on:
- Artistic innovation and originality
- Conceptual clarity of proposed artwork
- Feasibility within timeline and budget
- Technical competency
- Potential impact and engagement with Digital Media
Timeline
The grants will be divided into 3 phases as follows:
- Application submission: 30th March 2026 to 24th April 2026 (11:59 PM/GMT+7)
- Pre-selection announcements and interviews: 28th April 2026 to 14th May 2026
- Final selection announcement: 15th May 2026
- Project commencement: 15th June 2026
- First WIP presentation: 13th July 2026
- Second WIP presentation: 17th August 2026
- Project completion and final presentation: 18th September 2026
Please note that for each WIP presentation, the grantees must demonstrate the progress of their projects through deliverables such as videos, sketches, storyboards and a comprehensive oral presentation of the current developments. The Committee reserves the right to disqualify the grantees’ work if deemed insufficient for the WIP presentation’s requirements. In such cases, the grantees' grant will be renounced.
The grantees will work with a curator to propose a plan for a joint showcase proposal which must include the following information:
- Installation plan for each individual work.
- Timeline (production, printing, setup/teardown, opening and any related on-site activities, etc.)
- Cost estimation list including all required items in detail (venue, printed and or digital, equipment/devices, quantity, amount, catering, media production, etc.)
- Communication plans
- Potential partnership and/or sponsorship (if any).
- Please note that the allocated budget is inclusive of venue and equipment costs and curator’s fees. It is highly recommended that the grantees co-produce the showcase with a curator appointed either by the artists or SCD, RMIT Vietnam.
- SCD, RMIT Vietnam will support the grantees in applying for other sponsorships such as exhibition venues and professional equipment leases.
- RMIT Vietnam and the grantees will enter into an agreement for the use of the grant. If the grantee cannot complete the work or is unable to fully complete it, he/she must promptly notify RMIT Vietnam with the reasons for this. In such cases, RMIT Vietnam has the right to terminate the agreement early and may reduce, in whole or in part, the agreed remuneration based on the results submitted at that time. RMIT Vietnam also reserves the right to seek compensation for damages if the grantee fails to meet the agreements during the completion schedule.
Proposal deadline: 2nd October 2026
How to apply
To apply, submit your application using this form here before the deadline of 24th April 2026 (11:59 PM/GMT+7).
1. Your CV
2. Your portfolio
3. The project proposal
1. Submit your CV along with supporting documents including a notarised copy of your Vietnamese passport or National ID, English proficiency certificate, proof of work experience, and any professional awards, as a single PDF.
2. Demonstrate sufficient English proficiency by submitting one of the following:
- English proficiency certificate
- Completion of formal education delivered in English
3. Your professional artist or designer’s portfolio as a single PDF, containing:
- An artist/designer’s statement, declaring your research and artistic/design interests and practices.
- Visual documentation of your 5 most recent works, each accompanied by a brief description (under 200 words). For new media work (software, VJ, apps, etc.) and video/performance, please include a public link (Vimeo, YouTube or website, etc.) in the description for review.
4. A single PDF document that briefly describes the nature of your proposed project. This should contain:
- Your name.
- The provisional title of your project.
- The intended outcomes or deliverables of your project, including the outcomes that you would present in the 3 WIP presentations.
- A budget proposal detailing all the resources your project would require (space requirements, materials, software, hardware, etc.).
- Any specific support you will require (e.g. technical help, such as support with software, etc.)
Please note that all the above documents must be in English.
Any questions related to the open call, please email digiartgrants@rmit.edu.vn.
Intellectual property
- Intellectual Property (or IP) includes all rights in respect of copyright and related rights, designs, circuit layouts, trademarks, trade secrets, know-how, moral rights, confidential information, patents, inventions, discoveries and domain names.
- All proposals must be original content, and no third-party rights can be infringed. Any legal issues derived from copyright violation is the responsibility of the grantee.
- RMIT Vietnam does not claim ownership of IP; all rights remain with the grantee.
- The grantee will grant RMIT Vietnam a non-exclusive right to use the work for five years from its publication, in both physical and online digital media, for the purpose of RMIT Vietnam communication and archives and not for commercial purposes.
- For the proposal and the creation process of the work, referred to as "Work in Progress" (WIP), RMIT Vietnam can use the WIP for archival purposes and provide it to RMIT Vietnam’s library for educational purposes.
- Before the complete work is exhibited, the grantee is not allowed to present the work elsewhere without RMIT Vietnam’s endorsement. After RMIT Vietnam’s approved exhibition concludes, the artist is free to develop further presentations of the work.
- Any dissemination of outputs or artwork results from the grant should rightfully acknowledge the funding - “This work has been conducted and produced through RMIT Vietnam Digital Design & Art Grants – 2026".
- The grantee must always mention that the work is funded by RMIT Vietnam during the grant period, the final exhibition, and after the final exhibition.
- All produced contents should comply with the Vietnamese laws, and no discrimination or hate content is to be endorsed by RMIT, with no exceptions.
- Applying to the Grant implies the grantee agrees with the current conditions.
- Details are to be discussed in the agreement between RMIT Vietnam and the grantees.
Committee
Martin Constable
Martin Constable has exhibited widely in Europe and Asia as a painter and digital artist. In 2000, he was nominated for the prestigious Sovereign Art Foundation prize. His clients include David Bowie, Elton John, Iggy Pop, Lord Gowrie (former Minister of the Arts, UK), The Arts Council of Britain, Glaxo Smith Klien, The Rotary Club of Great Britain, JPMorgan Chase, UniCredit group and Deutsche Bank. As a teacher, he has a passion for visual effects and digital media
Nguyen Hoang Giang
Nguyen Hoang Giang is a multimedia artist and digital designer in Ho Chi Minh City. His works, featured both in international art galleries such as Museo del 900 (IT), Asian Cultural Complex (KR), Kunstverein Tiergarten (DE) and commercial venues, explore technology's social and cultural impacts. He is currently an Associate Lecturer at Digital Media Program, RMIT Vietnam.
Ricardo Arce
Ricardo Arce is the Digital Media program manager at RMIT Vietnam. Former President of the Colombian chapter of the International Animated Film Society (ASIFA), affiliated to the Society for Animation Studies (SAS), and Sur A Sur Latin-American Animation Studies Network. Graphic Designer, Television Specialist, and Master in Aesthetics and Art History has published on Colombian and Latin-American animation, and produced animated short films in Colombia, China and Vietnam.