Australia’s national arts funding body, the Australia Council, has recently announced almost AUS$4 million in funding for visual arts and craft, community cultural development and literature. Sixty-five applicants have received grants to a total of $1,036,786 from the council’s Literature Board, including funds to support six writers’ residencies in Ireland, Paris and Rome; $55,964 towards the 2002 National Playwrights' Conference and New Dramatists’ Exchange Program; as well as support to literary journals, such as Quadrant and Australian Book Review. Meanwhile, the council’s Community Cultural Development Board recently announced that a total of $1,737,850 would be granted to 63 community-based arts projects, including: $28,562 to Country Arts South Australia, to assist in funding a collaborative project with communities directly affected by development of the Adelaide/Darwin rail link; $23,500 to Wollongong City Council, towards an environmental public art project; $25,000 to Queensland’s Syncromesh Arts, towards presentation of a theatre work on mental health issues; and $13,380 to South Australia’s DVFM Youth Ensemble, to assist with development of a multi-arts collaboration with D Faces Youth Arts. 'Community cultural development unites Australians through the arts and strengthens relationships within local communities,' commented Federal Minister for the Arts and Sport, Senator Rod Kemp. The Australia Council has also announced a total of $1,056,211 in the latest funding round from its Visual Arts and Craft Board, including $10,000 to each of 32 outstanding local artists/craftspeople to further their skills in studios in New York, Barcelona, Tokyo, Taipei, Rome, Paris, Milan, Los Angeles and London, as well as $50,600 to Brazil's Fundacao Bienal de Sao Paulo, to assist with Australian participation in the XXV Bienal de Sao Paulo. 'The eminence of Australian artists has strengthened significantly on an international level in recent years – and Australian representation at the [bienal] will help advance our profile further,' said the minister.