Currently 68 active paid grants, fellowships and residencies open to applicants in the Netherlands, across AI, arts, film, journalism, research, tech and cross-disciplinary practice. Hand-curated and updated weekly. Almost every entry is funded; a few notable unpaid open calls and festival submissions are included as clearly flagged exceptions. Browse the list below, or use the interactive desk for filtering and shortlisting.
Subscribe: RSS feed · Calendar (.ics)
A Mondriaan Fund voucher sending visual artists to Mexico Art Week 2027 in Mexico City, built around the Zona Maco art fair. The voucher covers admission to the Zona Maco preview days, a curated programme during the week, a networking event with the Dutch Embassy and hotel accommodation from 2 to 7 February 2027, plus a EUR 1,300 contribution to travel costs. Fifteen vouchers are available. ELIGIBILITY: visual artists from the Netherlands or the Caribbean part of the Kingdom with at least one year of professional practice. Applicants may not be enrolled in a bachelor's, master's or PhD programme, with an exception for part-time programmes under 20 hours per week. CONDITIONS: the artist must be available to stay in Mexico City from 2 to 7 February 2027 and take part in all scheduled activities, and must submit a written evaluation after the visit. APPLY through the Mondriaan Fund online system with a CV (maximum three pages), a motivation statement addressing your international ambitions, the relevance of Mexico Art Week to your practice and your networking strategy, bank details and, if applicable, a BRP extract. Deadline 10 September 2026 before 16:00 Dutch time / 10:00 Caribbean time.
This scheme funds cultural heritage institutions in the Netherlands and the Caribbean part of the Kingdom that want to collaborate with foreign heritage institutions on research projects in shared collection areas, including art historical and provenance research. A development phase can also be funded, covering travel, accommodation and presentation costs while the collaboration is being shaped. CONDITIONS: the applicant institution must be publicly accessible and manage nationally significant cultural heritage; it must partner with comparable institutions abroad; the research must be presented by both the Dutch and the international partners; the applicant must contribute significantly to financing the project; and the international partners' share of costs must be proportional to the Mondriaan Fund grant. AMOUNTS: up to 40% of variable project costs for the main project, or up to 70% of variable costs capped at EUR 15,000 for development research. APPLY through the Mondriaan Fund online application system after registering an account. Deadline 10 September 2026 before 16:00 Dutch time / 10:00 Caribbean time (an earlier 28 May 2026 round has passed).
Stichting Stokroos funds a three-month reflective residency at Fundaziun Nairs in Scuol, Switzerland, for one selected visual artist, designer or craft practitioner (overlap possible). Both emerging and established makers may apply. Stokroos covers full accommodation and meals directly with Fundaziun Nairs and provides a discretionary EUR 7,000 budget for living, travel and production. The application should include a proposal that engages specifically with the residency, its Alpine surroundings and/or its historical and cultural context. Eligibility: you completed your first subject-specific (vocational or higher) programme in 2022 or earlier, or have an equivalent established practice, or started without formal training (first presentation marks the start of your practice); at least 21 years old; living and working in the Kingdom of the Netherlands (including its Caribbean parts) or Suriname for at least one year; not currently enrolled in a study or post-academic programme. Applications are individual only; duos and collectives cannot apply. Makers already selected by Fundaziun Nairs may still apply if they meet the criteria. You may submit only one application per year across all Stokroos grants, and must not have received a Seed Grant rejection in the previous calendar year. Apply via the online form (Dutch or English) with a portfolio PDF up to 20 pages, optional video up to 10 minutes total, CV up to 2 pages, and work/plan descriptions up to 2,500 characters each. Selection includes an introductory interview with up to three candidates; Stokroos aims to respond within 8 weeks. No appeal is possible. Application window: 1 to 11 September 2026. More information at nairs.ch.
One residency for an artist, designer or maker working with sound, exploring spatial sound in relation to seismology, climate and discharge-related acoustics, run with the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute. THE PREMISE: climate change is making major landslides, ice-breakoff events from marine-terminating glaciers, and sound-producing ice movements more common. These generate infrasonic vibrations inaudible to humans that sometimes spread across the entire planet and into the atmosphere. The residency asks how immersive sound techniques can make these events tangible and build meaningful sonic narratives from them. WHAT YOU GET ACCESS TO: scientific data on seismological events, vibrations, infrasound and the movement of land and ice masses, with scientific expertise from KNMI (lead researcher Jelle Assink) and artistic guidance from the Futures of Listening team, relating local events to global impact. RESEARCH QUESTIONS to position your proposal against include how immersive sound can cultivate situated listening to ecological processes and more-than-human encounters, how artistic and scientific methods of working with environmental data can inform each other, and what is gained, lost or ethically at stake when environmental sounds are translated, interpreted or reconstructed through spatial and synthetic means. DELIVERABLE: residents are expected to create a final spatial sound production using the 4DSOUND system. Other outcomes may include immersive installations, data-driven sonic works, audiovisual pieces, software prototypes or reusable methodologies. Experience in art-science environments is welcome but not required; you may instead explain why working in one would benefit your practice. HARD ELIGIBILITY GATE: applicants must be based in the Netherlands AND registered as an artist with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK). This is not negotiable and rules out non-NL applicants. Futures of Listening is a Netherlands-based platform for spatial sound, immersive experience, performance and installation art, founded by FIBER Festival, 4DSOUND, Robin Koek and Art of Sound at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague, supported by CIIIC and Stimuleringsfonds.
One residency for an individual practitioner, a duo or a studio working at the intersection of sound and space, exploring architecture through spatial audio. THE PREMISE: architecture is traditionally conceived through form, structure, material and light, with sound treated as something to be controlled or optimised afterwards. This residency asks what happens if architecture begins with sound, shifting the question from how a space should sound to how sound can generate space. Spatial audio, virtual acoustics and immersive media now allow prototyping of responsive environments, impossible architectures and sonic spaces beyond physical constraints. RESEARCH QUESTIONS include how sound can become a first principle in architectural and spatial design, how the acoustic properties of space inform the creation and perception of spatial sound, and how artistic research can shape the future tools, interfaces and methods of spatial sound creation. NOT JUST ARTWORKS: they explicitly say they want new methods, insights and creative infrastructures too. Outcomes may include installations, spatial audio compositions, performances, audiovisual works, software prototypes, reusable methodologies or modular interfaces. Residents may collaborate with a 4DSOUND software developer to prototype new tools, and practitioners who already build their own software, hardware or creative technologies are encouraged to advance those as part of the residency. WHO: architects are the named invitees, with scenographers, spatial designers, installation artists, sound artists, composers and creative technologists also encouraged. Creative coding experience is welcome but not required. Lead researcher is Poul Holleman, co-founder and director of 4DSOUND. HARD ELIGIBILITY GATE: applicants must be based in the Netherlands AND registered as an artist with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK). This is not negotiable and rules out non-NL applicants. Futures of Listening is a Netherlands-based platform for spatial sound, immersive experience, performance and installation art, founded by FIBER Festival, 4DSOUND, Robin Koek and Art of Sound at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague, supported by CIIIC and Stimuleringsfonds.
One residency to research and develop an interactive listening experience built on non-linear sound narratives, experienced by navigating through a series of virtual spaces or layers. NO VISUALS: Worlding Narratives centres sound as the primary medium for immersion and intentionally removes dominant visual layers such as VR, AR, projection or video. THE DESIGN PROBLEM they want tackled is translation and adaptation, specifically the shift from one visitor in a headphone-mediated experience to rendering for a multi-speaker system for group interaction. That change in dynamics, reproduction and perspective is integral to the residency scope. RESEARCH QUESTIONS include how immersive sound can function as a primary narrative medium across speculative and non-fictional realities, what new narrative structures and dramaturgical methods become possible when the creative process originates from sound rather than adapting frameworks from other media, and how interactive sonic structures can create navigable listening experiences designed for and by multiple intelligences. Outcomes may include interactive sonic prototypes, spatial audio compositions, immersive listening experiences, narrative sound works or software prototypes. WORTH NOTING: your residency runs in tandem with resident Pinar Temiz, an expert in sound design for gaming environments, with the opportunity to work together. Lead researcher is Dr Angela McArthur of UCL, with research support from Dr meLe yamomo of the University of Amsterdam. WHO: media and sound artists, sound designers, musicians producing their own sonic work, field recordists, writers, composers and game sound designers. Experience with interactive audio, spatial sound tools or game-sound workflows is welcome but not required. HARD ELIGIBILITY GATE: applicants must be based in the Netherlands AND registered as an artist with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK). This is not negotiable and rules out non-NL applicants. Futures of Listening is a Netherlands-based platform for spatial sound, immersive experience, performance and installation art, founded by FIBER Festival, 4DSOUND, Robin Koek and Art of Sound at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague, supported by CIIIC and Stimuleringsfonds.
Open call from the Creative Industries Fund NL (Stimuleringsfonds) for projects within digital culture that provide insight into and reduce the ecological impact of digital technology. Data storage in the cloud, generative AI chatbots and other everyday digital habits carry major ecological consequences: the energy consumption of data centres, the raw materials used for hardware, and ever-growing e-waste. The Fund encourages projects that make the ecological (and therefore also social) impact of digital technologies and data consumption tangible, question it, and put alternative working methods into practice, around topics such as regenerative culture, degrowth, low-tech, the reuse of obsolete hardware, and responsibility for the technologies we use within digital culture. Applications may concern new projects or the reinterpretation or further development of existing initiatives that show scope for more depth or a changed approach. Collaborations in which designers, makers or researchers engage with sustainability from an intersectional perspective are explicitly encouraged. The grant may be used for artistic and substantive development, research, collaboration, knowledge sharing, presentation and documentation. ELIGIBILITY: individual makers, designers, researchers or collectives working on alternative ways of handling digital technology, registered with a Chamber of Commerce within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Grant awards a maximum of EUR 30,000; maximum project duration one year. This call is open from 17 August 2026, 15:00 CEST until 14 September 2026, 16:00 CEST. No application fee. Questions: digitalecultuur@stimuleringsfonds.nl.
The Dossiersubsidie is the Fonds BJP scheme for freelance regional and local journalists in the Netherlands who want to follow one subject properly rather than chase daily news, funding up to EUR 19,200 for six months of sustained reporting on a single dossier. It is aimed at the gap left by shrinking regional newsrooms, where structural coverage of local government, housing, care or industry rarely gets paid time. ELIGIBILITY: freelance journalists working in Dutch regional and local media only (staff journalists and national-only reporters are directed to the fund's other schemes). The fund also runs a year-round Vooronderzoekssubsidie of up to EUR 8,800 for preliminary research and a year-round Uitvoeringssubsidie of up to EUR 38,600 for carrying out projects, both open to all journalists. APPLICATION WINDOW: 17 August to 14 September 2026, via the Fonds BJP subsidy portal. Online office hours on 8 September 2026; questions on 020 63 86 295.
The MIT R&D Collaboration Projects scheme (MIT R&D-samenwerkingsprojecten, part of MKB Innovatiestimulering Topsectoren) funds joint R&D projects by Dutch SMEs within the national Top Sectors and Mission-driven Innovation policy. The grant covers 35 percent of eligible costs: small projects of EUR 50,000-200,000 and large projects of EUR 200,000-350,000 (with per-participant ranges of EUR 25,000-100,000 for small and EUR 25,000-175,000 for large). Eligible applicants are consortia of at least two collaborating SMEs, with no single participant carrying more than 70 percent of costs. The national RVO round runs 9 June to 15 September 2026 (closes 17:00) and is a ranked tender, not first-come-first-served; some provinces run separate regional MIT windows. No application fee. Apply via RVO.
Small curiosity-driven research grants in the social sciences and humanities, awarded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). Round 3 of the 2026 SSH Open Competition XS closes 15 September 2026, 14:00 CEST. Up to EUR 50,000 per project to enable researchers to pursue novel, exploratory and high-risk ideas without the constraints of larger themed calls. ELIGIBILITY: academic researchers with an institutional affiliation at a Dutch university or recognised Dutch knowledge institute. Proposals are assessed on scientific quality and the potential for renewal of social-sciences and humanities research. Round 3 details and the dedicated application page will be published by NWO closer to the deadline; the linked page is the most recent SSH XS round, which is the same scheme.
Heritage Innovation funds projects and research tracks that contribute to substantive innovation in the heritage sector. Examples given by the fund include developing new narratives about cultural heritage, strengthening regional collaboration across the sector, redesigning how a collection is presented, and feasibility studies on technological applications such as AI or gamification, which makes this one of the more tech-adjacent Mondriaan schemes. WHO CAN APPLY: museums and collection-holding cultural heritage institutions, including archives, in the Netherlands and the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. Cultural organisations in the heritage sector may also apply if they collaborate with one or more collection-holding institutions. All applicants must be non-profit, not-for-profit entities. NOT FUNDED: fixed costs, restoration, building museums, or regular operations. CONDITIONS: institutions must subscribe to the Fair Practice Code, the Culture Governance Code and the Diversity and Inclusion Code, and must pay visual artists fairly where artists are involved. AMOUNTS: projects get up to 40% of variable project-related costs on a minimum project budget of EUR 25,000; research tracks get up to 70% of costs capped at EUR 15,000 with no minimum budget. APPLY through the Mondriaan Fund online system after registering an account. Deadline 17 September 2026 before 16:00 Dutch time / 10:00 Caribbean time.
Open call from the Creative Industries Fund NL supporting designers in deepening and professionalising their own practice rather than delivering an external client project. It funds practice development across design, architecture, digital culture and the crossovers between them, and the Fund explicitly names digital storytellers and sound designers among eligible practitioners, which makes it one of the more accessible routes for a maker working between technology and art. ELIGIBILITY: designers with an independent practice of at least four years, established in the Netherlands or the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. Temporary collectives may apply with one lead applicant. Grants run from EUR 8,250 to EUR 28,250. The window runs 19 August 2026, 15:00 CEST to 17 September 2026, 16:00 CEST.
Subsidy supporting in-depth activities or innovative impulses within the artistic practice of Rotterdam-based visual artists, with a clearly defined artistic question or objective. Applicants must be registered with Art Office (artoffice.info) with an up-to-date artist page. The 2026 Round 2 deadline is 21 September 2026, 11:00 (form opens 10 August 2026); results by 16 November 2026. Round 1 (deadline 2 March 2026) has already closed. Decisions made by the director of CBK Rotterdam on advice from an expert committee.
This scheme funds international activity by the Dutch design, architecture and digital culture sectors, covering projects that take place mainly abroad and require at least one international partner. Open to professional makers, observers, design agencies and cultural institutions. Grants run EUR 10,000 to EUR 50,000 with at least 20 percent co-financing. The round runs 25 August 2026, 15:00 CEST to 22 September 2026, 16:00 CEST. From 2026 places are allocated by lottery draw rather than order of submission. Activities in countries under a code-red travel advisory or subject to sanctions are excluded. Applicants must be registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK).
Fonds Podiumkunsten's route for Dutch festivals and venues bringing in exceptional foreign performing arts and concerts that Dutch audiences would otherwise not see. The applicant must be a Netherlands-registered legal entity running a venue or festival and carrying artistic and financial responsibility for its own programme, so individuals and sole traders cannot apply. Grants are calculated from travel and transport costs of the incoming artists, at a maximum of EUR 25,000 per production and EUR 75,000 per applicant across several productions. The core test is that the foreign work is rarely or never seen in the Netherlands and substantially enriches the existing Dutch offer, which favours experimental, non-canonical and cross-disciplinary programming over mainstream touring. Experimental music and sound-art programming is not excluded; the selection criterion is rarity and added value, not genre. Applications go through the Mijn Fonds portal and there is no fee. Four rounds run each year. TIMING: because the scheme competes against a shared EUR 267,500 per-round pot and assessment takes several weeks after the deadline, organisers should apply at least one full round ahead of the performance date and must not have the activity already underway. Success rate in 2025 was 60 percent of 33 applications.
Annual scheme funding festival organisations in the creative industries (design, architecture, digital culture, fashion, e-culture, etc.) presenting a 2027 edition. Application window opens 25 August 2026 at 15:00 CEST and closes 23 September 2026 at 16:00 CEST. Supports both content programming and the organisational/curatorial running of a festival; applicants must be organisations rather than individuals, but the scheme is the natural home for any artist-led collective or platform that runs a critical-AI / digital-culture / surveillance-focused festival event. Note the wider 2026 context: Stimuleringsfonds is restructuring its grant offering for 2027, and several individual schemes (Design, Digital Culture) have been reduced to two rounds in 2026. The Festivals scheme is a separate annual track and one of the cleaner ways to access SCI funding for an event-format project.
Joint open call from the Creative Industries Fund NL and the Cultural Participation Fund supporting platforms that develop design-based learning, covering product design, textile and fashion, spatial design and creative coding. Maximum EUR 75,000 per application from a EUR 720,000 pool, with regional quotas including the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. ELIGIBILITY IS NARROW: only foundations (stichtingen) may apply. Educational institutions and organisations already receiving four-year BIS funding are excluded, and individuals cannot apply. Deadline 23 September 2026, 16:00 CEST.
Utrecht's main project fund for cultural activity with a public presentation in the city, covering all art forms including experimental and cross-disciplinary work. Individuals, foundations, associations and companies are all eligible. Two bands apply: Category A of EUR 1,000 to 5,000 assessed on artistic importance and entrepreneurship, and Category B of EUR 5,000 to 20,000 which adds meaning for the city as a third criterion. The activity must be exceptional or innovative, or otherwise of value to the city, its residents or the Utrecht cultural sector; professional projects and amateur, education or participation projects both qualify. Three rounds run each year and the next closes 25 September 2026 at 17:00 CET. TIMING RULE, which catches applicants out: for professional arts applications the presentation may not take place earlier than 13 weeks after the round's closing date, and for participatory applications the project may not start earlier than 13 weeks after that date, so a 25 September 2026 application supports activity from late December 2026 onward. Decisions are issued no later than 13 weeks after the closing date, following review by an independent Adviescommissie Projectsubsidies. Documentation is capped at 15 pages, or 5 pages if a video is included. Applications go through mijnsubsidie.utrecht.nl with DigiD or eHerkenning. Utrecht also runs a rolling Impulssubsidie Cultuur of up to EUR 2,500 for first-time applicants only, open through 31 December 2026.
The Grey Space in the Middle in The Hague invites young transdisciplinary makers based in the Netherlands whose practices engage with the intersections of art, technology and society to submit an existing artwork for State of States, a thematic exhibition diptych unfolding across two group shows (27 November - 6 December 2026 and 7 - 17 January 2027). The exhibition explores how artists locate themselves within a state, political or holistic, informed by digital culture: statehood, belonging, digitalism, inclusion/exclusion, space-claiming and network-systems are the guiding keywords. Selected artists are divided into groups of five per exhibition; each receives a EUR 375 fee, and can earn up to EUR 725 more for co-organising and participating in a context programme developed collectively between selection and build-up. APPLY with a description of the artwork (max 500 words), up to 10 images, recordings for moving image or sound work, a portfolio and a link to socials/website. Deadline: 25 September 2026, midnight.
BNG Cultuurfonds funds arts and culture projects that add value for Dutch municipalities and their inhabitants, explicitly including temporary exhibitions, public programmes and festivals developed by professional makers. Media art, digital culture and cross-disciplinary work qualify as long as a professional maker's artistic vision leads the project. Only stichtingen (foundations) may apply: no sole traders, associations, individuals, or foundations in formation. Applications go by email to aanvraag.cultuurfonds@bngbank.nl with a signed form, a project plan of at most 3,500 words, a specified budget and coverage plan, current statutes and a recent KvK extract. The grant is EUR 5,000 to 15,000 and can cover no more than 35 percent of the budget. TIMING IS THE MAIN TRAP: for the 27 September 2026 deadline, feedback comes at the end of December 2026 and the project may not start before 1 January 2027, with applications for earlier-starting projects rejected outright with no exceptions. Missing documents are flagged up to one week before the deadline, so anything submitted in the final week cannot be corrected. Plan for roughly four months of lead time. Excluded: amateur art, talent development, education-focused projects, semi-permanent public art, publications, building or renovation, and regular operating costs. Further rounds: 3 January 2027, 28 March 2027, 27 June 2027, 3 October 2027 and 2 January 2028.
ELIGIBILITY: two Researcher-in-Residence positions in 2027. Open to early-career researchers of any discipline (data science, social science, computer science, humanities) who are currently working on a PhD or within 5 years of their PhD end date. You must have, or be able to secure, an affiliation with a Dutch university or research institute willing to second you; external PhD students may use the funding to obtain such a contract. Your project must make use of one or more of the KB digital collections and you must be able to work with primarily Dutch data. You must be available at 0.5 FTE over 6 months and able to spend two days a week on-site at the KB in The Hague. COLLECTIONS: over 130 million digitized pages of newspapers, magazines, radio bulletins and books from 1470 onward (via Delpher and DBNL), a born-digital web collection of more than 23,000 websites, ground-truth and derived datasets on the KB Lab, and metadata including Linked Data. APPLY: use the official proposal template and submit a single PDF by 27 September 2026 to dh@kb.nl, after reading the call's terms and conditions; questions to dh@kb.nl. TIMELINE: deadline 27 September 2026; internal eligibility review followed by an external committee review; outcome notified November 2026; residencies start Q1 and Q3 2027. DISCIPLINES: digital humanities / data science / computational research with cultural-heritage collections. NOTE: the output is usually a dataset or tool prototype hosted on the KB Lab; you agree to share results via blog posts on the KB Lab and to publish resulting tools or data under an open license within 6 months of the residency. Proposals should align with the KB Research Agenda or the Cultural AI Lab.
The mid-size project strand of Stichting Cultuur Eindhoven, the arm's-length body that distributes the city's culture budget, and the main municipal route for an Eindhoven organisation to fund a festival, exhibition or public programme. Awards go up to EUR 35,000 and cover a maximum of 80 percent of eligible costs, so at least a fifth of the budget must come from elsewhere. Unlike the Snelgeld strand this route is closed to individuals: only private-law legal entities established in Eindhoven may apply. Rounds run three times a year in fixed windows; the next opens 1 September and closes at 17:00 on 30 September 2026, which is round 1 of the 2027 cycle. TIMING: the decision lag is long by municipal standards at up to 13 weeks after the submission window closes, so a September 2026 application is decided around the end of December 2026 and activity should be planned for 2027. Given Eindhoven's design and technology profile, media-art, design and creative-technology programming fits the remit particularly well. The parallel Snelgeld strand offers up to EUR 5,000 on rolling intake, reopening 1 September 2026 and running until 31 December 2026 or until the tranche budget is exhausted, whichever comes first.
Waag Futurelab invites artists, theatre makers, choreographers, dancers, game designers and other creative practitioners to engage directly with seven experimental generative AI Enablers being co-created with technologists and dance, theatre and gaming professionals. The call is an invitation into the development process: selected artists get access to the technologies, datasets, interfaces and assumptions that shape these systems while they are still being built. Rather than testing whether the systems work, artists are asked to interrogate why they work the way they do, who they are designed for, what forms of creativity they enable or constrain, and what assumptions about culture, intelligence, authorship, labour, bodies, audiences and society are embedded in them. Waag is looking for individuals and collectives willing to move beyond adoption into investigation, and welcomes proposals that are speculative, critical, poetic, provocative, humorous, performative, constructive or disruptive, including work that challenges, misuses, reimagines, hacks, subverts or plays with the tools, exposes hidden biases, questions environmental costs, or imagines alternative technological futures. THE SEVEN AI ENABLERS, each requiring an on-site visit to its technology partner: the Generic Procedural Content Generation Enabler (text-to-3D assets and avatars, CERTH, Greece); the Data-Driven Cultural Content Adaptation Enabler (audience-aware creative content ideation with ranked candidate ideas, CERTH, Greece); the Cross-Domain Audience Engagement Analytics Enabler (turning heterogeneous cultural participation data into interpretable engagement signals, The Audience Agency, Warrington, UK); the Dance Style Analysis and Generation Enabler (dance video into virtual 3D choreography, dissected into body, effort, shape and space components, Centre of Excellence for Research & Innovation, Cyprus); the Immersive Design Integration Enabler for Dance & Theatre (NLP-driven XR environments with speech-to-3D scene editing, Cyprus); the Music-to-Movement Translation Enabler (audio into a time-aligned feature set spanning genre classification, emotional valence-arousal analysis, rhythm extraction and latent-space projection, feeding motion generation, spatial audio and visual choreography, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece); and the Adaptive Narrative Enabler for Games & Theatre (an evolutionary AI trained on creator-written story elements that generates infinite story variations, explicitly rejecting LLMs because of their dependence on copyrighted or public-domain corpora that encode 19th and early 20th century sexism, racism and imperialism, CAUSA Creation, Austria). ELIGIBILITY: artists, designers, creative technologists, theatre makers, dancers, choreographers and game designers, as individuals or collectives; applicants must hold a European VAT number. An info session with live demonstrations of the AI Enablers runs 31 July 2026, 10:00 to 11:30 CEST (meeting ID 995 7016 2341). Applications go through Homerun using the official Application Template, uploaded as a PDF; read the Guide for Applicants, which contains the full Enabler descriptions, before applying. Questions: zoenie at waag dot org. The AI Enablers and this call are part of the Horizon Europe project HAMLET, which aims to make generative AI accessible to cultural organisations of all sizes. Closes 30 September 2026, 23:59 CEST. Free to apply.
The Interdisciplinary grant is a new joint scheme of the six Dutch national cultural funds (Mondriaan Fund, Performing Arts Fund NL, Fund for Cultural Participation, Netherlands Film Fund, Creative Industries Fund NL, and the Dutch Foundation for Literature), announced on 7 July 2026. It supports makers and organisations whose work genuinely crosses the boundaries of the individual funds' disciplines (visual art, design, film, literature, performing arts, and cultural participation) and cannot be contained within a single discipline. TWO TRACKS: an Individual track for professional makers with a demonstrable interdisciplinary practice (at least one year of experience; income cap EUR 55,000 including the grant; approximately EUR 24,900 for 12 months); and an Organisation track for organisations running multi-discipline projects. AMOUNT: EUR 12,500 to 50,000 per project. ELIGIBILITY: makers and organisations based in the Netherlands or the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. APPLYING: handled through the Mondriaan Fund's online application portal (info@mondriaanfonds.nl); an account is required in advance. DEADLINE: 1 October 2026, 16:00 Dutch time (single application round).
The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in China, in partnership with artist-run space Making Space in Guangzhou, invites Netherlands-based artists, makers, curators, writers, researchers and other cultural practitioners to a six-week residency in spring 2027. Making Space (est. 2017) focuses on art and social practice with an emphasis on long-term research, local knowledge and care-driven collaboration. The residency is process-oriented with no obligation to produce finished work; the resident takes part in at least one public exchange (talk, workshop, reading group, screening, performance or open studio). SUPPORT: EUR 2,700 travel and artist fee subsidy (fixed per application; duos or collectives share the amount), accommodation in Guangzhou, shared studio space, curatorial and research support with access to local networks, and logistical support for public programming (extra funding may be considered for public programmes). The resident arranges their own China visa; Making Space provides an invitation letter. LOOKING FOR: practitioners engaging with alternative education, ecological justice, migration and labour, social practice, intergenerational narratives, diaspora and transdisciplinary collaboration; English communication required. APPLY by email (makingspace2017@gmail.com) with a 200-word bio, CV, 2-page project proposal and portfolio (max 20 pages) in a single PDF, in English. Result expected late November 2026. Deadline: 3 October 2026, 23:59 CST / 17:59 CEST.
Kaboom Animation Festival, the Netherlands' largest animation festival, is accepting films, games and VR projects for its 2027 edition in Amsterdam and Utrecht. Kaboom takes a famously broad view of what counts as animation: experimental and hybrid work screens alongside traditional animation, and combinations of animation and live-action are eligible as long as the larger part of the work is animated, which makes it a plausible home for AI-generated and expanded-media video work. In recent editions animated shorts could run up to 30 minutes excluding credits with up to 3 submissions per filmmaker; check the current regulations on the submission portal. Submissions are free of charge via the FilmChief portal. DEADLINE: 5 October 2026, 23:59 CET.
Kick-start grant for architecture practitioners to develop early-stage projects. The grant period opens 6 May 2026 15:00 CEST and closes 13 May 2026 16:00 CEST. A maximum of 35 applications are considered per period; once the window closes all applications are ranked in random order via a draw system before processing begins. Round budget €167,000; maximum grant request €10,000.
The larger of The Hague's two municipal project bands and the appropriate route for an organisation running a festival or substantial public programme in the city. Awards range from EUR 10,000 to 30,000 against an annual ceiling of EUR 600,000 for the whole strand. THE CO-FINANCING REQUIREMENT IS SEVERE and is the single most important planning constraint: the municipal culture budget may fund at most 30 percent of the total project budget, so an applicant seeking EUR 30,000 must already have roughly EUR 70,000 secured or plausibly projected elsewhere. Only legal entities may apply; individuals and informal collectives must use Category A instead (EUR 2,000 to 10,000, 70 percent coverage ceiling, next window 1 to 15 September 2026). Professional arts and culture organisations running public projects in music, theatre, dance, film, literature, visual arts or combinations are eligible. The next window opens 1 October and closes at 17:00 on 15 October 2026. TIMING: the decision term is 12 weeks after the window closes, so an October 2026 application is decided around early January 2027 and activity should be scheduled from 2027 onward. Applications are handled through the municipality's subsidy system, which migrated to Easyfunders in April 2026. This scheme is independent of Stroom Den Haag. The underlying regulation runs to 31 December 2028.
Mondriaan Fund grant for written and/or spoken-word publications about contemporary visual art: article series, long reads, podcasts, video essays, social-content series, and similar formats published across magazines, newspapers, online platforms, public media or social media. Aimed at strengthening reflection on, criticism of, and journalism around visual art practice in the Netherlands and the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. Eligible applicants: existing or new platforms (online magazines, public media, podcast outlets, etc.) AND individuals working as curators, critics, social-content creators or journalists. New initiatives and collaborations may apply. Two cycles per year; the next deadline is 15 October 2026, 16:00 Dutch time / 10:00 Caribbean time (an earlier 2 April 2026 round has already closed). Grant covers up to 70% of eligible expenses, with two pricing structures: fixed €2,480/month for short 1-6 month work periods, or a flexible grant of up to 12 months for larger project plans (amount determined by submitted plan and budget). Round budget €229,000. Good fit for science-communicator / critical-tech / art-and-AI long-form writing, podcast series, or video essay projects. Applications submitted via the Mondriaan Fund online portal after creating an account; documents cannot be uploaded after the deadline. Free to apply.
The Creative Industries Fund NL (Stimuleringsfonds) runs this residency with Videotage, a Hong Kong-based non-profit media arts institution specialising in the promotion, presentation, creation and preservation of moving image and media art in all forms and languages. The Fund is recruiting one Netherlands-based designer, maker or observer working in digital culture to spend two or three months at Videotage's studio space in Hong Kong in 2027, conducting research, broadening their network, developing new work inspired by Hong Kong, and presenting their findings or completed works. The residency encourages crossovers and experimentation, giving the participant space to explore new methodologies, widen their creative practice and produce work that pushes the boundaries of digital culture, with a focus on social and urban dynamics. The 2027 edition takes the technological 'black box' phenomenon as its starting point and invites the resident to respond to that theme within the context of Videotage. ELIGIBILITY: you are an individual designer, maker or observer within the field of digital culture; you are established in the Netherlands, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius or Sint Maarten (Kingdom of the Netherlands); you are registered in the business register of the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK) or another business register within the Kingdom of the Netherlands; and you have had a professional practice in the creative industry for at least four years. NOT open to duos, collectives or cooperative ventures, nor to designers and makers who receive a grant during the work period under the Talent Development Grant Scheme, the Open Call Self-taught Designer or the Open Call Emerging Design Practices ABCSSS. Note that accepting this open call means you cannot apply to those schemes and open calls in 2027. FUNDING: EUR 5,000 for two months or EUR 6,500 for three months, covering travel, insurance, living expenses, compensation for time invested and material and transport costs; accommodation, studio use and Videotage's facilitation are covered separately by the Fund. Submit your proposal to the Creative Industries Fund NL by 21 October 2026, 16:00 CEST.
Stroom Den Haag's PRO Art Projects scheme contributes to the costs of realising a contemporary art project. WHO CAN APPLY: artists, curators, critics, publicists, partnerships and organisations. Applicants do not have to live in The Hague: Hague artists apply via their Stroom database registration (Mijn Stroom), while applicants from outside the city apply with a CV, provided the project takes place in The Hague or otherwise benefits art and artists in The Hague. ASSESSMENT: quality and distinctiveness of the project, whether it represents a step in a new direction, an experiment or a departure, its contribution to The Hague's art climate, and proportionality between budget and scope. APPLICATION: via the Stroom portal with a plan of max 2,500 words (artistic rationale, target audience, evaluation), an itemised budget using Stroom's model, and image documentation. NOT ELIGIBLE: applications connected to formal (art) education programmes or from current students (Bachelor, Master, postdoc, PhD). DEADLINE: the last 2026 round closes 25 October 2026 (rounds recur roughly every six weeks through the year). The grant is valid for up to two years after the decision, with 80 percent paid upfront.
Stroom Den Haag's PRO Art Program scheme contributes to the costs of an art programme: a series of activities (exhibitions, presentations, lectures, workshops, etc.) with an artistic, substantive, thematic and/or formal connection that take place within a certain period. It also covers exchange activities with other countries and programmes for guest studios and artist-in-residencies. WHO CAN APPLY: organisations that realise the programme on a non-profit basis, including artist initiatives, collectives and associations, plus independent curators and organisers. Applicants do not have to be based in The Hague: Hague artists apply via their Stroom registration (Mijn Stroom), outsiders apply with a CV, and all participants must provide CVs or current Stroom registration. ASSESSMENT: intrinsic quality and coherence, added value for The Hague's art climate, potential to catalyse broader activity, budget proportionality, audience engagement, and fair artist pay. APPLICATION: via the Stroom portal with an 80-word summary, a plan of max 2,500 words, a budget using Stroom's model, 10 to 20 images with a documentation list, and optionally up to 9 minutes of video. NOT ELIGIBLE: applications connected to formal (art) education programmes or from current students. DEADLINE: the last 2026 round closes 25 October 2026. The grant is valid for up to two years after the decision.
Stroom Den Haag's PRO Research scheme contributes to the costs of a research project or artist-in-residency that feeds the development of new work and benefits The Hague's art climate. WHO CAN APPLY: The Hague artists registered in the Stroom database with an updated profile (Mijn Stroom), and also curators, mediators, critics, publicists and others professionally active in the contemporary art world; applicants from outside The Hague submit a CV for consideration. APPLICATION: via the Stroom portal using Stroom's budget model, with amounts excluding VAT. NOT ELIGIBLE: applicants enrolled in (art) educational programmes (Bachelor, Master, postdoc, PhD) or art academy students, and post-academic work periods such as the Rijksakademie, De Ateliers, the Jan van Eyck Academie and the EKWC fall outside the funding scheme system. DEADLINE: the last 2026 round closes 25 October 2026 (rounds recur roughly every six weeks). The grant is valid for up to two years after the decision, with 80 percent paid upfront.
The Netherlands Film Production Incentive is the Film Fund's automatic cash rebate for feature films, animated films and documentaries, returning up to 35 percent of qualifying Dutch production costs. It is designed to keep production spend in the Netherlands and is assessed on a points system rather than artistic panel review. WHO CAN APPLY: only Dutch producers representing independent production companies. The company must be legally registered in the Netherlands (including Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba) for at least two years, operate continuously in film or audiovisual production, and be represented by a producer who has produced at least one majority film with a budget of EUR 500,000 or more that had a Dutch cinema release. PROJECT THRESHOLDS: feature films and animated films need a minimum production budget of EUR 1 million and at least EUR 150,000 in qualifying costs; documentaries need a minimum budget of EUR 250,000 and at least EUR 100,000 in qualifying costs. FURTHER CONDITIONS: a guaranteed Dutch cinema release with a minimum 12-week window, at least 50 percent of the budget unconditionally promised in writing by third parties, at least two unaffiliated financiers, and a minimum score of 75 points on the automatic assessment system. Deadline 26 October 2026 at 17:00 CET.
The High-End Series strand of the Netherlands Film Production Incentive extends the Film Fund's 35 percent cash rebate to high-end drama, documentary and animated television series, returning up to 35 percent of qualifying Dutch production costs. WHO CAN APPLY: independent production companies based for at least two years in the Netherlands, an EU member state, the EEA or Switzerland, producing audiovisual content on a continuing basis, and represented by a producer who has produced either a majority film with a minimum budget of EUR 500,000 and a Dutch cinema release, or a majority television series in the same category. Note that despite the broader basing rule, only applicants from the Netherlands, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba may actually apply. PROJECT THRESHOLDS: minimum production budget per broadcast minute varies by category, at EUR 4,000 for documentary and EUR 8,000 to EUR 12,000 for drama and animation. FURTHER CONDITIONS: at least 50 percent of the production budget secured in writing from third parties, a guaranteed television or VOD broadcast in the Netherlands (or in two or more countries for co-productions), and a minimum score of 75 points on the automatic assessment system. Deadline 26 October 2026 at 17:00 CET.
Travel voucher for Dutch-based professionals in design, architecture and/or digital culture who have been invited by a foreign party to give a presentation, lecture or workshop. To apply you must have submitted an application to the Fund in the past five years that was positively assessed (previous International Vouchers do not count). The inviting foreign party must cover a proportionate share of the costs. Covers hourly fees, travel and accommodation directly related to the activity. IMPORTANT TIMING RULE: applications are accepted from 5 months to a minimum of 7 weeks before the activity begins, and processing takes about 6 weeks. This lead time can rule out activities that fall shortly after a round opens. Round 2 (4 May to 22 June 2026) has closed. Round 3 runs 8 September 2026 15:00 CEST to 27 October 2026 16:00 CEST, with a budget of EUR 33,000; given the 7-week rule it effectively serves activities starting from late October 2026 onwards. IMPORTANT PREREQUISITE: you must already have had an application to the Fund positively assessed within the past five years, and a previous voucher does not satisfy this, so this is not a viable first approach to the Fund. The window runs 8 September 2026, 15:00 CEST to 27 October 2026, but closes early once 20 complete applications are received. Maximum one voucher per applicant per calendar year.
The NORMA Fonds redistributes copyright remuneration collected by Stichting NORMA into cultural, social and professional projects involving performing artists, and is one of the few Dutch schemes with four intakes a year and a genuinely short cycle. Both arts-sector organisations and individual arts professionals may apply, though the applicant needs a bank account and legal footing and cannot be a BIS-funded institution. The project must centre on performing artists in the copyright sense, meaning people who perform a copyright-protected work: musicians, dancers, actors, voice actors. This fits live experimental music, sound performance and performative media-art work, but not object-based exhibitions or non-performative installation programmes. The maximum grant is EUR 10,000, the total project budget must stay under EUR 150,000, the applicant's annual budget under EUR 500,000, and at least a quarter of the project budget must be earned from audience income, so this is a top-up rather than a primary funding source. Budgets must honour NORMA's 2026 performer wage norms. Applications are submitted online during a one-month window each quarter; the next round runs 1 to 30 October 2026, closing at 23:59. TIMING RULE: decisions arrive no later than eight weeks after the deadline, and the premiere date must fall at least eight weeks after the application deadline. Organisations that already received a NORMA Fonds grant in 2024 or 2025 are excluded, and supporting staff may not exceed 2 FTE.
A one-off 2026 call letting Dutch cultural institutions reuse and adapt digital technology that other institutions have already built and published in the open DigitALL Toolkit, for example translation software shared between theatres or a streaming platform adapted for a new venue. Grants run up to EUR 30,000 and cover technical modification, integration, production and deployment costs. Eligible applicants are museums, theatres, music venues, festivals, film theatres and professional performing arts producers. Applications are submitted online and assessed in order of receipt rather than comparatively, with a decision within ten weeks. The deadline was extended from 31 May 2026 to 1 November 2026 after high demand. IMPORTANT RESTRICTION: this route cannot be used to further develop your own pilot internally; it exists specifically to spread another institution's working technology across the sector. For developing something new, use the DigitALL pilot contribution instead.
Go Short, the international short film festival in Nijmegen, is open for entries for its 19th edition (6 to 11 April 2027). A small, approachable Dutch festival that programmes fiction, documentary, animation and experimental shorts. COMPETITIONS: the European Competition (fiction, documentary, animation, experimental), the Dutch Competition, and the New Arrivals Competition for European film school projects, plus a Music Video Competition and a separate strand for video games, VR/XR, performances and installations, which makes it a natural target for expanded-media and installation-based video work. DEADLINES AND FEES: early bird 15 September 2026 (EUR 12.50 per film; EUR 8 per installation/VR/game project), regular 15 November (EUR 15 / EUR 10), late 15 December 2026 (EUR 20 / EUR 12); music videos EUR 7.50 flat. Awards include Best European Short, Best Dutch Short, the New Arrivals Award and an Audience Award. Read the festival regulations for length and completion date requirements before submitting.
The Acquisitions scheme helps Dutch museums and other cultural heritage institutions buy objects that enrich the Dutch National Cultural Heritage Collection, across everything from contemporary art to natural history collections. Acquired objects must be displayed to the public on a (semi-)permanent basis. CONDITIONS: the estimated value of the object must exceed EUR 50,000; complete provenance research is required; the applicant must contribute significantly to the acquisition costs; where multiple items are involved they must form an inseparable ensemble; the institution must follow the lending guidelines and remain the permanent owner. NOT FUNDED: artists' estates, constructional provisions, or passive conservation. APPLY online through the Mondriaan Fund digital system after registering an account, with valuation reports, condition assessments, provenance research, a presentation plan and an itemised budget. Rolling deadline, but allow about three months for processing.
Art Fair International covers stand rental for galleries taking visual art from the Netherlands and/or the Caribbean part of the Kingdom to an art fair, and stand rental plus travel and transport costs for art book publishers at art book fairs. WHO CAN APPLY: Dutch and non-Dutch galleries that have signed and actively apply the Gallery Fair Practice Code, and art book publishers. CONDITIONS: an invitation from the fair is required; the artists presented must be artistically and substantively active in professional visual arts; a maximum of one application per fair per calendar year; no more than three awards annually. AMOUNTS scale with how much of the stand is given to artists from the Netherlands and the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, as set out in the funding notes. APPLY through the Mondriaan Fund digital application system after creating an account, at least six weeks before a fair on the fund's established list, or three months before a fair that is not listed.
Artist's Fee reimburses part of the compensation an institution pays an artist for work on an exhibition: producing new work, production-related labour, event activities, and providing artwork for presentation. It does not cover expenses such as materials or transport. WHO CAN APPLY: visual arts institutions in the Netherlands or the Caribbean part of the Kingdom that publicly exhibit contemporary visual art and/or heritage without a sales objective, and that subscribe to the Fair Practice Code, the Culture Governance Code and the Diversity and Inclusion Code. CONDITIONS: the artist must hold a bachelor's degree in visual arts or have at least three years of professional experience; the fee must comply with the Fair Pay Rate Table 2023; the application must be submitted at least two months before the exhibition opens; the exhibition must open within 12 months of application; artist invoices must be paid within one month; and institutions already receiving other fair pay funding for 2025-2028 are not eligible. AMOUNT: up to 50% of the standard amount excluding VAT where the fee meets at least 100% of the guideline, with a minimum application of EUR 100. APPLY through the online system after creating an account, with a signed artist contract, the exhibition budget, artist CVs and a recent Chamber of Commerce registration. Note for artists: this is applied for by the institution, not by you, but it is worth pointing an exhibiting venue towards.
Art Heritage Festival supports festivals, biennales, triennales and similar events dedicated to the presentation of visual art and/or heritage, held in physical spaces and occurring no more than once a year. The scheme backs activities that reach diverse audiences or create meaningful public engagement with art and heritage. WHO CAN APPLY: non-profit organisations based in the Netherlands or the Caribbean part of the Kingdom; institutions for art education and post-academic institutions are excluded. NOT FUNDED: journals, publications, documentaries, symposia, conferences or online-only festivals. CONDITIONS: events must be publicly accessible and held no more than once a year; the project cannot receive simultaneous funding from other Mondriaan Fund grants or specified national cultural programmes; the organisation must subscribe to the Fair Practice Code, the Culture Governance Code and the Diversity and Inclusion Code; and fair artist compensation is mandatory where artists are involved. AMOUNT: up to 40% of eligible project costs, on a project budget above EUR 25,000. APPLY through the Mondriaan Fund online system after registering an account. Allow three months for processing; activities that have already happened cannot be funded.
Art Heritage Presentation funds presentations that are innovative and non-standard, rather than business-as-usual programming: exhibitions featuring internationally renowned artists, engaging shows offering fresh perspectives, public co-creation projects, and presentations built around special loans or commissioned work. WHO CAN APPLY: cultural institutions in the Netherlands and the Caribbean part of the Kingdom that focus on presenting cultural heritage and/or visual art, including museums, art centres and archives; art education and post-academic institutions are excluded, and the institution must be a non-profit legal entity established in the eligible territory. CONDITIONS: presentations must be open to the public; festivals, biennales and other events recurring annually or less often are handled by the separate Art Heritage Festival scheme, not this one; the organisation must subscribe to the Fair Practice Code, the Culture Governance Code and the Diversity and Inclusion Code; and artist fees must be realistic and included in the budget. AMOUNT: up to 40% of variable project costs, on a project budget above EUR 25,000. APPLY online after registering an account, with an institutional profile, project plan, presentation plan, itemised budget and, where applicable, artist information with visual documentation.
Collection Mobility supports the revaluation of a collection and, where applicable, the selection, disposal and/or relocation of parts of a collection. NOT FUNDED: construction work, building preservation, archaeological excavation, passive conservation or documentation. WHO CAN APPLY: Dutch museums and other cultural heritage institutions that are publicly accessible, manage nationally or internationally significant collections, and are registered with the Dutch Museum Register. Joint applications are encouraged and, where relevant, institutions must apply together. CONDITIONS: applicants must follow the Basic Principles for Smarter Loan Transactions in the Netherlands; collections must be disposed of in line with the Guideline for the Disposal of Museum Objects; and the applicant must contribute significant funding itself. AMOUNT: up to 40% of eligible costs, determined per application. APPLY through the online system at mondriaanfonds.nl after creating an account, with organisational information, collection details, a project plan, a budget and supporting documents.
Cultuurloket DigitALL funds the digital innovation of the Dutch cultural sector and is the strongest dedicated digital-culture route currently open to Dutch cultural organisations. It is the successor to the discontinued Kickstart Cultuurfonds, backed by the VandenEnde Foundation, VSBfonds, Ammodo, Het Cultuurfonds and others. The pilot contribution of up to EUR 75,000 supports developing and running a first pilot, prototype or live version of a digital tool, which covers a wide range of creative-technology work embedded in festivals, exhibitions and public programmes. Eligible applicants are theatres, music venues, film theatres, museums, festivals and professional performing arts producers, with collaborations between institutions given priority. The pilot must be tested with the intended public audience, not only with experts, and funding cannot be used exclusively for hardware acquisition. Applications go through an online portal with no deadline and are handled in order of receipt. TIMING: a decision follows within ten weeks of submission, so plan roughly three months of lead time between applying and project start. Training and knowledge development through partner organisations is only covered when included in the submitted budget, so build it in from the outset.
The closest thing the Netherlands has to a dedicated regional art-and-technology fund, being a public-private scheme co-financed by ASML and sited in the country's main technology region. It funds professional cultural projects of high quality with national or international reach, which in practice covers festivals, exhibitions and public programmes including media art and creative technology work. Private-law legal entities only (stichting, vereniging or BV); both new and existing cultural organisations qualify. Projects are assessed on societal impact (must address at least two of accessibility, inclusivity, diversity, social cohesion), cultural entrepreneurship and sustainability, alongside professional artistic quality. Applications are accepted all year round via a two-stage route: an intake where Brabant C scouts give an initial assessment, followed by a full application, pitch session and decision. TIMING RULES ARE STRICT and are the main planning constraint: the full application must be submitted a minimum of 12 weeks before the project starts, and the project may not begin until at least 12 weeks after a complete application has been approved. The internal clock runs roughly two weeks for a completeness check, about six weeks to the pitch session, and about four weeks from pitch to decision. Brabant C never covers more than half the budget, so a matched partner is required from the outset. A separate Brabant C matching scheme for impactful culture projects is open year-round through 31 December 2026 for Brabant-based organisations outside the Brainport region.
Since 2025 Het Cultuurfonds runs a dedicated application route for individual makers and collectives, separate from its project grants for foundations and associations. The ontwikkelbijdrage awards up to EUR 5,000 for research, workshops, masterclasses, courses and training, experiments and equipment, and for the pre-phase of a project, giving makers room to test and develop an idea before it has to be fully executed. It is open to all disciplines: visual artists, theatre makers, spoken word artists, photographers, musicians, ceramicists, restorers and more. A separate matchfundingbijdrage of EUR 250 to EUR 1,500 supports crowdfunding campaigns for public-facing projects such as exhibitions or performances. The route is run with voordekunst. Applying is a two-step process: a short vooraanvraag (pre-application) answered within one week, then a full application answered within four weeks, with development funds paid out within two weeks of approval. Rolling intake, no application fee.
Amarte Fonds is a private Dutch foundation that supports the arts, with rolling (continuous) contributions for visual artists and independent curators. There are two contribution types: a development contribution of up to EUR 2,750 and a project contribution of up to EUR 5,500. Up to 80 percent is paid in advance, with the remainder after the final report is approved. Applicants must be based in the Netherlands or the Caribbean part of the Kingdom (the ABC and SSS islands). The fund also supports work across theatre, film, music, literature and interdisciplinary projects through specific programmes. There is no fixed deadline and no application fee; decisions are relatively fast. Apply year-round via the online portal.
The WBSO (Wet Bevordering Speur- en Ontwikkelingswerk) is the Dutch R&D tax credit administered by RVO. It reduces payroll/wage tax for companies with R&D staff and provides an income-tax deduction for self-employed people doing R&D; it is a tax credit, not a cash grant. For 2026 the benefit is 36 percent of the first EUR 380,000 of R&D wage and other costs (50 percent for qualifying startups) and 16 percent above that; self-employed receive a fixed deduction (and need at least 500 R&D hours per year). Eligible applicants are Dutch companies and self-employed people paying payroll or income tax who carry out qualifying R&D in the EU. Applications are made in advance via Mijn RVO and cannot be retroactive; for coverage of the final three months of a year the deadline is 30 September. Time-keeping and project administration are required. No application fee.
Development grants from the Nederlands Letterenfonds (Dutch Foundation for Literature) for starting and advanced Dutch literary creators - writers, illustrators and translators - to fund training, coaching, editorial support, or travel and research abroad linked to a literary project. EUR 500 to EUR 2,500 per grant. ELIGIBILITY: Dutch-language literary creators (Dutch or Flemish-speaking world); see funder's application page for full eligibility criteria. CYCLE: applications are reviewed on a ROLLING basis (the scheme has been open since February 2026 and there is no fixed deadline). No application fee.
Commission artists to create new work in publicly accessible spaces such as hospitals or museums. Open to individuals and organisations. Continuous deadline.
Support for visual artists with 4+ years of experience to expand their portfolio, increase visibility or conduct research. Continuous deadline.
Rolling project funding from the Mondriaan Fund for visual artists who want to carry out a concrete artistic plan, research project or working period in the Netherlands or abroad. The fund's definition of visual art is broad and explicitly includes installation art, conceptual art, performance, artistic research, photography, audiovisual, digital, sound and (new) media art, and art in public space. AMOUNTS: a fixed contribution of EUR 2,785 per month for up to 6 months, or a flexible contribution for up to 12 months sized to the project budget; hired expertise, materials and equipment can be part of the budget. The fixed contribution cannot be awarded within 1 year of receiving an Artist Start grant. ELIGIBILITY: visual artists from the Netherlands or the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, professionally active for at least 1 year. CONDITIONS: applicants must contribute at least 10 percent of the sum requested; this own contribution may be personal investment, third-party support, an interest-free loan from Fonds Kwadraat or crowdfunding. APPLY at any time through the Mondriaan Fund online application system; allow around 3 months processing once the application is complete.
Support for visual artists at the beginning of their careers with plans for new work. Continuous deadline.
Funding for preliminary research into exhibitions, events, articles or presentations. For curators. Continuous deadline.
Support for owners and managers of objects registered as protected heritage. Continuous deadline.
Voucher to assist hiring artisans for artistic research or work production. Continuous deadline.
Voucher covering childcare costs for visual artists with dependents under compulsory school age. Continuous deadline.
Funding for developing and deepening artistic practice. Continuous deadline.
Quick-response voucher for visual artists, curators, art critics and art observers based in the Netherlands or the Caribbean part of the Kingdom who have been invited to take part in a public programme abroad. Eligible activities include giving a lecture, performance, book presentation or taking part in a panel at a contemporary visual art institution, venue, festival or symposium outside the Netherlands. Participation in an exhibition and commercial gallery or art fair contexts are not eligible. Visual artists need at least one year of professional practice; curators, critics and art observers need at least two years. Applicants cannot be enrolled full-time in a Bachelor's, Master's or postdoctoral programme. The voucher covers travel and accommodation up to EUR 2,500. Rolling intake, but the timing window is strict: applications are accepted a maximum of 4 months and a minimum of 5 weeks before the activity starts. No application fee.
Fonds 21 supports professional, high-quality art and culture projects by Dutch non-profit organizations (foundations, associations and non-profit BVs/NVs), across performing arts, visual arts, film, literature and interdisciplinary work, with additional pillars for arts education and youth & society. The minimum request is EUR 10,000 with no stated maximum, and roughly EUR 11.5 million is available annually. Applications are accepted year-round via the online portal (after a short eligibility snelcheck) and must be submitted at least four months before the project start date. Free-of-charge events are generally not supported; the fund expects most programming to be paid-access. No application fee.
Het Cultuurfonds (formerly Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds) invests over EUR 40 million per year in culture and nature in the Netherlands. Foundations and associations can apply year-round for project grants (typically EUR 15,000 to EUR 50,000 at national level), and since 2025 individual makers and collectives can apply for up to EUR 5,000. Provincial chapters run their own quarterly rounds for regional projects, and numerous themed funds (EUR 5,000 to EUR 25,000) cover specific disciplines. Rolling intake via the online application portal. No application fee.
VSBfonds supports cultural initiatives that make it possible for everyone in the Netherlands to take part in art and culture, spanning ten programme lines from professional performances to community arts. Applications are accepted year-round with no deadlines from foundations, associations and applicants without a formal legal form, and must be submitted at least four months before the initiative starts (two months for amateur arts). A two-minute online quickscan checks eligibility before the formal application. No fixed minimum or maximum amount; the request should be proportionate to other funding. No application fee.
SIDN fonds (the foundation behind the .nl domain registry) invests in daring projects with societal added value that contribute to a strong internet and strong internet users. The Pioneers track is continuously open and awards up to EUR 10,000 to develop an innovative idea into a demo, pilot or experimental design; it is open to both individuals and legal entities. Larger projects are funded through theme calls issued once or twice a year (legal entities only). Projects must show innovation and public value and share their results openly; plain website or app building and purely B2B proposals are excluded. No application fee.
Stichting DOEN, funded by the Dutch charity lotteries, supports pioneering initiatives within themes including the transformative power of imagination (art and culture), regenerative economy and solidarity economy. Applications are accepted year-round via the Mijn DOEN portal from legal entities only (no individuals) and must be received at least four months before the project starts; the assessment procedure takes about four months. Amateur art practice and standalone productions of films, books, CDs or websites are not supported. No application fee.
The Fonds voor Cultuurparticipatie, one of the Dutch national cultural funds (annual budget around EUR 30 million), currently has several schemes open for applications: cultural education in vocational education (mbo, EUR 5,000-55,000), cultural education in vmbo/vso/pro (EUR 10,000-65,000), cultural education for the Caribbean parts of the Kingdom (EUR 5,000-50,000), an open call for design-based learning platforms (up to EUR 75,000) and an interdisciplinary scheme for professional makers (EUR 12,500-50,000). Most schemes target cultural institutions, in some cases in partnership with schools. See the subsidies overview for per-scheme conditions. No application fee.
AFK is the City of Amsterdam's arts fund and the main route to project money for artists and organisations working in the city, and it was the significant gap in this desk's Dutch coverage. The Projectsubsidies 2026-2028 scheme funds art and culture projects across disciplines, split into four categories by scale and applicant type; requests up to EUR 7,500 in categories 1 and 2 are assigned to an assessment round by monthly draw, with published loting and gesprek dates. ELIGIBILITY: you must live or work in the municipality of Amsterdam or in Zaanstad, Oostzaan, Landsmeer, Waterland, Haarlemmermeer, Amstelveen, Ouder-Amstel or Diemen. Both individual makers and organisations can apply depending on category. NOTE: AFK periodically closes individual categories when demand outruns budget (categories 3 and 4 for professional art were temporarily shut in May 2026 and reopened on 1 July 2026), so check which categories are open before you start. Applications are in Dutch through the AFK portal. Phone 020 520 0520, weekdays 09:30-12:30 and 13:30-16:00.