FAQ Art Platform Programmes – Art Platform Start 2027-2028

If you would like to find out more about the Art Platform Programme 2025-2028 grant scheme, see the website for more information.

By art platforms, the fund means professional contemporary art organisations aimed at the public presentation of innovative contemporary visual art, without primarily having a profit motive or a sales goal. The main purpose of these art platforms with legal status is the presentation of contemporary visual art in a physical space.

Within this grant, institutions that are predominantly focused on the management of a collection, such as museums and archives with a presentation function, cannot apply. Organisations such as workshops, art fairs, galleries, events, biennials/triennials, online platforms and festivals also cannot apply.

The Mondriaan Fund defines start-up organisations as art platforms that have not had a programme running for more than 5 years at the time of application. In assessing this, the Fund takes into account both the number of years during which activities have been organised under the same name and the date on which the legal entity was established.

An Art Platform Start grant can be awarded a maximum of 3 times.

If the Chamber of Commerce extract shows that the organisation has existed for longer than 5 years under the same name, it is unfortunately not eligible to apply as a start-up organisation within this scheme. After a repositioning, the Mondriaan Fund does not consider an existing institution to constitute a new start-up organisation.

No, if you are an art platform that is part of the Basic Infrastructure (BIS), you cannot receive a contribution to Art Platform Programmes from the Mondriaan Fund.

No, an art platform that receives a multi-year contribution through other National Cultural Funds cannot receive a contribution to Art Platform Programmes.

The framework of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science serves as a starting point for setting up the Art Platform Programme 2025-2028. In addition, discussions with De Zaak Nu, among others, provide input for the new grant so that it meets the needs in the field.

The deadline for submitting the application in 2026 is on Thursday, February 5, before 4:00 PM (Dutch time zone) / 11:00 AM (Caribbean time zone).

There is a strict deadline because we work with a subsidy ceiling procedure (a procedure with fixed contributions). Additional requirements are imposed on this procedure to guarantee equal treatment of applicants, which includes a strict deadline.

Yes, a new advisory committee has been appointed for Art Platform Start. You can find the list of its members here on the Mondriaan Fund website.

We expect applicants to reflect on the Fair Practice Code, the Culture Governance Code and the Diversity & Inclusion Code (all in Dutch) for their organisation. At Art Platform Start, applicants must provide an explanation of how the codes have played a role in the policy so far and what steps the organisation wants to take in this area over the next 2 years.

A programme plan must be realistic and convince the committee. Not all names of artists and curators need to be mentioned. Being clear is important; if artists have not confirmed this must be clear from the application. If artists have expressed their intention, this can also be indicated. With a multi-year programme, it is logical that the further into the future, the less detailed the programme will be. There may be room within the programme to respond to current events. But here too, a programme plan must provide a good picture of the activities, their content and their quality. To avoid any possible appearance of a conflict of interest, members of the advisory committee may not be included in the application. When making the request, please ensure that the maximum number of pages is not exceeded. The excess of pages will not be included in the assessment.

No, additional requirements are imposed on a subsidy ceiling procedure to guarantee equal treatment of applicants. The subsidy provider is therefore not allowed to communicate substantively with the applicant about the application. That could disadvantage another applicant.

No, there can only be one applicant, however you can merge into one organisation, and you can then request this. Within your plan you can include collaborations with other institutions.

Additional information can be provided up until the deadline. After the deadline has passed, this is no longer possible. In a subsidy ceiling procedure, substantive information provided after the submission date cannot be taken into account. Do not exceed the maximum number of pages.

After submitting the application, employees of the fund will check whether the application that has been submitted is complete. This is a formal check. We check whether any pieces are missing, have been uploaded incorrectly or have been uploaded twice. If this is the case, you will be given the opportunity to still submit these documents within a set time limit. Applications that have been submitted in full will be submitted to the advisory committee.

The results of this application round will be announced at the start of May 2026.

The visual arts field expressed a wish for greater openness regarding the recommendations, comparable to the approach taken by other national cultural funds and the Council for Culture. To meet this request and to contribute to greater transparency and consistent accountability, the Mondriaan Fund has since been publishing all recommendations for the Art Platform programmes on its website.