FAQ Awareness of the History of Slavery grant

Visual artists and independent curators, critics, theorists and observers who are professionally active within the visual arts and/or cultural heritage in the Netherlands and/or the Caribbean part of the Kingdom can submit an application to Awareness of the History of Slavery for individuals.

Cultural institutions in the Netherlands and the Caribbean part of the Kingdom that focus on presenting cultural heritage and/or visual art. Cultural institutions are understood to include museums, art centres and venues, archives engaged in public presentation, and other art and heritage initiatives that focus on presenting cultural heritage and/or visual art can submit an application to Awareness of the History of Slavery for institutions.

Cultural institutions are understood to include museums, art centres and venues, archives engaged in public presentation, and other art and heritage initiatives that focus on presenting cultural heritage and/or visual art.

No, grant stacking is not permitted under this scheme. Individuals who are nominated by an institution for a project, residency or workplace under this scheme are not eligible to submit an individual application. And institutions may not appoint individuals who are receiving an individual grant under this scheme.

Applicants may receive a maximum of 1 Awareness of the History of Slavery grant per round.

A range of communities form an inextricable part of the history of slavery. Proposed plans should therefore offer space for the perspectives of communities of originally non-European descent that are directly connected to this history, including descendants of enslaved people; Indigenous peoples of Suriname and of Sint Maarten, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao; Chinese, Javanese and Hindustani indentured labourers; as well as, for instance, Moluccan, Ghanaian and South African communities. One or more of these communities must play a meaningful role in the proposed plan.

A committee consisting of independent advisers will evaluate applications for this grant. This committee is drawn from a pool of experts with diverse backgrounds and specialisms. In case a discipline or specialism is not represented in our permanent pool of advisers, the Mondriaan Fund may also deploy ad hoc advisers. Please visit this link for more information about the pool of advisers from which the Mondriaan Fund composes its committees.

Unfortunately, we cannot determine and publish the final committee until we know which applicants have applied and from which disciplines they are active. We need to be sure that all specialisms are represented within the committee and that advisers have no direct interest in the applications being considered.

The deadline for submitting the application in 2026 is on 16 July 2026, before 16:00 (Dutch time zone) / 10:00 (Caribbean time zone).

There is a strict deadline. So start your application in good time!

Unfortunately, the Mondriaan Fund cannot help write or edit applications. However, our employees can look over a draft plan and/or decide whether the plan suits the application. Contact persons for this open call are listed at the bottom of this page.

Applicants can only submit their application in writing via the online application system.

Applications to the Mondriaan Fund can be made via the online application system. For the grant for Awareness of the History of Slavery you will require an account. If you have not applied before, you will need to create an account first. Please create an account here.

Please note: you can only complete the application form after receiving your login information. Please apply for your account well before the deadline. We aim to process your applications within one working day. However, please remember that the period before the deadline is extremely busy, so we cannot always guarantee this. No accounts are issued at weekends, during public holidays and on days when the Mondrian Fund is closed.

The Mondriaan Fund aims to be as accessible as possible and allows for applications in either Dutch or English. However, we offer a translation contribution (see below) for applicants who write in another language.

The Mondriaan Fund communicates in Dutch or English.

The application form for the Awareness of the History of Slavery grant can only be completed and submitted in Dutch or English. Writing in a different language? Then the Mondriaan Fund offers a translation contribution for this grant. You can apply for a contribution for translating your application into English or Dutch of up to €3000 VAT included. Before submitting the application, you can have it translated yourself at a translation agency of your choice. You can email an invoice/declaration form from the applicant in euros for the translation, with attachments (such as the translator’s invoice), to snpghera@zbaqevnnasbaqf.ay, stating the application number, the name of the applicant and the title of the project. The contribution will be transferred provided that the application has been submitted in full (including all attachments and, if applicable, documentation).

The translation contribution is an option for the Awareness of the History of Slavery grant and can be requested until the budget for the translation contribution has been spent. The total budget for the translation contribution is € 50,000.

The translation contribution will be transferred to the bank account number stated on the invoice/declaration.

The compensation is transferred in euros.

The amount in euros stated on the invoice/claim form is used.

The text can be translated by a translation agency of your choice.

The contribution can be requested until the budget for the translation contribution has been spent. Reimbursements are awarded in order of the completeness check. As soon as your application has been checked for completeness by the Mondriaan Fund, you will receive a message.

No, this is currently only possible with the Awareness of the History of Slavery grant.