The application round for Art Platform Start 2027-2028 is part of the Art Platform Programmes 2025-2028 grant scheme. This multi-year scheme comprises 3 categories – Start, Basic and Broad – which together support a varied and well-balanced programme of contemporary visual art in the Netherlands or the Caribbean part of the Kingdom.
The Start category has 2 application rounds, each covering a 2-year period: the first took place in 2024, and the second in 2026. Applications for the Basic and Broad categories were only accepted in 2024. If you would like to find out more about the Basic and Broad categories, see the Art Platform Programme 2025-2028 grant scheme for more information.
By art platforms, the fund means professional 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.
Online consultation hours Art Platform Start
On 25 November from 16.00 to 16.45 (Netherlands time zone) / 11.00 to 11.45 (Caribbean time zone), there will be an online consultation hour for the Art Platform Start 2027-2028 grant. During this session, we will provide more information about the grant, and there will be an opportunity to ask questions.
Who is eligible?
For organisations starting up in the field of contemporary visual arts. Only organisations with legal status can 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. Applicants in the Start category have a frequent or non-frequent programme of activities such as exhibitions, gatherings for discussions and lectures.
With the Art Platform Programmes grant, the Mondriaan Fund wants to provide subsidies to art platforms whose programmes contribute to a high-quality and varied range of contemporary visual art in the Netherlands and the Caribbean part of the Kingdom and to building and reaching an audience for this.
For what?
The grant is intended for plans for a number of presentations over 2 calendar years, possibly also with a number of associated activities. A grant in the Start category can be awarded a maximum of 3 times.
How much?
€ 50,000 a year, for 2 calendar years.
A maximum of 10 grants will be awarded (provided that the budget legislator makes sufficient resources available)
How and when to apply?
Applications for Art Platform Programme grants can be submitted through the Mondriaan Fund’s online application system. The deadline for submitting the application is on Thursday, February 5, before 4:00 PM (Dutch time zone) / 11:00 AM (Caribbean time zone). You need to have an account with the Mondriaan Fund in order to submit an application. If you do not yet have an account, you can apply for one through the website.
The results of this application round will be announced at the start of May 2026. Funds cannot be approved retroactively. All assessments and recommendation texts will be published online following the decisions.
Check the frequently asked questions here.
This explanation is based on the deelregeling Programma’s Kunstpodia 2025-2028 (in Dutch).
Terms and conditions
- Only starting art platforms with legal status can apply.
- An art platform must be established in the Netherlands or the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, and this must also be the location of the activities.
- Applicants endorse the Fair Practice Code (Dutch only), the Culture Governance Code (Dutch only) and the Diversity & Inclusion Code (Dutch only) and apply these as best as possible. They also reflect on how the codes have played a role in policy so far and formulate ambitions for the next 2 years.
- Grants cannot be made to activities that are already or will be financed from another grant of the Mondriaan Fund or one of the other National Culture Funds, or on the basis of the Regulation on specific cultural policy.
- Institutions for further art education and sector- and umbrella organisations are not eligible to apply.
- At least 10% of the budget for the organisation’s structural costs must be covered by financial contributions from third parties and/or own income.
Assessment
All applications and the relevant attachments are first checked to ensure they are complete and tested against the formal conditions by Mondriaan Fund staff. If so, the application is then submitted to the committee that advises on awarding Art Platform Start grants.
An Art Platform Start grant can only be awarded if the committee advises to that effect.
Because overall funds are limited, we are not always able to honour all positive recommendations. In that case, the Board of Directors of the Mondriaan Fund will request that the advisory committee compare the positive recommendations and indicate which have greatest priority. Here, the pluriformity of the total group of platforms to receive grants is considered, in order to ensure a representative and multifaceted range of contemporary visual arts in the Netherlands and/or the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. This means that it can happen that an application receives a positive recommendation, but the grant can unfortunately not be awarded.
The committee assesses your application on the basis of:
- A description of the organisation, the people involved (artists, curators, collaboration partners, etc.), the activities developed in the recent past and the ambitions for the near future.
- A plan with the following components:
- A programme.
- Presentation plan with an explanation as to how the intended audience will be reached.
- Explanation as to why a contribution is of importance at this time as well as how it can provide a boost to the initiative in the longer term.
- Explanation on of the local embedding of the initiative. The Mondriaan Fund takes the local context and regional distribution into account in its assessment.
- A reflection on the Fair Practice Code, Governance Code Culture and the Diversity & Inclusion Code in which the organisation explains how the codes have played a role in the policy so far and what steps the organisation wants to take in this regard over the next 2 years in this area.
- A budget with a coverage plan.
Please note: To avoid any possible appearance of a conflict of interest, members of the advisory committee may not be included in the application.
The advisory committee considers the following criteria:
The advisory committee assesses whether the art platform is or will become important for contemporary visual art in the Netherlands and takes into account the following criteria:
The artistic quality of the activities from the recent past:
- To what extent does the art platform have a convincing artistic vision on current topics within the visual arts and/or relevant social developments?
- Is the translation of the artistic vision sufficiently visible in activities and programming in the past year?
- Has the art platform or, if applicable, have those involved in the art platform developed positively?
The artistic quality of the activities in the plan:
- To what extent does the plan offer opportunities for the intended development of the art platform?
- How is the quality of the artists and curators involved assessed? Is the selection of artists and curators sufficiently in line with the programme plan?
- Is the plan feasible and is there confidence that the intended artistic and substantive programme will be realised?
Audience reach:
- Does the application realistically describe a relevant audience for whom the programme is intended?
- Does the application provide confidence that the intended audience will be reached?
Local embedding: *
- Does the institution relate to the local (cultural) context and infrastructure in a credible manner?
- To what extent does the applicant distinguish itself from institutions that implement cultural programmes within the same region?
Quality of the organisation and business operations:
- Is the budget realistic and suitable for the plan?
- To what extent is the arts platform organisationally capable of implementing the programme plan?
Dealing with the Fair Practice Code, Governance Code Culture and the Diversity & Inclusion Code:
- Does the art platform reflect on the codes in a convincing manner?
- Are the formulated ambitions with regard to the codes realistic?
*Please note that this criterion carries more weight in the decision-making process, as this is a policy focus point within the grant.
Checklist
In order to process your application, the Mondriaan Fund will need some information: data for you to enter in the application form, as well as documents that you can upload. Here you will find a checklist that follows the layout of the application form.
Tip: collect all your information before you start filling out the online application form. Your attachments should be uploaded as PDFs. Please note: make sure that your documents meet the stated conditions. Otherwise, we will unfortunately not be able to process your request. Do not exceed the number of pages where a maximum is indicated.
Checklist
Recent and current (maximum 1 year old) extract from the Dutch Chamber of Commerce register
Bank details
If your application is approved, we need your bank account number in order to transfer funds. If the organisation has not previously submitted an application to the Mondriaan Fund or if the account number has changed since the previous application, please upload a recent bank statement clearly stating the name of the account holder and IBAN/bank account number of the applying institution. Applicants established in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom can provide a bank statement or other document from the bank stating the name of the account holder and bank account number.
Annual accounts (including management report)
You must upload a 2024 annual account approved and signed by the board. The annual accounts show the financial situation of the organisation. If the application is assessed positively, we ask you to send us an annual account for 2025 approved and signed by the board.
Profile art platform (max. 3 pages)
Please provide a brief description of the organisation, the people involved, the activities developed in the recent past and the ambitions for the near future.
Programme plan (max. 12 pages)
In the input field you provide a brief summary of the programme with a relevant selection of the artists, curators and partners involved. (max. characters: 1375)
The programme plan must contain the following components:
- A programme.
- A presentation plan with an explanation of how the intended audience will be reached.
- An explanation as to why a contribution is of importance at this time as well as how it can provide a boost to the art platform in the longer term.
- An explanation of the local embedding of the art platform. The Mondriaan Fund takes the local context and regional distribution into account in its assessment.
- Applicants endorse the Fair Practice Code, Governance Code and the Diversity & Inclusion Code and apply them as best as possible. In addition, you 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.
Please note: To avoid any possible appearance of a conflict of interest, members of the advisory committee may not be included in the application.
Itemized budget with coverage plan (state: excluding VAT)
Art Platform Start concerns a contribution of €50,000 per year for the year 2027 and for 2028. At least 10% of the budget must be covered by financial contributions from third parties (such as other governments, private funds) and/or own income for the structural costs of the organisation. Please note: The budget must be balanced, whereby the budget is in line with the activities, taking into account the codes. Please click here for an explanation of the budget for art platforms and the lexicon (in Dutch).
- Complete the budget/operating account in the application form
You can fill in the budget and coverage plan for each cost item in the application form. This part of the application form consists of one column, in which you enter an average of the income and expenditure over the years 2027-2028. - Explanation of the budget and the quantitative activity overview (max. 5 pages)
In the explanation of the budget, you indicate which part of the budget and which specific item the explanation relates to. In addition, we ask you to specify the year or years. The explanation will in any case include:- A specification of the items ‘Other direct income’, ‘Indirect income’, ‘Private resources – private funds’. The item(s) under ‘Subsidies’ are specified if there is more than one subsidy.
- In the appendix you should also provide a description of:
- specific activities or projects for which you would like to further explain the benefits, costs or quantity and/or;
- a special development of income and/or expenses during the subsidy period;
- the financial position of the current financial year (disappointing income and/or higher expenditure, possible additional support from subsidy providers);
- risks related to continuity and measures to cover these risks;
- the application of Fair Pay, where you provide insight into how the guidelines are followed and calculated.
- In the quantitative activity overview, we ask you to explain the number of activities and the audience reach. Also indicate how (the intended) audience numbers are measured and determined.
*If you used the Artist’s Fee Guideline, please indicate for each exhibition whether you applied the classic or newly proposed guideline, and specify which variables were relevant (the number of artists, the duration (in months), the type of work and the size of the organisation, etc.)
Letters of confirmation (if available)
Collect all letters in which third parties confirm their intended financial contributions to your programme and include these together in a single PDF document.