Eelco van der Lingen will leave his position in 2026 as general director of the Mondriaan Fund and will take up the position of director of Fries Museum, Keramiekmuseum Princessehof and the Fries Verzetsmuseum as of 1 February. The head of fund office at the Mondriaan Fund, Eva Postema, will serve as interim director until a new general director is appointed.
Geneviève Lieuw, chair of the Supervisory Board of the Mondriaan Fund, congratulates Eelco on his appointment: “Those who support art with vision leave marks that last longer than any directorship. With his open outlook and his courage to innovate, Eelco van der Lingen has not only pushed boundaries but also worked to strengthen the connection between the various worlds of policy, artists, and institutions in general, and to reinforce the position of the artist in particular. We extend our sincere thanks to Eelco for the indelible contribution he has made to the work of the Fund, to heritage, and to the arts. We congratulate Eelco on this wonderful appointment and congratulate the Fries Museum on its new director.”
Eelco van der Lingen looks back on an inspiring and eventful period at the Mondriaan Fund: “I look forward to getting back to work in Fryslân, and at the same time I will miss the Mondriaan Fund and its staff. We have been through beautiful and special years together, and I am proud of what has been developed with the team in recent years and what we have been able to mean for the visual arts and heritage sector. In recent years, the arts and heritage landscape has become more accessible and has become even more aware of its social responsibility, of the need for representation, and of its relationship with underrepresented communities and histories. The Mondriaan Fund has contributed to this and has also taken on its own role and responsibility. The Mondriaan Fund is in a strong position. My thanks go to all the staff who have worked toward this, and I have every confidence that the management team will be able to successfully bridge the period until a new director is appointed.”
Eelco has been the general director of the Mondriaan Fund since 2019, the national cultural fund for visual arts and heritage in the Netherlands and the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. The fund, on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW), supports the realization of projects and activities by art venues, museums, and other heritage institutions at home and abroad, as well as the professional development of artists and curators. It also oversees the Dutch entry for the Venice Biennale and organizes the Prix de Rome for the visual arts, which is currently on view at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Under his leadership, the sector was supported during the COVID-19 crisis. Throughout his tenure, Eelco advocated for better representation of the population within the arts and heritage sector, for regions outside the Randstad, for the income position and independence of visual artists, and for the accessibility of the visual arts and heritage sector.