Artist Basic

• In order to be eligible for a contribution, you must be artistically active in the visual arts and in that capacity embedded in the professional visual arts practice in the Netherlands and/or the Caribbean part of the Kingdom
• Applications may only be submitted by artists who have been working as professional visual artists for at least 4 years:
  • If you have completed a Bachelor’s degree programme (HBO) with a visual arts curriculum, the date on your diploma will be considered the start of your professional practice. If there is an interim period between your graduation from the Bachelor’s programme with a visual arts curriculum and the start of your Master’s programme, this period will be considered as part of your professional practice.
  • If you have not completed a Bachelor’s degree programme (HBO) with a visual arts curriculum, the date on which you first presented work in professional art circles will be considered the start of your professional practice.
• You cannot apply for or use a contribution while enrolled to study at educational institutions for e.g. Bachelor’s, Master’s, postgraduate, postdoctoral or PhD programmes. The exception is part-time programmes (not Bachelor’s programmes) of less than 20 hours a week.

• Artist Basic grant can be awarded no more than once every 4 years.
• An artist who was previously rejected on the grounds of the criterium ‘quality and development of the oeuvre’ is not permitted to submit a new application for Artist Basic within a period of 12 months after the initial application date.
• An artist may not apply for an Artist Basic grant during the term of other financial support from the Mondriaan Fund if the fund board believes that the contribution will cover the same costs.

• For the Artist Basic grant, the applicant’s total taxable income in the previous 2 years must not be higher than € 55,000 per year. Other financial support from the Mondriaan Fund does not count towards this sum.
• An artist may not apply for an Artist Basic grant during the term of other financial support from the Mondriaan Fund if the fund board believes that the contribution will cover the same costs.
• The level of collective income is assessed on the basis of income tax return forms or final tax assessments for the past 2 calendar years. For applications submitted between 1 January and 1 October, the aggregate income from the 2 years preceding the previous year can be substituted. If the applicant did not file an income tax return during these years, we will ask for a statement of your income, a statement of why you did not file a tax return, and/or proof from the tax authorities that you did not have to file a tax return.
• If the income in the 2 calendar years prior to the dates to be covered by the grant was higher than € 55,000, but it can be foreseen in advance that it will be lower in the year of grant and the following year (for example, because a job is terminated), an application can be submitted. In this case, income will be assessed based on tax returns and tax assessments from the year of the grant and the following year. The applicant is therefore required to declare their total taxable income for both years. The declaration must be submitted before July 15 of the following year. Copies of the final tax assessments must also be submitted as soon as they are received. This also applies to applicants who have not filed an income tax return in the Netherlands in the previous 2 calendar years.

• Visual documentation material.
• Explanation of your work and cultural entrepreneurship
• Curriculum vitae.
• Working plan.

• The quality and development of your oeuvre*

• • Do you have a clearly articulated and convincingly substantiated artistic vision, and is this conveyed in previous work in an exemplary manner?
  • Is your work of distinctive quality within the context of the professional contemporary visual arts? Consider e.g. the substantive significance of the work, its inherent imaginative strength, the command of the selected mediums and/or techniques and the work’s power of expression).
  • Is there evidence of a convincing development of your oeuvre appropriate to the phase of your professional practice?

• The quality of your cultural entrepreneurship*

  • Does your CV reflect a significant level of recognition for and importance of your artistic practice within the professional contemporary visual arts? As evidenced by the location and significance of solo or group exhibitions, sales and publications, acquisitions, commissions, grants, or awards.
  • Do you make convincing efforts to stimulate the understanding and appreciation of the intentions of the work? And does this result in increased visibility of the practice within professional contemporary visual art scene?

* The background and context of the professional practice will be taken into consideration during the assessment, e.g. schooling, cultural context, the duration of the professional practice and the type of work produced.

In the case that the advisory committee positively assesses the above criteria, the committee will also assess:

• The quality of the plan and your approach to finding an audience for your work

  • Does the plan contribute to your artistic development and the development of your cultural entrepreneurship?
  • Does your plan make it sufficiently apparent that the work and/or work process is being presented to relevant people and/or a relevant audience? E.g. curators, gallery owners, visitors to an exhibition, a website or blog, open studio or workshop.

Explanation of work and cultural entrepreneurship (max. 3 pages)

Describe the artistic vision/guiding principles of your work, how you express these in your work, and the selected mediums and/or techniques. How has your work developed, and what have you done to achieve this development? In the case of a collaboration, please outline your role.

Also state what you do to further develop your cultural entrepreneurship. How do you make efforts to convey the intentions of your work, so that they are understood and appreciated? Which mediums do you use to these ends, and how? Consider e.g. the use of social media and/or a website, investment in a network, collaboration with a gallery or art institution, participation in open calls.

Curriculum Vitae (3 pages maximum)

Collect the most important data about your professional practice, with emphasis on the last 4 years. Include exhibitions (indicate solo or group), sales and publications, acquisitions, commissions, grants or awards,  mentioning the year in which they occurred. Also mention any associated activities, such as lectureships, advisory or jury positions., open studio or workshop, or visitors to a website or blog.

Working Plan (2 pages maximum)

What is your global plan regarding your work and practice in the coming 4 years? In which direction would you like to take your work, and how does this correspond with your oeuvre? Will you be working with others, and if so, what is your part in that collaboration? Describe how you want to present your work and/or your working process. This could include, for example, exhibitions, a website, a blog, open studios or workshops. Also outline your envisaged audience and why this audience is relevant.

Copy of income tax return or provisional assessment of the last 2 years

We require a recent document stating your total taxable income in order to confirm that your income is not too high to be eligible for support from the Mondriaan Fund.

Note: copies of your inkomensafhankelijke bijdrage Zorgverzekeringswet (income-related health care insurance contribution) or your aangifte Omzetbelasting (sales or value added tax return) are not sufficient here because they do not indicate your aggregate income.

• Upload a copy of your tax return or income tax and social security contributions assessment from the previous calendar year and the year before that.
  or
• If you submit your application before 1 October and do not yet have a declaration or assessment from the previous year, send your declarations or assessments from 2 and 3 years ago.
  or
• If you have not filed an income tax return in the years mentioned, we will need proof of your income, a statement explaining why you did not file a tax return and/or indication from the tax authorities that you did not need to file a tax return.

(Visual) documentation (max. 20 pages)

You must also upload visual documentation material for this application. Please note! This is mandatory. If you do not do this, your application cannot be processed. Compile a PDF presenting the artist’s most important works from the last 4 years.

• Begin with the most recent work. Ideally highlight a comparable number of works per year, so that the committee can see how your work has developed.
• Include 1 image per page. If you need to show a (spatial) work from different angles, you can include multiple images of that specific work on 1 page. This is permitted on a maximum of 5 of the 20 pages.
• You can also upload audio or video/film fragments totalling up to 15 minutes (the committee will require these if you make films, performances, video installations or audio works).
• Applicants using publications to present or make their work can upload a PDF of a maximum of 1 publication or a short video in which the publication is featured. The publication is for the committee’s perusal and may not be viewed in full. Publications sent to us by post will not be presented to the committee.

Note: You can upload a maximum of 500 MB of images and audio or video/film fragments. Click here for the technical specifications.

Documentation list (max. 2 pages)

Please include a documentation list (in PDF) that corresponds to the visual documentation material, containing a description or caption for each image, sound or video/film fragment included. For example: 01, title, 2020, run 2 min.

Please note: do not use (hyper)links in the PDF with (visual) documentation material and in the documentation list. We cannot accept (hyper)links to web pages, for example, because the supplied images may not be adjusted during the processing of the request.

If applicable:

Personal Records Database (BRP) extract

If you do not have Dutch nationality, include a recent extract (not older than 1 year) from the Basisregistratie Personen (BRP, or Personal Records Database) where you live, confirming you reside in the Netherlands and/or the Caribbean part of the Kingdom.

Bank details

We need your bank account number to transfer funds if your application is granted. If you have 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 applicant. 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.

If you have a business bank account for your one-person business, include a recent (less than 3 months old) copy of your registration with the Kamer van Koophandel (KvK, Chamber of Commerce), showing that you are the sole proprietor of the account.

If you have been awarded a grant from the Mondriaan Fund in the past twelve months, you may also qualify for a pre-approved, interest-free loan from Fonds Kwadraat (Dutch only). This could, for example, cover the purchase of equipment.