Curator Researcher

• The applicant has been working for at least two years as a professional curator or mediator in the visual arts or cultural heritage and can demonstrate this with publications, exhibitions, research and/or other projects.
• The Curator Researcher grant cannot be used to finance study. The curator or mediator may not make use of this grant while attending educational institutions, such as bachelor, master, post-graduate or post-graduate programmes.
• The applicant is artistically active in the visual arts and/or cultural heritage and is in that capacity embedded in the professional visual arts and/or cultural heritage field of the Netherlands and/or the Caribbean part of the Kingdom.
• The contribution is not intended for work on behalf of an organisation or for regular work.
• A Curator Researcher grant may not be applied for a working period in a guest studio in the Netherlands or abroad if this residency is offered in the Mondriaan Fund Residency Programme.
• The contribution cannot be granted for production, such as creating a publication or an exhibition.

• At the time of application, or during the period covered by the grant, the applicant may not be receiving any other financial contribution from the Mondriaan Fund which, in the opinion of the board of the Mondriaan Fund, would cover the same costs.
• A curator or mediator can be awarded a grant to cover a maximum of 24 months within a 48-month period.
• If a previous application was rejected on the grounds of artistic or professional performance, the applicant may not apply for a Curator Researcher grant within 12 months from the date of the first application, unless it concerns a completely different plan, whereby it is expected that the development of the applicant’s work will take a new and different direction.

• Your explanation of your work and professional practice.
• Your curriculum vitae.
• Your working plan.
• Documentation.

• The quality and significance of previous activities:*

  • Do you have a distinctive vision regarding contemporary visual art and/or cultural heritage?
  • Has this vision been convincingly conveyed in previous activities?
  • Do your previous activities exhibit quality? Consider e.g. professionalism and skill, the ownership or autonomy of the curatorial activities, the selection of artists/artworks, the reflection on the selected themes.
  • Do your activities as curator/observer help further understanding, improve awareness and/or extend public reach? Consider e.g. knowledge intensification, explanation, the development or visibility of the visual arts and/or cultural heritage. This may be in relation to one or more artists, disciplines or movements, collections or elements of cultural heritage.

• The quality of your cultural entrepreneurship:*

  • Is it apparent from your CV that your practice has been acknowledged? As indicated by the nature, location and significance of e.g. exhibitions, publications, commissions, grants or awards.
  • Are you actively focused on developing your practice, entering into collaborations, entering into the public eye and finding an audience for your activities?

• The quality of the plan:

  • Does the project exhibit quality? Consider e.g. the significance of the concept, the project’s strength of imagination and power of expression, and whether the plan is feasible.
  • Is the proposed project remarkable within the context?
  • If applicable: does the plan include a convincing strategy to reach a relevant audience?

* The background and context of the professional practice will be taken into consideration during the assessment, e.g. the nature and duration of the professional practice and your cultural context.

Explanation (3 pages maximum)

Describe the content and substance of your artistic starting points or principles, and how these are expressed in your work and professional practice. Provide a short explanation of the substance of relevant projects and your part in how they came about. . Also outline what you do to develop your entrepreneurship, such as entering into partnerships, entering into the public eye and finding an audience for your work. Also outline how your activities contribute to greater understanding, improved awareness and/or greater public reach. Consider e.g. knowledge intensification, explanation, the development or visibility of the visual arts and/or cultural heritage. (This may be in relation to one or more artists, disciplines or movements, collections or elements of cultural heritage). If you have collaborated on projects, describe your role in the collaboration.

Curriculum Vitae (3 pages maximum)

Upload the most important data about your professional practice, with emphasis on the last 2 to 4 years. Include, for example, relevant articles and publications, research, exhibitions, events, lectures, commissions, grants or subsidies and awards. Also mention the studies you have completed and any related activities, such as teaching, advisory or jury positions.

Plan (4 pages maximum)

Outline your vision and how you will convey this in your plan. Outline your aims and how you intend to realise this plan. Also outline the envisaged outcome. If this plan involves collaboration with others, also outline the added value of this collaboration and what everyone will contribute.
If you are applying for the grant for an internship, schooling, participation in a programme or other form of  enrichment, outline why this type of enrichment or collaboration will contribute to your personal development or further education.

Outline how you intend to reach a relevant audience and engage them with the work process or completed plan. This could be by means of an exhibition, event, meeting or other public activity, or through a website, blog, workshop or other format.

Documentation

Create a PDF of maximum 25 pages with a selection of 1 to 6 of your most relevant and current articles, including maximum 10 images of recent exhibitions, manifestations or other activities from the past 2 to 4 years. You can also upload video/film fragments of projects you have realised (together a maximum of 15 minutes and a maximum of 300MB). Add a documentation list (maximum 2 pages) that corresponds to the documentation material.

Documentation list (max. 2 pages)

Include a numbered documentation list in PDF format that corresponds with your documentation, with a description or caption for each image, video or sound fragment. (For example: 01, title, 2020, loop 2 min.)

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

If you are completing the project for which you are applying for support together with someone else or with an organization, we ask you to upload the following supplemental documents:

Motivational statement from the collaborating party

If, for example, you have been selected for a residency, workshop or other arts programme, we would like a motivational statement from the organization explaining why you have been selected.

Where applicable:

Personal Records Database (BRP) extract

If you do not have Dutch citizenship, include a recent extract, no more than 1 year old, from the Basisregistratie Personen (BRP, or Personal Records Database) where you live, confirming that you reside in the Netherlands.

Bank details or Kamer van Koophandel registration

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.