Protected Cultural Heritage

For whom

The Protected Cultural Heritage grant is intended for owners and managers of objects and collections that are registered as protected in the Register, within the meaning of the Heritage Act (Erfgoedwet).

The Mondriaan Fund offers Protected Cultural Heritage grants to stimulate the preservation of objects and collections that are a significant part of Dutch cultural heritage, and to ensure that wherever possible, this heritage – much of which is privately owned – is made (and kept) publicly accessible.

For what

The grant can be used to fund the expenses associated with the care for and preservation of this cultural heritage:

• Costs of active and passive conservation

  (prevention of decay through proper storage conditions).

• Costs for restoration or renovation

  That are necessary for a meaningful and visually appealing presentation. The restoration of moveable industrial heritage must be necessary in order to return the object to a useable condition. The replacement of components is limited to that which is absolutely necessary for construction, operation or safety purposes.

• Costs of duplication

  This applies only when the object is subject to an unstoppable internal process of decay due to the material used (for example, film or some type of paper) or is used so heavily that its preservation is in jeopardy (for example, photographs, old manuscripts or music).

The aim is to encourage care for these objects and collections and to make and keep these publicly available to the extent possible.

How much

The amount of the grant will be determined per application. The Mondriaan Fund will finance up to 60% of the project.

Apply

Applications for the Protected Cultural Heritage grant can be submitted through the Mondriaan Fund’s online application system, for which you need an account. With your account you can access the application form, where you can fill in the questions and upload the information requested in the checklist below. Click here for the FAQ (in Dutch) about online applications.

Applications for a Protected Cultural Heritage grant can be submitted throughout the year. Applicants must allow for a total processing period of a maximum of 3 months from the moment the application is complete. Grants from the Mondriaan Fund cannot be awarded with retroactive effect, which is why the application must be submitted well before the desired starting date. However, due to the many applications to the fund, the processing time can take longer than expected.

Conditions

• Applications must be submitted by the owners or managers of a protected object or protected collection.
• The application must concern an object or collection listed with the Register within the meaning of the Cultural Heritage Act.
• Constructional provisions, documentation of objects, and storage facilities are not eligible for a Protected Cultural Heritage grant.
• The applicant is expected to pay for a significant share of the expenses itself.
• If the application concerns an object which must be renovated or restored, it is expected that this object will be accessible to the public at certain regularly scheduled times of the week, without any need for an appointment.
• If the application concerns moveable industrial heritage, the renovation or restoration efforts must be designed to restore the object to an operational condition.
• The applicant must be able to prove that the preservation of the object is guaranteed in the long term due to proper constructional provisions, climate control and security measures.
• All applications must include a budget covering all expenses which complies with the Mondriaan Fund’s guidelines.

Assessment

All applications that comply with the formal conditions and that have been submitted with the requested annexes will be presented to a committee which will issue recommendations for the allocation of a Protected Cultural Heritage grant.

Applicants are only eligible for a Protected Cultural Heritage grant if the competent advisory committee issues a positive recommendation regarding the criteria.
Such a positive recommendation may come with a recommendation on the sum to be awarded as a grant.

Due to budgetary restrictions, we are unfortunately not always able to award grants to all applications that receive positive advisories from the committee. In this case, the Mondriaan Fund Board asks the advisory committee to prioritise the positive advisories. This means that an application may receive a positive advisory, but a grant is nevertheless not awarded.

Checklist

In the online application form you must upload the requested information as a pdf. We advise you to formulate and collate this information before you fill out the form. We additionally request you to answer various questions, including questions for evaluation purposes.