The Creative Industries Fund NL has awarded 44 starting designers a development grant of € 25,000. In the coming year, they will be given the opportunity to further develop their artistic and professional practice.
20 August 2026
Thirty makers were selected as part of the Talent Development Grant Scheme, which is open to recent graduates (one to four years ago) working in design, architecture or digital culture. Furthermore, 14 makers received grants through two open calls: the Open Call Self-taught Designer for self-taught makers or those with a Dutch mbo (secondary vocational education) diploma as well as the Open Call Emerging Design Practices ABCSSS for designers from the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. These two calls consist of applicants pitching their plans to the committees. The development year runs from September 2026 through to November 2027.
The committee was positive about the quality of the development plans submitted this year. Many applicants were clear about the objectives and structure of the development year, and properly positioned themselves within the field as well as the societal context. In addition, many of the approved applications demonstrate a high level of artistic and reflective ability. The committee was therefore also critical of plans that were too project-like in conception. These are often based on a business plan and pay insufficient attention to developing artistic unicity.
Archives are often a point of departure in design. Julia Urreaga Aizarna utilises graphic design to make archives more accessible, Paco Teepe views personal objects as portable archive items and Mirelle van Tulder explores analogue printing techniques to breathe new life into forgotten heritage material.
Architecture applications often aim to understand and interpret a location as comprehensively as possible. Theodor Reinhardt uses cartography and geospatial training to provide insight into complex spatial issues, Michael Marugg studies integral design to support more informed area development on Curaçao, and Elena Dobretsova combines physics, storytelling and field and materials research to explain locations and their history, thereby connecting nature and culture.
In digital culture, attention is paid to accessibility and ethics. Tim Buhrs is developing a tool that enables makers to make their interactive artworks and games accessible to people with visual or motor impairments. Kyara Lucas is investigating how the Papiamento-learning app she previously developed can be further tailored to suit children, so that the language is preserved for the coming generations, alongside attention being paid to identity and culture. Mitsitron is working on an ethical online platform for sharing sound, as an alternative to the extractive models of dominant technology platforms.
Aldo Brinkhoff
Augustina Lavickaitė
Bahar Orcun
David Tiemstra
Dina Lebbar
Donja Darroodi
Elena Dobretsova
Gersande Schellinx
Guido Bos
Hanna Boslau
Hyukjoon Choi
Insan Larasati
Jan Egbers
Jasmine Montina
Jelmer Reus
Jian Da Huang
Johanna Himmelsbach
Julia Urreaga Aizarna
Jules Davis-Dufayard
Kyara Lucas
Marsha van Leersum
Megan van Engelen
Mei Cui
Michael Marugg
Mirelle van Tulder
Mitsitron
Naomi Raper
Nesie Junyi Wang
Ott Metusala
Paco Teepe
Pascale Numan
Poorva Shrivastava
Poorvi Garag
Quan Nguyen
Sam Verberne
Sarah Saleh
Stefaniia Bodnia
Stuart Weston
Theodor Reinhardt
Thijs de Jong
Tim Buhrs
Victoria Zynwala
Yonina Sint Jago
Zhao Zhou
There is a high level of diversity and inclusion in the Talent Development Grant Scheme as is apparent from the variety in educational levels, academies, cultural backgrounds, genders, hidden disabilities, neurodiversity and where the makers are based. The committee was positive about how applicants relate to themes such as neurodiversity and queerness, and how they take on a variety of perspectives that range from contemplative to activist. Applicants who had an overly one-sided approach to a theme were advised to seek expertise outside their own network in order to find more diverse perspectives.
The Talent Development Grant Scheme application round in numbers:
The Open Call Self-taught Designer application round in numbers:
The Open Call Emerging Design Practices ABCSSS application round in numbers:
The work of the makers of the 2025-2026 cohort will be presented during GLUE Amsterdam (17 – 19 September) and Conflux Festival in Rotterdam (24 – 27 September). Starting designers can apply once again to the Talent Development Grant Scheme, the Open Call Self-taught Designer and the Open Call Emerging Design Practices ABCSSS in the spring of 2027.
Header image: Bahar Orcun.
