1-year activities programme 2022 – 19 creative industries institutions selected
The Creative Industries Fund NL awards a 1-year grant to 19 institutions within the creative industries for the implementation of their activities programme in 2022. Due to the large number of good applications, not all positively assessed applications were able to receive grants.
20 December 2021
The advisory committee, chaired by Nathanja van Dijk, provided recommendations for 42 programmes of institutions in the field of design, architecture and digital culture. They applied for a total of 3.4 million euro. With a budget of 1.5 million euro, the round was significantly oversubscribed, so the committee had to make astute choices and prioritization was necessary. It is notable that many applicants were applying for the maximum amount of € 100,000. This is mainly due to the aim of institutions to implement the fair practice code.
Applications were assessed on four criteria:
- the artistic and social value of the programme of activities;
- the relevance of the chosen theme for the field;
- the degree of diversity in audience reach;
- consistency in the application’s purpose and set-up
selection
The following 19 cultural institutions were selected:
- ACED
- Architectuurcentrum Amsterdam
- Architectuurcentrum Nijmegen
- BlueCity
- Crafts Council Nederland
- Creative Coding Utrecht
- CURRENT OBSESSION
- DARKMATTER Collective
- De Dépendance
- Hackers & Designers
- Zone2Source
- Illustratie Ambassade
- Independent School for the City
- MacGuffin
- Platform GRAS
- PrintRoom
- sQuare
- The Hmm
- Varia
Institutions with positive recommendation, no budget after prioritization
Institutions with negative recommendation
distribution over sectors
By means of the 1 and 2-year Activities Programme Grant Scheme, the Fund aims to achieve a balanced distribution of resources across the disciplines of design, architecture and digital culture. In the field of architecture, five proposals were awarded grants. In the fields of design and digital culture, seven proposals were selected in each. The distribution across the disciplines plays a role if there is a need to prioritize the positively assessed proposals.
It is important that these institutions continue to provide space for experimentation and talent development and, together with makers, offer new perspectives on social issues through the power of design. – Syb Groeneveld
newcomers
The Fund emphasizes the importance of newcomers in this grant scheme. That is because support offers institutions the opportunity to grow and develop further as a platform within the cultural infrastructure of the creative industries. In addition, supporting newcomers contributes to a multi-perspective design field.
Fourteen of the selected institutions were already being supported by the Fund this year for their 2021 annual programme. For them, continuation of budget and further development has therefore been made possible. Syb Groeneveld, director of the Fund, additionally notes: ‘It was also notable that several of the applications submitted focused on young makers and developing makership within the creative industries at the city level. These proposals do not fit well within the objectives and criteria of this grant scheme, and the Fund is exploring whether and how it could meet this demand in a different way in 2022. Five institutions in the selection are new to the grant scheme. Two newcomers are:
DARKMATTER Collective
DARKMATTER Collective brings together makers and thinkers from different disciplines. The collective takes blackness as a starting point for considering digital culture. Blackness and the conceptual metaphor of dark matter is seen as a binding agent to bring together knowledge that, according to the platform, often takes place in separate spheres: art, science, digital developments, social worlds, racism and human rights. In the ‘Peripheral Visions’ annual programme, invited guest speakers and makers (artists, musicians, scientists and community builders) will question the idea of technological neutrality and demonstrate how our digital perception and experience can change. With support from New York University, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Bijlmer Parktheater, Studio/K and Bureau Punt, programmes are curated consisting of film screenings, meetings, exhibitions, panels, club nights and the launch of the digital platform DARKMATTER+. Through the annual programme, themes relevant to Afro-Dutch and Caribbean Dutch communities are addressed and queer and feminist artists, scientists and speakers from these communities are invited to take part.
ACED
Media play an important role in exposing the increasing inequality and polarization in our society. To fully represent society, a broad and varied media assortment is necessary. ACED advocates for the realization of media and media communications that optimally appeal to diverse audiences. One of the key innovations that ACED focuses on is Designalism. By combining design and journalism, surprising new forms of information emerge and, with them, new insights and perspectives. They call this new hybrid form of information transfer, with which makers are experimenting and reaping success around the world, Designalism. ACED’s annual programme focuses on developing Designalism Newsroom, Designalism Database, Designalism Podcast, Designalism Daily and the Release Party. They reflect on the five main areas where social inequality is evident: economics, politics, education, identity and health. ACED works closely with Beeld en Geluid Den Haag, Het Financieel Dagblad, Pointer (KRO - NCRV), VersPers, Fontys Hogeschool Journalistiek, The Image Society, MU Hybrid Art House and NOS.
Covid-19 crisis
In this application round, the effects of the Covid-19 crisis at the institutions were a co-determining factor in the applications. Sponsorship income is lower and own ticket income is also mostly lower than before, but thanks to government support and leniency in applying policy, institutions within the creative industries are able to hold their own reasonably well. In no small way, their adaptability played an important role. For instance, digital programming has provided many opportunities, particularly in reaching a broad, international audience. And many institutions have begun hybrid programming to connect audiences to high cultural offerings during and after Covid.
infrastructure design culture
The map Infrastructure Design Sector 2022 shows all the institutions in the design sector that will be supported through the Creative Industries Fund NL or Basic Cultural Infrastructure in 2022. Syb Groeneveld: ‘Unfortunately, the broad cultural and creative sector will continue to suffer from the Covid-19 crisis in 2022. It is therefore all the more important that these institutions continue to provide space for experimentation and talent development and, together with makers, offer new perspectives on social issues through the power of design.’
