Festivals and public presentations – 12 projects selected

The Festivals and Public Presentations Grant Scheme has a strong focus on reaching a broad audience and regional distribution. The resources for this scheme are therefore divided over five different regions of the Netherlands and the Caribbean part of the Kingdom.

Distribution over the country’s regions in this round is as follows: five applications from the West region were awarded grants, from both the East and South regions one application received a grant, from the Central Netherlands and North regions two applications each and from the Caribbean region one application was included in the selection.

All applications were assessed on the following four criteria:
- contribution to public interest in the creative industry in the respective part of the country;
- substantive significance for the creative industry;
- effectiveness of set-up, audience strategy and level of support;
- contribution to diversity and inclusion within the field of activity.

selection

From the 20 applications, the following 12 projects have been selected:
- LUNA 2023 – Stichting Mediaart Friesland
- Conflux festival 2023 – Stichting Reverb
- Oorzaken Internationaal Podcastfestival – Stichting Grenzeloos Geluid
- Night of the Nerds 2023 & Creative Jam & Creative Tech for Good Challenges – FutureBites
- Kaboom Animation Festival 2023 – Stichting Kaboom Animation Festival
- Bubbels – Stichting FDFA
- Baken Vlieland – Stichting Great Wide Open
- Farm to Crafts – Cleo de Brabander
- REBOOT – LIMA
- International Conference on Live Coding – Displacement – Creative Coding Utrecht
- Festival Rotterdamse Dakendagen – Stichting Rotterdamse Dakendagen
- Rewire 2023 – Stichting Unfold

The following projects give a good idea of the breadth of the selection:

Farm to Crafts – Cleo de Brabander
Curaçao is more than 96% dependent on the outside world. A new generation of Curaçaoans wants to breathe new life into Curaçao’s once-thriving local production. That is why Farm to Crafts is exploring the possibilities of reactivating small-scale farming of local raw materials on Curaçao, intended for the development of materials and crafts. The premise of the project is learning by doing, and in this way establishing a dynamic environment for creative research and production. During a kick-off, the first crops are planted. Almost a year later, the public returns for an event on the land filled with workshops and presentations by regional and international designers, on the potential of the harvest. This way, Farm to Crafts aims to mobilize the energy of the local community by means of tangible, practical experiments. Using making processes, the platform will create space for understanding and connection. It will also show a wide audience that agriculture remains a source of valuable resources, offering prospects for a more creative, sustainable and less dependent Curaçao. Initiator Cleo de Brabander collaborates with local parties, national and international artisans and designers, Hofi Cas Cora, Crafts Council Netherlands and WUR, among others.

LUNA 2023 – Stichting Mediaart Friesland
Stichting Media Art Friesland (MAF) presents contemporary art to a wide and diverse audience in Leeuwarden. The focus of MAF lies on talent development and showcasing media-arts talent from home and abroad. MAF’s main activity is the Media Art Festival LUNA, which consists of three parts: Young Masters, Urban Night Adventure and Currents. Young Masters is an exhibition lasting more than two weeks, featuring 12 young national and international talents in Leeuwarden’s Spoorkwartier district. The Urban Night Adventure presents experimental and accessible light, sound and performance art in special locations in public spaces. Currents provides a space for artists, audiences and partners to explore in depth socially relevant themes where art and technology can play an important role. The overarching theme for 2023 is Nothing Changes. The Media Art Festival LUNA takes place from 3 to 19 February 2023.

REBOOT – LIMA in collaboration with Het Nieuwe Instituut
Reboot aims to showcase art and digital culture from the early days of computers and the internet (1960-2000) to a broad, international audience by means of contemporary reinterpretations. This exhibition and the accompanying preliminary Digital Care are organized by LIMA and co-producer Het Nieuwe Instituut. Reboot is the first major public exhibition that tells the important story of the role of digital technologies in our society. With early, groundbreaking digital artworks, reinterpretations by contemporary makers and an interactive audience and education programme, the urgency of the digital pioneering mentality for today’s and tomorrow’s societal questions is made clear. The 20 influential artworks, created during a crucial period in Dutch digital culture, are hardly known to a wider audience and by young people. Reboot wants to change that. The exhibition shows that these works have been formative for today’s society. The aim is to encourage the public to think about shaping a technological future.

Read more here about the selected festivals.

numbers

Of the 20 assessed applications, 12 were awarded grants. This brings the percentage of applications receiving grants to 60%. The budget was distributed over the five parts of the country as follows:

- West € 180,000
- North € 84,000
- East € 84,000
- Middle € 84,000
- South € 84,000
- the Caribbean part of the Kingdom € 84,000

In 2023, the Festivals and Public Presentations Grant Scheme will have two application rounds. The deadlines are 22 February 2023 for festivals and presentations taking place up until March 2024 and 24 October 2023: for festivals and presentations taking place between 1 March 2024 and 1 March 2025.

Photo above: REWIRE by Parcifal Werkman