Netherlands/ 3.4 International cultural co-operation  

3.4.5 Cross-border intercultural dialogue and co-operation

Flemish-Dutch House

In 2004, the governments of Flanders and the Netherlands set up a joint venture in order to ensure that Dutch Flemish culture would get a firm rooting in the concept of a "Europe of many cultures". Together, they created the Flemish-Dutch House, which opened in June 2004. In Brussels, the House, called The Neighbours [De Buren], was given the task of presenting and documenting the culture of the Low Countries on a permanent basis, as well as providing a platform for debate on culture, society and politics in the Netherlands, Flanders and Europe (see also chapter 4.2.5).

Funds

Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development

The Prince Claus Fund (set up in1996 by His Royal Highness Prince Claus), operates on an intercontinental scale and aims at increasing cultural awareness and promoting exchange between culture and development, thereby focussing especially on developing countries. Next to granting subsidies and giving awards to mainly non-European artists and intellectuals, the Prince Claus Fund creates platforms for debate and stimulates creative processes and artistic productions. The Prince Claus Fund is a platform for intercultural exchange. It works jointly with individuals and organisations mainly in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean on the realisation of activities and publications reflecting a contemporary approach to the themes of culture and development.

Hivos Cultural Fund

The Hivos Cultural Fund, introduced by Hivos in 1995, supports artists and cultural organisations based mainly in developing countries. Fields of work include production, exchange, promotion, marketing and distribution, as well as capacity building.

The objective of the Hivos Cultural Fund is to support independent artistic initiatives in developing countries that take a critical view of social developments, contribute to developing and professionalising the cultural sector, work for the broad dissemination of cultural products, and are proponents of exchange on an equal basis between artists, both nationally and internationally.

Hivos supports cultural and artistic expressions that contribute to the improvement of democratisation and multiple (diverse) forms of expression. This is carried out by promoting local productions in the fields of visual art, theatre, film, literature and media arts, setting up exchange projects and strengthening the cultural sector. Over the past year, Hivos has adjusted its culture policy by putting more emphasis on the strategic level. This includes an improved balance between donors, supporting regional initiatives and increased attention for the distribution and accessibility of productions.

In 2005, Hivos spent over 4 million euros on projects in the field of Arts and Culture provided through the Hivos Cultural Fund. This is over 6 per cent of the overall budget. The largest portion of this fund went to projects in Africa (1.5 million euros); 0.9 million euros to Latin America, and 0.9 million euros to Asia. The remainder went to projects in South-East Europe (0.1 million) and to worldwide (cross-border) initiatives.

Hivos-NCDO Culture Fund

In 2004, Hivos set up another cultural fund together with NCDO - the National Committee for International Cooperation and Sustainable Development [Nationale Commissie voor Internationale Samenwerking en Duurzame Ontwikkeling]. With this fund, Hivos and NCDO have bundled their existing support for Dutch cultural organisations which promote productions from the Southern hemisphere and make them accessible to the Dutch audience, such as the Hubert Bals Fund (film) and Noorderlicht (photography). Both organisations contribute half to the fund which has assets worth approximately 1 million euros. Hivos and NCDO stress that arts and cultural presentations and exchange are meaningful in strengthening international cooperation. In 2005, the fund, which is managed by Hivos, supported 20 projects.

Arts Collaboration Programme

The Mondriaan Foundation [Mondriaan Stichting] (see chapter 8.1.2) is cooperating with Hivos en Foundation DOEN [Stichting DOEN] in the Arts Collaboration programme. This programme supports artists' initiatives in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

For more information, see our Intercultural Dialogue section. 

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