Basic infrastructure
At central government level, a distinction is made between institutions that are part of the cultural basic infrastructure (BIS) and those that are not. The BIS is directly financed by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and includes the cultural funds, sectoral bodies and cultural institutions.
Who belongs to the BIS?
The basic infrastructure consists of the six cultural funds, sectoral bodies and institutions that are of national importance according to the government. They all receive a four-year subsidy. The Council for Culture provides advice about this.
In the period 2025-2028, approximately €559 million per year will be made available to these institutions (wage and price level 2023). By way of comparison, approximately €375 million was available in 2021. This was €373 million in 2017 and €325 in 2013.
Cultural funds
The objectives and budgets of these cultural funds are set by politicians. The responsibility for the execution lies with the fund’s board. The assessment of the subsidy requests is in the hands of advisory committees with independent advisers who are appointed by the fund’s board. Would you like to know which amounts this concerns? All subsidy applications, including the amounts applied for and awarded can be found on the websites of these funds.
- Performing Arts Fund NL supports all forms of professional performing arts.
- Mondriaan Fund supports the visual arts and cultural heritage.
- Dutch Foundation for Literature provides writers, translators, publishers and festivals with grants and subsidies.
- Netherlands Film Fund stimulates the development, production and distribution of films.
- Creative Industries Fund NL supports architecture, design, digital culture and games.
- Cultural Participation Fund supports amateur arts, cultural education and popular culture.
Sectoral bodies
The following sectoral bodies and support institutions are part of the BIS. These are institutions that perform support duties for the arts and cultural sector.
- Allard Pierson
- Boekman Foundation
- Cultuur+Ondernemen (Culture+Entrepreneurship)
- DEN
- DutchCulture
- EYE
- Nieuwe Instituut
- Landelijk Kennisinstituut Cultuureducatie en Amateurkunst (National Centre of Expertise for Cultural Education and Amateur Arts
- Nederlands Instituut voor Beeld en Geluid (Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision)
- Platform Platform Arbeidsmarkt Culturele en Creatieve Toekomst (Platform Cultural Labor Market and Creative Future, ACCT)
Realisation of the basic infrastructure
Following the elections for the House of Representatives of the Netherlands, a government is formed on the basis of a coalition agreement, which includes a summary of cultural plans. On the basis of the Cultural Policy (Special-Purpose Funding) Act (Wet op het specifiek cultuurbeleid), the state secretary or the Minister of Education, Culture and Science are charged with creating conditions for the: preservation, development and social and geographical distribution of cultural expressions. It is therefore the responsibility of the state secretary or the minister to come up with plans. They are assisted by civil servants from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and by the Council for Culture.
The Council for Culture
The Council for Culture (Raad voor Cultuur) is the legal advisory body that gives advice – both solicited and unsolicited – about policy, the basic infrastructure and subsidy applications. The Council usually issues advice at the request of the Minister of Education, Culture and Science. In addition, the Council gives recommendations about the preservation of listed buildings, intangible heritage (UNESCO) and the European heritage label.
The eight members of the Council for Culture are professionals from the cultural sector, the media and academia. They know the cultural field well and also possess expertise in other relevant disciplines, such as entrepreneurship, finance or legal matters. They are appointed for four years.