Funding Inconsistencies

Knowledge

Inconsistencies litter the "Forced Decisions" report released by the Dutch government a few weeks ago. It makes predicting exactly what will happen difficult. The only thing that is certain is that design funding will be hit and mergers between various organizations are likely.

By Gabrielle Kennedy / 19-05-2011

Holland’s cultural community is still reeling from the release of the “Forced Decisions” report two weeks ago. Further examination of the design component in both the official report and the sub-committee’s notes show up a lot of inconsistencies.

Earlier this year the Mondriaan Foundation announced that it will merge with the Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture. It will be known as the Mondriaan Fund.

In the Visual Arts and Design Committee’s report to the Dutch Council of Culture it says that, despite recent recommendations, this merged organization does not look sufficiently geared towards the working methods of designers. It says this needs to be looked at more critically so that performance can be better judged.

In the meantime, the Architecture, Urbanism, Heritage, Archeology and Landscape Architecture Committee advised the Council to remove architecture from the Mondriaan Fund’s brief. It advises that monies previously earmarked for architectural subsidies should be redirected into the Netherlands Architecture Fund.

One would assume that given the criticism of its handling of design and given also that the organization seems to be becoming much more focused on the visual arts than the broader sector of design, that design should also be removed form the budget and into a comparable fund.

No mention is made, however, in any of the reports of a specialized fund for design.

The Ministry of Culture will announce its decision on June 10th.