from Void to Variety

From void to variety, the development of the art world in The Hague From void to variety, the development of the art world in The Hague Eelco van der Lingen, The Hague, May 2014 Outline This is a paper on the development of the art world in The Hague that will primarily focus on the presentation of contemporary art in alternative and independent spaces. Its aim is to help enlighten developers of the Pristina art world of the considerations to be taken to further develop their art world. In my introduction I shall explain a little about myself, and the function of Nest, the organisation that I'm the director of. Also illustrate the situation of the arts within society in The Hague and The Netherlands, so as to provide a proper context to which the development of the art world of The Hague can be placed. I shall provide an historical overview of the fine arts in The Hague starting from the beginning of the 20th century, looking at the developments of the alternative art world in The Hague from 1978, when the foundation was laid for the current situation in The Hague. Furthermore I will outline the different financial and organisational structures that are of importance and try to illustrate the developmental links within local and national society.To conclude, I will then address the future pros and cons of the different policies within the Netherlands particularly The Hague. Personal introduction My name is Eelco van der Lingen, and from the age of 18 I lived in The Hague where I studied at the Royal Academy for The Arts, (Koninklijke Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten, KABK). Following my graduation in 1993, I worked as a fine artist and curator for artist run space Het Archief. In 1997 I left for the UK to undertake my MA Digital Arts at Middlesex University in London. I returned to The Hague and worked as an contemporary artist, was also active as an © Eelco van der Lingen 2014 1 From void to variety, the development of the art world in The Hague organiser and freelance curator. My stint in the UK stimulated me to find alternative ways to generate income and this led me to work as a freelance writer/curator, animator, a creative strategist for an advertising company, and a post production visual animator/producer for my own company. In 2007 I started Nest which was officially founded as a non-commercial organisation in 2008. Nest Nest is a independent platform for contemporary art, based in the DCR, a building that houses Nest, a theatre, three artist in residency studios, more then forty studios specifically for artists and designers, an experimental sound and dance studio. Nest sees contemporary art as a result of dialog between the artist, the artwork and the audience, stimulating the connections between the three parties. Nest facilitates the artist with the production, and presentation of work, both financially and subject matter. What's more, it aims to make the work of the artist accessible to a wider audience through education, promotion and unpretentious communication. Nest accepts as true, that contemporary art is at his strongest if it continuously renews itself and reacts to new developments within art and/or society, but at the same time is also aware that the general audience has difficulty following the rapid movements within the arts. It is here that Nest actively aims to bridge this gap by providing the audience with a stimulating environment and setting that aids the appreciation, and understanding of the intentions of the artists’ work. Nest produces presentations of contemporary local, national and international artists. It aims to bring contemporary art to a wider audience beyond just that of the professional art world, and its’ exhibitions are often thematic group shows. To give a structural overview of Nest in short; it comprises of a Director/Curator, a © Eelco van der Lingen 2014 2 From void to variety, the development of the art world in The Hague Coordinator and a Producer that make up two full time employment posts. These are all supported by its’ freelance designer, exhibition builder, workshop teachers and NestTV’s multimedia production team. Nest is one of the bigger alternative institutions of The Hague, however in budget and organisation it is still relatively small in comparison to the official institutions such as Stroom in The Hague, De Appel in Amsterdam or Witte de With in Rotterdam. To give an idea, the annual income of Nest is around 200.000 euro, a mere fraction of the 1.5million euro budget the De Appel generates. Nest generates most of its income through structural funding from the municipality of The Hague, combined with a bi-annual budget for the program from The Mondriaan Foundation. Additional small subsidies, private sponsors and limited private income from other Nest activities make up for the rest of the budget. Only 7 percent of the budget is not publicly funded, for local and national standards this is considered to be quite good. The core program of Nest is presented within a 500 square meter space where we organise around eight exhibitions a year. An extensive educational program that provides guided tours and workshops for young children, teenagers, students and adults alike accompanies the program. Through NestTV, complementary short documentaries that expand on the subject matter of Nest exhibitions visually lure the audience to consider beforehand the theme of the projects prior to visiting the shows. Nest also presents artists at alternative art fairs and venues when well-matched situations arise. For instance, each year Nest participates in Supermarket, in Stockholm; the art fair for alternative non-commercial exhibition spaces. Finally, Nest provides establishing art collectors with the possibility to purchase reasonably priced art via the Nest online web shop. Often at the base of a project lies the dialog between Nest and an artist. We invite artists to discuss with us the implications of their work, the relationship it may have to other artists and to current issues within society. © Eelco van der Lingen 2014 3 From void to variety, the development of the art world in The Hague This dialog helps the artist to understand the wider context of their work, making them conscious of its presentation, and how this stimulates the communication between artist and audience. This interchange benefits the involvement of the artist within the Nest program, and keeps the organisation more efficient compared to that of the setup of a classic artist run space, where the artist forms both the organisational and contextual core of the art platform. On the whole, exhibitions last between six to nine weeks, but some have a very different duration, such as our exhibitions that last for no longer than four hours, fittingly called, One Nest Stands. Here Nest invites curators, artists or groups we appreciate and have confidence in to do whatever they feel like in our space, with a limitation on time and in budget. These evening filled shows offer Nest the possibility to experiment and to bring us in contact with artists we perhaps would not consider immediately. The event-like nature of the One Nest Stands often leads to divergent kinds of presentations that help us to reflect on the conditions of contemporary art presentation and the nature of the art institute. You could say that it keeps us vibrant and current. A brief introduction of The Hague. The Hague is the third largest city of the Netherlands with around 500.000 inhabitants.1 Positioned between Amsterdam and Rotterdam The Hague is easily accessible by car, train or plane. It is a town next to the sea, built on a grid like pattern based on the rows of dunes, unlike most of the cities in the Netherlands that are based on a circular base, from the original fortress architecture of the Netherlands. The Hague houses the Dutch parliament, despite Amsterdam being the capital of the Netherlands. It is known for its internationalism and relations to international peace and justice, boasting the Peace Palace with a number of international judicial institutions that include the International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The International Criminal 1 According to the united nations: http://data.un.org/ © Eelco van der Lingen 2014 4 From void to variety, the development of the art world in The Hague Court, the Nobel-Peace-Prize-winning Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia where at the moment the trials are being held against Ratko Mladić and Radovan Karadžić2. The Hague is a more temperate city that is probably related to the majority of its’ inhabitants working in parliament, for the city or one of the many large international institutions. Compared to the newly reconstructed, multicultural harbour town of Rotterdam, or the more young and adventurous tourists drawn crowd of Amsterdam. The Art World of The Hague Nest is one of many independent platforms for contemporary art in The Hague. The more formal institutional layers consist of Het Gemeentemuseum - known for the largest collection of Mondriaan in the world -, the Koninklijke Academie voor Beeldende en Kunsten, (KABK), a local art school and Stroom. Stroom being the institute that combines their own exhibition program with a meditative role that is responsible for art in the public space, local funding for artists and initiatives based in The Hague, the distribution of studio space and the three way discussion on contemporary art between the art world, city hall and the public. As Stroom plays an important role in the policy making of local art and the development of the alternative art world in The Hague, a more extensive description of its several functions will follow later. The fourth organisation is Heden, formally known as Artoteek, an organisation that rents out art to companies and to the public. In the chapter ‘The history of the art world of The Hague’ I will pay attention to the classic artist associations that were the basis for the art world in the previous century. But for now I shall just mention that Pulchri Studios and De Haagse Kunstkring still play an active role within the art 2 For a more extensive view on the role of these organisations related to the arts in The Hague and the political context of the art world of The Hague, there is an excellent essay by Rebecca Gordon-Nesbitt written for Stroom in 2011 called: The local as an International Asset. © Eelco van der Lingen 2014 5 From void to variety, the development of the art world in The Hague world of The Hague. In art world of The Hague, independent organisations are referred to as the compost layer. Fortunately this sounds a lot better in Dutch than when translated into English. Over the years there have been very many compost layer organisations that vary from artist run spaces in squatted buildings to institutions closely resembling a commercial gallery. Some have only existed for a few months, and others have maintained a presence in The Hague of over twenty years. At the moment there is: 1646, Chantals, Elders, Electriciteitscentrale, Exo, Gemak, JCA de Kok, LhDGWR, Locatie Z, Nest, Nutshuis, Platform57, Quartair, Ruimtevaart, Satelietgroep, Walden Affairs, West. These are organisations with an exhibition space or some kind of regular presentation outlet The organisations in bold provide a regular program, the others present on an irregular to very irregular basis. Besides these there are also artist groups or organisations who organise events in the public space like Optrek, The Naked, The Holls or Malieveld. The history of the art world of The Hague The above selection is a small part of the entire group of organisations that have at some stage been active within the art world of The Hague. The first independent art space was called the Haags Centrum voor Actuele Kunst (HCAK) The Hague Center for Actual Art and to find out why this organisation was formed in 1978 we have to go further back in time. During the second half of the nineteenth century, a local group of realist painters came up. Now known as De Haagse School (the The Hague School). The work of this group of artists can be found in museums around the world but mainly in The Gemeentemuseum in The Hague. These artists painted everyday life in a realistic natural way with a slight impressionist touch. The subject matter on many of the paintings consisted mainly of common scenerios, landscapes, the fishing © Eelco van der Lingen 2014 6 From void to variety, the development of the art world in The Hague industry and the beach. One of the founders of this group was Henrik Jan Mesdag. He painted an enormous cylindrical depiction of the coast area called Scheveningen. This cylindrical panorama can still be seen in The Hague in the museum Panorama Mesdag. Mesdag was a wealthy man and together with some other wealthy painters he bought a monumental space in The Hague, very close to parliament. This classic aristocrat’s home opened to the public in 1901 and housed the Pulchri artists association or artists’ society. Pulchri Studio is still in existence. Although De Haagse School can be seen as avantgarde by the end of the 19th century, its origin and construction became at some stage an obstruction for the development of the new. The realistic depiction of nature within classic media like oil paintings and bronze statues dominated the work of Pulchri artists and even today that history is still very apparent in the exhibitions of Pulchri members. A similar history connects the artist association De Haagse Kunstkring, founded by the artist Théophile de Bockin in 1891, to its past. The world famous symbolist painter Jan Toorop organised an solo exhibition in 1892 of the then unknown painter Vincent van Gogh. Although at the time Pulchri and De Haagse Kunstkring were different kind of artists’ society with different visions, they later became very similar in their approach. These two institutions dominated the art world in The Hague until 1989, when Stroom was founded. Before that time the funding for art by the municipality was closely linked to Pulchri and The Haagse Kunstkring making these two organisations a powerful component of the art world of The Hague. Committees comprising of members from these organisations appointed commissions for art in the public space, and as a result members gained professional benefits. Most teachers at the KABK, were members of Pulchri Studio, De Haagse Kunstkring or both. It was standard practice for an student from the KABK to apply for membership after graduation. In 1978 this resulted in The Hague being dominated by an artistic discourse based on the © Eelco van der Lingen 2014 7 From void to variety, the development of the art world in The Hague ideas of almost a century earlier. Teachers at the KABK were known to complain about contemporary art and art education was aimed at technical skills within oil painting and sculpting, with a clear preference for realism. This isolated the art world of The Hague from the rest of The Netherlands. It was difficult for local artist to play a role beyond the city borders. Artist who would be interested in a more contemporary approach would leave The Hague and move to Amsterdam or Rotterdam. It was then that a group of artists that decided to stay founded the HCAK, where like-minded artist could meet and discuss the latest developments in the arts. The HCAK played an important role in the development of the Arts in The Hague until that it ceased in 1997, providing contemporary artists from The Hague a place to exhibit their work next to the likes of Jan Dibbets, Marlene Dumas, Thomas Huber, Miroslav Balka, Philip Akkerman and Marcel van Eden. The HCAK also stimulated others to form artist run spaces. Het Archief (The Archive) started in 1990 and Quartair, which still exists, was founded in 1992. During the last decade of the 20th century many other initiatives followed, and are still around today. In 1989 Stroom was established and became responsible for the distribution of local funding for the arts, art in the public space and the design of local art policies. It ended an era of the dominance of the classic artist' societies and changed the landscape of the Art world in The Hague completely. Around 1994 the municipality of The Hague saw many shops in the Boekhorststraat, (a street in the center of The Hague), being vacated and made small funds available for artists to occupy these. As a result the underground or alternative art world of The Hague was given a new boost and many initiatives positioned themselves in the area around and surrounding the Boekhorststraat. These initiatives had little funding and the programs were often based on the presentation of the work of the organisers and their friends. Although there was a quantitative impulse to the art world © Eelco van der Lingen 2014 8 From void to variety, the development of the art world in The Hague the quality of the presentations left a lot to be desired. The communal energy led to an initiative called De Haagse Rondgang (The Hague Tour), known today as Hoogtij (High tide). Where during the course of one evening all initiatives present themselves at the same time, some with openings of exhibitions, others with events and performances. Once the initial energy of initiatives wore off, organisations stopped or were taken over by other groups of artists. Although the quality of presentations in de Boekhorststraat in the beginning was usually only of local interest, some organisations managed to develop themselves further, and achieved national appreciation. One such organisation is 1646, still in the Boekhorststraat, funded by the Mondriaan Foundation since 2014, the national body that supports platforms for contemporary art of national importance. As new initiatives constantly popped up in the alternative local art world, The Hague slowly began to develop into a rich and vibrant one with a host of long lasting professional organisations and ad hoc and temporary artist run spaces and initiatives. The initiatives that gained a more permanent footing developed towards organisations with its own specific vision and take on contemporary art. Today due to the funding climate, competition between spaces and organisations is present, yet because most initiatives are able to survive there is also a collegial approach to one another and this benefits the exchange of knowledge and network. An example of this is The Naked, an initiative that was setup in 2012 by five organisers of different independent organisations with the aim to combine strengths, and to work towards a large art manifestation in The Hague. In 2001 Jack Verduyn Lunel became director of the KABK, and slowly changed the art school from a traditional craft and technique oriented one to an academy that prepared students for a professional future in the arts. Students were stimulated to engage with contemporary art and to present themselves beyond the walls of the art school. This added value to the dynamics of the local art world while it educated young artists concerning the development of contemporary art at an © Eelco van der Lingen 2014 9 From void to variety, the development of the art world in The Hague early stage of their professional nurturing. In 2004 Arno van Roosmalen became the new director of Stroom, and recognizing the potential of the alternative art world of The Hague he formed policies to support and promote this. The municipality also contributed with new possibilities for funding. This helped organisations in forming a more sustainable future. After 2004 the positive energy of the art world of The Hague got more and more noticed outside of the city thus leading to its current national and even international recognition. The Success of The Hague As this paper aims to demonstrate the current status of The Hague as the capital for independent art has resulted from developments of more than thirty years, while the national and international success of the art world of The Hague has only recently become noticeable. In 2014, Nest, Stroom, West and 1646 were the four organisations funded by The Mondriaan Fund for their 2014 program. It is also the first time that more organisations from The Hague received support from The Mondriaan Fund than any other city. In Amsterdam only one organisation is currently supported, while in Rotterdam three organisations received funding for their program by The Mondriaan Fund. Artist from The Hague are also clearly more successful than in the past. For example, in the last four years an artist from The Hague has won the Volkskrant Art Prize, a prize of national stature and importance, on three occasions. Although this is foremost due to the success and talent of the organisers and the artists involved that has led to the named acclaim, it is clear that the policies in The Hague have lead to a invigorating art world in which talent can develop and thrive. This has attracted many artists from other cities to move to The Hague, thus adding to the success of its art world. © Eelco van der Lingen 2014 10 From void to variety, the development of the art world in The Hague At the heart of the success of The Hague as an art city I see several factors of great importance: 1. The local municipality formed Stroom to provide a top down intervention in the art world, creating a more contemporary vision and professional attitude to the visual arts, its policies and funding possibilities in The Hague. 2. The artist run space movement is a grass rooted development fed by the desire to stimulate contemporary ideas within the art world of The Hague, and to create alternative platforms for local artists and organisers who want to develop themselves further. 3. This development was aided by new local funding possibilities for artists and initiatives by either the municipality or Stroom. 4. The independent art world of The Hague has developed into a varied one with different levels of organisation and different artistic visions that complement each other. 5. The developments in the KABK led to a better quality of graduated artists that were encouraged to remain in The Hague and contribute to its art world, due to its optimistic and upbeat atmosphere. One other factor that I believe is of influence on the current success is that of isolation and disinterest. This may seem like an odd comment, but artists stayed in The Hague before policies were changed, and Stroom was established, simply because of the vacuum it provided. The Hague for a long time was a place that no one paid attention to, making it possible for artists and organisations to develop unobserved, thus leading to a specific kind of attitude, different from those who have been constantly in the public eye. A possible arguable parallel can be drawn between the development of the art world of The Hague and development of Goldsmiths College, the university where the movement of Young © Eelco van der Lingen 2014 11 From void to variety, the development of the art world in The Hague British Artists (YBA) in London started in the last decade of the 20th century. Artists like Damien Hirst, Gary Hume, Steve Mc Queen, Sarah Lucas and Tracy Emin suddenly drew attention to New Cross, the area on the outskirts of London where Goldsmiths resides. Philip Graig Martin, artist and mentor of these artists at Goldsmiths College described the development of Goldsmiths as followed: Goldsmiths University is based in a kind of depressed area. It's not the most exiting place. It certainly isn't South Kensington. Being on the border of everything we had nothing here really. So it was important for us to get our priorities right. We also had the freedom of not having anyone paying attention to what we did; nobody noticed, nobody cared and we did exactly what we wanted.. ..I think it has been developing over a very long period of time. It only looks like it was very sudden but in fact it was quite long term and it has been developed over twenty years, perhaps even longer. Obviously it's clear that the YBA's had a much greater impact on international art in comparison but these factors have been beneficial to the development of the art world in The Hague. Funding the arts An artist or organiser in The Hague has several options for applying for funding. Johan Rudolph Thorbecke is an important figure when it comes to the funding of art. This liberal politician in the nineteenth century ensured that the government would leave the judgment of culture to specialised and experienced professionals, and the political management would not act as a direct commissioner for artists or organisations. As a result peer review is a common basis for the qualification of the artists’ practise and that of art institutions. Politicians are not supposed to give any verdict on a piece of art, other than that offered by an external expert hired by the local or © Eelco van der Lingen 2014 12 From void to variety, the development of the art world in The Hague national government. This attitude has thus protected art and culture from becoming a political instrument and has allowed artists to be critical towards society. It also has formed the basis for the gap between the art world and the real world. This protective arena that was created for the arts lead to less communication between politicians and artists, leaving politicians unequipped to understand and defend art. In our current climate this has meant the local and national politicians have less regard for the arts. Having said this, the Netherlands still has the reputation of being funding friendly. It has been argued in the past that the subsidy culture in The Netherlands would only stimulate artists to be inactive and internationally less interesting because of their overly supported careers. This prejudice is mainly based on a funding scheme called the Beeldende Kunstnaars Regeling (BKR), which was established after World War II. This scheme was devised as a reaction to the devastation of the war, in recognition for the artists who fought for their country and in light of the desire to invest in a new and better society3. Artists fiercely protested its cancellation in 1987 at the time, but today it is clear that the BKR was not a beneficial to the quality for the arts in the Netherlands. National Funding In 1988, Fonds voor Beeldende Kunsten, Vormgeving en Bouwkunst (Fonds BKVB) The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture was set up. This national institute provided funding for quality artists. In 1995 Welzijn, Gezondheidszorg en Cultuur, the ministry of Care, Health and Culture, founded The Mondriaan Stichting to distribute funding for visual arts 3 From: Peace and Justice Begin at Home: Considering the Local as an International Asset in The Hague by Rebecca Gordon-Nesbitt: A scheme known as Beeldende Kunstnaers Regeling (BKR) [Visual Artists’s Scheme] was set up in recognition of those artists who had fought for their country and had no means of supporting themselves. Operational from 1956 to 1987, this aimed to finance as many artists as possible; in order to be granted funding, Dutch artists, aged between twenty-five and sixty-five years old, had to have been practising for more than three years and be recognised as an artist by their contemporaries, which involved submitting a piece of work every three months for a fixed return, creating an inevitable stockpile of artwork of varying quality. © Eelco van der Lingen 2014 13 From void to variety, the development of the art world in The Hague organisations, ranging from museums to artist run spaces. The Fonds BKVB no longer funded all professionally operating artists like in the times of the BKR, instead the artists that had some kind of relevance within the Dutch contemporary art world were able to make use of one on their funding schemes. Most popular were the startstipendia and the basisstipendia. The startstipendia were designed to support young artists within the first four years after graduation. In 2010, 62 artists were each funded 18.000 euros. The basistipendia were designed for experienced artists to aid their practise and living cost. They received around 30.000 euros each, a budget that could be spent in two to eight years. Artists could also apply for special projects or for the production of new work. In 2010 The Mondriaan Stichting had a budget in support of the program of independent art platforms of 2.300.000 euro that was divided over seventeen institutes in The Netherlands. In 2012 the Fonds BKVB and The Mondriaan Stichting merged and became The Mondriaan Fund. This body now distributes the funding for the artists as well as exhibition spaces and museums. The merge was initiated before the Dutch government announced a drastic cut in the funding for arts and culture. The results of those cuts were visible in the budget available for 2014. For 2014 only 1.300.000 euro was available for the support of the exhibition program of nine independent art platforms, 45% less than in 201 with institutions awarded funding recieving between 60.000 and 250.000 a year. In 2013 artists received a total of 2.020.000 euro in support of their practise. The Mondriaan Fund provides more funding that benefits artists through schemes to stimulate artist in residencies, commissions and presentations in foreign countries, but in these cases it is more difficult to calculate what the artists involved get in support of their practise. Due to the complexity of the different type of funding schemes an exact figure of funding that goes towards artists would require more extensive research. © Eelco van der Lingen 2014 14 From void to variety, the development of the art world in The Hague Local Funding Stroom In The Hague, Stroom provides local funding for artists. Although some other cities provide local funding for artists as well, The Hague is known to be more financially supportive. The Stroom Pro funding collection consists of several schemes, each with their own function and target group. Applications for Stroom Pro are reviewed by an independent committee of peers that advises Stroom on the quality of the application. 1. Artists can apply for a Stroom Pro Premium of 10.000 euros. Like the name suggests it's a funding scheme that only is available for a limited amount of artists. Six artists were supported in 2013. 2. Stroom Pro Invest has been designed to support young inexperienced artists with a budget of up to 4.000 euros. 3. Both artists and organisations can apply for the Stroom Pro Kunstprojecten (Art projects). If other parties contribute to a project the scheme provides up to 10.000 euros in support for the development for an artwork, publication or exhibition. If Stroom is the only sponsor only 5.000 euros can be applied for. 4. Up to 5.000 euros is available for artists in residencies or periods of research under the Stroom Pro Onderzoek (research) scheme. 5. Stroom Pro Kunstenaarsinitiatieven is designed to support the program of artist run spaces. These can apply for a maximum of 10.000 euros if other parties sponsor as well. If Stroom is the only sponsor only 5.000 euros can be applied for. Stroom Spot is an automatic scheme. Each artist in The Hague has a maximum budget of © Eelco van der Lingen 2014 15 From void to variety, the development of the art world in The Hague 3.000 euros, which can be used for the production of documentation or the logistical cost of an exhibition. This program is aimed to stimulate the visibility of art from The Hague. Stroom Spot only covers 75% of the total amount of money spend. Artists get the money automatically if their application fits a certain criteria. There is no committee which advices on the quality of the application. Stroom Object is a funding scheme aimed to help artists to acquire proper studio space. A Maximum of 10.000 euros can be applied for the renovation of a studio space. This funding can also be used to buy a studio space or the build one. The total amount Stroom has available for funding in 2014 is 540.000 euros Local Funding The Municipality The Municipality of The Hague provides structural funding for cultural organisations of all cultural disciplines. Every four years organisations can apply. The size of the contribution by the municipality varies as does the function and size of the organisations applying. For the (contemporary) visual arts the following institutions were granted funding for a period of four years: Het Gemeentemuseum 9.000.000 euros Stroom 1.800.000 euros Gemak 150.000 euros Heden 150.000 euros West 125.000 euros Nest 100.000 euros LhGWR 85.000 euros 1646 62.500 euros © Eelco van der Lingen 2014 16 From void to variety, the development of the art world in The Hague Two other funding schemes are dealt with by the municipality that are not exclusive to (contemporary) visual art but to organisations dealing with music, dance, theatre and literature. The funding scheme Culturele Projecten is aimed on a variety of cultural projects not funded under any structural scheme. Up to a maximum of 30.000 euros can be applied for and an organisation can apply twice a year. In 2014 a total of 120.000 euros was granted to organisations in the field of visual arts. The funding scheme Culturele Broedplaatsen is especially aimed on the activities in 'Culturele Broedplaatsen' (Cultural Breeding grounds). These are buildings like the DCR where Nest is based and where artists work with a mix of disciplines are united under one roof. In reality the criteria is much wider, with several organisations not positioned in broedplaatsen being granted as well. Up to a maximum of 6.000 euros can be applied for, and an organisation can apply four times a year. In 2014 a total of 80.000 euros was granted to organisations in the field of visual arts. The Future Although art in The Hague seems to be doing very well at the moment it's not all rosey. The global crisis has hit the Netherlands as well. We've had years of recession and the government has issued mayor cuts in culture. This has affected the budget of The Mondriaan Fund, and the worry is that more cuts are to come locally, as the state has also made cuts to budgets for the local municipalities, a reduction that is still to be revealed when the new local budgets are announced. The subsidy culture for art has become an easy target for the populist politicians, and in a response to that the more traditional political parties have become critical on spending money on the arts. This is where the Thorbecke instruction that politics should not interfere with the arts has © Eelco van der Lingen 2014 17 From void to variety, the development of the art world in The Hague possibly become a liability rather than a salvation. Simply because the politicians follow the advice given by the experts they themselves are not always committed to the arts and the artists they are supporting, but have not been communicating with. As a result they find it hard to defend the values of what they themselves find hard to understand. The seemingly safe position of the arts has also de-motivated the artists and organisers to communicate properly, with its surroundings provoking a sometimes very hermetical art world where only art professionals are given mental access to the work exhibited or performed. This dynamic has been cultivated for so long now that the quick adjustment to a new political reality proves difficult for many organisations. In the last few years the regulations for funding have been adjusted, requiring more private co-sponsorship and revenue. In the past artistic quality was the dominant argument for funding, but now the number of visitors has become an important factor. As Dutch society has gotten used to state funding for the arts, it's become hard for organisations to find private sponsors who often tend to be only interested in productions that attract a large audience. The art world in The Hague feels that pressure, and small initiatives are finding it more difficult to sustain than in the past. The municipality has become critical on projects that are realised with just local funding, yet the smaller organisations do not have the outreach to attract other income. The effect of this is visible in the budget for the broedplaatsen subsidy that has been lowered, as fewer organisations were able to apply for projects. The funding scheme has been set up to provide possibilities for small underground initiatives, but these paradoxically no longer fit the requirements. At the moment it's only possible to speculate how the policies for funding will develop, but some worry that structural subsidies will slowly come to an halt, organisations will have to turn to the market and only those with an easy audience friendly program will be allowed to continue. © Eelco van der Lingen 2014 18 From void to variety, the development of the art world in The Hague This, without a shadow of doubt, will have an effect on the world of The Hague as it's current strength is the independent art world, which very much depends on public funding. Advice for Pristina It would be ignorant to formulate any advice for Pristina as the context of its society, the ingredients already available in Pristina and the political consensus in Kosovo are unknown to me. In general the development in The Hague shows that it's worthwhile to see how grassroot initiatives can be nurtured by (local) government, to allow for an art world that has come from the city itself rather than has been imported or constructed by policymakers. Funding always means that certain organisations are supported and others are not, which could easily lead to severe competition and a lack of collegiality. This collegiality has become one of the valuable ingredients of the art world of The Hague. Any new system of funding should try to uphold the ambition to make sure all valuable parties are able to survive without having to fight others for funding. Small organisations can benefit greatly from the exchange of knowledge and network, and an harmonious art infrastructure in the end makes it cheaper and more efficient. In The Hague 'the chain' is acknowledged as an important factor. There are podiums for artists in different stages of their development, from good art schools to small initiatives, larger institutes and a museum for contemporary art that operates on an international level. There is both a contemporary as well as a classic offering of art in various institutions that are beneficial to a varied crowd. There are platforms for the general audience and for tourists, but also for art professionals who focus on the artistic developments in the arts rather then on cultural entertainment. Being a country that is in the process to form itself further as an independent nation I would wish for Kosovo that the development of a successful art world in Pristina may be a fruitful one, and I hope that this case study of the The Hague art world may contribute in some way. © Eelco van der Lingen 2014 19