The Prince Claus Fund is an independent foundation dedicated to culture and development.
The Prince Claus Fund depends on culture as a force for change. For discovering different perspectives and creating a platform to highlight alternative narratives, spreading innovative ideas and expressing their identity. Culture is a basic need, vital to humanity.
Founded in 1996 as a tribute to HRH Prince Claus’s unwavering dedication to culture and development, the Prince Claus Fund has become a global leader in trust-based funding, and an outspoken advocate for the transformative power of culture.
The ones who challenge dominant systems, are often the most at risk. They are the forefront of real change, addressing equity, freedom and climate challenges in their communities and beyond. We need their voices to be heard. Because when culture is suppressed, we lose the ability to truly understand each other, work together and create a better future.
That’s why the Prince Claus Fund serves engaged artists and cultural practitioners around the world, who work in circumstances where culture is under pressure. By offering them trust-based funding, recognition and connections, the Prince Claus Fund grows an international community of change makers.
With a proven track-record in identifying diverse talent, implementing effective programs and creating powerful networks, the Prince Claus Fund is able to create tangible results, while honouring the autonomy of the artist throughout the process.
HRH Prince Claus believed that culture and autonomy were vital for an equitable world and sustainable development. In this spirit, our Awardees and Fellows receive trust-based grants, amplifying their socially engaged practice at crucial stages of their careers. Since its foundation, the Prince Claus Fund has supported almost 2,400 projects and 50,000 individuals in 144 countries. Ultimately, the accumulated impact of their work can touch the lives of millions.
Because culture is a catalyst for change, even a small act can have a global effect. Supporting the Prince Claus Fund means direct access to areas you passionately care about, contributing to a future that’s more equitable, inclusive, peaceful and environmentally sustainable.
A consistent way the Prince Claus Fund has supported and connected artists and cultural practitioners is through the Prince Claus Awards. It now has a sequence of three categories of Prince Claus Awards that are designed to support artists and cultural practitioners in different ways at crucial stages in their professional careers.
Each year the Prince Claus Fund gives 100 Seed Awardsof€5.000 to artists and cultural practitioners who are in the first five years of their careers. With Seed Awards, the Fund recognises emerging artists and provides initial support to the career development, creativity, and experimentation of cultural practitioners whose artistic work engages with pressing social and/or political issues within their own local context.
Each year the Prince Claus Fund gives around 35 Fellows Awardsof€10.000 to artists and cultural practitioners further along in their careers. The Awards are designed to strengthen the artistic responses of individuals to urgent social issues through mentoring programmes. The Prince Claus Fellows Awards are aimed at supporting mid-career talent, accelerating socially engaged art practices and facilitating meaningful connections between creatives working on similar themes. In this way, the Fund is creating space for individuals to learn, grow, experiment and test out new ideas - both individually and with their peers. For its Fellows Awards, the Fund collaborates with partner organisations, such as the British Council, Goethe-Institut, the Creative Industries Fund-NL, the Arab Fund for Art and Culture, and Magnum Foundation.
Once every two years, the Prince Claus Fund recognises six trailblazing artists and cultural practitioners with Prince Claus Impact Awardsof€50.000. These Awards are presented to artists and cultural practitioners in recognition of both the excellent quality of their work and of their positive contribution to the development of their communities. Recipients are leaders in their respective fields. Their work demonstrates the transformative power of culture in creating positive social change. Impact Awards recognise artists who are excellent role models, whose work and positive impact on their societies deserve worldwide recognition.
Traoré, Aminita; Els van der Plas; Marlous Willemsen; Prince Claus Fund (1998). The Art of African Fashion. The Hague, Netherlands: Prince Claus Fund. ISBN0-86543-726-2.
Plas, Els van der; Albie Sachs (1999). Creating Spaces of Freedom. The Hague, Netherlands: Prince Claus Fund. ISBN90-76162-04-2.
Urban Heroes. The Hague, Netherlands: Prince Claus Fund. 2000.
Carnival. The Hague, Netherlands: Prince Claus Fund. 2001.
Languages and transcultural forms of expression. The Hague, Netherlands: Prince Claus Fund. 2002.
The Survival and Innovation of Crafts. The Hague, Netherlands: Prince Claus Fund. 2003.
The positive results of Asylum and Migration. The Hague, Netherlands: Prince Claus Fund. 2004.
Humour & Satire. The Hague, Netherlands: Prince Claus Fund. 2005.
10 years Prince Claus Awards. The Hague, Netherlands: Prince Claus Fund. 2006.
From 1997 until 2021, the Fund used to present the international Prince Claus Awards annually, to honour individuals and organisations reflecting a progressive and contemporary approach to the themes of culture and development.
Since 2021, the Fund has implemented a new strategy, focusing exclusively on supporting individuals through three Prince Claus Awards: Seed, Fellows and, Impact Awards.
The Arab Documentary Photography Programme: a joint initiative with the Arab Fund for Art and Culture created in partnership with the Magnum Foundation.
Cultural and Artistic Responses to Environmental Change with Goethe-Institut
