The  Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the  Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinate cultural policy aimed at the promotion of Dutch arts abroad.
The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science is responsible for Dutch government policy, coordination and institutional functioning with regard to education and science.

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Cultural Policy

The Netherlands is a cultural and artistically active country with a diversity of high quality art institutions, cultural events, museums, theaters, and musical activities. This is also stimulated by the Government's policy regarding art promotion, which is directed at quality improvement and diversity in art.

As the EU countries have a priority status in the Dutch cultural policy, cooperation between Irish and Dutch cultural institutions is actively promoted. Dutch professional arts organisations for theatre, film, the arts, design, dance, architecture and music actively pursue international networking activities.

Role of the Embassy

The Netherlands Embassy acts as a liaison between professional arts organisations, media and policy makers in Ireland and their counterparts in the Netherlands.

The Netherlands Embassy is directly involved in the promotion of cultural activities. It has a modest budget to subsidise small cultural projects in Ireland. 

Conditions

For a project to be taken into consideration for a grant, it should meet the following conditions:

·         the project should contribute to the cultural cooperation between the Netherlands and Ireland, and contain a distinct Dutch element;

·         there should be co-operation with a local Irish organisation, which is responsible for the organisation and completion of the project;

·         the proportion between expenditure and output should be acceptable (e.g. no travel costs compensation for large groups to far destinations);

·         the completion of the project has to take place in the Republic of Ireland;

·         the funding has to be crucial for the project; in other words the funding should not be used to make a profit.

Application for a grant

The application should be submitted at least two months before the start of the project by the Irish partnerorganisation. The Embassy does not have a standard application form, but the application should at least contain the following information:

·         information on the substance of the project and the Dutch element;

·         information on the organisation(s) and Dutch artist(s) involved;

·         information on the estimated budget of the entire project, other (approached) sponsors and on the contribution requested from the Embassy.  

Selection

In selecting projects the Embassy takes into account:

·         geographical spread (the Embassy wishes to sponsor projects in different parts of Ireland);

·         spread in cultural expression (the Embassy wishes to ensure a wide variety of Dutch cultural expressions);

·         spread in organisation and artists (in principle the Embassy will not sponsor projects involving the same organisation and/or artist in two consecutive years).

For further information please contact:

The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands  Cultural Section
160 Merrion Road, Dublin 4
Ireland 
Tel:          01 269 34 44
Fax:         01 283 96 90
Email:    dub-info@minbuza.nl

FAGEL COLLECTION

The so-called "Fagel Collection", which is housed in the Old Library of Trinity College, Dublin, was the private library of a powerful eighteenth-century Dutch family, in the possession of Hendrik Fagel (1765-1838), who amongst others served as Dutch Ambassador to London. Falling on hard times, the collection was sent to Christie's in London in 1802. Trinity College managed to buy the entire collection before it went to auction. The collection is an important part of the Dutch cultural heritage in Ireland. In 2008, Trinity College started a project to demonstrate the wealth of the Fagel Collection to the wider academic world, both national and international. For this project, the Netherlands Embassy in Dublin provided financial support.

COLLECTION OF DUTCH PAINTINGS AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY

The National Gallery of Ireland owes its fame to its collection of Irish art by painters such as Jack B. Yates and Paul Henry, and to continental masterpieces such as Caravaggio's Taking of Christ. Dutch painting is not the type of art people normally expect to find in Ireland's capital. Yet, the NGI owns more than two-hundred seventeenth and eighteenth century pictures originating from Holland. The strength of the collection is that it includes works by major artists, such as Johannes Vermeer and Rembrandt van Rijn, but can also give an almost encyclopedic overview of the period with high-quality pictures by minor masters. Click  here to read more.