Imagination is a powerful driving force for change. DOEN supports artists and cultural initiatives that bring new possibilities to light and encourage people to see, think and act differently. We do this through the VriendenLoterij Fonds in the Netherlands and the DOEN Foundation internationally.
In 2025, art and culture faced increasingly difficult conditions, both in the Netherlands and abroad. We continue to invest in artistic freedom and in partners who contribute to an inclusive and resilient society.
Space for creators
In the artistic and cultural sphere, we supported 70 initiatives in the Netherlands through the VriendenLoterij Fonds and 20 partners internationally through the DOEN Foundation. These organisations employ social art practices, which aim to strengthen communities and make social change visible and a topic for discussion.
Art and culture need room to emerge and grow. In 2025, we offered extra support to partners who faced pressures such as the loss of long-term funding. This gave them the freedom to develop new ways to continue their existence and their work.
Collective strength
Cultural organisations are increasingly choosing to work together and pool their resources. By supporting these collectives, we not only strengthen individual initiatives but also the wider arts and culture ecosystem.
For example, we support the African Culture Fund, which provides African artists and cultural organisations with funding and assistance in professionalising their work. We also support the Chilean artists’ collective Cuerpo Sur, which offers young Latin American artists an intensive training programme.
Learning and development
Alongside providing funding, we take time for our own reflection and development. During 2025, through research and evaluations, we learned more about how social art practices work: not as a direct path to impact but as a process centred on experimentation, doubt and imagination.
Kyra Sacks’s research project Landschap tussen Frictie en Falen (Landscape Between Friction and Failure) shows that it is friction and uncertainty that create space for change. This insight will help us and our partners to look at impact differently and continue to make room for experimentation.
Through schemes like Art & Design for Biobased Materials and Art & Design for Inclusion, for which we are exploring a follow-up, we support creators in further developing and professionalising their artistic and social practice and increasing their social impact.
Video Xenson Art Space
Room for fresh perspectives
We were moved to witness what our partners created in 2025. Despite facing pressures and uncertainties, they made space for fresh stories, encounters and opportunities and voices that aren’t usually heard. They offer not only criticism and reflection but also hope, inspiration and new ways of looking towards the future.
Social art groups such as Speels Collectief and international partners like Content House Kenya show us that imagination is not a luxury but a vital force for connecting people and making new futures conceivable.
Back to the Annual Report