Criteria Power of imagination - Stichting DOEN

In the coming years, DOEN will focus even more strongly on fostering radical imagination as a collective process within the arts. We call this social practice. Here, changes in society will give rise to projects, and individuals and communities will come together in a joint artistic imagination process.

DOEN is looking for pioneers who will work in the Netherlands and abroad on the power of imagination to bring about change, focusing on a multitude of perspectives:

1. DOEN supports arts and cultural projects that use radical imagination to show people that a different world is possible and that work to create and provide space for a multitude of perspectives.
2. DOEN supports artists who involve people and communities in their artistic process (social practice) and thus jointly arrive at alternative perspectives
3. DOEN supports initiatives within the arts and cultural sector that are looking for horizontal, equal and more inclusive forms of collaboration.

For initiatives within the theme Power of imagination, the following substantive criteria apply:

1. Radical imagination
   Radical imagination is the ability to imagine the world not as it is, but as it could be. Radical imagination is not only about the future, but also about the present and the past. The art of this imagination can question seemingly unquestioned, dominant truths and give space to a multiplicity of perspectives, views, voices and narratives. The process of imagination is thus collective.
2. Social practice
   DOEN focuses on artists and cultural organisations that involve individuals and communities in their artistic practice. They create art that is rooted in society and use social issues as a starting point for their work. They approach their work from a personal, open-minded perspective, with a strong sense of social engagement and a willingness to think outside the box. These social practitioners challenge the rules of the game in their own distinctive way, on both a large and small scale. In doing so, they create equal relationships between artists, audiences and other people involved, offering new perspectives on the world.
3. Inclusion
   For really meaningful and sustainable change, the conditions and opportunities for people to participate in society must improve. This is a counter-movement to the process of exclusion, isolation and marginalisation where the voices of individuals and groups are less heard or ignored and they have less access to facilities, networks, knowledge, experiences and thought leadership in society. Promoting inclusion goes beyond promoting equality or diversity. DOEN wants to encourage concrete action to enable participation in society.
4. Change and movement
   Many arts and cultural initiatives are experiments that affect the existing structures of the cultural sector, and other sectors, in the long term. They are part of a larger movement, and together make meaningful change possible, not only within the cultural sector, but also outside it, in society. This is the only way art can offer the public – in the broadest sense of the word – other perspectives and bring about social change from the bottom up and from niches.

In addition to these substantive criteria, a number of general criteria and exclusions apply.

General criteria  

1. The initiative has an artistic starting point.
2. The initiative fits in with the transitions that DOEN wants to accelerate and contributes to a healthier balance between ecological, socially inclusive and cultural sustainability.
3. The initiative knows how to reach and engage new communities.
4. The initiative is not a one-off, but is aimed at structurally changing working methods and embedding and sharing insights and results with other (DOEN) partners and sectors.

You can submit an application for support for initiatives in the Netherlands, Curaçao, Aruba, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Sint Eustacius and Saba at the VriendenLoterij Fonds.

You can submit an application for support for initiatives in East Africa and in the SWANA region (South West Asia North Africa) to the DOEN Foundation.

Exclusions for initiatives outside the Netherlands  

1.  Initiatives by organisations from Europe, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are not eligible for support.
2. Organisations based in the Netherlands and Europe are only supported in exceptional cases, when there is clear added value in the local context and there is no local organisation that can take on the relevant tasks.
3. DOEN does not contribute to one-off exchanges or exhibitions by artists, which are not embedded in a broader strategy to create sustainable and meaningful change.