The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture , known in the Netherlands as Fonds BKVB, is the national body responsible for enabling visual artists, designers, architects and cultural mediators to develop their work in a variety of ways.

The Fonds BKVB also provides grants for projects, research, education abroad, travel, publications, etc.

The Fund is especially active in the area of internationalisation. It has access to artist-in-residence (AIR) places and studios in various cities around the world. The Fonds BKVB also offers some temporary artists-in-residence places in the Netherlands. Apart from the AIRs, every three years architects, visual artists, designers and theorists can apply for an interdisciplinary study tour around a particular research theme.

Furthermore, the Fonds BKVB is involved and responsible in various ways for a large number of special projects. Through the Pilot Projects Panel it supports and initiates research projects that are vital to the contextual development of the arts.
Finally, the Fonds BKVB presents a number of oeuvre awards every other year as well as the Award for Art Criticism and the Benno Premsela Award, for people who inspire future generations of artists and designers. Recently, the Prize for Young Dutch Art Criticism was added.

The Fonds BKVB is financed by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, but it’s an autonomous foundation that takes its decisions independently.

Extra information: This docupedia is an initiative of Annelies Kuiper who works for the fund as a promoter of Dutch documentary photography. She can be contacted for informtaion in the field of photography.

Director of the fund is Lex ter Braak.