Artist Residencies in the Netherlands
A curated guide to residency programs, production spaces, and research-based initiatives supporting contemporary art in the Netherlands.
Few European countries have shaped the postgraduate residency model as decisively as the Netherlands, where long-form, peer-driven research programs have functioned for decades as a second education after the art academy. The Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, De Ateliers, and the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht established an approach in which artists are given time, studio space, technical workshops, and sustained critical exchange rather than a fixed curriculum or exhibition deadline. This tradition continues to define how contemporary art residencies in the Netherlands are understood: as production and research environments first, and as exhibition platforms only secondarily. International applicants account for a substantial share of participants, and the resulting cohorts tend to remain partially embedded in the Dutch scene long after their residency ends, reinforcing the country's position within wider European networks of artistic exchange.
Beyond these flagship programs, the residency landscape is notably distributed and often material- or medium-specific. The European Ceramic Workcentre in Oisterwijk draws ceramicists from across the world; print, sound, and media-based residencies operate in Rotterdam, Utrecht, and The Hague; and smaller artist-run initiatives host shorter stays linked to neighbourhood research or site-specific commissions. Public funding through the Mondriaan Fund underwrites much of this infrastructure, allowing residencies to remain non-commercial and to absorb risk on behalf of artists, including curators and writers working in adjacent fields. The result is a residency ecosystem less concentrated in a single capital than its neighbours, more oriented toward sustained technical and conceptual development than toward visibility, and structurally connected to the country's institutions through shared faculty, alumni networks, and ongoing project partnerships.
Selected Artist Residencies in the Netherlands
A curated selection of residency programs supporting contemporary art production, research, and international exchange.
Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten
Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten provides extended studio-based residencies for international visual artists in Amsterdam, supporting sustained research, production, and material experimentation across mediums. Its technical workshops, advising structure with artists, theorists, and curators, and annual open studios position the program as a major node within Dutch and European contemporary art infrastructure since the nineteenth century.
It functions as a foundational institution for international post-academic research in Amsterdam, shaping generations of artists working across the global contemporary art field.
De Ateliers
De Ateliers is an independent, artist-founded post-academic residency in Amsterdam offering two-year studio-based programs for emerging international artists. Mentorship is structured through regular studio visits from established artists rather than fixed tutors, supporting the development of individual practice. The annual Offspring exhibitions present participants' work publicly, embedding the program within the broader Dutch contemporary art ecosystem and international circuits.
Its artist-led mentorship model has shaped a distinctive lineage within Dutch and European contemporary art, often producing rigorous studio-based practices that travel internationally.
Jan van Eyck Academie
Jan van Eyck Academie is a post-academic institute in Maastricht hosting artists, designers, curators, writers, and theorists for one-year research and production residencies. Participants access labs in food, nature, technology, and material practices alongside individual studios. Its program emphasizes interdisciplinary exchange and critical inquiry, positioning the academy as a key southern node within the Dutch contemporary art landscape.
It anchors post-academic research in the south of the Netherlands, linking visual art with design, theory, and ecological inquiry within a sustained institutional structure.
European Ceramic Workcentre
European Ceramic Workcentre is a specialized production residency in Oisterwijk supporting artists, designers, and architects working with ceramic and glaze materials within contemporary art contexts. Its technical infrastructure includes large kilns, plaster studios, and clay laboratories, with on-site technicians supporting experimental fabrication. The center hosts international participants and connects ceramic production to broader discourses in sculpture, installation, and material research.
It is the principal Dutch infrastructure dedicated to ceramic-based contemporary art production, sustaining material experimentation that feeds both national and international exhibition contexts.
BAK, basis voor actuele kunst
BAK, basis voor actuele kunst runs the Fellowship for Situated Practice in Utrecht, hosting artists, theorists, and cultural practitioners engaged in politically situated research. The program is embedded within BAK's wider public program of exhibitions, publications, and study sessions, fostering critical engagement with social and political contexts. It supports practices that bridge contemporary art, activism, and theory.
BAK is a defining voice for politicized curatorial research in the Netherlands, articulating contemporary art's relation to social struggle, ecology, and infrastructural critique.
Kunsthuis SYB
Kunsthuis SYB is a rural residency program based in the Frisian village of Beetsterzwaag, hosting artists for site-responsive projects developed within and for the local context. Residents live and work in the historic building and conclude their stay with a public presentation. The program has sustained continuous engagement with contemporary art outside the urban Randstad since its founding in the late 1990s.
It is one of the most consistent Dutch residency programs operating outside the Randstad, producing a sustained body of site-responsive contemporary practice.
Hotel Maria Kapel
Hotel Maria Kapel is an artist-run residency and exhibition space in the historic chapel of Hoorn, focusing on moving image, performance, and experimental contemporary practices. Residencies culminate in solo exhibitions presented to the local public, combining production conditions with public-facing programming. The organization has developed a recognized profile within the Dutch independent circuit through its consistent engagement with time-based and emerging practices.
It functions as a small but consistent platform for moving image and performance practices, anchoring contemporary art activity in West Frisian territory beyond Amsterdam.
Het Vijfde Seizoen
Het Vijfde Seizoen is a residency program located on the grounds of the Altrecht psychiatric institution in Den Dolder, hosting artists who develop research and projects in relation to the specific context of mental health care, community, and the surrounding landscape. The program produces sustained dialogue between contemporary artistic practice and a non-conventional institutional setting, with public moments embedded in its structure.
It is a distinctive Dutch residency model that situates artistic practice within psychiatric care, generating projects that test the social and ethical possibilities of contemporary art.
This is a curated selection of residency programs. Explore the broader contemporary art ecosystem of the Netherlands.
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