Pilot Urgency Programme

If an applicant’s email address has changed, they must contact us directly at: urgency@princeclausfund.nl and provide proof of identity, such as a scan of an ID or passport, to update their details. 

Applications are reviewed and processed within four weeks after submission.  

Yes. Awardees can attempt applying twice per year. Awardees can only receive the Relief Grant once per year. 

Our Awardees often work in challenging and unpredictable environments. Complementing our three Prince Claus Fund Awards, the Pilot Urgency Programme provides rapid support to Award recipients (Seed and Fellows Awards) whose artistic practices are disrupted by unforeseen and urgent circumstances. The Relief Grant provides rapid, trust-based grants of up to €2,500 for unforeseen challenges that disrupt an artist’s practice and require urgent action. 

The programme is intentionally designated as a “Pilot” to signal that we are testing new approaches, learning alongside Awardees, refining our procedures within the current capacity of our team, and building bridges with institutions doing similar work. This is a three-year trial designed to be collaborative, adaptive, and open to enhancement as we test out our approach and learn to better respond to contingencies and challenges. 

Artists and cultural practitioners who have not previously received a Seed or Fellows Award are not eligible to apply. 

We also advise that artists facing imminent, life-threatening risks do not apply for a Relief Grant. While the processing time has been significantly reduced compared to our Awards Programme, the review and disbursement process still requires approximately four weeks. Unfortunately, this timeline cannot adequately respond to immediate threats, and therefore the Relief Grant is not suitable for such situations. 

While our Awards Programme supports artists and cultural practitioners working under pressure at three different career stages (emerging, mid-career, and established), progression between these stages can be shaped by a range of factors and challenges, particularly for artists in the Global South. 

To address this, we established the Urgency Programme as a complementary initiative. It is designed to support our Awardees—artists with whom we have already built a relationship of trust, whose artistic practices we know well, and who have undergone thorough research and assessment prior to receiving an Award from us. 

Within the Pilot Urgency Programme, an urgent situation is defined as: 

A time-sensitive circumstance requiring immediate action, and/ a disruption that significantly impacts the continuity of an artist’s work. The Fund recognises that certain situations may be extreme and life-threatening, directly endangering an artist’s safety or survival.  
 
In such cases, the Prince Claus Fund does not have the capacity to provide the specialised support required. Applicants in life-threatening circumstances will therefore be referred to organisations equipped to respond to such urgent and sensitive needs. 

To maintain both timely responses and the quality of support provided, applications are reviewed on a rolling basis until the bi-weekly review and budget capacity has been reached. Each application is processed within four weeks. Once the bi-weekly capacity is reached, applications close until the next review cycle, which begins at the start and midpoint of each month. 

Prince Claus Fund’s Seed and Fellows Awardees can apply for the Relief Grant through a dedicated page on our website. This page features a search function linked to the profiles of Seed and Fellows Awardees in our database. To apply, the applicant must first search for and select their profile. Next, they will be prompted to enter the email address used during their Award application: the same email we have on record. If the entered email matches our database, the applicant will receive a link via email directing them to the application form. This verification process ensures that only registered Awardees are eligible to apply.  

Given the limited number of applications we can process, we strongly encourage only those in genuine need of the Relief Grant to apply. Starting an application without completing and submitting it may take the place of another fellow applicant who urgently requires support. 

The application form is straightforward and takes approximately 20–30 minutes to complete. You will be asked to provide basic personal information and to explain the challenge you are facing, when it began, and what support you believe will help you address it. 

Upon successful submission of an application, applicants will receive an automatic confirmation email. Please remember to check your spam or junk folder if the confirmation does not appear in your inbox. 

Applications are anonymised and reviewed by external experts with experience in challenging contexts or specific regions, providing insight into local sensitivities. The Prince Claus Fund team allocates positively assessed applications based on urgency and available budget. Evaluators consider the applicant’s geographic location and contextual challenges, including political, social, or environmental factors, and their impact on the applicant’s ability to sustain or develop their artistic practice. 

No, the amount allocated to each applicant is dependent on the amount recommended by external advisors.  

The Pilot Urgency Programme is exclusively open to Prince Claus Seed and Fellow Awardees from 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024, provided they received their award at least one year before applying for a Relief Grant. Please note: if you were awarded a Seed Award in 2021, 2022, 2023 or 2024, but later received a Fellows Award in 2025, you are not yet eligible for this programme. The eligibility list is updated on a yearly basis.

Applicants must be from, and currently living and working in, one of the Prince Claus Fund’s eligible countries. Awardees who no longer reside in an eligible country are not eligible to apply for the Urgency Programme.