DAI Friends & Alumni Grant is a one-off annual grant that is awarded to non-EU student/s in their second year of study at the Dutch Art Institute. It is funded by the generous donations from the DAI’s broader community. It is open to eligible and interested DAI students who bear financial burden and/or stress.
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For international students who have achieved the task of financing a move to the Netherlands to study at the DAI, second year is a critical financial and academic time. Non-EU second year students can find this period particularly difficult.
Upon graduating, non-EU DAI alumni become eligible for funding options that can make it possible to live (often humbly) as an artist in NL. As well as social benefits, there is also state and municipal funding, paid residency programs, and just the basic joy of sometimes being paid to show one’s work.
The DAI Friends & Alumni Grant recognises that many privileges and opportunities can be traced to the structural wealth generated during the colonial reign of western European countries and into the present day, of which NL was and is a significant player. Students who pay international study fees are often those who come from places that have been systematically excluded and extracted from across centuries by countries such as the Netherlands. The DAI Friends & Alumni Grant takes a small step towards recognising this asymmetry, and sharing this wealth with others.
Wealth distribution is one step towards reparations. We encourage all those who are able to to pay it forward; any amount is welcome.
Donations to the DAI Friends & Alumni Grant are primarily sought during the fundraising drive at the beginning of the academic year. The grant is awarded once a year only. However, donations can be made at any time of the year. All monetary contributions go towards the student grant. There are no administrative fees
About
The grant was initiated in 2020 as a grassroots fundraiser by DAI alumni Clementine Edwards, Lukas Malte Hoffmann, Ulufer Çelik and Zachary Schoenhut, with the support of Valentina Curandi. In 2021 Raúl Silva and in 2022 Marika Vandekraats joined the association. The DAI Friends & Alumni Association conveners work on a voluntary basis. A changing group of alumni, including a recent graduate, work with the association.
From 2023, the DAI Friends & Alumni Grant is eligible in exceptional circumstances to students in their first year of study who bear financial burden and/or stress. The fund continues to prioritize second year students at the Dutch Art Institute.
The 2023 recipients of the DAI Friends and Alumni Grant were Anastasia Nefedova, Baoxin (Bobo) Liao, Gabriel Acevedo, Noam Youngrak Son, and Yi Hong Wang.
In 2023, DAI Friends & Alumni is convened by —
Clementine Edwards (2018)
Lukas Malte Hoffmann (2019)
Raúl Silva (2021)
Zachary Schoenhut (2020)
Marika Vandekraats (2022)
Kvk - nummer 84332948
APPLY
The DAI Friends & Alumni Grant open call is shared directly with DAI second-year students after the beginning of the new academic year, so long as the conveners deem it viable.
The open call is a simple and accessible two-page application form written in English. It is open for approximately three weeks [timing TBC by group].
The grant outcome is made public before the end of the calendar year.
FOR WHOM?
DAI Friends & Alumni Grant is a one-off annual grant that is awarded to non-EU student/s in their second year of study at the Dutch Art Institute. It is open to eligible and interested DAI students who bear financial burden and/or stress.
From 2023, the DAI Friends & Alumni Grant is eligible in exceptional circumstances to students in their first year of study who bear financial burden and/or stress. The fund continues to prioritize second year students at the Dutch Art Institute.
The decision to apply or not apply for this grant may not be simple.
By taking the decision to apply, students enter into a contract of responsibility towards their fellow students who are also applying, in full awareness that those others are also in a position of financial burden and/or stress.
The conveners ask applicants to trust second-year students in their collective responsibility. This is the sustenance of the DAI’s affective afterlife — and, in fact, how the DAI Friends & Alumni Grant came about in the first instance.
The DAI Friends & Alumni 2023 Grant is now open. The deadline for applicants is January 8th.. You can apply downloading the form and sending it to the email
