Does the demand for cultural diversity come from the art world or is it essentially a political idea? Is it a new form of paternalism or a finely tuned lens to achieve cultural bipolarity? What does the call for cultural diversity mean in general and the BKVB Fund in particular?  Is the level of cultural diversity the same as the number of subsidies granted to artists with another cultural background or is this decided by other bodies? If so, which? Is cultural diversity the same as artistic diversity and if so what does this mean for the BKVB Fund?

In recent years the BKVB Fund has asked these questions many times. No clear answer has been formulated but the list of granted subsidies indicates that cultural diversity is a fact at this level. Preference appears to be given to artists from other countries such as Asia to the Middle East, Morocco to Turkey, from Poland to Serbia. Many artists go to these countries too to research art and complete projects. The BKVB Fund is slowly expanding its network of residences to these countries. Is this enough or can they do more?

To answer these questions and deepen its own knowledge of cultural diversity the BKVB Fund sent out a call for Cultural Diversity Intendants early in 2006. Everyone who was attracted by this could hand in plans for with cultural diversity in fine art as its objective. In this way according to the BKVB Fund, there would be more visibility regarding what was available in the art world and what kind of ambitions played a role and also at policy level.

47 plans were sent in response to this announcement. A jury including members of the Committee for Pilot Projects selected six plans, led by chairman Els van der Plas.

Although the jury chose these intendants for a wide variety of reasons, one common consideration was that their projects would offer a sampling of potential. It is with this multitude and variety that cultural diversity in the arts can take shape. And it was the latter, which concurred with considerations of the BKVB Fund to set up the intendant project: the creation of possibilities for artists with different intentions, different backgrounds, and different points of reference. It is comparable to Ai Weiwei’s door sculpture at the previous Documenta: his tower of doors opens many known, dreamt of, and unknown worlds.

The intendants’ projects are not part of the regular projects that, through a Bijdrage Werkbudget (Working Budget Contribution) could equally have been supported. There are too many different parties involved in their realization and execution, and the projects are also too long-term to do so. Even on a structural level therefore what is happening here is a renewal of the funding policy, which ties in with a transformed arts practice.

Lex ter Braak, March 2007
director Fonds BKVB