The Flemish government has awarded CODART a generous contribution for the year 2021 to support its activities and to increase the visibility of Flemish and Dutch art. This fantastic gesture expresses its strong support and appreciation for our foundation at a time when the culture sector is experiencing very hard times.

The grant will help enormously to consolidate and expand CODART’s activities. With the support of the Flemish government, we can redouble our efforts on behalf of the curators who manage collections of Dutch and Flemish art worldwide. The grant will also enable us to continue and expand the CODART Canon project in order to make Flemish and Dutch art more visible for a large international audience. Moreover, we want to dedicate ourselves to talent development and knowledge exchange between young and old and in this way to help future-proof the curator’s profession.

The grant from Flanders is an important addition to CODART’s sources of revenue. CODART derives its main financial support from the RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History in The Hague, which co-finances CODART from the subsidy it receives from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. Given that CODART focuses on Flemish as well as Dutch art, it is very valuable that the foundation will now be receiving substantial funding from Flanders in addition to the Dutch contribution.

Other substantial parts of CODART’s funding come from the Friends of CODART Foundation, membership fees, and the annual contributions paid by a growing number of museums that support CODART as Institutional Members. CODART operates as an independent foundation, with its own board and policy.

CODART always regards and presents Dutch and Flemish art as a single cultural continuum. Indeed, a large percentage of curators are responsible for Early Netherlandish and Dutch as well as Flemish art. Because of this, many Flemish museums and curators have been active within CODART’s network ever since the organization was founded in 1998. Flemish directors and curators account for a structural part of the board and committees of CODART and of the board of the Friends of CODART Foundation.