Cultural cooperation Egypt – Netherlands 2025-2028

Egypt is one of the 24 priority countries in the Netherlands International Cultural Policy 2025 - 2028. The Netherlands has been actively present, visible and recognized in the Egyptian field of arts and culture for the past decade. Cultural collaborations have taken shape in the disciplines of design, heritage, digital art among others. The Dutch government has not only supported Dutch cultural actors in Egypt but also extended support to locally based cultural activities led by and involving local practitioners fulfilling local demands. 

The embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Cairo has a small cultural budget to support locally based cultural initiatives and contribute to local infrastructure, next to supporting Netherlands-based makers in their projects in Egypt. The projects that are currently supported by the embassy have been selected through an open call in 2022 and run over a period of multiple years. These projects contribute to the local cultural infrastructure, while some of the projects include collaborations with a Dutch counterpart. The embassy has contributed to the following projects:

• HerStory Films has organized an incubator for female filmmakers, read more…
• Cimateque has worked with EYE on the digitization of Egypt’s rich cinematic heritage, read more...
• Arab Digital Expression Foundation (Adef) works on the project The Future of the Internet, read more…
• Megawra|Built Environment Collective works on the Patterns of Cairo project to digitize patterns present in historic Cairo is digitized for preservation and use by designers in the future, read more ...

Artist in residencies are an important facilitator of individual artist mobility. Egyptian artists have recently participated in residency and mentorship programs in the Netherlands at Nieuwe Instituut, Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten and World Press Photo. Dutch (based) artist have undertaken residencies at ARD-Art institution, Darb1718, Fayoum Art Centre and B’sarya for Arts. For more options, see the AiR database of TransArtists.

Another way of taking your artistic practice to Egypt is through participating in a festival. Artists and makers can either be invited by a festival directly, or after applying to a festivals or institutions open call. Keep an eye on the social media of the festivals that interest you to be informed. Read more about the experience of Dutch author Jaap Robben and his visit to the Cairo International Book Fair in 2024.

In the Netherlands there is a strong connection to the culture of the WANA region, for example through a large diaspora. Examples of cultural practitioners and platforms with a strong connection to the WANA region are Amsterdam Andalusisch Orkest (AAO), DJ Disco Arabesquo and (A)WAKE. There is also an increasing popularity of Egyptian rap for example, which find its way to the crowds of TivoliVredenburg among others. Other cultural venues that occasionally invite artists from the WANA region include MAQAM and de Meervaart. In the Netherlands, the Allard Pierson Museum and the National Museum of Antiquities hold collections from Ancient Egypt.