The ISGIES scheme is currently closed for new applications for 2024.

The purpose of International Support for Galleries and Independent Exhibition Spaces (ISGIES) is to enhance the participation of Norway-based galleries, independent exhibition spaces and art book publishers at international art fairs.

ISGIES aims to stimulate international participation, especially in major art fairs, and increase the demand for contemporary visual art from Norway.

ISGIES is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Culture and Equality. The annual budget for 2025 is NOK 4,000,000.

All applications are administered by Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA) on behalf of OCA and Norwegian Crafts. Grants from the ISGIES scheme are prioritised within a framework of predefined criteria, and support is distributed throughout the year until the budget is exhausted.

For grant applicants

Who can apply?

• Norwegian galleries and independent exhibition spaces that are invited to participate in one of the listed art fairs
• Norwegian art book publishers that are invited to participate in one of the listed art book fairs

Eligibility requirements for galleries and independent exhibition spaces
Applicants must present at least one Norwegian or Norway-based contemporary artist at one of the international art fairs included in the list of eligible art fairs. Artists involved in the operation of the gallery are not included in this minimum requirement.

The ISGIES scheme does not cover Kunsthalles, art societies, art centres, or individual artists.

Eligibility requirements for art book publishers
Applicants must present at least three publications about or featuring Norwegian or Norway-based contemporary artists at one of the international art book fairs included in the list of eligible art fairs. Of these publications, at least three must be registered with an ISBN. Publications that present artists involved in the publishing company are not included in this minimum requirement.

The ISGIES scheme does not cover individual artists working with printed matter. However, they are eligible for travel support through OCA’s International Support grant scheme when presenting their self-published artistic work at art book fairs.

What can be applied for?

Support is provided for:

• Art fair or display fee (including additional fees for walls, lights, etc., provided by the fair)
• Art transport (including specified/separate transport of books)
• Art insurance
• Travel and accommodation (maximum application amount: NOK 30,000)

Support is not provided for:

• Per diem
• Local travel
• Information or promotional material
• Documentation
• Production and installation costs for artwork
• Insurance agreements that cover more than the specific fair period

Costs that are not supported will need to be removed from the application budget.

Criteria for applications

Applications may be submitted in English or Norwegian and must be submitted using the form available on OCA’s profile on the application platform stikk.no. If an application has been received but is not complete, the applicant must submit the missing material within 48 hours after it has been requested by OCA’s administration.

Required documents for the application

• A formal invitation letter from the art fair
• CVs for the Norwegian and Norway-based artists presented at the fair
• A complete list of the artists/books that will be presented at the fair
• Descriptions of the plans for the participation and presentation
• A description of the goals and focus of the applicant
• A budget containing a detailed breakdown of the costs applied for

Budget requirements

• All applicants must use OCA’s budget and accounting template. The same Excel document used for the application budget must also be used for the post-fair report.
• The application budget should present a realistic budget estimate for participation at the fair. The applicant must later document the costs with receipts and accounts in the report.
• The budget should only include costs that are within what can be applied for from ISGIES.
• The budget must be stated in NOK.
• All costs stated in the budget must be broken down and explained.
• Corrections to the budget must be made within 48 hours after being requested by OCA’s administration.
• If support is provided from other grant schemes, this must be stated in the application and the budget.

An application may be rejected on administrative grounds if:

• It does not meet the application requirements set out in these guidelines
• The project has opened or been finalised before the deadline for the application round.
• The report for a previously granted project is missing past its deadline, or there are unsettled claims for repayment.

The necessary application requirements, such as a budget or invitation, are missing or incomplete and has not been corrected within 48 hours after being requested by OCA’s administration.

When to apply

Applications must be submitted before the fair opens. Applications are accepted and processed in monthly application rounds, with deadlines falling on the 10th of each month.

The first application round for fairs taking place in 2025 is 10 January 2025.0

The first application round for fairs taking place in 2026 is 10 December 2025.

How applications are processed

Support from the ISGIES scheme is prioritised within a framework of predefined criteria.

Complete and accepted applications received within the deadline of an application round will be processed by OCA’s administration. Grants will be allocated according to the priorities determined by the grant scheme's criteria.

Applications will be processed in application rounds throughout the year until the budget is exhausted.

Applicants will receive a reply within three weeks after the deadline for the round in which their application is processed.

System of prioritisation

Applications are prioritised based on the following criteria in the following order:

• The prioritity level of the art fair applied for The list of eligible art fairs is divided into four priority categories. These categories are assessed based on quality, relevance and geographical location in accordance with the scheme’s purpose of stimulating participation in major art fairs. The grant scheme prioritises applications for fairs with a higher ranking.

• New activity and development Galleries participating in a Category 1 or 2 fair for the first time will receive priority. Priority can be given for up to three consecutive years in case of continued activity in these two categories.

• The applicant’s activity in Norway Applicants with regular exhibition and publishing activities in the last 12 months will receive priority. For galleries and independent exhibition spaces, applicants who have had a physical exhibition venue during the previous 12 months will also receive priority.
• Extent of art from Norway in the presentation This is assessed based on factors such as the number and proportion of artists and artworks by Norwegian or Norway-based artists.
• Time of submitted application If two or more applications are equally prioritised according to these criteria, the application that was submitted first in its complete form will be given priority.

An overview of the four priority categories of art fairs is available in the complete list of eligible art fairs. OCA and Norwegian Crafts will produce and revise the list of eligible art fairs annually. The list is completed by 1 October the previous year and will be available at Stikk.no.

Grant coverage

ISGIES support can cover costs related to the four categories described under ‘What can be supported’. These are the only eligible costs that can be applied for. The budgeted costs for these supported categories make up the total application amount. Up to 70% of the total application amount and up to NOK 30,000 for travel and accommodation can be supported through the ISGIES scheme, while the remaining amount must be covered by the applicant. OCA calculates the support based on the approved costs in the budget estimates.

Example
If the total application amount for costs that OCA can support is NOK 150,000, the maximum grant that can be awarded is NOK 105,000, which is 70% of the application amount. This is given that the application and the amounts fulfil the remaining requirements for the scheme and that the application is prioritised for funding.

Grant recipients must document all costs with receipts after the fair. If, after participating in a fair, a granted applicant’s expenses are less than the budgeted amount that forms the basis for OCA's calculations, OCA will recalculate the correct amount of the grant. The difference between the original and the correct amount must be repaid to OCA. Please see the guidelines on reporting for more information.

Furthermore, these limitations apply:

The maximum amount that can be granted for a single application (one fair participation):

• Fairs in category 1 and 2: NOK 400,000
• Fairs in category 3 and 4: NOK 200,000

The maximum amount that can be granted to an applicant within a calendar year:

• NOK 400,000

An applicant can receive a maximum grant of NOK 2,000,000 over a period of three calendar years, as determined by the de minimis aid regulations.

Budget restrictions:
Participations in fairs that take place in the first semester (January – June) are supported by the budget for the first semester, while participations in fairs that take place in the second semester (July – December) are supported by the budget for the second semester.

Any remaining funds from the first semester will be transferred to the second semester, and likewise, any remaining funds from the second semester will be transferred to the following year.

The budgets for either of the two semesters may be exhausted at any time throughout the year. Only fairs that take place in a semester with an available budget remaining can be supported. Both budgets may be exhausted at any time throughout the year, and the scheme will close for the year.

Right of Complaint

If you wish to appeal an individual decision made by OCA regarding grants or administrative assessments, the appeal must be submitted in writing to OCA within three weeks of receiving the decision. The complaint should be justified based on the information that OCA has used concerning the specific decision. Only errors in administrative decisions and decisions based on incorrect facts can be appealed. If the conditions for processing the complaint are met, OCA’s administration may either reverse the decision or forward the complaint to OCA’s and Norwegian Crafts' Boards. OCA’s and Norwegian Crafts' Boards are the appeal bodies. The decision of the appeal body is final and cannot be appealed further.

For grant recipients

Conditions for grants
The grant is earmarked for the specific fair participation and the eligible costs within the grant scheme. If the project is cancelled or postponed from the dates stated in the application, the applicant must notify OCA immediately.

If the grant is not spent in compliance with the terms and conditions of the agreement, OCA can withhold or reclaim the grant in part or in full.

This can happen if:

• The project is cancelled
• The grant has been spent outside the categories that ISGIES can support
• There is no satisfactory accounting or documentation of how the funds have been spent
• The grant recipient provided OCA incorrect or misleading information or concealed facts that significantly impacted the grant decision, amount, or terms of the grant

Mentioning and crediting OCA and Norwegian Crafts
As a condition for this support, OCA requires that credit be given by using the name or logo of Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA) or Norwegian Crafts in all printed materials, invitations, press releases and web-related material released in conjunction with the fair participation that has received support.

Applicants operating in the field of contemporary art and participating in a contemporary art fair must credit OCA, while applicants operating in the field of contemporary crafts and participating in a contemporary crafts fair must credit NC.

Find the NC logo here
Find the OCA logo here

When you post about your project on social media, you can mention Norwegian Crafts by name or tag @norwegiancrafts (Instagram) or Norwegian Crafts (Facebook).

Please note that Norwegian Crafts and OCA may publish the names and projects of successful applicants, along with images from applications and reports on various non-commercial platforms, including the Norwegian Crafts website, newsletter, and Annual Report.

Transfer of grant

To request grant payment, you must submit a payment request through the application platform stikk. Under the section ‘Your application’ at the bottom of OCA’s page for Visual Arts on stikk.no, you need to enter the last five digits of your reference number to access the forms for your payment requests, reports, and the status of your application.

Grants may be transferred after they have been awarded. The applicant is responsible for and obligated to keep OCA informed of the correct project dates. This is important for the payment, the report, and the possibility for OCA to follow up and publish communications about your project.

Reporting

When and how to report
Following Norwegian rules for grants, scholarships etc., the Office of the Auditor General of Norway (Riksrevisjonen) is entitled to verify that the grants are used according to the stated conditions. To facilitate this, the grantee must complete the report form and declare how the grant was spent within one month after the completion of the project.

Reports are submitted through the application platform stikk.no. Under the section ‘Your application’ at the bottom of OCA’s page for Visual Arts on stikk.no, you need to enter the last five digits of your reference number to access the forms for your payment requests, reports, and the status of your application.

What to include in the report

Report requirements:

• Project accounts that show how the grant was spent and the total costs within the categories supported by ISGIES.
• All applicants must use OCA’s budget and accounting template. The same Excel document used for the application budget must be used for the post-fair report.
• The accounts must be stated in NOK.
• Receipts documenting the costs stated in the accounts. The receipts should be included in the PDF with the accounts.
• All receipts in currencies other than NOK must be accompanied by bank transfer documentation confirming the correct amount transferred in NOK.
• An additional report form must be filled in. This form can be downloaded from the main reporting page and must be uploaded as part of the main report for the project.
• Visual material documenting the participation at the fair.
• Physical or digital versions of promotional material.

The report must include accounts that outline the final costs within the criteria and categories that can be supported. The accounts must be submitted using OCA’s budget and accounting template. The costs must be documented with receipts, which are to be included in the accounts PDF that is uploaded to the report. All costs must be explained and specified.

Based on the accounts, OCA will make new calculations and confirm that the applicant spent the total amount stated in the budget on eligible cost categories and in accordance with the scheme’s criteria. Amounts for which receipts are missing cannot be accepted and will be excluded from the new calculation made by OCA.

The ISGIES grant can cover a maximum of 70% of the total eligible costs incurred. If the final documented expenses are lower than those outlined in the application budget, which served as the basis for calculating the grant, the recipient must repay the difference between the original and the correct grant amount as calculated by OCA. Grants must be repaid within 14 days of notification from OCA’s administration.

Example
The total application amount for costs that OCA can support was budgeted at NOK 150,000, and the application was awarded NOK 105,000, which is 70% of the total application amount. If, after the fair, the total amount spent on costs that OCA can support is NOK 130,000, the correct grant amount of 70% will be NOK 91,000. The grant recipient must then repay the difference of NOK 14,000 to OCA.

Promotion material
Applicants are required to send documentation of printed material related to the supported fair to OCA. This can either be done by including digital copies in the visual material that is to be uploaded in the report or by sending two copies of physical material to:

Office for Contemporary Art Norway Re: ISGIES / Report Ref.nr.: [your reference number] Nedre gate 7 0551 Oslo, Norway

OCA will not accept new applications to the support scheme if a final report from a previous project is outstanding past its deadline or if there are unsettled claims for repayment.

Recipients of funding

2024

Galleri Format, participation in Market Art Fair, Stockholm, Sweden, 17–19 May 2024. Amount: NOK 115 640.

2023

Kiosken, participation in Stockholm Furniture Fair at Älvsjö Gård, Stockholm, Sweden, 5 Feb–12 Feb 2023. Amount: NOK 201 500.

PYTON, participation in Stockholm Furniture Fair at Älvsjö Gård, Stockholm, Sweden, 5 Feb–12 Feb 2023. Amount: NOK 94 456.

Galleri Format, participation in Market Art Fair, Stockholm, Sweden, 12 May–14 May 2023. Amount: NOK 122 613.

Galleri Format, participation in Enter Art Fair, Copenhagen, Denmark, 24 Aug–27 Aug 2023. Amount: NOK 190 016.

2022

Galleri Format, participation in Collect Art Fair online, London, UK, 23 Feb–27 Feb 2022. Amount: NOK 31 000.

Galleri Format, participation in Nomad St. Moritz, St. Moritz, Switzerland, 1 Mar–6 Mar 2022. Amount: 203 000.

PYTON, participation in London Craft Week, London, UK, 8 May–16 May 2022. Amount: NOK 502 562.

Format participation in Enter Art Fair, Copenhagen, Denmark, 25 Aug–28 Aug 2022. Amount: NOK 102 850.

Elephant Kunsthall / Bench Press, participation in Chart Art Book Fair, Copenhagen, Denmark, 25 Aug–28 Aug 2022. Amount: NOK 12 496.

Lists of recipients from previous years are available on OCA's website.

History

The guidelines were established by KUD in 2015. Revised in 2022, 2023, 2024. The current guidelines apply from 1 January 2025.