Mission
A world in which art plays a prominent role is a better world. The University’s ambition is to help create such a world.

The dynamic in our society creates a growing need for interpretation. A need for new questions, unorthodox ideas, out-of-the-box solutions and untested models. For critical reflection, or simply for criticism. But art is not just about application and social criticism. It also meets a need for re-evaluation of the deeper levels and emotions of our existence: meaning, inspiration, emotion, beauty, anger.

In this dynamic, art is invaluable. Through their work, artists and designers make an essential contribution to the discourse on social problems and how to solve them. They ask new questions, suggest new directions and create new conditions. In the process, they set the public agenda as least as much as they follow it. They summon up emotions and provide meaning. Thanks to art, our society is a nicer and better place.

This basic principle is the point of departure of our existence, which we have translated into the following mission:

"Art is of incalculable value, both intrinsically and in terms of the quality of life. The University of the Arts The Hague plays its part by educating artists who can play a prominent and inspiring role in the creation, development, performance and innovation in the arts in a global context."

Vision
The University of the Arts The Hague is an institution of higher professional education in the arts. We train tomorrow’s artists. And our goals are ambitious. We help students to develop their artistic and creative talents to the highest possible standard. We prepare them for careers as dancers, visual artists, musicians or designers1 who are capable of functioning in a demanding and constantly changing professional environment and are able to find their own place in society. We foster the curiosity, knowledge, creativity, independence and critical capacity of our students and continually challenge them to pursue, and if necessary create, new paths and directions in professional practice.

We do this on the basis of the following vision of our education:

"The dynamic in society and the arts calls for artists who are able to combine high artistic values with an open and inquisitive mind. Through our teaching and research, we offer students an educational environment in which they can pursue their artistic ambitions and develop their talent to the highest possible level with a view to a future international career."

Core Values
We evaluate our policies and activities against a number of fundamental principles which together define the identity of our University. Our core values are:

  • Excellence: the ambition to educate artists to the highest possible standards of artistic quality;
  • Critical and inquisitive attitude: an attitude characterised by reflection, curiosity and a willingness to experiment, all in relation to developments in society, the discipline and their own work;
  • Innovation: the capacity to explore outside the existing parameters, in the arts and in other domains, and to develop new forms and disciplines if necessary;
  • Tradition: learning and internalising the skills and techniques needed to create artistic works of the highest quality;
  • International: the desire to measure ourselves against and be receptive to developments occurring elsewhere in the world;
  • Diversity: a leaning community that values diversity in the backgrounds of the students and the staff members and in our ways of thinking and our perspectives;
  • Responsibility: an awareness of our great responsibility towards our students, our colleagues, the profession and society in everything we do;
  • Coöperation: the focus and willingness to always look for results in collaboration with our students, colleagues, external partners and our environment.

These statements are part of the Institutional Plan 2019-2024.