Kultura Nova Foundation is the result of years of successful cooperation between a number of civil society organizations and initiatives that advocated the establishment of an independent foundation dedicated to civil sector in culture.

The initiative was recognized and supported by the Croatian Government and the Ministry of Culture that continue to support further development of the Foundation. Kultura Nova is not a competing or substitute source of financing for the existing institutions on national or subnational levels, which continue to secure funding for cultural programs in the civil sector, instead it aims to serve as an additional measure within the system of financing culture that will contribute to the stabilization and development of civil society organizations in the fields of contemporary arts and culture. Within the framework of the Croatian model of cultural policy, Kultura Nova sets an important example as an autonomous body responsible for providing professional and financial support to culture’s civil sector. It is the first such institution in the sector of culture founded by the state. By establishing Kultura Nova Foundation, Croatia made a significant step forward towards the practice of those European countries that employ different mechanisms with the aim of further developing and improving the system of financing the arts and culture.

Kultura Nova was founded by the Republic of Croatia in a special act adopted by the Croatian Parliament on July 15, 2011 (Official Gazette of the Republic of Croatia, No. 90/11) as a foundation whose core purpose is the promotion and development of civil society in the Republic of Croatia in the fields of contemporary arts and culture.

Kultura Nova provides professional and financial support to programmes developed by organizations of civil society in culture that: support the development of programme implementers' production and organizational capacities; increase the level of professional activities through informal education and professional training; support cooperation between sectors; work to improve programme networking and cooperation on national, regional and international levels; promote creativity and cultural activism of the youth; support other programmes directed at the realization of the foundation’s objectives. Kultura Nova also implements its own programmes in the above-mentioned areas.

Kultura Nova is funded from the portion of profits made on games of chance and promotional award games in accordance with the Law on Conducting Games of Chance and the Regulation on the Criteria of Selecting Beneficiaries and Modes of Distributing the Portion of the Profits Made on Games of Chance as well as from its core assets, income made from core assets and other incomes in accordance with the law.

The decision passed by the Ministry of Public Administration of the Republic of Croatia on November 25, 2011, allowed for the registration of Kultura Nova Foundation in the Official Register of Foundations, Foundation Book No. I, File No. 180.

The decision passed by the Ministry of Public Administration of the Republic of Croatia on February 27, 2012, approved the adoption of the Statute of Kultura Nova Foundation.