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Funded Open Calls in Asia

Currently 6 active open calls open to applicants in Asia, across AI, arts, film, journalism, research, tech and cross-disciplinary practice. Hand-curated and updated weekly. Almost every entry is funded; a few notable unpaid open calls and festival submissions are included as clearly flagged exceptions. Browse the list below, or use the interactive desk for filtering and shortlisting.

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Open calls

  1. MMCA International Researcher Residency Program 2027

    National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) · Seoul, South Korea (MMCA Residency Changdong) · Deadline: 18 Sep 2026 · Award: Monthly grant of KRW 1,200,000 (approx. USD 850), total KRW 3,600,000 for the residency period, plus a private live-in studio provided free of charge

    The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea invites curators, critics and independent researchers to its International Researcher Residency Program at MMCA Residency Changdong in Seoul. The program supports curatorial and research-based inquiry into modern and contemporary Asian art through sustained research and professional exchange with the Korean art scene. Four researchers are selected across three terms in 2027. SUPPORT: a monthly grant of KRW 1,200,000 (approx. USD 850, total KRW 3,600,000 for the period) and a private live-in studio with access to the residency's facilities. Participants cover their own round-trip airfare, meals, local transportation, research materials and travel/medical insurance. ELIGIBILITY: open exclusively to curators, critics and independent researchers of all nationalities except Korean citizens, with a research focus on modern and contemporary Asian art, at least five years of professional experience and fluency in English; previous participants of the MMCA Changdong or Goyang residencies are not eligible. Applications are submitted online via mmca.go.kr only. Deadline: 18 September 2026, 18:00 KST.

  2. Algorave Istanbul: Open Call for New Artists and Performers

    Algorave Istanbul · Istanbul, Turkiye. Applicants must be based in Istanbul. · Deadline: 30 Sep 2026 · Award: UNPAID, and no figure of any kind is published. The call states no fee, honorarium, stipend or expenses; it is an invitation to join a local live-coding community and perform with it. Listed here as a deliberate exception to the desk's paid-only rule because it is one of very few live-coding openings in the region. No application fee.

    UNPAID COMMUNITY CALL. Algorave Istanbul, the local node of the international algorave scene (live-coded music and visuals performed for an audience), is looking for new artists to create, experiment and perform with. The call names live coding, sound, visuals, audiovisual performance, and generative or reactive systems, and says explicitly that it is open to formats the organisers have not thought of yet. WHO CAN APPLY: artists based in Istanbul. There is no stated experience requirement and no selection process described. Applications close 30 September 2026. WHAT IS OFFERED: performance opportunities and collaboration within the collective. No fee, stipend or expenses are mentioned anywhere in the call, so treat this as unpaid unless the organisers say otherwise. APPLY through the Google Form, or email algoraveistanbul@gmail.com. The call is published in Turkish and English.

  3. 2027 d/p Curator Support Open Call (Seoul)

    d/p, sponsored by NakwonSangga · d/p, 417 Nakwon Arcade, 428 Samil-daero, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea. Interviews are held offline in principle, with online interviews possible for applicants abroad or in other exceptional circumstances. · Deadline: 30 Sep 2026 · Award: Curatorial grant of KRW 4,000,000 (including tax) per selected curator or team, plus use of d/p's approximately 187 square metre exhibition space for a five-week exhibition and curatorial collaboration with the d/p team. Approximately two curators or teams are selected. No application fee.

    d/p is an independent alternative exhibition space in the Nakwon Arcade, the historic mixed-use commercial and residential complex in Jongno-gu, Seoul built in 1968. Its Curator Support programme, sponsored by NakwonSangga, has selected two to three independent curators every year since 2018, giving each an exhibition venue, curatorial collaboration with the d/p team, and a modest curatorial grant to develop and realise their curatorial practice. ELIGIBILITY: individual curators or teams with at least one curating experience within the past three years. The applying curator or team cannot participate in the exhibition as an artist; curators and artists must be clearly distinguished. SELECTION: approximately two individuals or teams. WHAT IS PROVIDED: a curatorial grant of KRW 4,000,000 including tax; use of the d/p exhibition space of approximately 187 square metres; and a five-week exhibition slot somewhere between March and December 2027, with installation and deinstallation time counted separately from the five weeks. PROCESS: first round is a document review of the APPLICATION and PROPOSAL submitted in the provided format; second round is individual interviews followed by final selection. Interviews are conducted offline in principle, but may be held online if the applicant is abroad or in other exceptional circumstances. HOW TO APPLY: submit the APPLICATION via the Google Form and the PROPOSAL by email to dslashp@gmail.com between 3 August and 30 September 2026. The proposal template is downloadable from the link in the @dslashp Instagram bio. File name format: '2027 d/p Curator Support Application_Applicant Name'. Submit as PDF; if the proposal includes video, provide a link rather than a file. KEY DATES: submissions 3 August to 30 September 2026; first round results announced in the first week of October 2026 by individual contact; second round interviews in the second week of October 2026; final selection announced in the third week of October 2026 by individual contact and on the @dslashp account. Inquiries: Minji Lee, Curator, dslashp@gmail.com.

  4. AI ART AWARD: NEXT ART AI 2026

    HOBAN Cultural Foundation · Online submission, with the awards ceremony and exhibition in South Korea. Open to all regardless of career, nationality or age. · Deadline: 30 Sep 2026 · Award: Total prize pool of KRW 21,000,000 across 20 winners, paid after deduction of applicable taxes and public charges. Grand Prize KRW 5,000,000 (selected regardless of category); in each of the two categories, First Prize KRW 2,000,000, three Second Prizes of KRW 1,000,000 each, and five Honorable Finalist awards of KRW 500,000 each; plus a HOBAN Group President's Award of KRW 1,000,000. Winners also receive plaques and certificates, online and offline exhibition opportunities, and a feature on the official online platform. No entry fee is mentioned.

    NEXT ART AI is an open AI art competition run by the HOBAN Cultural Foundation, welcoming participants of all backgrounds regardless of career, nationality or age, and framed as a way to reflect on the future of AI art through new modes of expression and artistic experimentation. TWO CATEGORIES: AI IMAGE ART, for works in a single-image format at 150dpi or higher, submitted as JPG, JPEG, PNG or BMP up to 10MB; and AI VIDEO ART, open to a wide range of video formats including animation, motion graphics and live-action footage enhanced or transformed using AI, at 1080p or higher, under one minute, 30 or 60fps recommended, stereo 48kHz audio recommended, as mp4 (h.264) or mov. Video entries are submitted as a URL via YouTube, Vimeo, Dropbox or OneDrive, or an alternative platform if those are restricted in your region; links that are inaccessible due to privacy settings may be excluded from judging. WHO CAN ENTER: individuals or teams of up to three including the representative, though you may not submit both as an individual and as part of a team. Team representatives create the account in their own name and all members submit a consent form for personal data. Applicants under 19 need a guardian's signed consent. One work may be submitted per category. RULES ON AI AND ASSETS: work must be original and created by the applicant or team, and must be image or video art created using generative AI platforms. Works that have previously won an award in another competition are not eligible. Free or paid external assets, game engines, AI frameworks, open-source tools and editing software may be used freely, but applicants must hold licences permitting commercial use for every element, and work infringing third-party rights is excluded. Even where external assets and editing software are used, the creative process must involve AI, whether AI-assisted direction, transformation, generation or other AI-based processes, and the choice of AI tools, the scope and method of their use, and the prompts themselves are all weighed in evaluating the creative use of AI. TIMELINE: applications open 1 September 2026 and close 30 September 2026 at 11:59pm KST, preliminary round early October, final round late October, announcement and ceremony early November, exhibition late November 2026. Organised and hosted by the HOBAN Cultural Foundation, sponsored by HOBAN Group, with Seoul Shinmun and EBN as media partners. Details and schedule are subject to change at the organiser's discretion.

  5. Making Space Residency 2027 for Netherlands-Based Practitioners (Guangzhou)

    Making Space, in partnership with the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in China · Guangzhou, China · Deadline: 03 Oct 2026 · Award: EUR 2,700 travel and artist fee subsidy (fixed per application; duos or collectives share it), plus accommodation in Guangzhou and shared studio space

    The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in China, in partnership with artist-run space Making Space in Guangzhou, invites Netherlands-based artists, makers, curators, writers, researchers and other cultural practitioners to a six-week residency in spring 2027. Making Space (est. 2017) focuses on art and social practice with an emphasis on long-term research, local knowledge and care-driven collaboration. The residency is process-oriented with no obligation to produce finished work; the resident takes part in at least one public exchange (talk, workshop, reading group, screening, performance or open studio). SUPPORT: EUR 2,700 travel and artist fee subsidy (fixed per application; duos or collectives share the amount), accommodation in Guangzhou, shared studio space, curatorial and research support with access to local networks, and logistical support for public programming (extra funding may be considered for public programmes). The resident arranges their own China visa; Making Space provides an invitation letter. LOOKING FOR: practitioners engaging with alternative education, ecological justice, migration and labour, social practice, intergenerational narratives, diaspora and transdisciplinary collaboration; English communication required. APPLY by email (makingspace2017@gmail.com) with a 200-word bio, CV, 2-page project proposal and portfolio (max 20 pages) in a single PDF, in English. Result expected late November 2026. Deadline: 3 October 2026, 23:59 CST / 17:59 CEST.

  6. Stimuleringsfonds: Open Call Residency Videotage 2027 (Hong Kong)

    Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie (Creative Industries Fund NL) in collaboration with Videotage, Hong Kong · Residency takes place at Videotage in Hong Kong. Applicants must be established in the Netherlands, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius or Sint Maarten (Kingdom of the Netherlands) and registered in a business register within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. · Deadline: 21 Oct 2026 · Award: EUR 5,000 for a two-month residency or EUR 6,500 for a three-month residency, paid by the Creative Industries Fund NL to cover travel, insurance, living expenses, compensation for time invested, and material and transport costs. Accommodation, use of the studio space and facilitation by Videotage are covered directly by the Fund on top of this. No application fee.

    The Creative Industries Fund NL (Stimuleringsfonds) runs this residency with Videotage, a Hong Kong-based non-profit media arts institution specialising in the promotion, presentation, creation and preservation of moving image and media art in all forms and languages. The Fund is recruiting one Netherlands-based designer, maker or observer working in digital culture to spend two or three months at Videotage's studio space in Hong Kong in 2027, conducting research, broadening their network, developing new work inspired by Hong Kong, and presenting their findings or completed works. The residency encourages crossovers and experimentation, giving the participant space to explore new methodologies, widen their creative practice and produce work that pushes the boundaries of digital culture, with a focus on social and urban dynamics. The 2027 edition takes the technological 'black box' phenomenon as its starting point and invites the resident to respond to that theme within the context of Videotage. ELIGIBILITY: you are an individual designer, maker or observer within the field of digital culture; you are established in the Netherlands, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Saba, Sint Eustatius or Sint Maarten (Kingdom of the Netherlands); you are registered in the business register of the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK) or another business register within the Kingdom of the Netherlands; and you have had a professional practice in the creative industry for at least four years. NOT open to duos, collectives or cooperative ventures, nor to designers and makers who receive a grant during the work period under the Talent Development Grant Scheme, the Open Call Self-taught Designer or the Open Call Emerging Design Practices ABCSSS. Note that accepting this open call means you cannot apply to those schemes and open calls in 2027. FUNDING: EUR 5,000 for two months or EUR 6,500 for three months, covering travel, insurance, living expenses, compensation for time invested and material and transport costs; accommodation, studio use and Videotage's facilitation are covered separately by the Fund. Submit your proposal to the Creative Industries Fund NL by 21 October 2026, 16:00 CEST.

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