Currently 9 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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culture360.ASEF.org, the arts platform of the Asia-Europe Foundation, invites proposals from writers and content producers for its open call 'Arts in the Wake of AI': articles, podcasts and video interviews that foreground how cultural professionals and organisations across Asia and Europe are adapting to AI technologies, from generative tools and machine learning to recommender systems and algorithms. WHAT THEY WANT: case-study-based contributions grounded in real-world evidence, experiences or practices, on topics including the impact of AI on cultural diversity, fairness and inclusivity; the environmental costs of AI in the cultural sector; and AI governance in the cultural sector (policy, copyright, intellectual property and the ethical use of AI-generated cultural content). Academic research papers and non-arts subjects are not considered. FEE: SGD 250 per commissioned article, podcast or video interview. FORMATS: journalistic articles of 800 to 1,000 words with at least four credited images; podcasts and video interviews of 15 to 20 minutes. ELIGIBILITY: nationals of ASEM partner countries with previous experience in writing, podcasting or video production, proficiency in English, and knowledge of or involvement in the Asian and European arts and culture scene; an existing channel for further dissemination is an advantage; the work is fully virtual. Up to two proposals per application. Only selected writers are notified. Queries to culture[at]asef.org. Deadline 29 September 2026 at 6 PM Singapore time, via the online application form.
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.
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.
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.
Social Dive is the Tokyo Biennale 2027 open call for art projects and artist-in-residence proposals developed through research and engagement with local communities across Tokyo. Participants immerse themselves in the city's neighborhoods, from temples and historic wooden buildings to business districts, train stations and shopping streets. Selected projects are developed at 11 designated sites: Toeizan Kaneiji Temple, Yushima Seido, Otemachi/Marunouchi/Yurakucho, Kyobashi, Nihonbashi, Yaesu, Kanda, Ueno Station, Tokyo Dome City, Akihabara Electric Town, and Bakurocho/Higashi-Kanda. Proposals must respond to the biennale theme From Me to Us and be presented during Tokyo Biennale 2027 (1 October to 11 December 2027). WHAT YOU GET: JPY 100,000 honorarium, round-trip travel up to JPY 300,000, accommodation in Tokyo, project development support up to JPY 200,000, venue coordination, interpretation and translation support, and an invitation letter. WHO IS ELIGIBLE: artists, curators, researchers, collectives and practitioners in related fields, aged 18 or older, from anywhere in the world; must be available for on-site research, collaboration and implementation in Tokyo with a residency of at least one month including the opening; one proposal per applicant. SELECTION: two-stage evaluation on theme responsiveness, originality, feasibility and community collaboration. DEADLINE: 30 September 2026, 23:59 JST. TO APPLY: via the online form with profile photo, personal statement (150 words), two key visuals, project summary and background, detailed description (400 words), budget breakdown and schedule, and CV or portfolio (max 5 pages). Free to apply.
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.
Peripheral Acts is an experimental, artist-led residency programme supporting artistic production alongside dialogue, exchange and site-responsive experimentation, rooted in everyday urban life in the UAE. The second edition, Leaning Out, takes residential balconies as its site: suspended between private life and public view, the balcony becomes a stage for negotiations between host and guest, inhabitant and observer, framing questions of privacy, voyeurism, belonging and ownership. STRUCTURE: three commissioned artists take part in two phases. Phase 1 is four in-person gatherings hosted by residency programmer Shazia Salam in Dubai and Abu Dhabi (1, 7, 14 and 21 November 2026, roughly two hours each; attendance at all four is expected). Phase 2 is a one-month balcony takeover per artist (January, February or March 2027), during which each resident also hosts one (semi-)public event sharing their practice and process. There is no fixed formula for what can happen on the site; interventions are shaped by its conditions, permissions and chance encounters, carefully testing the possibilities and boundaries of informal public intervention in the UAE. FUNDING: AED 1,000 commission fee plus AED 1,500 production budget per artist. ELIGIBILITY: artists currently based in the UAE with easy, ongoing access to a residential balcony (their own or one belonging to a friend or family member). Questions: shaziasalam.92@gmail.com. APPLY via the Google Form. DEADLINE: 4 October 2026.
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.
The Creative Industries Fund NL (Stimuleringsfonds) is recruiting one Netherlands-based designer, architect or spatial practitioner for a two-month residency in 2027 at Jatiwangi art Factory (JaF), an internationally recognised artistic collective based in a former roof tile factory in West Java, Indonesia. Jatiwangi's history is closely bound up with the colonial history of Indonesia: the Dutch government built large roof tile factories in the region in the early twentieth century, turning it into the most important centre of roof tile production in Southeast Asia. Now that this industry has largely disappeared, JaF develops new visions for the changing rural area with clay and community empowerment at their heart. The residency is part of Tahun Tanah, a recurring programme on the relationship between the people of Jatiwangi and the region's history of clay and terracotta civilisation; the 2027 theme is Elmu Ning Tanah (Learning from the Earth). As resident you explore with the local community what tanah (earth) means in this area, not only as a material for the terracotta industry but also as a carrier of history, memory and culture, and you help shape a future for the terracotta industry rooted in local knowledge, traditions and the needs of the community. ELIGIBILITY: you are an individual designer, architect or spatial practitioner; 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; accepting this open call means you cannot apply to those schemes and open calls in 2027. FUNDING: EUR 4,500 subsidy for the two-month residency; accommodation at JaF is a small private container house with two single beds and a bathroom/toilet. Assessment takes the form of a tender: an external advisory committee ranks proposals on the artistic quality of the work, the quality of the proposed project and the motivation in relation to the goals of the residency, and the highest-scoring proposals are awarded. Decision within eight weeks of the closing date. Submit via the Creative Industries Fund NL by 21 October 2026, 16:00 CEST.