Currently 14 active open calls open to applicants in Worldwide, 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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The Democracy Stories Lab, an initiative of People Powered (a global hub for participatory democracy) in partnership with the Democracy Narratives Alliance, invites creators worldwide to submit visual content -- short videos, illustrations, or graphics -- that tells a compelling story about democracy, voice, fairness, belonging, and community power. Content can be original or already published, as long as it is the applicant's own work and engages with narrative frameworks from the Democracy Narratives Alliance's research on 'How to Talk About Democracy.' Tone is open; serious and comedic approaches are both welcome. SUBMISSIONS: up to two finished visual content pieces per applicant, answering the prompt of what the future would look like if people had a real say in the decisions that shape their lives. FORMATS: primarily visual social media content, including short videos (under 3 minutes, vertically oriented) and illustrations; written or audio pieces are accepted if presented in a visual format, for example as a filmed performance. Each submission should build on one of five narrative types from the DNA research brief 'How to Talk About Democracy': outcome-oriented (how democracy shows results), intrinsic-value (why democracy is the best choice), collectivist (the importance of diverse voices), individual (how democracy is empowering) and process-oriented (showing democratic institutions work); a short creative brief gives further guidance. AWARDS: 4 winning entries receive USD $1,000 each; 5 honorable mentions receive USD $500 each; all winners receive amplification across People Powered and Democracy Narratives Alliance communications networks and are featured in a global screening event. WHO CAN APPLY: individual creators and small teams anywhere in the world; especially welcomes creators who reach audiences outside usual democracy circles, who come from communities traditionally with less of a say in public discourse, and who work in civic tech, advocacy, community organising, comedy, art, illustration, games, or lifestyle content. Applications opened 14 July 2026 and are submitted through the official form on the People Powered Democracy Narratives Alliance page. Submission deadline: 14 September 2026. Winners announced October-November 2026. Note: the initiative was itself voted into existence through People Powered's participatory budgeting process (PP Decides).
White Rabbit Gallery in Sydney commissions an emerging artist or designer to create a short digital animation responding to its Generation Xi exhibition, which looks at China's youth amid the AI, robotics and EV revolution, and to the New Ugly digital design aesthetic. The commissioned work (up to 20 seconds, minimum 1280x720 at 16:9, max 150MB, including the exhibition title in English and Mandarin) is displayed for five months on the gallery's website landing page and enters the permanent WRG Digital Archive. SUPPORT: AUD 2,000 artist fee (split equally if a collaborative group) plus mentorship from creative agency Spring in Alaska during the development period (28 September - 2 November 2026). ELIGIBILITY: open internationally to applicants 18+ within the first 10 years of their artistic or design practice who are not represented by a commercial gallery or design agency and not employed by a design company; students and collectives welcome. Free to enter. Deadline: 14 September 2026, 5pm AEST.
Voices With Impact funds transformative five-minute short films about mental health, awarding USD 7,500 per filmmaking team. The 2027 theme is Sanctuary, explored through the lens of mental health: a sanctuary can be a place, a person, a practice, a memory, or something else. Beyond the grant, selected teams receive regular production meetings and story consultations, industry mentor connections, feedback from mental health professionals, festival strategy development, and distribution through Art Opening Minds' festival and a network of 350+ educational partners that integrate the films into curricula. Films must be exactly five minutes. TIMELINE: grants awarded late October 2026, production from November, deliverables due mid-April 2027, world premiere at the Voices With Impact festival in early June 2027. No application fee. Deadline: 14 September 2026, midnight.
Normsy, a project of Civic Health Project, runs a small methods incubator for new strategies to measure or estimate the impact of prosocial social-media interventions. Normsy identifies toxic posts (typically content attacking or violating civic norms) and offers real users a set of AI-generated prosocial comments to choose from and post; the open question is how to estimate the effect of those comments on content producers, other commenters and bystanders who consume content without interacting measurably. The current approach combines survey experiments (how active X users respond emotionally to threads with and without the intervention, and how it shifts agreement with and support for the original post) with paid X API platform data (classifying comments before and after an intervention, plus coarse engagement metrics that cost money each time they are recollected). WHAT THEY WANT: a systematic way to leverage available platform data and maximise the utility of the survey experiments. Example proposals include a strategy for measuring toxicity/prosociality and reach/visibility of a thread over time with a randomisation design generating a control group of threads, or an approach to benchmarking the prosocial potential of AI-generated comments through an iterative arena with human judges or a theory-backed LLM validation approach with human validation. The brief is explicit that methodological innovation, causal identification, scalable measurement frameworks and novel observational approaches matter far more than proposing new intervention types; proposals need not study Normsy exclusively but must explain how the evaluation design transfers to it. Ethics and IRB considerations are central and Normsy will collaborate with selected researchers on ethics review and implementation planning. Researchers retain publication independence and IP; the partnership is expected to produce data for an academic paper. SUBMIT: one zipped folder through the linked Google Form containing a 3-page proposal (design, work already done, work still needed to scale and implement), a budget document for the USD 20,000, a timeline with concrete deliverables inside 6 months, and short bios for all team members. Award notifications mid-October 2026. Questions to kylan@civichealthproject.org; informal and exploratory conversations welcome.
Briarpatch, the Canadian magazine of grassroots politics, dedicates its Winter 2027 issue to AI Resistance and is paying for articles, investigative reporting, historical analysis, photo essays, timelines, profiles, reading lists and art. SUGGESTED ANGLES include Indigenous-led and local resistance to data centres, exploitation and outsourcing of labour in LLM training, AI's impact on work and union resistance, data mining and data sovereignty, environmental and climate impacts, artists and AI (crisis of creativity and ownership), the language and inevitability narratives of AI, policing and the surveillance state, AI and disinformation, and investigations into Big Tech lobbying and media influence in Canada. PITCH: outline what ground your contribution covers, estimated word count, and your relevant experience; first-time Briarpatch writers should add a brief writing sample. Send to pitch [at] briarpatchmagazine.com. Accepted first drafts are due 14 October 2026 with collaborative editing until late November; publication is not guaranteed. No pitch fee. Deadline 18 September 2026.
This is Gender, the photography and visual culture platform run by Global 50/50, is launching its inaugural Regional Curatorial Fellows Programme for early-career curators and cultural practitioners working across photography, visual culture and gender justice. The premise: images shape how gender, power and social realities are understood, feeding public debate, cultural memory, research, advocacy and policy, yet the communities and visual practices that should inform those narratives stay underrepresented in the institutions that circulate them. The programme's argument is that diversifying who makes images is not enough, and that it also matters who selects, contextualises, writes about, commissions and circulates them. For the first time, This is Gender is embedding regional curators directly inside its global photography competition, which has run six cycles and receives thousands of submissions a year. WHAT THE FELLOWSHIP INVOLVES: working inside the competition and seeing first-hand how a major platform discovers, reviews and champions new work; shaping curatorial decisions by bringing regional knowledge and cultural insight into the selection and interpretation of work; contributing to public-facing projects including exhibitions, editorial outputs and digital storytelling while developing your own writing, framing and curatorial voice; direct engagement with international judges, curators, artists, editors and cultural practitioners; and building a network across an international cohort of peers. WHO SHOULD APPLY: curators, critics, writers, researchers, artistic directors, photographers, organisers and cultural practitioners from global majority countries and historically underrepresented communities. Early-career practitioners and recent graduates are strongly encouraged, and a formal curatorial title is not required. HOW TO APPLY: read the full role description and FAQs on the fellowship page and submit the online application form; the organisers offer the application in alternative formats and are open to a conversation before applying. Applications close 22 September 2026.
A fully funded art-science residency from Ars Electronica and Ceske Budejovice, European Capital of Culture 2028, exploring how art and science can collaborate on urgent environmental challenges: climate emergence, sustainable agriculture, geoengineering, permaculture, water resource management, and the broader ecological impacts on local communities. Selected residents work in direct collaboration with local scientists in Ceske Budejovice. WHO CAN APPLY: artists, designers, creatives and artist collectives with more than 5 years of professional creative practice and documented interdisciplinary work; experience in community engagement and science collaborations is essential; applicants must be 18+, of any nationality, and legally eligible to work and travel in the EU. WHAT YOU GET: a EUR 24,000 package (EUR 6,000 artist fee, up to EUR 15,000 production, up to EUR 3,000 travel and subsistence) plus one month of housing covered separately; two winners are selected. STRUCTURE: the residency runs January 2027 to April 2028, with a required on-site stay of up to one month in February/March 2027, an optional stay in August/September 2027, and a March 2028 stay for festival installation, exhibition and deinstallation. HOW TO APPLY: online form with project title, a written proposal of max 250 words, a scientific direction statement (max 100 words), artistic vision (max 100 words), community connection plan (max 100 words), a super short pitch (3 to 30 words), 3 to 7 images, an optional 1-minute video, a portfolio link and contact information. Two-round selection (online application then interview); winners notified by November 2026. Deadline 28 September 2026 at midnight CET.
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.
First Flights funds emerging filmmakers worldwide making live action and documentary shorts in any scripted genre (scripts up to 30 pages). The autumn 2026 round awards up to GBP 7,000 / USD 10,000 in cash toward production costs, plus two Kodak awards of five 400ft rolls of 16mm film stock with complete processing, and one USD 10,000 post-production package from Periscope. Selected filmmakers also receive festival submission assistance and distribution opportunities through partner organizations. APPLY with project details, logline, synopsis, director's vision statement, completed script, director biography, budget and lookbook (sizzle reel optional); independent judges score originality, creativity, plot, pacing, characters, entertainment and message, with interviews for long-listed candidates. Production must begin within six months of the deadline. ENTRY FEE: tiered, GBP 30 until 30 September or GBP 40 until the final 31 October 2026 deadline.
Async Museum is an independent digital space dedicated to web art with a distinctive point of view, existing to discover artists who use the web as their primary medium and to recognise their work as a new aesthetic. Its core philosophy is that the web browser is a twenty-first century canvas. Async Museum is officially seeking submissions of web-based artworks, welcoming both established practitioners and emerging voices who are pushing the boundaries of what the next generation of art can be. NOTE: this is an exhibition opportunity for web-based art rather than a paid grant; no artist fee is stated. To share your practice and submit your work, visit https://asyncmuseum.com/submit. Deadline: 1 December 2026.
Sheer Spite Press, a Montreal-based independent press running since 2024, is open for submissions of zines to be distributed digitally as PDFs through its new digital distro (no print at this time). PRIORITIZING work that is long, text-centric, passionate, personal, anti-authoritarian and accessible (probably not poetry), on topics like community care, friendship, history, food, sex and kink, memoir, DIY and adventures. TERMS: the press sells your PDFs, you choose your own pricing and keep up to 80 percent of sales, paid quarterly (very modest sums expected); distribution is non-exclusive, so you can keep selling your zines anywhere else. Note this is a revenue-share distribution arrangement, not a grant or stipend. Submit via the CryptPad form linked from the call; questions to lee@sheerspite.ca. No submission fee. Open until 31 December 2026.
OSIP is the European Space Agency's standing front door for unsolicited novel ideas, launched in 2019 and now the main entry point for new concepts into ESA, both in response to specific problems and through open calls. HOW IT WORKS: ideas are submitted through two mechanisms. Campaigns are targeted calls responding to specific questions with defined timelines (recent examples include Future Navigation Demonstrators and elements for the EOCognitiveLab mission); Channels are permanently open, open-ended calls on broader topics with no deadline. Submissions can go through an optional community discussion phase, with voting and comments, before expert evaluation by ESA. WHO CAN SUBMIT: individuals, businesses, universities and organisations anywhere in the world. The catch for funding: to implement a funded idea yourself, you must be eligible to do business with ESA under Article 18 of its procurement regulations, which in practice means affiliation with an entity in an ESA member state. WHAT FUNDING LOOKS LIKE: successful ideas are typically supported as co-funded PhD or postdoctoral research (ESA plus a university), early technology development activities, or system studies; amounts vary by route and campaign. WHY IT IS ON THE DESK: this is the one genuinely public, always-open route into ESA for independent researchers, technologists and artists working with space data or space technology concepts; new campaigns appear regularly, so checking the platform periodically is worthwhile. Submit via ideas.esa.int.
Contemporary art magazine commissioning paid art writing and criticism, with pitches accepted on an ongoing basis (online reviews/pitches continuous; themed print issues have set deadlines, e.g. the Spring issue around 15 September 2026). A direct paid outlet for criticism on digital, new-media and AI art. ELIGIBILITY: writers at all experience levels are invited; not restricted to Canada. Mostly pitch-based, with short online reviews accepted unsolicited.
apexart's Open Calls turn a curatorial idea into a funded apexart exhibition, selected by a crowdsourced international jury of more than 600 people in 70 countries. WHO CAN SUBMIT: anyone, from anywhere, with no fees at any level: trained and student curators, artists, writers and creative people regardless of experience, background or location. HOW: a 500-word proposal for a focused, idea-driven, original group exhibition, submitted through the online form during the proposal window. TWO ANNUAL WINDOWS: every October for exhibitions in apexart's NYC space, and every February (to early March) for exhibitions taking place anywhere in the world except NYC; for the international call you must propose a location you have actually visited, with the specific venue settled after selection. SELECTION: jurors vote anonymously online (each proposal gets an equal number of views, submitter names hidden); proposals are judged on the strength of the idea and how well it is communicated, not on connections or CV. WHAT WINNERS GET: a USD 10,000 budget (USD 8,000 for expenses, up to USD 2,000 curator honorarium, plus up to USD 1,000 venue-rental match outside NYC), with apexart covering insurance, publicity, the printed brochure, the opening reception and most logistics including loan agreements and shipping, and staff working closely with the guest curator. Winning proposals become part of apexart's next exhibition season. Check the site for the current window's exact dates; submission forms only go live during the proposal periods.