PhMuseum Days 2026 Photography Festival Open Call
- 12 hours ago
- 2 min read
• P.M.O.H.
• Deadline: May 7th, 2026
• Theme: Open
• Prize: €2,500 + VAT Budget + 3 Solo Exhibitions in Italy
• Entry Fees: Yes
• REGISTRATION: CLICK HERE
The PhMuseum Days Open Call returns for its 5th edition, inviting visual artists to participate in an international platform dedicated to contemporary photography. The selected works will be presented during the PhMuseum Days Festival, held from 1–4 October in Bologna, Italy—a context that brings together artistic experimentation and critical reflection.
This edition introduces a significant expansion, as the festival will be presented alongside the second edition of Photobook Mania, PhMuseum’s publishing fair. The convergence of these two initiatives creates a layered environment where exhibitions and editorial practices coexist, offering visitors a more comprehensive engagement with photographic work.
The structure of the open call reflects this diversity of presentation formats. At least three artists will be invited to present solo exhibitions within the festival’s main venue, while one project will take shape as a public installation on disused municipal billboards, inserting the work directly into the city’s visual landscape. A further selection of up to 40 images will form part of a collective sculptural installation, and up to 20 works will be included in curated screenings.
The theme ARCHIPELAGO serves as a conceptual framework for this edition. Drawing on Massimo Cacciari’s reflections, it considers crisis not simply as disruption, but as a structural condition that shapes contemporary life. The metaphor of the archipelago suggests a world composed of separate yet interconnected entities—cultural, social, and political “islands” that both divide and relate to one another.
Artists are invited to engage with this tension: to explore fragmentation, borders, and disconnection, while also imagining new forms of coexistence. The open call seeks works that open spaces for dialogue, challenge isolation, and propose alternative ways of understanding and inhabiting our shared world.