Barcelona Experimental Photo Festival 2026 Open Call

The Experimental Photo Festival 2026, which is going to be held in Barcelona from 2 to 26 July 2026, launches its international open call aimed at photographic and visual creators of all backgrounds, nationalities, and ages.

Overview

The open call is for those who work with creative, experimental, alternative, historical, and hybrid photography, and who wish to take their work to a new level by exploring innovation in concepts, techniques, or forms of exhibition.

Selected creators will participate in twenty solo exhibitions, which will be presented in three emblematic venues of the city: Centre Cívic Pati Llimona, Institut d'Estudis Fotogràfics de Catalunya (IEFC) or Experimental Hub Barcelona.

Plus, the selected artists will receive €800 in cash and in kind financial support of up to €250 for the production, transport, or installation of the work; a free ticket to the festival or a full pass if they deliver a workshop (estimated value €200); official merchandising (estimated value €40) and lunch during the event (estimated value €50); €150 in courses at Agora, School of Experimentation; participation in an international conference on experimental exhibitions; priority in official accommodation in Barcelona; promotion of their projects through the festival's channels, with a community of more than 60,000 followers; visibility among festival organisers and curators of influential festivals on the international scene.

Practical Info

The open call welcomes photographers, visual artists, and collectives of all backgrounds, ages, and nationalities. There is no thematic restriction, the emphasis lies on experimentation and innovation. Projects can be finished or ongoing, published or unpublished.

The curatorial team will look for works that combine techniques or media, explore new ways to convey meaning through photography or develop collective or participatory approaches.

Selected artists are expected to be present in Barcelona to install and open their exhibitions.
Those unable to attend must ensure their works arrive by June 2026 with detailed installation instructions. The festival team will provide logistical and technical support, but the artist remains responsible for the installation and dismantling of their exhibition.

About Barcelona Experimental Photo Festival

The Experimental Photo Festival 2026 in Barcelona is one of the most important events on the global avant-garde photography scene for photographic and visual creators from all over the world and their most creative, alternative, and experimental projects. More than a festival, it is a vibrant international platform where the limits of photography are explored, between analogue, digital, and the totally disruptive. The event is organized by the Asociación Experimental Photo Festival in collaboration with the Centre Cívic Pati Llimona, the Institut d’Estudis Fotogràfics de Catalunya, and the Experimental Hub Barcelona.