Centrale Festival Open Call 2026

Sixteen artists under 30 working with photography and video art will join the next edition of Centrale Festival in Fano, in June 2026.

Overview

Fano Centrale Festival 17 invites young artists working with photography and video art to apply for the sixteenth edition of the festival dedicated to contemporary image that will take place in Fano, in the heart of the central-Italian region of Marche, from 12 to 27 June 2026. The works will be selected by a committee flanked by Luca Panaro, and by Marcello Sparaventi, president of Associazione Culturale Centrale Fotografia.​

Practical Info

Artists under 30 of all nationalities born after the 1st of January 1996 can submit their projects. The subject of the call is open. Photography or video art projects that make an original and attentive contribution to contemporary artistic research will be selected. Special regard will be reserved to works providing non-traditional display solutions that can interact in an original manner with the space. Artists are therefore encouraged to send, if available, images documenting previous installations the works or potential installation solutions.​

Applicants must submit a project description, images (enough to understand the project; including images of previous installations or potential set-up projects, if present) a link in case of video work (with the complete video or with an exemplary extract of the work), plus a biography of the artist, the participation form filled in all its parts and a copy of the identity card.

The Fano Centrale Festival 16 will contact the selected artists and get them in touch with the curators. It will also take care of the technical and organizational aspects for the exhibition set up. The production cost and shipping of the final works will be the responsibility of the artists. The exhibition will be set up on the day fixed by the organizers; in case of special requests, prior arrangements are recommended.

The selection committee is composed of Claudia Bigongiari (Managing Editor, Pellicola Magazine), Lori Lako (Visual Artist), and Sara Poli (Forno Project Director).

About Centrale Festival

Born in 2009 with the aim of promoting photography and contemporary art, Fano Centrale Festival has come to its sixteenth edition this year. During its early years, the festival welcomed several Italian artists well established within the art scene and showed them to the public thanks to a tight program of debates, conferences and guided tours. The venues of the exhibitions have strongly characterized the festival, concerning some particular landmarks of Fano such as Rocca Malatestiana, an ancient late-Roman fortress that became one of the symbolic places of the festival.

From 2019, Centrale festival is aimed at generations of younger artists generations, selected through an international call, highlighting this way the will to broaden its interests and support emerging research connected with contemporaneity.