Foto Wien 2025 Open Call

The open call is for museums, exhibition centers, galleries, cultural institutions, academies and colleges, libraries, archives, artist studios, off spaces, and project initiatives in the area of photography.

Overview

Foto Wien is not only Austria's largest biennial photography festival but also a unique event that transforms the entire city of Vienna into a pulsating platform for photographic images. Over one hundred program partners from the most diverse areas – including renowned museums, exhibition centers, galleries, cultural institutions, colleges and academies, libraries, archives, artist studios, off spaces, and innovative project initiatives – come together every two years to celebrate all facets of photography.

At the heart of this festival is the vision of interconnecting Austrian and international artists, media professionals, and people from the cultural sector and promoting lively cultural exchange. It simultaneously gives a broad audience the unusual opportunity to actively participate in the art and cultural scenes – whether it be through intriguing exhibitions, interactive events, or exciting educational offerings. For the second time, Foto Wien is being organized by Foto Arsenal Wien, a leading exhibition center for photography and lens-based media.

Vienna-based photographers and photography professionals are cordially invited to apply to participate with a photography exhibition (including special events) or an event.

Practical Info

The main theme of Foto Wien 2025 is Dynamic Futures, an exploration of speculative future scenarios that address the impact of scientific and technological progress on society as seen through the lens of photography. What visions of the future are revealed in historical and contemporary images of science and art? How do photography and post-digital technologies influence the way we imagine our future? What ethical and sociopolitical questions do digital and algorithmic images pose?

As a transdisciplinary testing ground between art, science, and technology, Foto Wien 2025 examines photography as a window to the future and offers a rich program of panels, artist talks, and workshops from October 3 to November 2, 2025.

Exhibition projects and special events (performances, book presentations, talks, special guided tours, and tours in storage facilities) that address the broad spectrum of photographic images can be submitted. The source material does not necessarily have to be artistic; it can also come from the area of scientific photography or from historical archives. The primary requirement is that participants must have their own exhibition venue or event location in Vienna that is already fixed at the time of application. Winners are granted permission to participate in the exhibition and event program of Foto Wien 2025. The images must be formatted as JPEGs with a resolution of 300 dpi and minimum dimensions of 21 by 30 centimeters. Applicants must provide full captions and copyright information for all images.

The jury is composed of Lilli Hollein (General and Artistic Director, MAK), Ruth Horak (Curator and Writer), Antje Mayer-Salvi (Head Curator and Founder C/O VIENNA Magazine), Lisa Ortner-Kreil (Curator, Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien), Elfie Semotan (Photographer), and Felix Hoffmann (Artistic Director, FOTO ARSENAL WIEN).

About Foto Arsenal Wien

Foto Arsenal Wien is Austria’s new exhibition space for international photography and lens-based media. Since 2023 it has been responsible for the Foto Wien festival, and starting in 2025 it will be responsible for the Festival Vienna Digital Cultures with the Kunsthalle Wien.

Initiated as a media literacy center by the city of Vienna in fall 2022, Foto Arsenal Wien explores all facets of photography. As a hub for photography and lens-based media in Austria, the institution brings together historical and international topics at the interface between analog and digital worlds as well as between static and moving pictures. The institution was located at a temporary venue at the Museums Quartier in the seventh district of Vienna from June 2023 to June 2024. Since early 2025 Foto Arsenal Wien has occupied a building on the grounds of the Arsenal in the third district of Vienna.