MUFOCO Scenari Alpini Open Call

Five Italy-based artists will each receive €10,000, including the artist fee, all expenses related to the development of the research, production costs, and the delivery of the work.

Overview

MUFOCO invites artists to explore the various ways of living in the mountains, balancing tradition and innovation, with particular focus on habitation, work, and leisure in a changing social and territorial context. The upcoming Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics offers an additional opportunity for reflection, especially concerning the role of sport and its impact on the region. The main area of interest is the Alpine and Pre-Alpine territories of Lombardy, with the possibility of conceptually coherent extensions beyond.

Pratical Info

The call is open to Italy-based photographers and visual artists working on the theme Alpine Scenarios. Landscapes and communities of Lombardy between traditions and the future. The research must be completely unpublished and must be developed on the occasion of this call for projects. Multidisciplinary projects are allowed, in which expressive forms of various natures can interact with or complement the visual part. Participation is possible both individually and in a collective form.

Applicants are asked to present the research project that they intend to develop and carry out during the commissioning, specifying its theoretical and methodological framework and foreshadowing as much as possible the time frame and the final result. The research project should specify the title and concept of the project, the place(s) where the research will be carried out, and any other subjects-individuals, groups, organizations, archives-that the candidate intends to involve in various ways in the research. Among the requested details are also the final result that will be delivered to the client, in terms of number, characteristics, and type of works, illustrating if useful for understanding also the prefigured installation methods, and the methods and timeframe for the production of the work. At the candidate's discretion, reference images of previous works or references to other authors may be attached, as well as diagrams, renderings, sketches, maps, and any other graphic material useful for the previsualization of the creative process and the final result. Submissions must include a copy of a valid identity document, a CV and portfolio, the research project to be carried out within the commission and expected outcomes, and consent to data processing completed and signed.

Five projects will be selected to be developed and produced for an exhibition and for acquisition into the Museum’s collection. The initiative is part of the Cultural Olympiad of Milano Cortina 2026.

Each of the five selected artists (or collectives) will receive a total compensation of €10,000. This amount includes the artist fee, all expenses related to the research process (including travel and accommodation), as well as the production and delivery of the works to the Museum of Contemporary Photography. The research projects will have to be completed by December 18, 2025 with the production and delivery of finished works that will enter the MUFOCO collections (agreed with the commissioning body for number, format, support and mounting). A final exhibition will present the commissioning outcome works to the public and will open at the Museum of Contemporary Photography on January 31, 2026.

The jury is composed of Davide Rondoni, Matteo Balduzzi, Benedetta Cestelli Guidi, Renato Ferlinghetti, and Walter Niedermayr.

About MUFOCO

MUFOCO – Museum of Contemporary Photography is the only public museum in Italy dedicated to photography. It is an institution actively engaged in the preservation, cataloguing, research, and dissemination of photographic art, with a particular focus on current technological developments and the relationship between photography and other artistic disciplines.