Namibia – A Photographic View Open Call

The open call addresses artistic works in the medium of photography whose content focuses on historical or contemporary political and/or social issues and tendencies related to Namibia.

Overview

The project is a co-operation on the occasion of the cultural relations between the cities of Mannheim (Germany) and Windhoek (Namibia) and stands under the official patronage of the mayors of both cities. The juried winner of the open call will present their work in a solo exhibition at Gallery ZEPHYR –Raum für Fotografie, the gallery for contemporary photography at the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen in Mannheim. It is intended to include further exhibition venues in Germany and Namibia.

Practical Info

Applicants must submit the completed application form, the transfer of rights/exemption, a copy of their passport, and a project outline referring to the topic of the open call (historical or current political and/or social issue related to Namibia). The project outline must include a list of works/photographs (minimum c. 100-120 art works/photographs; the submitted artistic works can be from different series, documentaries, reports, etc.), a project description, information on materiality of the respective works, dating of the respective works, and information on previous display of the respective works.

The selected work will be on view in a solo exhibition at Gallery ZEPHYR – Raum für Fotografie from September 2025 to February 2026 in Mannheim, Germany. The artistic direction curates the exhibition in cooperation with the juried artist and covers all costs incurred in the course of realizing the exhibition. In order to reduce CO₂ emissions and to realize the exhibition as climate-neutral as possible, production of all prints shown in the exhibition preferably takes place on site in Germany. Packaging and transport costs can be covered if required by prior arrangement.

The gallery also covers the travel expenses (travel and accommodation) for the juried artist and, if necessary, one accompanying person for one visit during the preparation of the exhibition as well as for the stay during the opening ceremony upon prior arrangement. Plus, the selected artist receives an uncommitted prize money of €1,000. In addition, the publication of an edition is generally intended and depends on possibility and individual agreement. In case of a publication, the artist receives a percentage of the sales proceeds to be determined. 

A binational jury with seven members from Namibia and Germany executes the selection process. The jury is currently being finalized, the names of the jury members will be announced at a later date. We would like to inform you that the jury cannot and will not provide any information about the decisionmaking process at any time.

About ZEPHYR

ZEPHYR is supported by the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, the City of Mannheim’s Cultural Agency and the Bassermann-Kulturstiftung Mannheim. This enables it to organize a program that is not only driven by art market mercantilism but also highlights neglected and exciting trends in the medium of photography. ZEPHYR has been implementing its varied program of international contemporary art in numerous individual, group and comprehensive thematic shows since 2005.