OPEN CALL "States of Place. States of Being"

Contempl’Art invites submissions for the Part I of 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙋𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚. 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝘽𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜., a group exhibition exploring the visible and invisible traces of the ’90s Yugoslav Wars in territories, bodies, and memory.

About the Project

Contempl’Art is a French non-profit cultural association dedicated since 2021 to promoting emerging and established artists from the Balkans. Through exhibitions, talks, and research-driven curatorial projects, Contempl’Art brings forward contemporary artistic perspectives from the region across alternative cultural spaces, independent venues, and galleries in Paris and other cities in France.

2026 Edition – Curatorial Statement

States of Place. States of Being.

War leaves invisible wounds that are passed down from generation to generation, carried forward from the past to the present and on one into the future.

This new group exhibition entitled States of Place. States of Being. has been conceived in two parts that dialogue between the visible and the invisible, between the traces left by the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s on the territories, and those inscribed within bodies and memories.

Part I: States of Place, is conceived as a contemporary archaeology. It observes the visible and invisible traces left by the wars on the territories of the former Yugoslavia, in its urban and rural cities and landscapes. It explores how inhabitants today move within these spaces marked by history. Taking place in Marseille from 10th of January at Spazio.

Part II: States of Being, takes us into the unspeakable, into what persists within the human after devastation, beyond language. It evokes the invisible imprints of trauma, the ways in which they transform, are diverted, or settle into oneself, how everyday gestures become coping mechanisms. Taking place in Paris, dates and place to be confirmed.

This is not a memorial, nor a space for repair, States of Place. States of Being. is a threshold space where the questions of what remains, how we endure and in which states can we survive in order to simply emerge from the nightmare and recognize the trauma. The exhibition invites a relationship to the past that goes beyond commemoration: The aim of this curatorial research is not to re-write history, but to understand how artistic practice can be used to process and digest collective trauma and digest collective and intergenerational trauma. This exhibition examines trauma is still living in the everyday life of people from the Balkans 24 years after the ‘90s wars officially ended. How the consequences of traumatic war experiences are being approached by the second generation that lacks the first-hand experience of the war but are still dealing with its impact without a language to describe it.

In these times of crisis we have all become witnesses to ethnic cleansing and genocide, to environmental devastation, we all are helpless in the face of such madness and terror. This is the nightmare we must wake up from. How can we as a collective process these traumas and embrace our responsibility to the present and the future, not simply be victims of the past. How do we Embrace the Silence, Embrace the Past, and Embrace the Future.

Emilia Trifunovic

Selection

Selected works will be exhibited in Marseille (January 2026) and Paris (Spring/Summer 2026), with potential extensions in France or abroad.

A professional jury will review all submissions:

Jeanne Frank — Photographer

Jelena Martinovic — Researcher & Curator

Emilia Trifunovic — Curator, Founder of Contempl’Art

Eligibility

Open to photographers:

born in and/or currently living in territories of the former Yugoslavia OR

belonging to the diaspora with roots in these territories.

No age limit. All levels welcome. Participation is free.

Submission Requirements

Applications must be sent by email to assoexpo@hotmail.com with subject: Open Call 2026 — Name_Country.

Deadline: 07 December 2025 (23h59) Results announced: mid-December 2025

Required materials

Photographic series in high-resolution (.TIF format) Naming format: Country_Name_Surname_Title
Project statement (300–600 words, English)
Conceptual framework
Context
Relation to theme
Signed and dated Terms & Conditions form (this document)
(Optional) Resume and additional portfolio materials if willing to be featured on social media.

https://linktr.ee/contemplart

Production & Exhibition

Contempl’Art will cover printing and lamination costs for selected works.

Photographs will be printed by Initial LABO (Paris).

Print format will be determined by Contempl’Art according to exhibition design.

Transportation and installation logistics will be managed by Contempl’Art.

If works are made available for sale, terms will be discussed with the artist after the exhibition.

Rights & Permissions

By signing this document, the participant grants Contempl’Art the right to:

exhibit the submitted work during the program

use selected images for exhibition promotion and documentation (digital and print) including: press releases, social media, website, visual identities, catalogues, and future open calls

The artist retains full copyright and authorship of the work.

Participants may be invited to take part in:

recorded interviews

public programs / panel discussions

press or communication activities