Open Call - "Aftermaths" Hybrid Collective Art Exhibition

Kulturnest is pleased to launch its open call for AFTERMATHS, a hybrid exhibition that examines what emerges after collapse - whether through war, conflict, climate crisis, displacement, intimacy, or shifts in identity. This international exhibition will take place from September 27 to November 27, 2025, both at Kulturnest in Lebanon and online in the Metaverse.

Organised by Kulturnest, with The London Arts-Based Research Centre (LABRC) as a key partner - a UK-based organisation at the forefront of creative research, fostering innovative projects, workshops, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Artists from Lebanon and around the world are invited to submit works that explore poetic, speculative, and deeply personal “aftermaths” - from acts of remembrance and reconstruction to imaginative visions of what comes next. All forms of media are welcome, including AI-generated works created in dialogue with human intention.

OPEN CALL DETAILS

THEME

We live in the aftermath of history, of systems, of disasters, of desires. But the aftermaths are not just conclusions; they are thresholds. They mark the shift between collapse and continuity, between what was and what could still be.

Aftermaths invites artists to explore the layered, speculative, and poetic terrains of what comes after. This includes the aftermath of conflict, climate, empire, intimacy, and imagination; moments where we gather the fragments and begin again.

Whether mourning, rebuilding, dreaming, or surviving, we welcome works that navigate these spaces with nuance and vision. 

Below are guiding threads, not constraints, but invitations. Artists are welcome to follow, remix, or depart from them entirely.

* Reconstructed Realities
What does it mean to rebuild, not just for function, but for feeling?
This thread explores how we piece together lives, communities, and inner landscapes after rupture. Artists might envision alternative systems, rebuilt cities, or inner worlds restored. Whether responding to physical destruction or emotional collapse, the emphasis is on reconstruction grounded in care, justice, and beauty.

* Ghosts of the Future
What refuses to disappear, even as we move forward?
Here, memory and the future overlap. Think of hauntings of culture, language, trauma, and hope. This is a space for inherited grief, mythic returns, and the echo of things not yet resolved. Works may invoke ancestral presences, historical repetition, or unquiet dreams shaping tomorrow.

* Post-Collapse Futures
When the world changes irreversibly, what endures?
After social, ecological, or emotional collapse, we look to what persists: joy, kinship, solidarity, etc. This thread welcomes speculative survival: how we live, love, and connect after the known world crumbles. Artists might imagine new rituals, informal economies, or tender alliances born of necessity.

* Intimate Tomorrows
The future begins in quiet moments.
This is a call to scale down toward the personal, the domestic, the everyday. How do we carry forward love, routine, and memory? Artists might explore imagined kitchens, future lullabies, or tactile acts of survival. The intimate can be as transformative as the epic.

* Technosoul
Where do machines end and memory begin?
As AI and technology blend with human desire and memory, this thread invites exploration of hybrid identities. From ancestral AI to cyborg storytelling, how do we code grief, archive intimacy, or program longing? Artists may blend digital and organic materials, or explore algorithmic imagination as the aftermath.

* Eco-Futures
Earth is not the backdrop, it is the protagonist.
What if we centred forests, oceans, fungi, or rivers as central agents in our futures? This thread invites works that explore spiritual ecology, plant intelligence, and symbiotic survival. After environmental damage, what new relationships can form between human and more-than-human life?

* Migrant Futures
Movement reshapes the map.
This is a space for exile, return, diaspora, and the speculative cartographies that emerge in between. How do we draw home from memory, loss, or reinvention? Artists might explore personal migration, inherited displacement, or collective navigation beyond borders.

* Decolonial Futures
Unlearning empire means reimagining time.
This thread calls for artistic gestures that undo inherited power structures and rewrite colonial timelines. Artists might draw from indigenous knowledge, future folklore, or ancestral timelines to imagine what lies beyond domination. What futures emerge when we refuse to inherit the master’s clock?

AFTERMATHS is not about answers. It’s about deep listening, about hearing what the ruins still whisper, and what the future dares to murmur back. Your aftermath - broken, blooming, or both - is welcome here.

WHO CAN APPLY

This call is open to all artists (visual artists, illustrators, photographers, video artists, installation artists, digital artists, architects, poets, musicians, interdisciplinary creators), at any stage of their journey, from any background. We welcome all forms of media, including AI-generated works created in dialogue with human intention.

WHY PARTICIPATE?

* Gain exposure in a hybrid physical-virtual exhibition model.
* Be part of a glocal (local/global) conversation on contemporary artistic expressions of aftermaths.
* International reach through our online platforms and virtual exhibition space.
* Opportunity to network with fellow artists, curators, and art enthusiasts.
* Your work could remain available for purchase on our eShop/Gallery beyond the exhibition dates, with the possibility of adding other works after the exhibition.

Kulturnest will make every effort to enhance the chances of sales; however, sales are not guaranteed given the current situation in Lebanon. The exhibition primarily focuses on visibility, connectivity, and fostering meaningful artistic exchanges.

PARTICIPATION CATEGORIES AND FEES

At Kulturnest, our hybrid exhibition offers two participation options tailored for different artist profiles:

Artists Residing in Lebanon:

Hybrid Display (Physical & Virtual): $100 participation fee. Your work will be showcased in our physical gallery space in Sin-el-Fil and the virtual exhibition. Please note: the art exhibition curator will make the final selection on which artworks will be displayed hybridally (physically and virtually) and which will be showcased exclusively in the virtual exhibition, based on the nature, dimensions, medium, and presentation requirements of each piece.

Virtual Display Only: $75 participation fee. Your work will be featured exclusively in the virtual exhibition.

International Artists:

Virtual Display Only: $75 participation fee. International artists are invited to exhibit their work exclusively in the virtual exhibition space.

Video & Multimedia Submissions (All Artists):

All video-based works, such as short films, music performances, poetry recitations, or digital multimedia pieces, will be featured exclusively in the virtual exhibition, regardless of the artist's location. The participation fee for video submissions is $75.

These tailored options ensure accessibility and flexibility while maintaining the integrity of our hybrid exhibition model. 

HOW TO APPLY
Please submit your application file to hello@kulturnest.com by August 1, 2025. Your email should be titled: "AFTERMATHS EXHIBITION APPLICATION."

Your application must include:

• Artist Full Name
• Social Media Links (URLs, not only usernames)
• WhatsApp Contact Number (including the country code)
• Artist Statement (max. 250 words) explaining how your work relates to the theme
• Artist Biography (max. 250 words) – CVs are not accepted
• Artist Portrait, preferably while creating or in one's atelier, black and white, square format, JPG or PNG, 1600 x 1600 px.
• Up to 5 High-Resolution Images (1600 x 1600 px, JPG or PNG, each image should not exceed 1MB) of relevant artwork with their detailed descriptions (title, art technique, medium/material, dimensions in cm, weight in grams, production year & narrative/context).
• For videos of music, poetry recitation, or short movies: MP4 via WeTransfer (each video should not exceed 8 MB). Ensure that your images and videos are labeled with the titles of your artworks for easy identification.
• Artwork Prices (i.e. your asking price; Kulturnest will add a 35% commission on sales + 11% VAT to be paid by the client).
• Indicate which display you are applying to: hybrid or virtual only.
• Optional - a short video (Instagram Reel format, max 1 minute) introducing the artist, sharing insights about the artist’s art, and briefly explaining how the artworks connect to the exhibition's theme. If the artist is selected, this video will be featured as part of the exhibition's marketing campaign. The videos are essential for building a personal connection with the audience, offering a glimpse into the artist's creative world, and enhancing the visibility and impact of both the artist and the exhibition.
  
  All application files must be complete and include all required information. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
  
  To help you write your biography and artwork descriptions (format and content), examples are found in our previous exhibition: EMBODIED REALITIES ONLINE CATALOGUE.

PAYMENT DEADLINE:
Upon receiving Kulturnest's acceptance email by August 5, 2025, non-refundable fees must be settled by August 10, 2025, along with agreement signing:

For Local Artists: Via cash payment in-person at Kulturnest, Tuesdays to Fridays, 11 AM to 5 PM.

For International Artists: Via OMT/Western Union (artists should pay the transfer fees).

Failure to complete the payment and sign the agreement by the specified deadline will result in the termination of the collaboration.

KEY DATES:

Submission Deadline: August 1, 2025
Selection Announcements by email: by August 5, 2025 [check your spam folder]
Payment & Agreement Deadline: by August 10, 2025
Selected Physical Artworks Delivery to Kulturnest: Wednesday, September 17 to Saturday, September 20, 2025, 2 to 6 PM
Exhibition Launch: Saturday, September 27, 2025, 6 to 9 PM
Physical exhibition on view: October 1 to November 27, Wednesdays to Saturdays, 2 to 6 PM - except for national holidays
Virtual exhibition on view: Starting September 27, 2025 - ongoing
Exhibition Ends: Thursday, November 27, 2025
Artworks Pick-up from Kulturnest: Friday, November 28 & Saturday, November 29, 2025, 2 to 6 PM

We look forward to receiving your submissions and embarking on this journey together!

For inquiries, reach out to Dr. Pamela Chrabieh at hello@kulturnest.com or +9613008245.