Territory: Worldwide
Theme: Open
Eligibility: Open to all
Entry Fees: €20
Prize: Exhibition
The Experimental Photo Festival 2026 in Barcelona, one of the most important events on the global avant-garde photography scene, invites photographic and visual creators from all over the world to submit their most creative, alternative, and experimental projects.
More than a festival, it is a vibrant international platform where the limits of photography are explored, between analogue, digital, and the totally disruptive.
During its last edition, the festival brought together more than 300 artists, featured over 20 free exhibitions, 68 workshops and 18 conferences, and attracted thousands of participants both in person and online.
It is a meeting place for learning and creation, where experimentation takes place, and collective projects are built.
We invite you to be part of this unique experience.
We are looking for proposals that combine techniques, strengthen messages, and encourage collective work.
Both established professionals and emerging creators can submit their work, provided they seek to expand the boundaries of photographic language.
The 20 selected creators will have the opportunity to present their exhibitions in some of Barcelona's most iconic venues throughout the month of July.
Some will be displayed indoors, others outdoors on large-format canvases, and a few will be specially adapted to unique spaces.
First, they will open for the International Meeting of Photography Festivals, with representatives from more than 50 festivals worldwide.
Then, they will reopen for the Experimental Photo Festival 2026, for the city's community and international audiences.
This strategy ensures privileged international exposure before curators and festival directors from all over the world, as well as the citizens of the city.
Solo Exhibitions in Barcelona
The Experimental Photo Festival 2026, to be held in Barcelona from 2 to 26 July 2026, launches its international open call aimed at photographic and visual creators of all backgrounds, nationalities, and ages.
The invitation is open to those who work with creative, experimental, alternative, historical, and hybrid photography, and who wish to take their work to a new level by exploring innovation in concepts, techniques, or forms of exhibition.
From this open call, creators will be selected to participate in twenty solo exhibitions, which will be presented in three emblematic venues of the city:
• Centre Cívic Pati Llimona
• Institut d'Estudis Fotogràfics de Catalunya (IEFC)
• Experimental Hub Barcelona
The allocation of spaces will be determined by the curatorial team of the festival, which will also support the participants in the working and installation process.
In addition, the festival invites them to participate actively in its workshops, both proposing and attending them.
Knowledge exchange and community building are essential pillars of the Experimental Photo Festival.
What winners receive
The selected artists will receive €800 in cash and in kind, as detailed below:
• Financial support of up to €250 for the production, transport, or installation of the work.
• A free ticket to the festival or a full pass if they deliver a workshop (estimated value €200).
• Official merchandising (estimated value €40) and lunch during the event (estimated value €50).
• €150 in courses at Agora, School of Experimentation.
• Participation in an international conference on experimental exhibitions.
• Priority in official accommodation in Barcelona.
• Promotion of their projects through the festival's channels, with a community of more than 60,000 followers.
• Visibility among festival organisers and curators of influential festivals on the international scene.
