Open call 2026-2028
Exhibitions, residencies and special projects / artists based in Québec and Canada
Deadline: February 1, 2026
At VU, we don’t consider photography to only be an end in and of itself, but also a way to activate research, thinking, and ideals. With the goal of asserting the role of the artist-run centre as a space for art-making, we wish to host and facilitate projects and practices from artists actively engaged in reflecting on ways of making, doing and thinking with photography during this upcoming programming year.
In addition to your project proposals, we also want to better get to know your practice and what you’re working on these days, in hopes of staying on top of current photographic practices. Through this open call, we will put together our programme of exhibitions, residencies and events, while retaining other proposals for projects in development.
With the intent of creating encounter and time to ask questions, and to take care of ourselves and others, we wish to privilege a position of active listening and openness towards our community. We thus encourage artists of all backgrounds, origins, gender orientations, and stages in their career to introduce themselves or to propose a project.
Have you felt the need to develop a research project, to take a training course, to share your practice with other artists, to be mentored in a project, or to work with a specific community? In order to imagine our upcoming programming year together, with all of you, we invite all artists interested in photography to share their ideas, projects and practices.
Your submission should include:
– A presentation of your practice and/or project specifying the type of support you would like to receive (500 words max)
– An up-to-date CV
– Images and/or your website
Please send your submission as a compressed file (.zip)
Please note that it is also possible to present your project orally.
It is recommended to provide the recording in either AVI or MPEG format, and to limit your presentation to a total of 5 minutes.
You can send your files via the online form
Details:
– All conditions and details of the different types of support are available on our website ;
– For example, the artistic committee has decided to plan five solo and group exhibitions, an exhibition residency, a research-creation residency, and an annual residency last year ;
– For reasons of equity, all applications received after February 1 will be automatically rejected ;
– Due to the high volume of submissions, only selected artists will be contacted by the artistic committee before May 15, 2025.
– Please note that our production spaces are always available to VU members, and no submission process is required. To contact VU’s production spaces, please call 418 640-2558, or click here ;
– You don’t have to be a VU member to send a submission.
For any other questions concerning the submission process, please contact us at appels@vuphoto.org
The artistic committee will determine the following types of support:
Exhibition
o CARFAC exhibition fee ($3,450 for solo)
o installation accompaniment estimated between 15 and 21 hours
o installation fees of 557$ per day for a maximum of 3 days
o 25% discount on prints
o accommodation for exhibition set-up
o travel fee
o return transport of works
o professional photographic documentation of the exhibition
o 100$ reproduction rights
o 1 year membership
Research and creation residency
o two-week residency
o $1,500 artistic fee
o $500 printing credit
o free access to the center’s specialized equipment
o 20 hours of coaching
o accommodation for 2 weeks
o travel fee
o 75$ reproduction rights
o 1 year membership
Residency-exhibition
o two-week residency
o $1,500 residency fee
o $3,450 exhibition fee
o $1000 printing credit
o free access to the center’s specialized equipment
o installation accompaniment estimated between 15 and 21 hours
o installation fees of 557$ per day for a maximum of 3 days
o lodging for 2 weeks + exhibition set-up
o travel fee
o 100$ reproduction rights
o 1 year membership
Special projects
o support to be determined on the basis of the proposal
For any other questions concerning the submission process, please contact us at appels@vuphoto.org