Open Call for Artists, Writers, and Researchers
bal’26
Edge Aesthetics: Hybridity, Liminality, and Cultural Negotiation
bal‘26 invites artists, researchers, and thinkers to explore the dynamic intersections of the Baltic States and the Balkans (the former Yugoslavia) through transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches. We are seeking projects by artists, researchers, and thinkers affiliated with these regions in any way that reflect on pasts, presents, and futures, and that shed light on the unique positions amid contemporary social, political, and cultural turmoil.
Vienna serves as a symbolic meeting place between these geographically and culturally distant regions—a third space where cultures meet, exchange ideas, and negotiate meanings. bal’26 is a multi-format project that includes an exhibition, a conference and a publication. These formats aim to create a vibrant program that captures the spirit of hybridity, liminality, and cultural negotiation.
Deadline: April, 1, 2026
Target group:
Students of all levels, postdoctoral researchers, researchers from all disciplines, artists of all disciplines, writers
Regions:
Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania),
Balkans (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia)*
Focus/keywords:
Gender, feminism, queer, postsocialism, nationalism, periphery, East–West, European, Other, hybridity, liminality, cultural negotiation, collective memory, etc.
Contribution formats**:
Artwork (installation, video, print, text, performance, etc.)
Presentation, reading, performative reading, etc.
Essay, poem, fiction, nonfiction, critique, interview, visual essay, etc.
Presentation formats:
Group exhibition at Improper Walls gallery space
Conference (individual presentations and panel discussions; venue TBA)
Printed publication
Remuneration***:
Group exhibition: €650 per artwork
Conference: €300 per speaker
Publication: €200 per submission
Submission requirements:
Short bio (link or PDF)
Artwork or project information (link or PDF)
Submit via link: LINK
* We invite individuals who are affiliated with the regions in any way.
** We invite submissions of already existing works, written texts, or research projects you are currently working on.
We do not ask for additional work—simply let us know what you are working on at the moment.
*** The fees are determined in accordance with the Fair Pay Guidelines in Austria.
Curators:
Ajda Ana Kocutar, Lara Mejač, Justina Špeirokaitė, Merete Väin, Miloš Vučićević
Questions:
justina@improperwalls.com
Project by
Improper Walls & LT.art Vienna
Project partners:
ETC., Lithuanian Community in Austria
Supported by
MA7, BMWKMS, 15. District, Lithuanian Council for Culture