Featured Opportunities

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10-month creative programme for young people aged 16-21 interested in creativity, culture, events and creative industries. 50 places available running March-December 2026. Participants work hands-on with the Gallery across various projects including planning and co-hosting a Youth Late event in November 2026 for up to 1,000 young people.

Programme includes planning pop-up events, Creative Futures career advice day, workshops with artists and creative professionals, and specialist roles in event production (marketing, social media, press, workshops, music, design). Each participant receives £600 bursary to cover time, travel, food and expenses, plus complimentary exhibition tickets, free snacks/drinks at sessions, and LAB programme pack with art materials and Gallery merch. Requires attendance at 12 sessions between March-December 2026 including Saturdays and some evenings.

50% of places reserved for young people who identify as disabled, neurodiverse, working-class, care-experienced, young carers, and/or part of global majority. No prior art or gallery knowledge needed. Shortlisted applicants invited to informal group interview day on 27th February 2026. After completion, participants graduate to NPG LOOP creative community network.

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Videoclub is curating three new Queer Night Watch outdoor film trails in February and March 2026, with film and video works projected onto buildings around Shoreham, UK. Selected work will also be shown as part of an exhibition and cinema screening in Worthing later in 2026.

Open to LGBTQIA+ artists and filmmakers from the UK and internationally. Films do not have to have LGBTQIA+ content – this is a platform to promote LGBTQIA+ artists and filmmakers with varied perspectives. Films may explore trans awareness, disability and neurodiversity, politics, humour, fantasy, reality, fiction, or any other subjects. Submissions can be artists’ film, video, moving image, experimental film, short film, documentary, Machinima, animation, or digital works. Films must be 2-5 minutes in length, engaging for passing viewers (visually stimulating, humorous, narrative, spectacular, fun, surprising, accessible), appropriate for public/outdoor exhibition (suitable for children and adults), in digital format with high enough resolution for scale (1080p/HD). Non-English language films must have English subtitles.

One work per submission form, unlimited submissions allowed. Selected filmmakers receive £150 inclusive screening fee paid via direct bank payment following receipt of invoice. Artists notified 10th February 2026.

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Open-access national fund awarding six annual grants of £4,000-£6,000 each to support UK-wide theatres and producers commissioning ambitious new plays. Grants are based on joint proposals between a producing venue or company (the Producing Partner) and a playwright for a new play intended for future production. The scheme aims to support ambitious, risky, adventurous and challenging new plays that will thrill and surprise audiences, push forward conversations in society and the artform, and represent a cost or risk that otherwise wouldn’t be possible at commissioning stage.

Open to applications from major national stages to independent venues and smaller companies, from community-based practice to commercial propositions. Grants paid directly to Producing Partner with letter of agreement required by 31st March 2026. Successful commissions and all rights belong entirely to the Producing Partner and Playwright.

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This is the first Open exhibition partnership between Hastings Contemporary and Sussex Contemporary. Theme: Odyssey – artists invited to respond to journeys shaped by tides, time, and transformation, reflecting on the sea and coastal stories. Aligns with Hastings Contemporary’s engagement with marine ecology, climate change, and coastal life. May explore maritime myths, contemporary migration, eroding land, personal voyages, legends, or rising seas.

Open to any artist connected to Sussex through residence, birthplace, education, or work – all disciplines and backgrounds. Preview evening takes place on 27th March 2026. Artwork drop-off happens on 19th March, with collection on 4th June 2026. Prizes: (1) Hastings Contemporary Prize – Sussex Spotlight hang selected by Kathleen Soriano, (2) Sussex Contemporary Prize – 2 fully funded spots in February 2027 democratic exhibition, access to Business of Art programme, 3 mentoring sessions with Jo Myles, plus more prizes TBA.

After purchase of entry, receive link to closed artists’ page with exhibition info, videos, blogs on improving submissions. Artists notified w/c 16 February 2026.

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Annual international contest recognizing the best photojournalism and documentary photography. Free to enter, open to all professional photographers working in photojournalism and/or documentary photography worldwide.

Three format categories: Singles (single frame photos shot in 2025), Stories (4-10 photos shot in 2024-2025), and Long-Term Projects (minimum 6 photos from 2025, spanning at least 3 different years). Work judged across six worldwide regions: Africa; Asia Pacific and Oceania; Europe; North and Central America; South America; and West, Central, and South Asia.

Winners receive prizes up to €11,000, inclusion in annual traveling exhibition visiting 60+ cities worldwide, publication in yearbook, inclusion in public archive, and international recognition. Winners selected by independent regional and global juries. All singles shot in 2025 eligible for World Press Photo of the Year.

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An international experimental video prize open to anyone worldwide (no age restrictions or formal degrees required) including visual artists, dancers, performance artists, filmmakers, animators, writers, actors, musicians, and collectives.

Applicants submit a video proposal (up to 3 minutes) presenting new, original work between 1-15 minutes in experimental Fluxus spirit. €45,000 total distributed: 100 shortlisted artists receive €100 each and are uploaded to FluxusMuseumTV for public judging. 10 finalists receive €1,000 to develop their work, then another €1,000 upon submission of finished work. Finalists exhibit at FluxusMuseum gallery in Paros, Greece (June-October 2026). €15,000 distributed among winner and runners-up at exhibition end.

Single-channel films only, displayed on monitors/projectors with headphone audio. Artists retain ownership.

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Remote residency commissioning three international artists (NOT UK-based) to create new online works critically engaging with intercultural ideas around AI, ethics, governance and regulation. For mid-career artists over 18 with 6+ years’ experience producing and presenting work, from any discipline. Particularly interested in non-Western perspectives.

Each artist receives £7,500 artist fee plus £7,500 production budget. 3-month R&D period (April-June 2026) includes monthly meetings with Somerset House Studios’ producers, advisory sessions with UNESCO, dedicated mentor from Studios community and UNESCO Expert Network, regular cohort meetings, facilitated introductions to Studios artists/alumni. Artists attend UNESCO’s Global Forum on Ethics of AI in June 2026 (location TBC, travel and accommodation covered) to share research/works in progress with international policymakers from 80+ countries. Final works presented on Somerset House’s Channel platform December 2026, with potential London event. A

rtists must engage with UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of AI human-rights-centred principles. Must NOT use generative AI tools in artwork creation. Applications accepted in written, audio or video format. Selection panel includes Marie McPartlin, Dr James Wright, Dr Jahnavi Phalkey, Nouf Aljowaysir.