Experimentica 2026 open call
- Published:
For the 25th edition of Experimentica – Wales’ only festival of live art – we’re commissioning up to four new and ambitious works from artists based and from Wales.
We want to work with artists across a year starting in November 2025 to realise a finished work that also has the potential to tour Wales and beyond.
The selected artists will receive:
- £3000 artist fee
- 4 peer learning sessions developed in dialogue with Chapter’s team and cohort
- 3 weeks R&D time at Chapter with technical support
- £1000 production budget to spend on materials, technical support or equipment outside of Chapter’s resources
- Travel and accommodation during the festival
- £500 access budget
- Advice and guidance to tour the work with partner venue(s)
- Artists must be based in or from Wales.
- Artists must have at least five years’ experience making live work for the public/in professional settings, evidenced by 3 examples.
- This opportunity is not for students, recent graduates or emerging artists.
- Artists must be able to commit to 4 peer learning sessions between November 2025 and August 2026, and 3 weeks of production at Chapter over the course of the year.
- Proposals must be for new work that is experimental in form and/or content/concept, and can include movement, sound, participation and writing in the broadest sense.
- Proposed work must be ambitious in terms of duration, scale and scope.
- The proposed work must not be site-specific, and should be suitable for touring.
- Artists must be able to demonstrate feasibility within the timeframe (November 2025 - October 2026) and budget (£1000 production).
- This opportunity is open to individual artists or collectives. The fees and production budget are fixed as above.
Stage 1 - Application
We invite artists to submit a short proposal by midnight on 5 October.
We’ll then shortlist up to 8 artists for interview in late October. The interview panel will include Chapter staff and external industry professionals.
Previous open calls for Experimentica have received a large number of applications therefore we’re unable to provide feedback to those who are not shortlisted.
Stage 2 - Interview
The interview will be no more than 30 minutes, where you’ll share your idea in more detail. Interview questions will be provided in advance.
Each of those invited to interview will be given a fee of £100.
- 8 September 2025: Open call announcement
- Midnight on 5 October 2025: Open call closes
- By 15 October 2025: Shortlisted artists are informed
- Early November 2025: Interviews
- w/c 10 November 2025: Awarded artists announcement
- 22-25 October 2026: Experimentica
- Tell us about your practice (200 words)
- Share your project summary, describing form, duration, concept and setting/location (500 words)
- Share 3 links to images/footage of previous work
- Share your CV (2 pages max)
If you experience barriers to completing this application, or have access questions relating to the interview or commissioning process, please get in touch at [email protected] or call +44 (0) 29 2031 1069 and we will be happy to discuss with you.
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Header image: SERAFINE1369 - The Ways, The Fortune, The Fall, photo by Kirsten McTernan
