OPEN CALL: NOORDERLICHT BIENNALE PLAY! 2027
Play makes room for possibility.
Image: Pelle Cass, Choi Hung Estate, Day Two, 2023. Uit de serie Crowded Fields.
It gives us space to experiment and look at the world differently. Play can bring joy, cause friction or challenge the way we see things. And sometimes, it gets political.
Digital platforms have turned play into a business model of scrolling, scoring and chance. PLAY! shifts the focus back to what play can open up.
For Biennale PLAY! 2027, Noorderlicht invites photographers and lens-based artists to show us what play can do.
Opening in September 2027 across Groningen, Friesland and Drenthe, PLAY! brings together around 75 artists working across photography, video, installation, AI and generative work, interactive and game-based work, publications and hybrid forms.
Artists can submit existing work, adapt something they’ve already made or propose something new. Selected artists receive an artist fee, while Noorderlicht takes care of production, including printing and framing, insurance and transport.
The deadline for submissions is 15 December 2026 at 23:59 CET. The submission fee is €5 per project.
Curated by Marijn Bril & Grażyna Siedlecka.
Apply here.
