The International Photography and Media Art Festival (IPMA) invites artists, creators, and researchers to submit applications for participation in the 2026 festival program, scheduled for October 1–31 in Kaunas.

This year's theme:

CONNECTION

Sometimes it seems that CONNECTION is a simple thing.

A person beside you. A glance. A conversation. A memory that suddenly returns so vividly, as if it had happened yesterday. A place where, upon entering, the body itself recognises where it is. A voice on the phone. A hand on the shoulder. An image that, for a moment, brings you back to a past instant.

Sometimes connection is felt through habits we do not even notice. Through inherited fears. Through language, with which we try to express what does not always yield to words. Through natural processes of which we are always a part, even when we choose to pretend that we are merely observers from the outside. Through technologies that bring us closer while, at the same time, taking away some essential element. Through such an all-encompassing closeness of another person that you no longer know where your own being ends and theirs begins.

This year, the IPMA Festival invites us to look closely at precisely these connections: the ones that emerge, endure, break apart, change direction, appear with great clarity, or sometimes remain barely perceptible.

As every year, in 2026 the IPMA exhibition brings together, in one space, works by artists from Lithuania and other countries around the world. Some speak of human closeness. Others address the vulnerability of the body, the entanglement of nature and culture, memory, cultural codes, and the dependencies created by technologies. At first glance, each work seems to be looking in a different direction. Towards a different experience. Towards a different point of sensitivity. What is especially interesting is each artist’s attempt to interpret connection, to understand it, to grasp it, to reveal it. And yet it is no less important to try to understand not only each work separately, but also the connection that arises between them: between images that unexpectedly echo one another; between themes that begin to complement or contradict each other; between tensions, resonances, and coincidences.

At the IPMA Festival, Connections becomes an open question: how do you experience and understand connections when you are in between? When you are connected. To a person. To an image. To a body. To a place. To what is alive, and to what we still call inanimate.

We invite submissions of projects that raise questions, challenge established norms, and ignite discussion.

Application period:
June 10 – July 21, 2026

Required Documents

• Completed application form
• Project description (PDF or Word)
• CV or artistic biography
• Portfolio of work (up to 10 files per project)

Benefits for selected artists

• Exhibition preparation and presentation at IPMA Festival 2026
• Project inclusion in the festival catalog and communication materials

Evaluation criteria

Projects will be evaluated by an international jury comprising IPMA festival curators and art experts. Considerations include:
• Creativity and originality
• Clarity and relevance to the theme
• Professional and technical execution

Participation fee – IPMA Festival support

Project submissions for the IPMA Open Call selection are free of charge. Those who wish to support the festival are invited to make a voluntary contribution. Your support helps to grow the IPMA programme, its educational activities, and its international platform for artists.

Technical requirements

Each application may include 1 project with up to 10 files per project. Each submission must include a description demonstrating how the work relates to the festival theme.

Photography requirements:
• Minimum 3000 pixels on the longest side
• Minimum resolution of 300 dpi

Video requirements:
• Accepted file types: MP4 or MOV
• Resolution: 1920×1080 or 4K

Audio requirements:
• Accepted file type: MP3

Files can be shared SwissTransfer, TransferNow, Google Drive, etc. Include the link in your application form.

Questions?
info@ipmafestival.lt
Follow updates: www.ipmafestival.lt

Project submissions for the IPMA Open Call selection are free of charge.
Those who wish to support the festival may make a voluntary contribution starting from €5.
Contributions are not connected to the selection process and do not influence the evaluation of applications.

Support IPMA