Most of the open calls we post are tied to a specific medium or residency. YICCA 26/27, the International Contest of Contemporary Art organized by the Italian nonprofit Association Moho, is one of the few general-purpose prizes that explicitly welcomes the formats digital and new-media artists work in: video, installation and performance, alongside painting, sculpture, photography, graphics and mixed media.
The essentials
- Deadline: October 8, 2026
- Entry fee: €50
- Eligibility: Artists and groups worldwide, no nationality restriction, any contemporary medium
- How to apply: Online, through the registration form at yicca.org
- Notification: results by October 26, 2026
What’s on offer
- First prize: €3,000
- Second prize: €1,000
- Third prize: €500
- Special student prize: €1,000
A jury picks 18 finalists to exhibit at Imagoars Art Space in Venice (Cannaregio 883), November 14–28, 2026. Finalists also appear in the printed YICCA catalogue, which goes free to finalists, invited curators, gallerists and collectors.
Should you apply?
Applying is remote, but exhibiting isn’t. If you’re selected, getting your work to Venice (shipping, installation, or travel for performance) is generally your cost. Weigh that before paying the fee, especially for installation or performance work.
The fee deserves a real look. Fee-charging contests are common in Europe, but they’re a different deal from the free grants and funded residencies we usually list. At €50 per entry, the case for applying is the Venice show and the catalogue’s reach to curators, not the odds on the €3,000 prize. For a video or screen-based artist, whose work is cheap to ship and install, that math works out better than for a sculptor.
For video and new-media work: make the submission easy to evaluate. Include a short excerpt link rather than only a full-length piece, stills, and a clear statement of how the work is installed and what equipment it needs.
The deadline is 23 days away. It’s also listed in our events calendar.