Galleria Kuvitus Open Call 2024

Please note that this Open Call is for 2024. Find the current Open Call here >

The gallery, run by the Finnish Illustration Association, specializes in the presentation of illustration. For the current call for applications, we hope that the exhibition proposal will include at least one commissioned work, publication or publication series. At its best, the exhibition serves as a showcase for the illustrator’s skills and can be an opportunity to find new clients. 

We would also like to see different fields of illustration represented in the applications. This could include an area of illustration that is not traditionally seen in art galleries (e.g., nature illustration, illustrations found in textbooks, books, magazines, products, packaging, and advertising). If necessary, the gallery curator will help you adapt the exhibition idea in a spatial direction. 

Illustrated art is not always for sale. An exhibition of illustration does not have to aim to sell works of art or show original works, unless the artist wants to do so. The exhibition can also be spatial, online, or completed in the exhibition space during the exhibition. About 50% of our past exhibitions have been sales exhibitions. 

Please note that you can also apply for exhibition dates with a partner or group!

OPEN CALL FOR EXHIBITION APPLICATIONS 2024
1 September – 1 October 2023

How to apply

Please send your application as one pdf file. Name the file with your own name. Send the application by email no later than Sunday October 1st 2023 to veera.pekkinen(at)kuvittajat.fi

Title the e-mail: ”Open Call 2024 Your Name”.

The application period ends on Sunday 1 October at midnight. Applications that come in late will not be processed.

The application must contain

1. An exhibition plan that shows the idea of the exhibition. Please note that since the Association’s gallery specializes in illustration art, the application must show the connection between the exhibition idea and illustration. 
2. 3-10 artwork pictures with artwork information. For video/animation works, a link to the works, e.g. Instagram or Vimeo. The pictures can be pictures of the author’s previous works, if the works in the exhibition have not yet been made.
3. Resume
4. Preferred time period of the exhibition. You may apply for exhibition dates from January 2024 to January 2025, except for July, when the gallery is closed due to the summer holidays. Please note that the final exhibition times will be agreed after the exhibitions have been selected. 
5. Let us know if you have ideas for an accompanying programme (events, workshops, etc.) related to your exhibition. However, no accompanying programme is required.

If you are applying for an exhibition with a partner or as a group

One member of the group must be a professional illustrator. For a pair or group exhibition, the application is handled by one contact person who sends a joint application as a single PDF file.

Please review the following information before applying:

Galleria Kuvitus

Established in 2018, Galleria Kuvitus is the very first gallery in Finland that focuses on illustration and the related topical phenomena. Our exhibition program concentrates on contemporary illustration. See our past exhibitions here >

For whom?

The call for applications is intended for all professional illustrators working in Finland as well as Finnish illustrators working abroad. 

Applicants do not need to be members of the Finnish Illustration Association. Membership may however be used as a decision criterion where the panel has to choose between two applications of equal merit.  

Applications are accepted from individual artists, pairs, and groups. At least one member of the group must be a professional illustrator.

We aim to promote diversity and inclusion

We encourage illustrators from underrepresented groups in the illustration industry or society (e.g. in terms of background, other characteristics, or the field of illustration they represent) to apply for an exhibition.

Gallery Space

Galleria Kuvitus is located next to the offices of the Finnish Illustration Association in the Kallio district of Helsinki. The gallery space (approx. 15 m2) features three walls on which works can be hung and a window that opens to Hämeentie. The window and the platform in front of it can be used for the exhibitions. The space offers plenty of natural light. The walls are white and the floor is gray. It is possible to paint the walls if this is essential for the design of the exhibition. The room height is approximately 3 meters. The gallery is equipped with fluorescent tubes and a few spotlights. Where necessary, exhibitions can extend to the downstairs conference room (if, for example, the exhibition includes an animation or some other element that requires a darkened room. The exhibitor will primarily be responsible for presentation technology). There is one video projector and a media player in the gallery.

Gallery layout, Ilja Karsikas 2018

The windows and door of the gallery, Jukka Pylväs 2019

Exhibition Service Fee

• Full members and pensioner members of the Finnish Illustration Association 0 €
• Illustrators who are not members of the Association and other types of members of the Association 800 €

Our exhibition service fee comprises the rent and maintenance of the gallery space, provision of information, photography, primary supervision of the exhibition (the exhibitor will participate in the supervision for a total of 2 x 4 hours), and general presentation and customer service. If they wish so, all exhibitors will be provided advice and assistance with regard to the design and setup of the exhibition, decisions regarding the exhibited works, pricing, and organization of the opening of the exhibition. The gallery will provide information on exhibitions on its website, through email, and on social media platforms. The gallery works together with various local events, which means that exhibitions can be included as parts of larger events (such as Helsinki Design Week, Art Fair Finland, or the Baltic Sea Day). In such situations, images and information pertaining to an exhibition may also be shared in connection to the visual identity of cooperating partners.

Sales Commission

The gallery will not charge a sales commission for any works sold.

Exhibitor Compensation

The Association will pay exhibitors a fee of 300 euros for organizing an exhibition. The compensation for an organized exhibition is the same regardless of whether the exhibition in question is a group or individual exhibition.

Responsibilities of the Exhibitor

The exhibitor will be responsible for the cost of materials, transport, printing, and framing for their works. The exhibitor will be responsible for any insurance coverage for their works. If a work requires specific technical solutions or other equipment, the exhibitor must be prepared to obtain/borrow the required items or share the resulting costs with the Association in a manner agreed on a case-by-case basis. Exhibitors are expected to provide images for advance promotion purposes, participate in the setup of the exhibition with the gallery staff, and supervise their exhibition on two Saturdays from 12 to 4 pm. The Association will supervise the exhibition at other times. The exhibitor is responsible for any possible special program (events, workshops etc.) The gallery staff will participate the event communication and share the information of events on all the association’s channels. The exhibitor is personally responsible for dismantling their exhibition.

Opening hours

The gallery is open from 12 to 5pm on Thursdays and Fridays and from 12 to 4 pm on Saturdays, and by appointment. The exhibitor receives a key to the space and will be free to present the exhibition also outside opening hours.

How the Exhibitions Are Chosen

The panel that chooses the exhibitions changes each year. The panel consists of a single illustrator who is a member of the board of the association and two invited external specialists in the fields of design, art, education, and/or advertising. The curator of the gallery acts as the non-voting secretary of the panel and as the contact person for exhibitors after the selection process. The curator is also responsible for the detailed content and presentation of the exhibitions. Exhibitions are chosen on the basis of the artistic level and originality of the applications, the feasibility of the ideas presented, and the area of illustration that the application concerns. (The same type or style of illustration will not be exhibited twice in a row).

All applicants will be notified of the decisions by November 3rd 2023.

Inquiries:

Veera Pekkinen, producer, curator

veera.pekkinen(at)kuvittajat.fi

+358 (0)44 775 0509 (During office hours only)