Galleria Kuvitus Open Call 2027
The application period is open from 3 June to 3 August 2026
The year 2027 will be the 25th year of operation of the Finnish Illustration Association. Apply now to be part of the anniversary exhibition program!
Who can apply?
The call for exhibition applications is intended for all professional illustrators working in Finland, as well as Finnish illustrators working abroad.
Applications are accepted from individual artists, pairs and groups. At least one member of the group must be a professional illustrator.
If you have previously held a solo exhibition at Galleria Kuvitus, you can apply for a new exhibition slot two years after your previous one.
Our goal is to promote diversity and inclusion, and we thus encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to apply for an exhibition slot.
Who is considered a professional?
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.
The membership criteria for joining the association can be found here and are also valid for the exhibition applications.
If you’re not yet a member, you can include a comprehensive resume and/or a portfolio in your application, which will help us establish whether you meet the professional criteria.
Please indicate in the application form if you plan to apply for a membership. The next deadline for membership applications is 31 August 2026.
What are we looking for?
Galleria Kuvitus, run by the Finnish Illustration Association, specialises in exhibiting illustrations. We therefore hope that the exhibition proposal includes at least one commissioned work, publication or series of publications.
If the exhibition’s main pieces aren’t client-commissioned illustrations, they can be accompanied by complementary illustrations that showcase the illustrator’s broader abilities, for example. At its best, the exhibition can serve as a display of the illustrator’s skills and result in new client relationships.
We hope to see a wide selection of applications related to various different areas of illustration. The works may also be from areas of illustration not traditionally seen in art galleries (e.g. textbook illustration, book cover illustration, game illustration as well as product, packaging or ad illustration).
The exhibition can be a spatial composition, set up online or hung on a window, or it can be completed in the exhibition space during the exhibition. In around 50% of our past exhibitions, the pieces have been for sale.
How to apply
Please submit your application as one PDF file.
Please submit your application via e-mail no later than 3 August 2026 at 23:59 to galleria@kuvittajat.fi
To facilitate processing, please title the e-mail “Open Call 2027 [Your Name]”.
The deadline for applications is midnight. Applications that are submitted late or in a format other than PDF will not be processed.
The application must include:
1. A concise exhibition plan that includes the illustrator’s contact details, exhibition content and possible title or theme. If the idea behind the exhibition isn’t clearly connected to illustration, the plan should include an explanation of the connection.
2. 3–10 images: illustrations, animations or photographs of the pieces with artwork information (e.g. title/topic, year, purpose and possible commissioner). For video/animation works, please add links to the pieces via e.g. Instagram or Vimeo. The photos can be of the artist’s previous works as well if the pieces for the exhibition have not yet been created. The pictures should, however, demonstrate the style of the exhibition you would create.
3. Resume
4. Your preferred time period for the exhibition. The open call relates to exhibitions held between January 2026 and December 2026, excluding July. While it may not be possible to accommodate everyone’s wishes, we do try to take into account distinct obstacles such as residencies and travel plans.
5. Possible additional programme ideas (events, workshops, etc.) related to your exhibition. Creating an additional programme is not a requirement, however.
Pairs and groups
At least one person in a pair or a group must be a professional illustrator. The other members may represent different areas of art or science.
For joint or group exhibitions, one contact person will handle the submission process and submit a joint application as a single PDF file. In this instance, one resume per application is sufficient (i.e. the illustrator’s resume).
Please also refer to the section “Responsibilities of the exhibitor” and decide how you’ll share the responsibilities!
Gallery space
Galleria Kuvitus is located next to the Finnish Illustration Association’s office in the Kallio district of Helsinki. The gallery is open at 12–17 on Thursdays and Fridays and at 12–16 on Saturdays and Sundays. 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 exhibition. The room height is approximately 3 metres. The space offers plenty of natural light. The walls are light-coloured and the floor is grey. You can discuss partial painting of the walls with the gallery curator. It’s possible to paint the walls if this is essential for the exhibition plan and the illustrator assists with the work. 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).
Gallery layout, Ilja Karsikas 2018
Windows and door of the gallery, Jukka Pylväs 2019
