Ffoto Cymru 2026: Open Call
Aisha Ajnabi, Officer am I (too far gone), 2024. Image: Kieran Cudlip
Ffotogallery is excited to present Ffoto Cymru - Wales’ International Festival of Photography, presented in galleries and venues across the country in October 2026. Building on the successes of the first edition in 2024, artists are invited to submit projects, works and ideas that engage with photography in new and meaningful ways, to be presented through a programme of exhibitions, public sharings or events.
Apply here before 23:59, Tuesday 7 April: https://forms.gle/B6emggVaZoViXPgi6
Theme
The festival theme ‘There’s More to Life’ invites us to question the systems that often shape how we see the world. These include dominant Western viewpoints and structures rooted in capitalism, ableism and patriarchy. By challenging these frameworks, we want to make space for other forms of knowledge and experience, including matriarchal traditions, spiritual perspectives and different ways of understanding the world.
Through photography and lens-based practice at its broadest throughout Wales, Ffoto Cymru encourages us to rethink our assumptions, recognise a wider range of perspectives and imagine what society might look like if many different ways of living and knowing were valued equally, rather than organised around rigid hierarchies or exclusively economic priorities.
The full programme will be released later this summer, with a series of new works, re-presentations and configurations of contemporary photography, installation and lens-based practices.
Submission Details
This opportunity is open to all artists living in Wales, and Welsh artists living elsewhere. Artists must not be in full-time education at the point of application to be eligible for this opportunity.
In our previous festival where we began to address the historic and contemporary lack of representation of women and non-binary artists in Ffotogallery’s programme. Following on from this, we are keen to develop and establish the photography practices of more women and non-binary artists in and from Wales, and so we encourage artists who identify as female or non-binary to apply.
Selected artists will receive a £500 artist fee, with support for producing work not yet realised. We also ask about the status of the project as this helps us plan the logistics for production, installation and presentation. We will also be able to support funding applications for artists who wish to use this as seed funding for a particularly ambitious project.
Copyright of all work remains with the artist. Artwork is not for sale by Ffotogallery as part of Ffoto Cymru. Images submitted for this opportunity will not be published, reproduced or otherwise shared outside of Ffotogallery without the artist’s permission.
Katie Waite, Training Bra, 2024.
Selection
The initial selection of digital submissions will be made by the programming team at Ffotogallery, this decision is final. We will not provide feedback on any entries as part of this open call.
Key dates
Submission deadline closes: 23:59 GMT Tuesday 7th April 2026
Successful and unsuccessful entries to be informed: end of April 2026
Installation of exhibition/ project: late August - September 2026
Exhibition/project Dates: 1st October 2026 - 31st October 2026
How to Enter
Complete the online submission form at the bottom of this page and submit. Entry is free.
All submissions must be made before the deadline of 23:59 GMT Tuesday 7th April, late entries will not be accepted without prior discussion.
Please ensure each attached image file is titled with the name of the artist, the title of work and year. Work will not be considered without the required details.
There is no limit to how many times you can submit different bodies of work for consideration but we will not display more than one series by any one artist as part of this year’s festival.
If you need support completing the submission form or have any further questions, email info@ffotogallery.org or call 02920 341667.
Bruce Eesly, New Farmer, 2024.
