Organizer Information
Biennale Images Vevey is one of Switzerland’s leading visual arts festivals, internationally recognized for presenting ambitious photography and lens-based art projects in public spaces. Held every two years in the lakeside town of Vevey, the biennale transforms urban landscapes into open-air exhibition venues, inviting artists, architects, designers, and multidisciplinary practitioners to engage directly with local communities. The 2027 edition continues this tradition by expanding the festival beyond exhibitions to include participatory cultural spaces that foster dialogue, hospitality, and collective experiences. This open call is organized in collaboration with foodculture days, a Swiss organization dedicated to exploring food as a cultural, social, and artistic practice. Together, the partners seek to create a dynamic communal kitchen that serves both as a functional gathering space and an artistic project throughout the festival.
Title & Description
Biennale Images Vevey 2027 – Open Call for The Kitchen / Central Location (Cuisine Pavilion)
Biennale Images Vevey invites multidisciplinary collectives to design, activate, and manage The Kitchen / Central Location, the social and culinary heart of the 2027 festival. Rather than being a conventional catering service, this opportunity asks participants to transform food preparation, hospitality, and communal dining into an artistic and social practice.
Located on the Esplanade de la Paix along Lake Geneva, the Cuisine Pavilion is an architecturally designed modular structure that functions simultaneously as a kitchen, meeting place, performance venue, discussion forum, dining area, and gathering space. Throughout the biennale, it will host themed meals, concerts, public conversations, citizens' assemblies, collective cooking sessions, and multidisciplinary artistic programming.
Applicants are expected to propose an innovative project that combines cooking, hospitality, architecture, and community engagement. The selected collective will prepare affordable vegetarian meals with vegan options while also developing creative programming that reflects the spirit of collaboration, sustainability, craftsmanship, and public participation.
The project emphasizes seasonal ingredients, regional food culture, environmentally conscious practices, and meaningful interaction between artists, local producers, residents, and festival audiences. The organizers encourage proposals that view cooking as a creative medium capable of generating dialogue, experimentation, and collective imagination.
The selected project will evolve over several months through close collaboration with foodculture days, local producers, architects, and the festival team before being realized during the sixth edition of Biennale Images Vevey in June 2027
Categories
- Visual Arts
- Social Practice
- Public Art
- Participatory Art
- Food Art
- Culinary Arts
- Community Engagement
- Architecture
- Installation Art
- Design
- Performance
- Hospitality
- Multidisciplinary Arts
- Collective Artistic Practice
Eligibility
- Open to international collectives and multidisciplinary teams.
- Artists, designers, architects, chefs, food practitioners, cultural producers, and socially engaged practitioners are encouraged to apply.
- Collaborative groups with experience in community-based projects, hospitality, food culture, or participatory artistic practices are particularly welcome.
- Applicants should be able to manage both artistic programming and meal services throughout the festival.
- The selected collective must be available to work in Vevey during the installation period and throughout the festival dates.
- No nationality or age restrictions are specified.
Program Benefits & Awards
- Project budget of CHF 15,000 (VAT included).
- Artist fees.
- Coverage of travel-related project expenses through the project budget.
- Production support from Biennale Images Vevey.
- Curatorial mentorship from foodculture days.
- Collaboration with local farmers, producers, artisans, and foraging specialists.
- Volunteer assistance during installation and operation.
- Access to a fully equipped professional kitchen.
- Accommodation in Vevey covered separately by foodculture days.
- Food costs covered separately by FoodCulture Days.
- Opportunity to present work at one of Europe's major photography and public art festivals.
- International visibility through Biennale Images Vevey programming.
Three shortlisted collectives will each receive:
- CHF 250 research and proposal development fee
- Online consultation with the organizing team
- Opportunity to further develop their concept during Phase 2.
Application Fee
None
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Open Call Launch: July 2026
- Online Information Session: 30 July 2026
- Application Deadline (Phase 1): Late August 2026
- Shortlist Announcement: Late September 2026
- Research Phase (Phase 2): Late September 2026
- Final Selection: Early October 2026
- Collaborative Development: October – November 2026
- Production Phase: December 2026 – February 2027
- Installation in Vevey: 1–16 June 2027
- Biennale Images Vevey 2027: 16–20 June 2027
Location
Vevey, Switzerland
Additional Details
The selected collective will operate the festival's communal kitchen, serving approximately:
- Wednesday–Thursday: around 100 guests per day.
- Friday–Sunday: around 150 guests per day.
Meals should:
- Be vegetarian with vegan alternatives.
- Use seasonal ingredients whenever possible.
- Be affordable for visitors.
- Reflect the atmosphere of a communal canteen.
- Emphasize generosity, simplicity, sustainability, and flavor.
The Cuisine Pavilion has been specially designed as an artistic architectural installation rather than a traditional kitchen. It includes:
- Modular pavilion architecture.
- Wood-fired brick oven.
- Gas cooking stations.
- Dining tables and communal seating.
- Shelving and bar area.
- Textile installations.
- Signage.
- Flexible interior layouts.
- Public gathering spaces.
The organizers envision the kitchen as an evolving artwork where cooking, conversation, architecture, and public participation merge into a shared cultural experience. Participants are expected to actively collaborate with architects, curators, volunteers, and local food networks throughout the development and implementation of the project.