Organizer Information

HARE Curates is a progressive, independent curatorial collective and non-profit arts organization based in London, United Kingdom. Emerging as an alternative platform to challenge mainstream, hyper-accelerated digital trends, the collective designs thought-provoking physical and virtual exhibitions. HARE Curates establishes spaces that encourage slow creative development, sensory cross-pollination, and horizontal community building. By moving past standard institutional gatekeeping, the platform connects a diverse international network of independent makers with the active, multi-layered contemporary art scene of metropolitan London.

Title & Description

Open Call for Exhibition about Folklore (Second Physical Edition).

Launched in the wake of hyper-digitized aesthetic movements earlier this year, this international open call invites creators to "touch grass" and explore the ancient, enduring worlds of myth, collective memory, and ritual. The project functions as a curated group showcase investigating folklore from around the globe and its profound, intricate ties to human communities, animal life, and the natural world. By implementing an extended application window, the curators intentionally prioritize slow artistic growth and deep conceptual exploration, providing independent practitioners a prominent, physical platform to share original work within a supportive, non-profit framework.

Core Curatorial Themes:

The selection committee welcomes works that interrogate, recontextualize, or visually manifest any dimension of global folklore, keeping a particular focus on these specific areas of inquiry:

  • Animals & Women in Folklore: Examining matriarchal mythologies, female archetypes, shapeshifting, animal guardians, and creature-human hybridity across cultures.
  • Green Magic & Environmental Ties: Unveiling the sacred botany, ecological wisdom, localized landscape spirits, and shifting relationships with the natural elements.
  • Customs, Rites, & Superstitions: Tracking localized daily habits, community omens, oral histories, collective memories, protective talismans, and traditional handcraft customs.
  • Beliefs, Rebirth, & Haunting: Documenting spiritual ties, religious syncretism, ghosts, cyclic renewal motifs, and the presence of magical or ritualistic objects.

Categories

  • Visual Arts, Painting / Illustration, Sculpture / Installations, Ceramics, Textiles / Craftwork,
  • Photography,
  • New Media / Film & Video,
  • Sound Art / Audio,
  • Performance Art,
  • and Creative Writing.

Eligibility

  • Global Scope: Open to contemporary visual artists, craft makers, filmmakers, sonic architects, and writers worldwide.
  • Career Milestones: Welcomes creators of any background or milestone, including emerging, self-taught, mid-career, and established practitioners.
  • Project Specifications: Submissions must be conceptually aligned with the folklore framework and adaptable to a physical indoor exhibition environment.

Program Benefits

  • London Physical Showcase: Inclusion within a curated, high-visibility contemporary group exhibition mounted physically in London, UK, during the summer/autumn of 2026.
  • Curatorial Curation: Professional placement, exhibition layout design, and spatial contextualization managed directly by the HARE Curates team.
  • International Network Feed: High-level digital promotion, social media features via active organizational platforms, and professional networking opportunities within London's vibrant artist and gallery ecosystems.

Fees

  • Application Fee: None (Completely free to enter and submit portfolios).

Application Requirements

Dossiers must be finalized and logged via the official digital application form. Submissions require:

  1. Complete personal identity profile details, active website links, and digital coordinates.
  2. A focused project description detailing the conceptual trajectory of the artwork and its specific intersection with the folklore framework.
  3. A concise artist statement and brief professional background resume.
  4. High-quality visual or audio documentation files representing the proposed piece(s) with accurate accompanying metadata (Title, Year, Medium, Dimensions, and Description).

How to Apply?

Apply to the HARE Curates Folklore Exhibition.

Key Dates

  • Application Submission Deadline: Sunday, June 21, 2026, at 11:30 PM.
  • Primary Event Milestone Launch: August 1, 2026.
  • Exhibition Run Block: Summer / Autumn 2026.

Location

United Kingdom, London (Physical Gallery Venue details to be confirmed directly with selected cohort members).

Additional Details

The review process is governed directly by HARE Curates' internal founding team, who prioritize portfolio quality, clear alignment with the core axes of folklore, and projects that demonstrate a thoughtful material or textual methodology. By finalizing your submission, you verify absolute copyright ownership over all shared content, granting the collective a non-exclusive license to utilize and replicate your imagery across digital catalogs, websites, and social media feeds solely for non-profit exhibition promotion.

Contact Information