Short Description
The Inspiration Forum Lab is an interdisciplinary research program that connects artists and scientists in the creation of research-based multimedia projects. Its goal is to explore new ways of merging the languages of science and art, and to share knowledge with audiences across worlds that don’t usually intersect.
The Inspiration Forum –a collaborative platform created by the Ji.hlava IDFF (Czech Republic), the Kersnikova Institute (Slovenia), and Sensorium (Slovakia)– are inviting applicants from the fields of art, film and design as well as scientists and experts from other disciplines to collaboratively search for imaginative responses to the structural problems facing European society. In a time of ecological, political, technological and social transformation, we are seeking alternatives to the current trajectory and new paths toward a sustainable and collective future.
IF Lab 2025/26 Theme:
Trajectories: Dynamics of Movement in Time and Space
The world is in motion – and so are we. IF Lab 2025/26 is inviting artists and scientists to embark on a journey through the currents of nature, time and society. Join us in mapping change and searching for new trajectories. The future has yet to be written.
To help applicants navigate this broad theme, we offer three overlapping lenses for exploration:
Environmental trajectories
Movements of water, air, species and ecosystems – and how the climate crisis reshapes the natural and human systems they flow through.
Social trajectories
Shifts in migration, power, and collective action – and how barriers (physical, legal, technological or mental) shape or redirect these movements across society.
Technological trajectories
Flows of information, energy and meaning through digital infrastructures – and what they reveal about decentralisation, control, and our interconnected futures.
Eligibility
- 9 participants from European countries from various fields (art, film, architecture, design, sociology, ecology, biology, technological innovation, etc.), who will form interdisciplinary teams during the project’s implementation stage. The programme is intended for those who want to experience new interdisciplinary collaboration, not for existing teams with already developed projects. The programme is especially suitable for those who are starting their careers (or their second career path) and who can dedicate time to both personal development and group work and collaboration.
- A good command of English
Eligible countries: EU member states (Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Croatia, Ireland, Italy, Cyprus, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Austria, Romania, Greece, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden).
Submission Requirements
- CV/portfolio (PDF format, including relevant recent works aligned with the Lab’s concept)
- Motivational letter (PDF format, explaining your interest in IF Lab’s theme and your motivation for participating in an interdisciplinary project)
How to Apply
Online Application
Program Benefits & Awards
- The IF Lab programme runs for nine months (from October 2025 to June 2026), with a subsequent project presentation in autumn 2026.
- Lectures and workshops will be held in Jihlava, Ljubljana, Bratislava, and online.
- Each participant will receive a stipend of 600 EUR.
- Each participant will be provided with accommodation and a contribution for travel (preferably by the most sustainable means of transport) for the meetings in Jihlava, Ljubljana, Bratislava, and the exhibition in Prague.
- Each group will have a production budget of 1,500 EUR.
Entry Fee
None
Location
Czech Republic
Timeline
- Application Deadline: 25 August 2025
Website Link: https://www.inspirationforum.com/iflab-news/open-call-inspiration-forum-lab-2025-26
