Organizer Information
The Phenomenon Grant is a program run by the Kerenidis Pepe Collection, created in 2025 as a yearly grant program supporting art projects in Greece for individuals, collectives, and non-profit organizations engaged with queer, feminist, anti-colonial, and other emancipatory art practices, with grants ranging from €5,000 to €10,000. The program aims to support critical phases of artistic development, enabling experimentation, research, collaboration, and the realization of new and ongoing projects. The grant funders themselves do not participate in the evaluation process, and selection is instead carried out by an independent, publicly announced, and periodically renewed committee of remunerated experts.
Title & Description
Phenomenon Grant — 2026 Application Cycle
The Phenomenon Grant supports contemporary art projects in Greece rooted in queer, feminist, anti-colonial, and other emancipatory practices. Non-profit organizations may apply for projects involving the development or presentation of art-related initiatives, while individuals and collectives are eligible only for research-driven projects not intended to result in a finished or presented work. Eligible projects must demonstrate a clearly articulated public dimension, whether developed independently or through partnerships with institutions, and must show sustained engagement with the Greek context even where the applicant resides elsewhere.
Categories
- Research
- Curatorial
- Video/Film
- Sound/Music
- Performance
- Poetry
- Visual Arts
- Art Management
- Interdisciplinary Arts
Eligibility
- Non-profit organizations must be officially registered (e.g. AMKE or an equivalent legal entity) and may apply for projects involving the development or presentation of art-related initiatives
- Individuals and collectives (artists, curators, writers, independent researchers, critics, educators, activists, and other cultural practitioners) may apply only for research-driven projects not intended to result in a specific produced or presented work
- Projects intended for presentation at an institution may be submitted by the individual or collective involved, provided an agreement with that institution is in place (strongly encouraged to be secured before applying)
- No age restriction
- Applicants currently enrolled in any degree-granting program (high school, undergraduate, graduate, or doctoral) are not eligible
- Applicants not selected in previous editions may reapply, with the same or a new project
- Previous grantees are not eligible to reapply
- Applicants may reside outside Greece, but projects must demonstrate sustained engagement with the Greek context and a locally grounded public dimension
- Practice-led and artistic research proposals within academia, including postdoctoral research, are eligible provided the applicant is not already receiving institutional funding for the same project
- Not eligible: projects presented by or at commercial galleries or art fairs
- Not eligible: work-in-progress or informal showings (e.g. workshop readings, residency presentations)
- Not eligible: professional training, workshops without public context/outreach, lectures, symposia, conferences, or competitions
- Not eligible: catalogue production or publishing by individuals and collectives
- Projects must not be already completed at the time of application, and must be new or in development
- Selected applicants must have or be able to provide an existing bank account in Greece to receive funds — without one, the application is not considered valid
Program Benefits & Awards
- Grants ranging from €5,000 to €10,000
- May cover up to 100% of a project's budget (co-funding encouraged but not mandatory)
- Funding may cover artistic fees, including the applicant's own fee; collaborators' remuneration; production and research costs; travel; accommodation; shipping; materials and fabrication; and other expenses directly related to the project's public realization
Application Fee
None
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Application cycle: 1–30 September 2026
Location
Greece
Additional Details
- Applications are reviewed in two stages: an optional internal preselection by Kerenidis Pepe Collection staff (used only when application volume is high, and limited to filtering out clearly out-of-scope applications), followed by review from an independent committee that makes the final selection based solely on the merits of the proposals.
- The 2026 committee includes Athena Athanasiou (Panteion University), Dora García (artist, Barcelona/Oslo), Christina Li (curator/writer, Amsterdam), and VASKOS (artistic duo, Athens); the 2025 committee included Athena Athanasiou, Zoe Butt, Zoe Leonard, and Kostas Stasinopoulos.
- Evaluation criteria across both stages: completeness and clarity, project vision and feasibility, ethical engagement with queer/feminist/anti-colonial or emancipatory practices, local and translocal engagement with Greece and the global majority, impact and responsibility (including environmental footprint), and applicant experience.
- Funding cannot cover general operational or overhead costs, non-project-related living expenses, expenses incurred before the grant agreement, or fees related to participation in residencies, educational programs, exhibitions, fairs, or other presentation opportunities.
- Applicants are expected to demonstrate responsible and transparent use of funds, including fair remuneration, ethical budgeting, and sustainable production practices where relevant.
- Individual feedback is not provided due to application volume; applicants are directed to the FAQ for further information.