Organizer Information
Preus Museum is Norway’s national museum of photography and one of the country's leading institutions dedicated to preserving, exhibiting, and promoting photographic art and visual culture. The museum plays a central role in supporting both historical and contemporary photography through exhibitions, acquisitions, research, education, and public programming. As a board member and key organizer of the Oslo Negativ Photo Festival, Preus Museum works to strengthen the photography community by creating opportunities for emerging and established photographers from Norway and around the world.
Oslo Negativ Photo Festival is Norway's largest photography festival and serves as an important international meeting point for photographers, curators, collectors, publishers, educators, and photography enthusiasts. Through exhibitions, artist talks, portfolio reviews, workshops, and public events, the festival showcases diverse photographic practices while encouraging dialogue around contemporary visual culture. The museum's annual international open call is one of its flagship initiatives, providing artists worldwide with the opportunity to exhibit at the festival and become part of the museum's permanent collection.
Title & Description
Preus Museum Open Call 2026 – Passion
Preus Museum invites photographers from around the world to submit projects for its 2026 Open Call, presented in collaboration with the Oslo Negativ Photo Festival. The selected winner will receive a solo exhibition during the 2026 festival, a monetary prize, and inclusion of their work in the museum's permanent collection.
The theme for 2026 is "Passion." Organizers encourage artists to explore passion in all its complexity—from love, beauty, curiosity, courage, and creativity to obsession, fanaticism, excess, devotion, conflict, and polarization. The open call recognizes passion as a uniquely human force that shapes perception, identity, relationships, and artistic expression. At a time when technology and artificial intelligence increasingly influence visual culture, participants are encouraged to investigate authentic human emotion, subjective experience, and the many ways passion influences society.
Applicants may interpret the theme freely through documentary, conceptual, fine art, experimental, or other photographic approaches. Both individual photographs and cohesive photographic series are welcome.
Categories
- Photography
- Documentary Photography
- Fine Art Photography
- Conceptual Photography
- Contemporary Photography
- Visual Arts
- Photo Series
- Experimental Photography
Eligibility
Applications are open worldwide. Eligible applicants include:
- International artists
- Norwegian artists
- Professional photographers
- Amateur photographers
- Emerging artists
- Established artists
- Individual artists
- Artist collectives
There are no nationality restrictions or age restrictions specified.
Each applicant may submit one project only, consisting of:
- Up to 15 individual photographs, or
- One photographic series containing up to 15 images.
Projects must clearly relate to the theme "Passion," and applicants must include a project statement explaining how their work connects to the theme.
Program Benefits & Awards
- Cash Prize: NOK 20,000
- Solo exhibition at Oslo Negativ Photo Festival 2026
- Acquisition of the winning work into the Preus Museum permanent collection
- Full exhibition production by Preus Museum
- Curatorial support and exhibition design in dialogue with the artist
- Production costs covered by the museum
- Contribution toward artwork shipping (when applicable)
- Best efforts by the museum to cover travel expenses for the winner to attend the festival
- Opportunity to present an artist talk during the festival
- International exposure through Norway's largest photography festival
- Promotion of the selected work through festival and museum communication channels (with full artist credit)
The exhibition will be curated specifically for the venue, with Preus Museum retaining final curatorial responsibility due to the historic exhibition space.
Application Fee
€10
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 16 August 2026
- Winner announced and all applicants notified: August 2026
- Oslo Negativ Photo Festival: 10–25 October 2026
- Solo exhibition of the winning project: October 2026
Location
Oslo, Norway
Additional Details
- Only one project may be submitted per artist or collective.
- Projects may contain between 1 and 15 photographs.
- Both standalone images and cohesive photographic series are accepted.
- Submitted projects cannot be edited after final submission.
- Due to the high volume of applications, individual feedback will not be provided.
- The jury consists of curators, photography professionals, and representatives of the Oslo Negativ Photo Festival board. The complete jury list will be announced later.
- Selection is based on artistic quality, originality, visual strength, and the project's engagement with the theme.
- If the selected artist prefers to produce their own exhibition prints, Preus Museum will contribute toward production and shipping costs.
- The museum reserves curatorial flexibility in designing the exhibition to suit the historic architecture of the Old National Gallery.
- Images from the selected project may be used by Preus Museum and Oslo Negativ Photo Festival for promotional purposes related to the exhibition and festival. All published images will be fully credited to the artist.