Organizer Information
Lendhauer (formally "Verein Lendhauer") is a non-profit association based in Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, Austria, dedicated to sustainable, culture-led development of urban public space, with its focus area centered on the Klagenfurt Lendhafen and its surroundings. The association traces its origins to "lend|spiel," an alternative cultural programme staged during the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, in which a project group transformed the Lendhafen and Lendkanal into a public art mile with installations by young artists from the participating tournament nations. Building on that experience, the association was formally founded in 2009 to continue cultural programming in the area on an ongoing basis. Since then, Lendhauer has organized an annual "lend|spiel" cultural programme (concerts, readings, film evenings), typically commissions two "lend|art" public-art-in-public-space projects each year for display between May and September, and hosts public viewings of Austria's Ingeborg Bachmann Prize literary readings at the Lendhafen.
Title & Description
Open Call 2027: Urban Ecologies: Coexistence and Control
Lendhauer invites artists, designers, architects, performers, theorists, and practitioners from interdisciplinary contexts to explore urban space as a network of relationships between human and non-human actors, framed around questions of coexistence and control — what is considered useful versus disruptive, who or what is allowed to remain or is excluded, and whether peaceful coexistence in the city is possible. The call seeks artistic works to be realized on-site at Klagenfurt's Lendhafen, treating the urban public space not merely as a presentation venue but as an active component of the work itself, engaging its social, ecological, and material conditions. Possible starting points named in the call include wild animals' presence and appropriation of habitats in the city, plants navigating human use and ecological coexistence, human-animal-machine constellations, and material or symbolic forms of urban exclusion directed at particular species (e.g. pigeons) or at human bodies.
Theme
Urban Ecologies: Coexistence and Control — examining the city as a shared habitat where humans, animals, plants, and technical systems interact within technical infrastructures, social dynamics, and ecological conditions, with the Klagenfurt Lendhafen serving as the site-specific reference point.
Categories
- Public Art
- Installation
- Performance
- Interdisciplinary Arts
- Site-specific
- Environment
Eligibility
- Open to artists, designers, architects, performers, theorists, and practitioners from interdisciplinary contexts
- Individuals and collectives may apply
- Open to applicants based in Austria and abroad
Program Benefits & Awards
- Production funding of up to €4,000 gross per selected project
- Artist's fee of up to €2,500 gross, awarded per selected project regardless of the number of participating artists or collaborators
- Additional travel expenses of up to €1,000
- Support from Lendhauer in coordinating technical and organizational requirements on site, including obtaining any necessary permits
Application Fee
None
How to Apply?
Submissions by email to office@lendhauer.org, subject line "Open Call 2027."
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 2 November 2026
- Selection Results Announced: by the end of December 2026
- Realization Period: June to the end of September 2027 (exact dates and duration agreed with selected artists, depending on project requirements)
Location
Lendhafen, Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, Austria
Additional Details
- Applications must be submitted as a single PDF not exceeding 15 MB, containing: a project proposal (max. 3 A4 pages covering content/idea, public-space implementation format, materiality/process, and audience/accessibility considerations); a preliminary estimate of production costs; a short biography/CV of the applicant or collective members; and a portfolio of selected previous works (max. 10 pages)
- Submitted projects are reviewed by a jury appointed by Lendhauer
- Selection criteria: relevance to the theme "Urban Ecologies: Coexistence and Control"; relation to the Lendhafen site and its spatial, social, ecological, and material conditions; feasibility within the available time, organizational, and financial framework; and the project's potential to generate new perspectives or engagement with the Lendhafen and its surroundings