Organizer Information
White Rabbit Gallery is a private contemporary art museum in Chippendale, Sydney, opened in 2009 by Judith Neilson AM to house the White Rabbit Collection, which she began building after trips to Beijing in the late 1990s introduced her to the surge of creativity in Chinese contemporary art. The collection, now numbering in the thousands of works by hundreds of artists and focused on pieces made since 2000, is housed in a converted 1940s Rolls-Royce service depot and is one of the largest collections of Chinese contemporary art in the world. The gallery operates as a registered charitable institution funded solely by Neilson, offers free admission, mounts two curated exhibitions a year, and runs under the wider philanthropic umbrella of JN Projects. The WRG Digital Call-Out is run in partnership with Spring in Alaska, a Sydney-based creative agency and design studio established in 2002.
Title & Description
WRG Digital Call-Out — Generation Xi
The WRG Digital Call-Out invites emerging artists and designers to respond to a set theme and create an animation or artwork for permanent, rotating display on the White Rabbit Gallery website landing page. Two call-outs run each year, each tied to a new WRG exhibition. This round's theme, Generation Xi, is linked to the exhibition of the same name and asks applicants to create work responding to China's youth generation, shaped by rapid technological change, and to draw specifically on the aesthetic of "New Ugly" — a design movement built on chaos, imperfection, and visual excess in reaction to algorithmic, information-saturated digital culture. Applicants are directed to a linked Info Pack PDF for a fuller description of the aesthetic brief.
Theme
Generation Xi — a response to China's youth generation, shaped by AI, humanoid robotics, and the EV revolution, created in the visual style of "New Ugly." Submitted artwork must include the exhibition title in both English (Generation Xi) and Mandarin (习世代).
Categories
- Digital
- Design
- Motion
- New Media
- Video/Film
Eligibility
- Must be 18 years of age or older
- Must be an artist/designer within the first 10 years of their design or artistic practice
- Must not be represented by a commercial gallery, design agency, or working for a design company (including graphic design studios, web/digital design agencies, motion graphics/animation studios, UI/UX agencies, full-service design agencies, and advertising/creative agencies)
- Open to domestic and international applicants
- Collaborative group applications are welcome; the artist fee is split evenly among group members if the group wins, and every member of the group must individually meet the eligibility criteria
- Students may apply, provided they meet the above criteria
- Applicants without an Australian Business Number (ABN) may still apply; alternative Australian Tax Office forms will be provided if they win
- Artwork must not have been created primarily or entirely using Artificial Intelligence (applicants must confirm this in the application)
- Previous WRG Digital Call-Out winners are not eligible to win the immediate next round, though they may apply and be considered for a Special Mention; they become eligible for the Winner title again in any future, non-consecutive round
- Previous Special Mention recipients are eligible to apply and be considered again in the next round
Program Benefits & Awards
- $2,000 AUD artist fee for the winner (split evenly among group members if the winner is a collaborative group)
- Winning artwork displayed 24/7 on the White Rabbit Gallery website landing page for 5 months
- Promotion via White Rabbit Gallery's social media channels
- Access to professional support and guidance from Spring in Alaska during the development period
- Permanent inclusion of the winning work and artist biography in the WRG Digital Archive
Application Fee
None
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Applications Open: 27 July 2026
- Briefing Session #1: 10 August 2026
- Briefing Session #2: 24 August 2026
- Applications Deadline: 14 September 2026
- Successful Applicants Notified: 21 September 2026
- Development Period: Monday, September 28 – Monday, November 2, 2026
- Launch: Monday, November 9, 2026 – 9am
Location
Australia
Additional Details
- Judging panel: Judith Neilson AM (White Rabbit Gallery Founder and Director), David Williams (White Rabbit Gallery Curator), Hannah McKellar (White Rabbit Gallery Digital Communications Manager), Noa Peer and Keren Moran (Spring in Alaska Founders and Directors)
- Applications are assessed on: compliance with entry criteria, strength of the submitted artwork, how well the artwork responds to the theme, and the call-out's likely impact on the applicant's professional development
- The selection panel declares any actual, perceived, or potential conflicts of interest to maintain a fair, merit-based process
- Feedback on unsuccessful applications is not provided, due to the organization's limited team capacity
- Works in progress are accepted; a strong concept statement is required if the piece is not finished, and further development support is available to the winner during the official development period
- If selected, the winner may be asked to modify their artwork to fit specification changes and will work with Spring in Alaska during the development period; they may also be asked to provide further information about themselves/their work for the WRG Digital Archive
- Data collected on Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander, culturally/linguistically diverse, LGBTQIA+, and disability identity is used by the gallery to support accessibility and inclusion in the process, not as an eligibility filter