The Art of Hoping Open Call
- Organization: The Fifth Element (The Club of Rome)
- Type: Competition
- Location: Global
- Deadline: September 30, 2026
- Funding: No Funding
The Fifth Element, a programme of The Club of Rome, is inviting artists and creatives anywhere in the world to submit work that responds to the theme of hope. They are looking for pieces that imagine how the systems we live in, the way we learn, work and care for one another and the planet, could change for a fairer and more regenerative future. Selected work goes into an online exhibition, and a curated selection is printed and shown at the Club of Rome conference in Bucharest in November 2026. **What you get:** - A place in an online exhibition on The Fifth Element's website, also shared across their LinkedIn, Instagram and WhatsApp channels - A curated selection reproduced as high quality prints and displayed at the Club of Rome conference 'No Limits to Hope: Sense-making for alternative futures' in Bucharest, 4 to 6 November 2026 - An introduction to The Fifth Element's network, connecting featured artists to fellows and programme participants whose work resonates - Cross promotion with partner organisations - Attribution every time the work is shown, including your name and, where applicable, your affiliation and country of residence - You keep full copyright and ownership of your work throughout, and can request its withdrawal at any time **What you'll do:** - Make or choose a piece responding to the theme of hope, in any accepted format: pictures and photographs, paintings and artwork, poetry and short text, or videos, motion graphics, illustrations and animations - Email the work to the Communications Officer at The Fifth Element, with your name, any affiliation, your country of residence, the title of the piece and an artist statement of no more than 100 words - Send the highest quality file you have, because selected pieces may be reproduced as prints. PNG or JPG for images, a Word document or designed PDF for text, MP4 for video - Submit in any language, providing an English translation alongside text pieces and artist statements that are not in English - Submit more than one piece if you want to. The guidelines state an artist may submit more than one **Key dates:** - Submissions close September 30, 2026 - Artists notified October 14, 2026 - Online and in person exhibitions launch November 4, 2026 - Club of Rome conference runs November 4 to 6, 2026, in Bucharest and online **More information:** - Full guidelines, covering formats, rights, the AI disclosure rule and how to submit, are published as a PDF linked from the call page - This is an unpaid call. The organisers state plainly that there is no fee to take part and that they cannot offer payment, a prize or an honorarium for selected work. What is offered is visibility - Selection does not come with travel, accommodation or a conference pass. Work chosen for the in person exhibition travels as a high quality print rather than as an original, and the guidelines nowhere offer artists a place at the conference - The conference can be followed online through the organisers' Zoom registration page linked from the event listing - Questions go to the Communications Officer named in the guidelines
