Opportunities

A page of more or less local competitions, open calls, residencies and other opportunities open to the Gulf’s creative community

Tanween Design Programme

DESIGN

DEADLINE 16 November 2025
Apply to Tashkeel’s professional development programme (tutorials, mentoring, product development) for emergent designers. Final work is shown at Downtown Design 2026

  • A year-long professional development programme of research, experimentation, and mentorship that culminates in the development of innovative, functional products that addresses the issue of sustainability and will contribute towards defining a UAE design aesthetic
  • Resulting products will be unveiled at Downtown Design during Dubai Design Week 2026
  • Now in its 13th edition; to date, 64 designers and architects have participated in the Tanween Design Programme
  • Open to emerging designers, makers and artisans living and working in the UAE
  • Through a series of labs, field trips and review sessions, participants engage in collective and individual work, experimental practice, collaborative practice, constructive critical feedback, investigations of new business models, reflection and evaluation
  • Selected participants will be expected to participate in the induction, all labs and review sessions (there will also be periodical one-to-one status reviews between labs). The schedule:
    – Induction: 4 Jan 2026
    – LAB001: 11-13 Jan
    – LAB001 review: (online) 25 Jan
    – LAB002 + Design Review 1: 8-9 Feb
    – LAB003: 29-31 Mar
    – LAB 003 Review: (online) 12 Apr
    – Design Review 2: 3 May
    – LAB004 + Design Review 3 + Finalisation (work with Tashkeel design team on schematic drawings): 20-21 May
    – LAB005 (design freeze & approval for production): 22-23 Jun
    – Production Review 1: 2 Aug
    – Production Review 2: 23 Aug
    – Final delivery: 1 Sep
    – LAB006: 11-12 Oct
    – Dubai Design Week 2026: 3-8 Nov
  • “Conditional upon the product being fully functional and fit for market”, Tashkeel “may” sign a Licensing Agreement with the participant. Participants will then join Tashkeel to launch the cohort’s outcomes at Downtown Design, thereby giving Tashkeel exclusivity on sales for an agreed period or until the limited edition series is sold out
  • Supported by Tashkeel, the designer will be required to manufacture subsequent units to order within a 6 to 8 week production period
  • Apply as individual or pairs (designer/artist collaborating with an engineer/scientist)
  • Programme draws on a wide range of UAE resources inc locally based manufacturers, fabricators and artisana. Programme is led by Tashkeel’s Design Projects Supervisor Salim Ahmed with Contemporary Design Project Specialist Helen Voce and Mentor Kevin Badni plus contributions from UAE-based and international design professionals
  • Successful products “may” become part of the Tanween Collection, with continued support by Tashkeel – finance, marketing, sales resources for a limited-edition product line
  • Apply online with CV, biography, design portfolio (max 10 recent works) and responses to …
    – Why are you applying
    – Should you be accepted, what would be your core objectives
    – In what direction do you wish to take your design career/practice in the next 5 years
    – Are you able to commit to the Programme’s schedule
  • All entries reviewed by jury. Shortlisted applicants will be invited for interview on 10 and 11 Dec
  • Queries to tashkeel@tashkeel.org
  • No entry fee
  • Must work in a design discipline (any)
  • Must be resident of UAE
  • Must be at least 21 in March 2025
  • Professional development
  • Potential sales income
  • Exposure at Downtown Design 2026

Open call: AlUla Design Award 

DESIGN

DEADLINE 21 November 2025
Submit designs in two categories, Fashion and Product Design. Winners in each get SAR 30,000 plus short-run productionn and sales through AlUla Boutique

  • The fourth edition of the AlUla Design Award invites designers from around the world to celebrate ‘The Ingenuity of the Human Hand’. Theme invites established designers to draw on traditions of AlUla crafts (“embroidery, carving, and trade”) to design “the future of heritage, bridging AlUla’s profound past with innovative visions for tomorrow … We welcome works that weave continuity with departure precise yet porous, rooted yet open. Designs where ornament becomes information, geometry an ethic, and fabrication a language”
  • Two categories with separate awards: Fashion Design and Product Design (we could find no specifics about what is and is not covered by these terms) /
  • Participants grant AlUla the right to exhibit their work if selected; to commercialise the work for limited editions; to produces one single series of the selected design. Participants retain full rights beyond this /
  • Shortlist for each category (selection procedure unspecified: no indication of how many entries will be shortlisted) from which one category winner is chosen
  • Shortlisted concepts …
    – will be prototyped
    – will be exhibited during the AlUla Arts Festival (Jan-Feb 2026)
  • Category winners …
    – will have concept produced (AlUla get rights to commercialise the work for limited editions, produces one single series of the selected design)
    – will have distribution of their design through the AlUla Boutique
    – must be available to attend Award Ceremony on 23 January 2026
  • Selection criteria:
    1. Alignment with the Theme
    – submissions must clearly respond to the theme
    – submissions must demonstrate “a meaningful connection to AlUla’s natural, cultural, or historical context “
    2. Originality
    – submissions must be original, unpublished, and not previously produced or commercially released
    – submissions “should present fresh, innovative thinking” and “push creative boundaries”
    3. Quality of Design Execution
    – “excellence in form, function, and presentation”
    – full documented: drawings, renders, models, written concept description
    4. Feasibility of Production
    – Technical viability: must demonstrate approved materials and prototyping techniques, must be safe and scalable
    – Prototype budget max SAR 1,500
    – Commercialisation for winners: unit cost max SAR 400 inc packaging (not sure how this applies to fashion designs)
    – Physical: max total weight 5kg, max footprint 1m x 1m
    5. Sustainability & Responsibility
    – Projects must integrate ecoconscious practices
    – Projects must meet ethical and cultural norms
  • Apply via online form with …
    – Personal information inc professional background / motivation for applying to this competition
    – Project details inc Short Project Summary (max 200 words) and Detailed Project Description (max 2000 words)
    – Alignment with criteria inc What makes your design original, innovative, and valuable (max 200 words) and What is your vision for how this project could scale or inspire future work (max 200 words)
  • Entry fee SAR 200
  • None stated, but documentation does refer to “professional designers”
  • All shortlisted entries receive …
    – prototype production of project
    – (presumably) exhibit at AlUla Arts festival (Jan-Feb 2026)
  • Category winners each receive …
    – prize of SAR 30,000
    – short-run production and distribution of their design through the AlUla Boutique
    – an invitation to visit AlUla (no indication whether expenses paid, but presumably yes)

Open call: ISEA 2026 Artistic Proposals

NEW MEDIA

DEADLINE 24 November 2025
Submit proposals for electronic new media and “emerging artworks” to be exhibited at International Symposium of Electronic Art (Dubai, 10-17 April 2026)

  • Dubai will be hosting the 31st edition of ISEA (International Symposium of Electronic Art) on 10-17 April 2026
  • Theme is ‘ELYAH: Constellating Place, Data and Identity’ – “invites participants to explore how light and code, story and system, converge to form new ways of understanding. Just as ancient navigators turned to the stars, today’s artists and technologists interpret the signals of an algorithmic cosmos, charting the digital unknown with creativity as their compass. At the heart of this exploration is art – giving form to abstraction, emotion to data, and human perspective to systems”
  • Sub-themes:
    1. Charting Constellations – exploring how electronic art reflects, reshapes, and reimagines our understanding of place, identity, and community within an increasingly connected world
    2. Celestial Dialogues – how creative practices and digital tools foster shared experiences that span cultures and disciplines “while illuminating connections between human and cosmic life”
    3. Eco-Tech Futures – the intersection of electronic art and environmental responsibility
    4. Starlinked Worlds – the evolving relationship between technology and human experience, inviting reflection on ethical, philosophical, and speculative dimensions of emerging futures on Earth and beyond
  • Alongside conference sessions there will be exhibits – installation, performance, moving image, sound, code, “and other emergent media”. Early-career and emerging artists are particularly encouraged to submit works
  • Submissions should be electronic new media and “emerging artworks”. Examples: performances, interactive works, concerts, screenings, installations, site-specific works, interdisciplinary projects, animation, video, experimental animation, photography, events in public spaces
  • Artworks may respond to the ISEA2026 themes but can be considered if “otherwise relevant to the scope of the ISEA symposium”
  • Venues: main gallery exhibitions will be staged at main ISEA2026 locations but “there will be opportunities for alternative forms of presentation”
  • Proposals will be reviewed by “a jury of art professionals”, shortlisted according to …
    – quality
    – relevance to the theme
    – relevance to ISEA
    – originality
    – potential impact
  • Curators will make final recommendations considering …
    – jury’s evaluations
    – overall feasibility
    – fit with the symposium’s exhibition programme
    Final decisions rest with the organising committee
  • Submit proposal including …
    – Artist biography (max 300w)
    – Thematic statement (min 200w max 500w)
    – Artwork proposal (min 300w max 800w)
    – Spec of technical / logistical requirements
    – Images, sketches, drafts (no min/max requirement specified)
    – Detail of technical and logistical requirements
    – Any video documentation (mandatory for performance proposals – acceptable formats: webm, mpg, .mov, wmv, mp4, avi)
  • No entry fee
  • None stated
  • Unspecified number of proposals will be shown/performed at ISEA 2026

First Chapter: ELF Seddiqi Writers’ Fellowship

FICTION WRITING

DEADLINE 4 December 2025
Apply to be one of 10 participants in a free one-year writers’ development programme

  • “The only global standard writers’ fellowship in the region”
  • Aimed at locally-based aspiring fiction writers. Intended for “serious writers who are on their way to publishing a novel” and who “want to elevate their work to a global standard”
  • Most genres of fiction are eligible, inc adult and YA – but not children’s fiction, memoir or non-fiction
  • Includes:
    – six 60-minute one-to-one mentorship sessions (at a mutually agreed time and date)
    – 40 hours of talks and workshops covering all stages of writing, publishing and promoting a book (monthly on Saturdays IRL, occasionally online)
    – voucher to join one of the specialist short writing classes held by partner writing institutions (eg Gotham Writers Workshop, Faber Academy)
    – opportunity to go a ‘writing trip’ to a festival or a writing course/retreat (may require overseas travel: requires participant to have reach a required standard – detail unspecified)
  • Group is intended to become “a mutually supportive writing community that will continue to support and nurture the writers after the programme has been completed”
  • Ten applicants will be selected – will be a mix of Arabic and English writers
  • Apply with …
    – cover letter detailing your background, why you’re applying, why you should be selected
    – 400-word synopsis of your manuscript
    – 2,000 words of the manuscript (must be typed double-spaced in Arial, Courier, or Times New Roman, 12pt, pages numbered consecutively)
  • Successful applicants will be announced during the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, Jan 2025
  • No entry fee
  • UAE based
  • Implication is that applicants should be (a) serious aspiring writers and (b) unpublished
  • Participation in year-long professional development programme

Open call: The Christo and Jeanne-Claude Award 2026

ART

DEADLINE 30 January 2026

Propose an artwork that, in the spirit of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s work, can be publicly exhibited in the open air (in Abu Dhabi, Nov/Dec 2026). Winner gets $10,000 to produce the work

  • Annual award, produced in collaboration with The NYUAD Art Gallery, to nurture artistic talent in the UAE at the beginning of their careers with a commission and professional support
  • Award is given for the proposal and creation of an artwork that, “in the spirit of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s work, can be publicly exhibited and enjoyed”
  • Propose a artwork that can be exhibited outside – at Abu Dhabi Art, NYUAD, Umm El Emarat Park – in Nov/Dec 2026
  • Can be any media “that allows the piece to be publicly enjoyed” inc photography, film, land art, sculpture, multimedia
  • Applicants must apply with the support and nomination of a mentor who commits to guide and support through the production and installation of the work. Can be a practicing artist, a current or past professor, a client, a gallerist – “anyone who you would like to work with”
  • Five artists shortlisted to present in person to the selection
 committee. Criteria:
    – Artistic merit
    – Evidence of original and creative thinking
    – Feasibility of producing and exhibiting the work on time and within budget
  • Winning artist gets $10,000 to produce the work
  • Apply online with contact and background info plus …
    – Artistic Proposal (details of the work, can have up to 5 JPG and/or PDF attachments
    – Production Schedule (form to complete)
    – Production Budget (form to complete)
    – Mentor statement (confirming commitment for at least 6 months)
  • No entry fee
  • Queries to christo.award@nyu.edu
  • Either
    – a full time degree student enrolled in a university or college in the UAE
  • Or
    – a resident of the UAE who has graduated from university or college within the last five years
  • Commission and $10,000 production fund to create and display a public artwork