Open Call: zero material

About the Open Call

The programme is centred on the zero material manifesto, which asks how artists can rethink making in an age of both scarcity and excess. Rather than focusing on traditional materials, the programme encourages artists to engage with existing systems, processes, infrastructures, and everyday material conditions. Drawing on diasporic experiences, zero material proposes alternative artistic strategies such as hacking, smuggling, piggybacking, and repurposing as creative methodologies. Applicants are invited to consider artworks that extend beyond physical objects and may take the form of gestures, situations, digital traces, administrative processes, collective actions, or other conceptual interventions. The selected artist will receive: £2,500 artist fee £800 production budget A supported public presentation in Spring 2027 Artist development through workshops, mentoring, and institutional visits Optional hot-desking space at Kakilang's London office (up to three days per week between August 2026 and June 2027)

Requirements

Applicants must: Be UK-based artists of East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) heritage Have at least two years of practice in conceptual or visual arts Have the legal right to live and work in the UK between August 2026 and June 2027 Be available for the public presentation in March 2027 If applying as a duo or collective, nominate one lead representative The programme is looking for artists whose practice: Engages with materials, systems, or processes Reflects on diasporic experiences and alternative forms of making Demonstrates curiosity, experimentation, and conceptual thinking Responds to the ideas presented in the zero material manifesto