OPEN CALL — ISSUE #01
Hand Fetish Projects (HFP) is an independent arthouse exploring contemporary visual culture through publications, curatorial projects, and artist-led initiatives.
This open call is part of an upcoming themed print issue.
Artists are invited to respond to a shared concept through visual work, creating a publication that brings together multiple perspectives around the same cultural signal.
Rather than focusing on medium or style, the selection process prioritizes originality, visual impact, and conceptual resonance with the theme.
Selected works will be featured in a printed issue produced as a limited-edition publication.
{ A theme }
{ An open call }
{ A printed issue }
This is Issue #01.
ISSUE #01 — HOW TO SURVIVE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
Southeast Asia is a region that has long been spoken about — rarely spoken from.
For centuries, its visual culture has absorbed the weight of colonial aesthetics, adopting foreign frameworks to define what art should look like, what cities should aspire to, what beauty means. Now, in the algorithmic era, a second pressure arrives — quieter, faster, and more invisible. The feed flattens everything. The origin dissolves. The regional becomes generic.
HFP Issue #01 exists as an act of archiving before the erasure becomes complete.
We are collecting images made from within — from the humidity, the density, the informal architecture, the urban exhaustion, the contradictions that don’t resolve cleanly. From the cities that grew too fast and the cultures that were asked to grow up Western.
If you were born here, trained here, or shaped by this place — we want your image of it.
And if you come from outside SEA, we want your encounter with it: not the postcard, not the distance — but the friction, the texture, the moment something here broke open your assumptions.
We accept paintings, drawings, experimental photography, and mixed-media works that can be reproduced in print. We ask that each submission include a short artist statement — not a biography, but a direct account of the work: what you saw, what you felt, what you were trying to hold onto.
Why a Publication?
This publication is not intended as a simple collection of images.
Unlike online galleries, portfolio directories, or open-call compilations, each issue is conceived as a curated editorial publication. Artworks are not merely reproduced on individual pages; they are carefully selected, sequenced, juxtaposed, and placed in dialogue with one another, allowing new narratives, relationships, and meanings to emerge across the publication as a whole.
The editorial process is central to the project. Through curation, design, pacing, and visual composition, submitted works are transformed from standalone images into parts of a larger collective artwork. The publication itself becomes an authored object rather than a passive container of content.
Selected artworks are presented within a professionally designed editorial framework and produced as a museum-quality publication using archival-grade fine art paper, ensuring long-term preservation and collectibility.
Every physical copy carries the mark of the Hand-Fetish-Project, serving as both an editorial imprint and a record of participation within the project’s growing archive.
More than documentation, the publication exists as a tangible cultural artifact—something that can be collected, preserved, exhibited, gifted, revisited, and rediscovered long after digital posts have disappeared into the endless flow of online content.
For artists, participation means more than visibility. It means becoming part of a curated publication, a growing archive, and an evolving artistic ecosystem that extends beyond any single issue.
How Works Are Selected
This publication is not centered on a single aesthetic, medium, or level of technical proficiency. Works are selected based on their ability to contribute meaningfully to the theme and curatorial direction of each issue.
We value strong concepts, compelling narratives, distinctive visual languages, and experimental approaches to materials, techniques, or image-making. A technically polished work may be selected, but so may a rougher work with a powerful idea behind it.
Selection is ultimately based on how individual works resonate within the broader editorial composition of the publication.
Works not selected for the current issue may still be considered for future issues, editorial features, or curatorial projects where their themes and qualities are a stronger fit.
WHAT SELECTED ARTISTS RECEIVE
- Submission is free — no application fee.
- Issue #01 is our Founding Edition. As part of the launch, All selected artists receive a high-resolution, print-ready PDF edition of the publication, allowing them to produce personal copies or share the publication with collectors and supporters. Physical copies remain available at production cost. From Issue #02 onward, a small fee will apply to both digital and printed editions to support the continued growth of the publication.
- A limited physical edition will be produced for each issue, with priority access offered to participating artists. Global shipping available.
- Selected artists will be credited in the HF Projects archive, with optional links directing readers to their portfolio, website, or social platforms.
- Selected works become part of the publication archive and may continue to be featured in future editorial, curatorial, and exhibition initiatives.
Disclaimer: Future opportunities, including exhibitions, collaborations, publications, and curatorial projects, are considered on a case-by-case basis and are not guaranteed. Availability depends on project development, partnerships, and curatorial needs at the time.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
We welcome submissions across a wide range of visual practices, including illustration, photography, graphic design, typography, collage, mixed-media, and experimental image-making.
Digital, analogue, and hybrid approaches are equally encouraged. AI-assisted works may be considered when employed with clear artistic intent and conceptual purpose.
As selected works will be reproduced within a printed publication, all submissions must ultimately be provided as digital files. Artists working with physical or analogue media should submit high-quality digital documentation suitable for print reproduction.
Selection is based not on medium or technique, but on the work’s ability to contribute meaningfully to the editorial and curatorial vision of the publication.
FILE REQUIREMENTS
- Format: JPG / PNG — RGB — Min 300 DPI or shortest side ≥ 2000px
- Max 3 works/images per artist
TIMELINE
- Open Call: June 15 – July 31, 2026
- Selection & Editorial Review: August 1 – August 15, 2026
- Announcement: 30 August, 2026
- Publication Release: Expected September 2026*
* Dates may be adjusted according to the editorial process. All submitting artists will be informed of the selection outcome via email.
Right & Use
Artists retain full copyright of their submitted works.
Hand-Fetish-Projects (HFP) receives a non-exclusive right to publish, archive, and promote selected works solely in connection with the publication and related project activities.
HFP does not sell or commercially license individual artworks.
Selected artists are welcome to share the publication with their audiences and communities.
All other rights remain with the artist.
Issue #01. HOW TO SURVIVE IN S.E.A
