01
Ecology & Post-Disaster Environments
Ecological consequences of technological disaster, war, and human intervention. Contaminated territories as complex living systems — not dead zones.
●Open Call 2026 Virtual Residency & International Exhibition 51.389°N 30.099°E
Chornobyl is not just a place. It is a territory of invisibility, contamination, resilience, and transformation.
Participants40 selected
Production20 projects
ResidencySep — Oct 2026
ExhibitionMadrid · Berlin · Toulouse · Kyiv
Deadline12 July 2026
Application is free · Language: English · Open internationally
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/Why CHORNOBYL4001 / 15
A European subject that
still shapes the present.
CHORNOBYL40 invites artists, designers, researchers, and hybrid practitioners to create new artistic works that rethink Chornobyl not as a closed tragedy of the past, but as a complex European subject that continues to shape our present and future.
We approach Chornobyl as a multilayered phenomenon: an ecological disaster and a space of recovery; a history of Soviet silence and contemporary misinformation; a question of human rights, displacement, and invisible consequences; an issue of international security and nuclear responsibility; a collective trauma — but also a powerful example of resilience, professional courage, and civic awakening.
This is not a call for illustration.
This is a call for interpretation, friction, and critical imagination.
40Selected participantsOpen Call 2026
20Projects for production
& exhibitionNew media art
& exhibitionNew media art
10 000+Expected visitorsOffline & online
12 July
2026Application deadlineDo not wait
2026Application deadlineDo not wait
/The Thematic Field02 / 15
What can your project explore?
Different artistic practices are relevant. Nine fields, one shared question — how do we move from catastrophe to knowledge? Hover to read.
02
Misinformation & Perception
Soviet silence, myths about radiation, contemporary disinformation, information attacks, and fear as a tool of manipulation.
03
Human Rights & Displacement
Loss of home, forced resettlement, invisible social consequences, and the right to truth, safety, memory, and dignity.
04
Nuclear Security & International Responsibility
Nuclear safety, critical infrastructure, international responsibility, the cost of impunity, and new nuclear risks in times of war.
05
Memory, Trauma & Resilience
Collective trauma, testimony, intergenerational memory, mental resilience, solidarity, and the ability to move through catastrophe without losing agency.
06
Invisible Forces
Radiation, data, systems, political decisions, and hidden risks that transform human life without always having a visible form.
07
Archives, Science & Trust
Archives, museum collections, fact-checking, science, testimony, and evidence-based knowledge as tools for rebuilding trust.
08
Chornobyl & Ukrainian Independence
Chornobyl as part of Ukrainian civic awakening, environmental movements, resistance to Soviet lies, and the formation of modern Ukrainian agency.
09
Future After Catastrophe
What does the future mean after technological, ecological, political, or military catastrophe? How can traumatic experience become knowledge and action?
/What we are looking for03 / 15
We are not looking for answers.
We are looking for positions.
We invite projects that engage with Chornobyl directly or indirectly — through artistic research, digital imagination, critical storytelling, spatial experience, sound, image, interaction, archive, data, body, environment, and speculative futures.
We are not interested in aestheticizing ruins or reproducing trauma.
We are interested in works that open questions, challenge myths, build knowledge, and create emotional and critical impact.
We welcome
We are not looking for illustration. We are looking for testimony, position, and consequence.
/Manifesto04 / 15
Chornobyl is not just a place. It is a territory of invisibility, contamination, resilience, and transformation.
A rupture in time A slow disaster A living system
We invite artists, designers, researchers, and hybrid practitioners to engage with Chornobyl as a landscape, a memory, a political reality, and a speculative horizon.
This is not a call for illustration.
This is a call for interpretation, friction, and critical imagination.
/Program Overview05 / 15
Three phases — from idea
to international exhibition.
Virtual Residency
A structured yet open process guiding participants from idea → concept → pre-production.
- Talks on Chornobyl, ecology & contaminated territories
- Encounters with artists, thinkers, technologists
- Concept Creation Hackathon
- XR Concept Development Workshop
- Mental Health & Eco-Anxiety Lab
- Tailored mentoring with international professionals
Result
40 participants · pre-production
Selection & Production
At the end of the residency, 20 projects are selected for production and exhibition, and receive production support.
- Video presentation review
- Project documentation review
- Live pitch to consortium & jury
- Production support for selected works
Result
20 projects · in production
International Exhibitions
The 20 selected projects are presented as part of a European touring exhibition in four cities.
- European touring exhibition cycle
- Presentation within the CH40 program
- Artist presence encouraged in country of residence
Result
European premiere · 4 cities
/2027 Touring Exhibition · Route
/What we offer06 / 15
You don't simply submit a work.
You enter a process.
40 For the selected participants
- Access to a curated, high-level virtual residency program.
- Talks, workshops, labs, and peer exchange.
- Tailored mentoring with international professionals.
- A European network of artists, curators, researchers, technologists, and institutions.
- Development from idea to concept and pre-production.
20 For the selected projects
- €500 production grant for fully digital works.
- €1000 production grant for installations requiring physical materials.
- Production support.
- Inclusion in the international touring exhibition.
- Presentation within the CHORNOBYL40 European program.
Travel, accommodation, and transportation costs are not covered.
/Who can apply07 / 15
ArtistsDesignersResearchersCollectivesInterdisciplinary & hybrid practitioners
You do not need to be a Chornobyl expert to apply. You need a strong artistic position, critical curiosity, and readiness to engage with the topic responsibly.
/Project Requirements08 / 15
- Relate to Chornobyl directly or indirectly.
- Be adaptable to multiple exhibition contexts.
- Consider eco-responsibility in materials, production, and transport.
- Have a digital, media, technological, spatial, audiovisual, or research-based dimension.
- Avoid exploitative, sensationalist, or myth-reproducing approaches to trauma and radiation.
Both welcome: new projects developed during the residency and existing works adapted to the CHORNOBYL40 context.
/Selection Criteria09 / 15
All criteria are equally weighted.
EQUAL · 01
Artistic quality
EQUAL · 02
Relevance to the manifesto
EQUAL · 03
Eco-responsibility
EQUAL · 04
Digital dimension
EQUAL · 05
Emotional & critical impact
/Selection Process
Applications→ Consortium + external jury review→ 40 participants→ Residency→ Pitch + documentation→ 20 projects→ Production + exhibition
The external jury provides scores and feedback; the final selection is made by the consortium. The same process selects the 20 final projects at the end of the residency.
/Timeline10 / 15
Key dates.
May 192026
Open call launch.
July 122026
Application deadline. Do not wait until the last day.
End of July2026
Announcement of 40 selected participants.
Sep — Oct2026
Virtual residency.
End of residency2026
Selection of 20 projects for production and exhibition.
Touring2027
European exhibition: Madrid — Berlin — Toulouse — Kyiv.
/How to apply11 / 15
Submit in English
via the Google Form.
- 01Bio / CVProvided as a link
- 02PortfolioProvided as a link
- 03Project proposalPDF · maximum 2 A4 pages
Before you apply — your proposal should explain
- Your artistic idea
- Its relation to Chornobyl
- Format and media
- Production needs
- Eco-responsibility
- Expected audience experience
/Why now12 / 15
From 1986 to 2026 —
a memory still contested.
1986 2026 PAST · ARCHIVE · SOVIET SILENCE FUTURE · NUCLEAR SECURITY Archives · Soviet silence
Chornobyl remains one of the largest collective traumas of Ukraine and Europe. Yet the memory of it is fragmented — suspended between pain, Soviet silence, popular myths, and simplified visual clichés.
Generations born after 1986 often know Chornobyl through pop culture, tourism, or fear-based narratives rather than verified sources, witness voices, archives, science, and historical context.
60%+
of respondents in 2021 could not name the exact date of the accident — and still believed Soviet myths about radiation.
This is not only a gap in historical memory. It is a trust gap, a media-literacy gap, and a vulnerability to misinformation.
War · Nuclear security · Critical infrastructure
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has made the issue even more urgent. Nuclear threats, occupation, and attacks on critical infrastructure have returned nuclear safety and international responsibility to the center of European public debate.
CHORNOBYL40 responds to this context through art, knowledge, ethics, and public dialogue — not fear.
/Ethics13 / 15
A responsible approach to memory.
No disaster tourism→
No aestheticized ruins→
Application is free→
Travel not covered→
Respect. Context. Responsibility.→
CHORNOBYL40 is built on an ethical approach to memory, trauma, and public knowledge.
We do not support projects that exploit suffering, aestheticize ruins, reproduce myths, or turn Chornobyl into a spectacle of fear.
The residency provides participants with contextual input and expert feedback from historians, nuclear-safety experts, ecologists, fact-checkers, museum and archive professionals, psychologists, witnesses, and liquidators.
Our aim is to support artworks that are emotionally powerful, critically precise, and responsible toward people, places, and histories.
/FAQ14 / 15
Practical questions.
Yes. Application is free.
English.
No. The call is open internationally.
No. There is no age limit.
Yes. Collectives are welcome.
Yes. Both new projects and existing works adapted to the CHORNOBYL40 context are welcome.
The project should have a digital, media, technological, spatial, audiovisual, or research-based dimension. Fully digital works, XR/VR/AR, AI-based works, audiovisual installations, and hybrid formats are welcome.
Selected projects may receive €500 for fully digital works or €1000 for installations requiring physical materials.
No. Travel, accommodation, and transportation costs are not covered.
Yes. Participants must attend at least 90% of the residency.
At the end of July 2026.
The international touring exhibition is planned for Madrid, Berlin, Toulouse, and Kyiv in 2027.
For questions related to the open call, please contact [email protected].
/Partners & Funders15 / 15
CHORNOBYL40 is part of a confirmed European trajectory connecting Ukraine with artistic and cultural partners in Madrid, Berlin, Toulouse, and Kyiv.
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are those of the authors only.
Chornobyl is not only a memory of disaster.
It is a question about the future.
— What do we choose to remember? — What was hidden? — Who paid the price? — How do we transform trauma into knowledge, responsibility, and action?
Apply to CHORNOBYL40 and become part of a European artistic process rethinking Chornobyl 40 years later.
Application deadline: 12 July 2026