Open Call /// Mesh Festival 2026 – Urban Actions | Spatial Utopias – Infrastructures of Care, 14–18 October 2026, Münchenstein, Switzerland

OPEN CALL — MESH FESTIVAL 2026

URBAN ACTIONS | SPATIAL UTOPIAS

14–18 October 2026

Münchenstein, Switzerland

https://meshfestival.ch/#open

Mesh is an international festival on art, technology, and urban futures. For its second edition in 2026, we welcome contributions from artists, researchers, technologists, cultural workers, collectives, educational institutions, NGOs, associations, and community initiatives.

The festival explores how digital technologies reshape cities and how hybrid urban spaces—physical, virtual, ecological, and algorithmic—can become healthier, more sustainable, and more democratic.

Contributions may take the form of art works, discursive formats, or collaborative projects, including installations, video, performance, music and sound, interventions, talks, lectures, panels, workshops, mediation and outreach initiatives, community actions, NGO partnerships, and institutional programs.

The 2026 curatorial framework Urban Actions | Spatial Utopias – Infrastructures of Care approaches care as a social, ecological, and technological practice embedded in the urban fabric. We are looking for experimental, bold, and forward-thinking projects that rethink how care can inform more accessible, resilient, and just urban societies.

Your project may relate to one or more of the festival’s five strategic thematic zones:

1. Commons of Connection

   Rethinking proximity, exchange, and solidarity in the digital age.

   
   

2. Wild Cities

   Cities as co-evolving habitats integrating human and non-human needs.

   
   

3. Memory Machines

   Collective memory in times of digital archives, disappearing cities, and shifting realities.

   
   

4. Future Playgrounds

   A shared world shaped together, with a dedicated space for children and young adults.

   
   

5. Circular Systems

   Regenerative infrastructures beyond extractive logics in resources, energy, and data.

You may apply to one or multiple categories. We welcome applications that envision pairing any form of contribution with the discursive formats, so that visitors can encounter a topic through a sensory or collective experience and, at the same time, deepen their understanding of the theoretical context behind the research or cooperation. The application form will guide you through all necessary subcategories and details—such as technical requirements, placement preferences (gallery, stage, public space), target groups for workshops, indoor/outdoor specifications, and any use of video, sound, light, or special materials. 

Important Dates

• Open call opens: 24 November 2025

• Deadline: 15 January 2026, 12:00 CET

• Notification:  All applicants—selected and non-selected—will receive a response starting from February 2026.

• Festival dates: 14–18 October 2026

Eligibility

• Submitted projects must not be older than two years.

• Projects must be completed by September 15, 2026.

• Applications may be submitted by individuals, collectives, or organizations.

• Proposals can be submitted in English or German.

Review & Selection

• All submissions are reviewed by the Mesh Festival’s curatorial team.

• The selection team does not provide feedback on decisions, and decisions are final.

• Submitting a proposal does not guarantee participation.

• All applicants—selected and non-selected—will receive a response starting from February 2026.

Fees & Production

• Fees for artworks, performances, and all other contributions are negotiated individually after selection. A preliminary budget helps us assess whether your project can be realised within our financial framework.

• If the proposed budget exceeds our possibilities, applicants may suggest co-financing options—either through external funding they organize or via co-production with another institution or festival.

• Mesh Festival considers applicants’ preferences for installations and performances but reserves the right to make final venue and presentation decisions.

• Festival marketing, communication, and documentation are handled by Mesh Festival and its partners.

Data & Rights

By submitting, applicants agree to the festival’s data and rights policies. In summary:

•  Materials from selected projects may be used for festival communication, documentation, and press purposes across print and digital media.

• Performances may be recorded for documentation and non-commercial promotion.

• Submitted works may be archived (including cloud-based systems) and linked to partner archives.

• Mesh Festival may use AI-based tools for translation, summarization, and archiving; Mesh cannot prevent third-party AI systems from accessing public documentation.

• All copyrights remain with the artists; no exclusive commercial usage rights are claimed.

• Full detailed rights and legal terms are published on the Mesh Festival website.

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