FOR TRUE CREATORS ACROSS ALL ARTS
Artdemic is an online platform for up-and-coming creators from South Asia, set up in collaboration with The Gujral Foundation. What started out as an open call format to support artists during the pandemic, quickly evolved into what is now a digital space for discovery and showcasing of fresh talent.
These creators, when given the right opportunities, have incredible trajectories, and Artdemic is here to be a part of their journeys. Watch this space to stay up to date with all the exciting projects we have planned across the visual arts, film, music, theatre, and more.
Artdemic is and always will be a community-driven project serving cultural curators. Since its inception in May 2021, Artdemic has received 2,700+ Submissions, featured 750+ creators and awarded 50+ micro-grants and prizes.
Shifting Horizons: Design Open Call
We recently announced a Design open call titled ‘Shifting Horizons’. Shifting Horizons is a Design Showcase curated by Alaiia Gujral for India Art Fair 2025. This Showcase is about taking Indian craft, traditional methods and materials; and transforming them into contemporary design that reflect the future.
We are calling on Indian Designers, working in Furniture, Lighting, Fibers, Installations, and Object Design, who are reinterpreting these traditions in innovative ways. We encourage all Designers working in any of these fields to apply and win the opportunity to show at the prestigious India Art Fair 2025, South Asia’s largest art fair!
As always, you can submit as many collections or pieces as you like, till 20th October 2022, when our open call ends.
We will be going through the submitted works and curating them to announce the winners at the end of the open call. Please watch our social media channels for updates and announcements.
Vuedemic 3.0 Open Call
New Month New Open Call! And this time it’s one you’ve seen before! Vuedemic, the film extension of Artdemic, in collaboration with The Gujral Foundation is BACK with its 3rd edition.
We are really looking forward to it because this time around it’s going to be #Vuedemic360–an online open call and an offline Short Art Film Festival – to celebrate all the wonderful filmmaker voices in our community. We encourage all independent filmmakers to show us your stories – artistic or narrative, you pick. As always, you can submit as many films as you like, and we have zero submission fees.
Watch this space for more details to come about our Short Art Film Festival, where we will feature a selection of films including the winning submissions!
Please note: This will be a rolling submission, and we will accept entries untilwe announce the date of the festival.
Photography Open Call
We were delighted to announce another edition of our ‘Photography Open Call’. The last time we ran this open call we were absolutely buried and inundated with submissions from all over India and some parts of the world – it was THAT popular! So, we thought it was time to gear up for round two.
Photographs have the power to stop time, capture memories, and transport us back into another moment. They help us relate to each other as humans, and give us a window into the lives of another. Photographs have the ability to tell stories words cannot. Which is why we want to see the world through our creators’ lenses.
We received an overwhelming response to this edition of the open call as well. Weannounced Anandu Premil as the winner of ‘The Photography’ Open Call, on 21st August 2024. His artworks explore the intersection of fishing, farming, and survival in a local landscape, for which he was awarded the micro-grant of ₹10,000/-.
Everything Pride Open Call
We celebrated Pride Month with an ‘Everything Pride‘ Open Call in June 2024. We are called upon all creators from the LGBTQIA+ community and their allies to submit artworks exploring what ‘Pride’ meant to them.
As always, we encouraged our community of creators to submit as many works as they wanted to in any format. We received thought provoking artworks from our creators for this call and featured a selection of artworks every week for the duration of the call, selected by the Artdemic board of curators.
The Everything Pride open call came to close on 1st July 2024, the micro-grant of ₹10,000/- was awarded to Bivas Paul.
Tribal Art Open Call
India is home to more than 2500 tribes and ethnic groups. For the ‘Tribal Art‘ open call, we invited our Artdemic creators to submit artworks they created in any tribal based art form from a Gond wonder to an intricate Madhubani.
India is a country of a rich cultural heritage, with diverse artistic practices and traditions. Among the unique forms of art in India is the traditional tribal art paintings, created by various tribal communities across the country. A mix of traditions, customs and heritage, tribal art includes stories, folklores, nature, spiritual nature of humans and sometimes the mundane daily life.
Our community of creators submitted spectacular works of tribal art forms and Khushi Meena was awarded a micro-grant of ₹10,000 for the Tribal Art open call on Friday, 31st May 2024.
Paper Art Open Call
For our ‘Paper Art’ open call, we called upon our Artdemic creators to submit any paper based artwork, we encouraged them to explore the medium to create meaningful and beautiful works of art. We use some form of paper daily, it has evolved to become an essential part of human life and culture.
In recent years, Paper Arts has expanded as an art form to more than only a surface for paintings, drawings, and calligraphy. Paper itself is used as the primary material of the work, whether it be in the form of origami, quilling, kirigami, paper cutting, paper collages, paper sculptures or any other paper based art forms.
We had an overwhelming response to this open call and received exceptional works from our creators. We featured a curated selection of works every week for the duration of the call.
The Paper Art open call closed on Friday, 19th April 2024, Suman Kabiraj was named the winner of the call and he was awarded a micro-grant of ₹10,000/-.
Fiber Arts
The ‘Fiber Arts‘ open call, welcomed our community of creators to showcase their talent and creativity in the realm of Textile and Fiber Art.
The evidence of textiles can be found dating back to the prehistoric age — textiles have been created for millennia, as a way of protecting oneself from the elements. With time, humans began to create works of art with these natural fibers like silk, cotton, and wool; while making statements about our roles within society.
Today Textile Art can also be known by the terms fiber art or fabric art, is much more than the medieval tapestries you may immediately associate with the medium — but can take myriad forms.
Our creators submitted works related to the textile or fiber-based medium including but not limited to weaving, embroidery, quilting, felting, tapestries, mixed media, and more.
We received many breathtaking submissions that represented the best qualities of textile or fiber art, a curated selection of which were featured on our page every week of the open call.
The Textile & Fibre Arts Open Call closed on Wednesday, 27th March 2024 and Li Actuallee was awarded a micro grant of ₹10,000/-.
Any & All Art
We returned with our special edition of ‘Any & All Art’ for this open call. For this call, our community of creators did not need to work within the framework of a theme and there were absolutely no rules, the sky was the limit. We encouraged them to submit anything and everything, any artworks that were inspiring them at that moment.
We did things a little differently for this open call by announcing three winners instead of the usual one. However, as always, the Artdemic board of curators selected works which were featured on our page every week, for the duration of the call.
The Any & All Art open call came to a close on Sunday, 26th January 2024. VIP Passes to India Art Fair 2024, were awarded to the 2nd and 3rd runner up, Brijesh Kumar and Santosh Kumar respectively. The winner of this open call Laishram Membi won a micro grant of ₹10,000/- along with the VIP passes to India Art Fair 2024.
Street Art
We called upon all urban artists and graffiti maestros to unleash their creativity on the streets in our electrifying ‘Street Art’ open call, announced on 20th August.
Street art is an expressive form of visual art that takes place in public spaces, often utilizing the cityscape itself as a canvas. It encompasses a wide range of artistic styles and techniques, including graffiti, stencil art, murals, wheat pasting, and more. Unlike traditional art forms that are confined to galleries or museums, street art engages directly with the public, bringing art into everyday life and sparking conversations about culture, society, and the urban environment.
We received impressive submissions from our community of creators for the Street Art open call, which closed on Wednesday, 20th September 2023.
Anything Ceramic
We encouraged all ceramic enthusiasts to embrace the beauty of the medium in our open call – ‘Anything Ceramics’.
Ceramics are one of the oldest and most versatile art mediums, our creators explored the boundless possibilities of the medium. In contemporary art and design, ceramics continue to evolve as a dynamic medium, blurring the boundaries between traditional craftsmanship and innovative experimentation.
We asked our creators to experiment, innovate, and demonstrate the unique qualities of ceramics, through this open call. Our Artdemic board of curators selected artworks that were featured on our page every week, for the duration of the call.
Shivu Mahesh was named the winner of The Anything Ceramics Open Call which closed on Sunday, 20th August 2023 and he was awarded a micro grant of ₹10,000/-.
Power Of The Word
We were ecstatic to announce ‘The Power of the Word’ open call, an exciting call of The Spoken Word and Text based art. We invited our community of creators to reflect on and harness the significance of words in our lives, the weight they carry, and the responsibility we have in using them.
The call challenged our creators to reconsider the power dynamics embedded in language and encouraged them to question the dominant narratives that shape our understanding of the world.
As always, we welcomed all creators to submit works in any format ranging from drawings and paintings to photographs and spoken word performances.
The Power Of The Word open call came to a close on Sunday, 9th July 2023. We featured a curated selection of artwork on our page every week of the call and the micro grant of ₹10,000/- was awarded to Gurdev Singh.
Vuedemic 2.0
Vuedemic, the film extension of Artdemic, came back with a successful second edition, ‘Vuedemic 2.0’. We received exceptional works from artists and independent filmmakers through open call in collaboration with @gujralfoundation.
We accepted daily submissions and our Artdemic board of curators named Pavel Paul the winner of Vuedemic 2.0. Paul won a micro grant of ₹10,000 and will be part of a film festival at Harkat Studios in Mumbai.
Nature, Wildlife and Landscapes
Our previous open call was all about Nature, Wildlife and Landscapes!
This open call celebrated the magic of planet earth and all its natural elements. We featured artworks portraying natural elements such as earth, water, air, fire and all the landscapes and biological diversity that encompass them. Whether it’s a study of underwater creatures, wildlife photography, watercolour landscapes or animations based on the theme – we welcomed it all!
All creators were welcome to submit as many works as they liked or even a series of works. We encouraged artists, designers, architects, illustrators, photographers, animators and all creators to send in their work in any format ranging from drawings and paintings to photographs, performances and more. Submissions were free and open to all.
We accepted submissions daily and curated a selection of artwork every week on our page. The winners of the open call were Sudhir Shukla and Praveer Singh Bais and each won a micro grant of ₹10,000.
Figurative Works Open Call
We’re started 2023 with a bang! Our first open call of the year for Figurative Works, was announced on 5th January 2023.
Figurative art is representational of the human body in its form, figure, and structure. Usually overstated in style, figurative art is an expressive, avant-garde take on our anatomy.
As always, we invited our community of creators to send in submissions in any format ranging from drawings, illustrations, sculptures, paintings, photographs, animations, and performances. 26th January was the last date for submissions.
Sanchari Sinha was named the winner of the open call on 29th January 2023 and won a micro grant of ₹10,000.
The Edit Open Call
We were delighted to announce our open call for the first edition of ‘The Edit’– our FIRST-EVER BOOK. ‘The Edit’ is an online and offline publication showcasing the most spectacular artworks by our community of Artdemic creators.
And we have good news – all submissions we have received so far from our first open call, will be considered to be featured within the publication. This open call was our creators’ last chance to submit new works with an opportunity to be selected for the book. The last date of submissions was 1st January 2023.
All creators were welcome to submit their work. We encouraged artists, designers, architects, performers, illustrators, photographers, animators; to submit work in any format including drawings, illustrations, sculptures, paintings, photographs, animation and performances.
A curated selection of artworks were featured every week until the end of the open call. A Book Launch for The Edit has been scheduled for Summer 2023.
Graphic Arts Open Call
We were beyond excited to announce our Graphic Arts open call on 3rd November 2022.
In a more theoretical sense, a graphic can be loosely defined as a visual or illustrative representation of an idea, a thought or even a feeling. The mediums of which are ever-expanding and often are seen in the forms of illustrations, cartoons, graphic novels, animation, text-based works, comics, posters and more.
As always, all creators were welcome to submit their work in any format ranging from illustrations, drawings, comics and cartoons to graphic novels and animations. We showcased a curated selection of works every week.
Submissions for this open call closed on 24th November 2022 and a micro grant of ₹10,000 was awarded to Anandhu Unnikrishna Sarma on 27th November 2022.
Anything/ Everything
We were thrilled to announce our special edition open call titled Anything/Everything on 3rd October 2022.
This month, there were no rules or themes, anything and everything was welcome. The only rule was that there are no rules! We encouraged our community of creators to push their limits with this open call.
All creators were welcome to submit work including artists, designers, architects, illustrators, photographers, animators; to submit works and in any format; drawings, paintings, photographs, performance, animations to name a few. The last date of submission was 23rd October 2022.
As always, we featured a curated selection of works every week and from all the incredible submissions we received, our Artdemic board of curators awarded the micro grant of ₹10,000 to Nidhi Bodhana on 28th October 2022.
Architecture Open Call
We announced our open call for Architecture and Urban Landscape on 10th September 2022.
The concept of architecture dates back in history to when humans stopped living in caves and became conscious of the aesthetics of their urban surroundings. What started simply as an accommodation structure, through time turned into a tangible form of cultural thought. A language of its own, architecture can be a reflection of the societies it houses, and tell stories of its time.
As always, all creators were welcome to submit work in any format. The last date of submissions was 25th September 2022.
We featured a curated selection of works every week and a micro grant of ₹10,000 was awarded to Ananda Krishnan who had the top work from the open call, as judged by our Artdemic board of curators.
Portraiture Open Call
We were delighted to announce our open call for Portraiture on 16th June 2022.
Portraiture is one of the oldest genres in art history, going back at least to ancient Egypt. Before the invention of photography, a painted, sculpted, or drawn portrait was the only way to record the appearance of someone. But portraits have always been more than just a record. Portraits have the capability to portray more than just the likeness of a person. They tell us about the culture of the person, their psychology and even the wider cultural and societal context.
All creators were welcome to submit work; photographers, artists, illustrators, designers, and animators in any format; photographs, paintings, drawings, sculptures, illustrations, and animations to name a few. The deadline for submissions was 3rd July 2022.
We featured a curated selection of works every week. Nandita Basak was named the winner on 13th July 2022 and was awarded a micro-grant of Rs. 10,000.
Photography Open Call
On 1st March 2022, we announced our now concluded open call for the art of photography. Photographs have the power to stop time, capture memories, and transport us back into another moment. They help us relate to each other as humans, and give us a window into the lives of another. Photographs have the ability to tell stories words cannot.
Which is why we wanted to see the world through the lens of our creators’. We welcomed everyone to submit, from seasoned photographers to hobbyists, and in any format, digital or analog.
For this open call, we asked our growing community of creators’ to respond to the following themes – Hindsight: This could be things relating to the past – memories, nostalgia and family histories. Foresight: This could be things relating to the future, such as warnings about what the future will look like if we don’t change our habits now. And, Insight: This could be anything that has a deeper meaning from personal journeys to emotional inner or outer dialogues.
Aishwarya Das, Shrikanth R. Poojari and Arka Sinha were selected as the winners of the Photography open call, by our Artdemic board of curators. They were awarded micro grants of Rs. 10,000 (each).
Future Flex
Artdemic in partnership with India Art Fair and The Gujral Foundation, hosted Future Flex, an Artdemic open call, to select an artist to design the facade of the India Art Fair 2022 tents.
Artdemic announced the open call on 1st November 2021 and gave our community of creators the incredible opportunity to use the 1,30,000 sq. foot. tents as their canvas to bring their creative visions to life and have it seen by cultural influencers, leaders in the art world and art lovers from around the world.
The creators responded to the theme Deep Future to design their artworks for this open call. On 23rd November 2021, Anshuka Mahapatra, a 24-year-old artist was named the winner of over 100 entries, offering her an incredible opportunity to showcase her work on a giant scale at India’s leading art fair.
The artist’s (whose practice is rooted in printmaking) work celebrated the ideas of hope, love, life and togetherness. Using poetic phrases in seven regional Indian languages, including Odia, Assamese, Kannada, Hindi, Gujarati, Malayalam and English; the artist brought to mind fleeting and evocative moments of beauty from everyday life.
Vuedemic open call
Vuedemic, the film counterpart of Artdemic, in collaboration with The Gujral Foundation and Harkat Studios were delighted to present an all-encompassing selection of unique audio-visual work, in a 3-day online short-film festival from 17th – 19th September 2021 on the Harkat Live platform.
The first ever Wild Vueing Weekend was very well attended and took audiences through a range of films, exploring both the art film space as well as narrative shorts. Coming from a variety of makers, these films were loosely tied by their introspective approach and artistic nature. Harkat Studios created the programme for the festival and the films screened at the festival were selected through submissions received through the open call.
The jury consisted of the talented teams at The Gujral Foundation and Harkat Studios. There were exciting prizes up for grabs for the filmmakers who came first, second and third during the Wild Vueing Weekend.
Vuedemic was thrilled to announce the winners of the 1st edition of our Wild Vueing Weekend – Better Man by Mrinal Bahukhandi was awarded first place. After seeing all the amazing films they decided to name two films in second place – Leaving Home by Harshil Bhanushali and Makara by Prantik Basu. Under The Rug by Nayanika Chatterjee came in third place.
Freedom open call
The second open call was the Freedom open call, Artdemic showcased two pieces of work every single day from the 19th of August till the 5th of September. The winner of the open call was awarded a Rs. 15,000 cash prize. The Freedom open call was one that called for artwork relating to any and all sorts of freedom, political or individual, from ideologies to conceptual thoughts. Creators were asked to use the space to express freely what freedom meant to them. Tito Stanley was announced the winner of the Freedom open call on 6th of September.
Pandemic open call
The open call which gave birth to this creative universe was the Pandemic open call, which ran from 24th May to 16th August 2021. Two creators were awarded a cash prize of Rs. 10,000 (each) per week for a duration of 12 weeks. Through this open call, creators were asked to submit artworks that they created during the pandemic. They received incredible artworks through the open call submissions – each week a number of creators’ works were showcased and the winners of the week were announced.
The winners of Artdemic’s first ever open call were: Isha Itwala and Vivek Das (Week 1); Chathuri Nissan Sala and Amar Limboo (Week 2); Anant Jain and Sarthak Chauhan (Week 3); Aishwarya Das and Shailesh Chavda (Week 4); Chris Basumatary and Manisha Agrawal (Week 5); Nayanjyoti Barman and Naphisabiang Khongwir (Week 6); Bibhu Nath and IlIesha K & Deep Deka (Week 7); Aakash Dubey and Sarban Chowdhury (Week 8); Satyanarayana Gavara and D.Priyanka (Week 9); Kunal Naskar and Pulak KR Sarkar (Week 10); Jayeeta Chatterjee and Archana Singh (Week 11); Kanika Nagpal and Achintya Bhattacharya (Week 12).