OPEN CALL FOR LENS-BASED PRACTITIONERS

PHOTOGRAPHY | VIDEO | NEW MEDIA

DEADLINE: 18 APRIL 2025

Serendipity Arts Foundation & Les Rencontres d’Arles, supported by the French Institute in India, Announce the Third Edition of the Serendipity Arles Grant

Applications Now Open: Inviting Lens-based Practitioners from South Asia for Serendipity Arles Grant 2025-26

Serendipity Arts Foundation, in collaboration with Les Rencontres d’Arles and supported by the French Institute in India, is pleased to announce that applications are now open for the third edition of the Serendipity Arles Grant 2025-26. This important grant, launched in 2020, is the largest of its kind dedicated to lens-based practitioners from South Asia, fostering creative exchange and cross-cultural dialogue through photography, video, new media, and other lens-based practices.

The Serendipity Arles Grant seeks to empower artists from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, providing a platform to develop and showcase their work both regionally and internationally. In its previous editions, the grant has supported award-winning projects such as Town Boy by Sathish Kumar (2022) and A Fate’s Brief Memoir by Paribartana Mohanty (2024), both of which were exhibited at Les Rencontres d’Arles, France, one of the world’s most prestigious photography festivals.

The Two-Phase Opportunity

The 2025-26 edition will once again offer a structured, two-phase opportunity:

  • Phase 1: Five shortlisted projects will each receive a production grant of INR 70,000 (approx. €800) and be presented as a work-in-progress showcase at the Serendipity Arts Festival 2025 in Goa.
  • Phase 2: From this showcase, one finalist will be selected to receive a total grant of €15,000 (inclusive of travel, production, presentation rights, accommodation, and other direct costs) to further develop their project and present it as a solo exhibition at Les Rencontres d’Arles in 2026.

Eligibility Criteria

  • Applicants must be 30 years or older.
  • Must have 5 to 10 years of practice in a lens-based discipline.
  • Must be a resident of one of the eligible South Asian countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka).

Application Deadline

The deadline to apply is April 18, 2025, at 11:59 PM IST.

This grant underscores Serendipity Arts Foundation’s continued commitment to fostering artistic innovation, regional collaboration, and global visibility for South Asian lens-based artists.

For more information and to apply, please visit: https://serendipityarts.org/open-calls

Serendipity Arts, a Munjal initiative for creativity, is a not-for-profit arts and cultural development foundation that fosters cultural development and supports emerging artists across South Asia. It aims to promote new creative strategies, artistic interventions, and cultural partnerships that are responsive, addressing the social, cultural and environmental milieus of South Asia. The Foundation’s programmes are designed and initiated through innovative collaborations with partners across a multitude of fields, impacting education, promoting social growth via community development programmes, and exploring interdisciplinarity across the arts. | www.serendipityartsfestival.com

The French Institute in India (IFI) is the Education, Science and Culture service of the Embassy of France in India. It facilitates academic and scientific exchange between higher institutes of learning and research, enables student mobility, and promotes the French language, and artistic and cultural partnerships. Cooperation between India and France takes place through a number of sectors: Arts & Culture, Books & Ideas, French Language & Education, Study in France programme, Academic Partnerships, Science and Technology, as well as Innovation and Multimedia. | www.ifindia.in

For over 50 years, the annual Rencontres d’Arles photography festival has participated in transforming and disseminating the medium alongside great names in the field. Year after year, the festival tries to make sense of a changing world. During the summer, visitors can see nearly 40 exhibitions in historic, contemporary and unexpected places and meet artists and curators on the program. At night, Arles continues to pulsate with festive events revolving around photography. All year, the Rencontres d’Arles offers courses in photography, visual education and reading images. Since 2016, the Grand Arles Express and its 15 exhibitions have showcased the vibrancy and diversity of photography in the South of France. The Rencontres d’Arles also has an international presence with the Jimei × Arles International Photo Festival in Xiamen, China. | www.rencontres-arles.com