Southnord has announced the open call for UP NEXT 2026 (2 September – 30 October 2026), their exhibition dedicated to showcasing the next generation of Afro-Nordic artists. The selected work will be showcased in a solo exhibition at the Southnord Artspace in Stockholm, Sweden.
This year, they take inspiration from the Southnord Artfest 2026 opening in Helsinki in 2026, the headline exhibition of which is titled ‘The Other Side of the Mountain’. The show imagines cities as organisms and landscapes as state design that trace routes across past, present and future.
Southnord invites emerging artists working within the visual arts to submit work that reflects, expands upon or goes into dialogue with the theme of routes/roots. The theme is dual purpose and can mean both a fixed path of delivery from one place to another and a place of origin. This can include, but not limited to, work about migration, movement, land, language and memory. Applicants are free interpret the theme in alignment with their practice.
Artists aged 18–28 of African descent, born or residing in the Nordics (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden) can apply. It is open to all visual art disciplines, including drawing, photography, painting, sculpture, installation, digital art and videography.
An exhibition honorarium and a stipend covering travel costs to attend the opening of the exhibition will be provided.
