OPEN CALL

issue #002 STRANGERS

Issue #002 STRANGERS is open for submissions.

We invite early career UK-based writers, photographers and creatives to contribute work that critically engages with the issue’s central question, ‘Who is really a stranger?’

Through art, photography, writing and editorial practice, the issue will explore the ‘strange’, ‘stranger’ and ‘other’ in contemporary UK culture. We are interested in how strangeness is experienced, constructed, resisted, or reimagined in today’s social, political and cultural landscape.

Contributors are asked to make new work or submit existing work that responds to this theme. We also welcome work that engages critically, imaginatively, or experimentally with the following topics:

British identity, globalisation, religion and colonial legacies
Technology and AI
The embodied: memory, mental health, language and intimacy

Meet the Selection Panel

Nikki Nita Ramírez – Curator, Art Historian, Co-Founder of Danuser & Ramírez

Temitayo Famakinwa – Curator, Media Coordinator at Saatchi Yates

Stella Smith – Curator and Consultant, Founder of Izena Art Advisory

Julita Mahner Viñas – Cultural Curator, Art Director, Associate Lecturer at the Royal College of Art, RCA BLK Mentor

What Selected Contributors Receive

A feature in a 200-page print magazine issue

Exhibition opportunity at a London gallery (2-3 October 2026)

Portfolio credits, editorial development, and mentorship where possible

A paid commission rate

Production expenses covered

There is no fee to submit.

Eligibility

Open to UK-based early career, under-represented creatives working in any medium (excluding AI-generated work). No academic background is required.

We particularly encourage submissions from under-represented practitioners, including (but not limited to) those from working-class backgrounds, diasporic communities, people of colour, people with disabilities and marginalised genders or sexualities.

Timeline

Submissions open: 15 May 2026

Submissions close: 15 June 2026

Successful contributors announced by: 20 June 2026

Issue launch and exhibition: 2-3 October 2026 - London, UK