CISTA ARTS invites artists to submit work for Acts of Address, an online exhibition taking place in September 2026. We welcome submissions from artists working across all visual art disciplines.

Acts of Address: Gesture, Image and the World We Speak To

Exibition Theme:

Every artwork addresses someone or something. It may speak directly, remain quiet, offer a sign, hold a trace, make a demand, open a conversation, or create a space for recognition.

A work may address a viewer, a loved one, a stranger, a community, a place, an archive, an absent body, a political condition, a private memory, or an imagined future.

Acts of Address invites artists to consider how images, objects, gestures and materials communicate.

The exhibition looks at the ways artworks reach beyond themselves: through language, silence, touch, movement, symbolism, protest, ritual, correspondence, refusal, care, intimacy, distance, public voice or quiet presence.

This theme is deliberately open and welcomes a wide range of approaches.

Artists may respond through painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, installation, collage, textiles, digital work, moving image, sound, performance documentation, text-based work, mixed media or interdisciplinary practice.

Submissions may be figurative or abstract, personal or collective, direct or ambiguous.

At a time when communication is often fragmented, accelerated or mediated through screens, Acts of Address asks what it means to reach another person, to be heard, to remain silent, to translate experience, or to hold space for what cannot be easily said.

The exhibition is interested in works that explore how meaning is formed between the artwork and its audience, between private experience and public expression, and between the visible and the unspoken.

Artists are encouraged to interpret the theme broadly.

Works may explore the body as a site of gesture, the image as a form of communication, the material object as a carrier of memory, or the artwork as an invitation, message, question, encounter or act of witness.

Acts of Address seeks to bring together works that consider how art can speak across distance, difference and uncertainty, while opening new ways of seeing, listening and responding.

Dates:

Submission Deadline: 13 August 2026
Exhibition Dates: 1- 30 September 2026

Submission Guidelines:

We are keen to learn about you! Please submit the following:

• Contact information (full name, email, mobile)

• Details of the artworks (title, size, medium, year, price)

• Artist statement (max 100 words on how your work relates to the theme)

• Short biography (max 100 words, third-person)

• Up to 4 sample images of your work

Please note: Only two artworks per artist will be selected for exhibition.

Selected Participants Will Receive:

• Exhibition of your work on the CISTA ARTS online platform (1-30 September 2026)

• Inclusion in a limited edition, professionally produced paperback catalogue (UK-based) + complimentary PDF copy

• No commission taken on sales

• Daily social media features in our Meet the Artist series

• Exhibition placement on our homepage + archived access after close

• Direct links to your website or social media in all features

• Certificate of participation

Participation Fee: 

£30 for one accepted artwork | £50 for two accepted artworks

Applying to this exhibition opportunity is free.

Participation Fee Benefits:

Selected artists will have their work exhibited online for the full month on our homepage, included in a professionally produced printed and digital exhibition catalogue, featured in daily social media promotion under our ‘Meet the Artist’ series, and receive a certificate of participation. 

CISTA ARTS takes no commission on sales.

Digital Exposure and Reach:

• We currently have over 12.1K followers on Instagram, in addition to a Facebook audience and a mailing list of over 2K subscribers.
• Our online exhibitions attract between 1,200–1,800 unique visitors, and our website receives more than 4,000 visits per month.

• Each participating artist will be permanently featured on our Past Exhibitions page, with direct links to their own website or social media for continued exposure.

Exhibition Access:

The exhibition is fully accessible to the public via our official website, with no login or fee required.

Exhibition History:

Since our founding in 2018, CISTA ARTS has organised over 50 solo and group exhibitions, both online and in hybrid formats. 

Our platform is designed to support emerging and mid-career artists across borders, particularly those facing visa and mobility restrictions.

Artist Feedback:

We have received consistently positive reviews from artists who have worked with us, with many praising our professionalism, communication, and the quality of our exhibitions. 

These testimonials can be viewed on our Google Reviews page.

About Us:

Based in London, CISTA ARTS is an independent, artist-led curatorial platform dedicated to inclusive programming, cross-cultural dialogue, and supporting underrepresented voices in contemporary visual art.