Shanghai International Paper Art Biennale has been held in Fengxian District of Shanghai for the past nine years. The year 2025 will usher in the "Ten years of progress, ten years of spring and autumn" international Paper Art exhibition.

The theme will be "Paper and Water". In this regard, IAPMA Congress 2025 is intended to be held concurrently in Shanghai, China 2025.

We welcome everyone to actively participate and witness this glorious moment together with the organisers of the biennale.

The 2025 Shanghai International Paper Art Biennale will be juried by the Organising Committee, consisting of officials from Shanghai Fengxian Museum and the Shanghai International Paper Art Biennale's Organising team.

The submitted artworks can be two- or three- dimensional paper artworks.

All paper-related techniques are accepted such as casting, folding, paper maché, pulp painting, encaustic, etc.

All kinds of paper artworks are accepted, including book art, paper collage, paper fashion, paper jewellery, paper installations and more.

Artists can submit up to 3 artworks. The Organising Committee of Shanghai International Paper Art Biennale would appreciate receiving your artwork as a donation for the museum when the exhibition is over.

The exhibition will be covered by the media.

Art critics, curators, collectors and paper art enthusiasts will be invited to visit the exhibition.

The selected works will then be exhibited and sold at the annual charity fair organised by the Art Foundation.

The organiser will take a 20% commission from the sale price of the works.

After the work is sold, the artist will be notified and the money will be transferred to the artist's bank account after deducting 10% VAT and taxes.

Forums, workshops and other activities will be held during the exhibition.

We strongly encourage you to attend the exhibition in person as an exhibiting artist, as artists may be invited to give lectures at colleges and universities or hired as art consultants by local governments.

There are other benefits

• Participants will receive an exhibition catalogue and a certificate issued by the Ministry of Culture and Shanghai Fengxian Museum.
•  Artists and their works will receive wide exposure in well-known media.
•  Selected works will be collected by local museums or paper art museums in Fengxian District.

Exhibition Schedule

Final submission deadline: September 10, 2025

Jury Notice for Priority Submission: August 20, 2025 — September 1, 2025

Jury Notice for Post Submission: September 5, 2025 — September 10, 2025

Deadline for artwork arrival: September 25, 2025

Exhibition dates: November 1st, 2025 — February 28, 2026

Return of artworks: From April 2026 onwards

Theme: “Paper & Water”

Water covers more than 70% of the Earth's surface and is the basis of our existence.

In traditional Chinese philosophy, water represents the cycle of life as one of the five elements.

With its powerful Yin energy, the element of water symbolises purity, transformation, clarity and calm.

Water symbolises fertile life and longevity.

Like flowing water, all living things on this planet begin in constant motion, leading to constant change and renewal.

Water is a fundamental element in nature, but also for hand papermaking and for creating works of art.

The flow of water is invisible, and it is important in the production and creation of handmade paper.

It washes, soaks, decomposes and fuses paper fibre, raw material and allows artists to maintain the variability of their works in the creation of handmade paper and paper art, thus creating a variety of possibilities for paper art.

The theme of 2025 Shanghai Paper Art Biennale is “PAPER & WATER” which has both a historical and humanistic meaning and reflects the local nature of contemporary art creation.

Important:

Please avoid in your artwork political, religious and anti-Chinese content as well as local language content in each country.

If there are textual expressions other than English in the work, please provide an explanation and creative concept of their meaning in English in the submission form.

Artwork Size, Weight, Packaging:

1. 2-dimensional: MINIMUM: 50 x 50 cm (20 x 20 inches), exceptions can be made, large-scale artworks welcome

2. 3-dimensional: MINIMUM: 50 x 50 x 50 cm (20 x 20 x 20 inches), exceptions can be made, large-scale artworks welcome

3. Paper Installation:Size is not limited and the packaging needs to be convenient for transportation.

4. All artworks should arrive ready for display, either framed or with any special hooks or hardware needed and a manual on installation / handling / caretaking.

5. All works must arrive in safe and reusable packaging.

Submission Guideline:

1. Provide  the title, dimensions, medium, description, and intent of your work. We also accept beautiful small works while welcome large paper art installations

2. At least 3 digital pictures of your work – 600-800 dpi in .jpg or .tif format

3. CV in Chinese and English – brief, A4 size in .doc format. The information is important for the catalog and web presentation, but will not affect the selection process.  

4. Personal  potrait  photo – 400*600 dpi in .jpg format

If the paper artworks contain the characters of various languages, please include separate sheets of paper in the package and clearly mark their creativity or the meaning to be expressed in English.