What, How & for Whom / WHW launches its annual open call for WHW Akademija. The program for 2026 continues under the title Remember Freedom and is borrowed from a speech given by science fiction writer Ursula K. Le Guin at the National Book Award reception in 2014. More than ten years ago, she urged society to face up to the difficult times that were then on the horizon and have now arrived, and, in doing so, not to forget the freedom held by poets and artists - "the realists of a larger reality".

‍

Applications for the eighth year of this tuition-free transdisciplinary study program are now invited. The programme is open to artists based anywhere while focusing on artistic practices primarily grounded in the Balkans and Central and Eastern Europe. The programme works with participants on new forms of self-determination based on critical reflection and curiosity, and supports this through encounters with artists, artworks, arts professionals, scholars, and practitioners from various disciplines which will be announced in April.

‍

WHW Akademija offers localized knowledge of the region, its artists and (hi)stories, as well as its political urgencies. It aims to escape the regime of total visibility and competitiveness, by offering a framework for artistic work that is not about inclusion in the art system, but a critical and propositional challenge to the image/role of art and the system in which it operates. WHW Akademija takes its autonomy seriously and we believe it is a safe space for emerging artists and all other participants involved, while also encouraging risk-taking with its autonomous trajectories collectively shaped and defended.

‍

TIMELINE

The program starts in April 2026 and runs through October 2026, launching with online sessions in April, before convening a first in-person gathering in Zagreb in May. The program continues online until the end  of October 2026, when the participants will once more reconvene in Zagreb and visit Bihać.

Application deadline: 2.3.2026.

Interviews: March 2026

Final status notification: by the end of March 2026

‍

First in person session in Zagreb: 20. – 30.5.2026.

‍

Second in person session in Zagreb and Bihać: 4. – 10.10.2026.

‍

Online participation schedule will be announced in April 2026 for chosen participants.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

WHW Akademija is open for international participants. It is open to individuals who are still in the formative stages of developing an independent artistic practice and are seeking to deepen their formal, theoretical, and critical skills. We encourage applications from those interested in the proposed topics. Applicants must commit to the full assigned schedule.

‍

The working language of WHW Akademija is English.

‍

TUITION & COSTS

WHW Akademija is a tuition-free program. Program-related costs (including accommodation) in Zagreb and Bihać will be covered by WHW. Travel costs to and from Croatia will be reimbursed.

‍
HOW TO APPLY

Please submit applications only through this application form. Applications must be received by March the 2nd, 2026 and include the following 

information:

• CV
• short biography (250 words max.)
• statement about your work (2 pages max.)

• one PDF portfolio (15 pages max.) containing work descriptions, images with captions, and links to media hosted on YouTube, Vimeo, and SoundCloud.

Please title all your files according to the following formulation: “Last name, first name[_CV / _biography /_statement / _portfolio].”