Open Call: Allmende / Commons 2026

minus20degree is a contemporary art and architecture exhibition that takes places every 2 years in Flachau, Austria. The exhibition lasts for 3 days, from 22 till 24 January 2026.

We are looking for artists in the field of sound art, videoart, performance, theater, installation, or dynamic land art for our 2026 edition.

We are especially interested in art that takes and needs space, art that is mobile or makes the audience move. We also look forward to receiving proposals for sound- and videoart that embraces the snowy landscape as an endless projection surface.

minus20degree provides outside space for art that is controversial, provocative, but founded. minus20degree is completely independent, thus does not need to please or go easy on the audience.

All art works need to be conceptualized and produced especially for minus20degree.

Allmende / Commons

The 8th edition of minus20degree takes the term, Allmende, as its starting point. Allmende, or in English, the Commons, refers to a shared ground and its resources “was jedem gehört” what belongs to all. The allmende is rooted in a social agreement of collective ownership, ensuring that no one takes more than is harmful for the resource and for the other participants, such that all can benefit. 
In a time of increased individualization and privatization, minus20degree seeks to discuss and contemplate the Commons, the Allmende. What does it mean today and where can we still find common ground?

Jury

Britta Peters (Urbane Künste Ruhr)
Cornelia Offergeld (KÖR, Kunst im öffentlichen Raum Wien)
Vlado Velkov (Augmented Studies)

Location

minus20degree is an exhibition which takes place entirely outside. All possible sites are therefore exposed to the elements. Temperatures might be as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius but this is not guaranteed. It might snow but it can also rain. Therefore, all artworks must be water and temperature resistant. The amount of snow cannot be predicted. Genereally there are 20-60 cm in the valley and up to 150 cm on the mountains.

Flachau is a village with a large variety of natural and manmade landscapes. It is a highly touristic village with about 2.700 inhabitants that can host over 10.000 guests. Hotels, ski lifts and ski slopes are very present elements in the landscape as well as barely touched forests, fields, and mountains tops. The entire village and its surrounding can be used as a site for artistic intervention.

We see infrastructure as a place where forms of Allmende might still be found. This is why we are especially looking for artistic submissions that intervene in these already existing infrastructures of the village or work with existing communities. Think of buses, hiking paths and public buildings, or the voluntary fire brigade, the church and the local pub.

For the open call it is not neccesery to know your exact location already. Once the project is selected the m20d team will help the artist(s) to find an ideal spot for the work in the requested landscape or will help to find an alternative setting.

How to apply

Application is open to individuals, pairs or collectives at any stage of their career. Please submit your proposal via the form on our website, you can only submit one pfd which consists of:

Short description of the work (max. 150 words)
Long description of the work (max. 500 words)
Visualization of the work: technical drawings and/or script of execution of the work, max. 2 pages
Total production budget of the artwork (including build-up and removal of the artwork)
CV with contact information including name, phone number, email address and links (if existing), max. 1 page

Proposals that do not meet the criteria mentioned above will not be considered.

Please note:

Stability and security of the artwork is in the hands of the artist. Ownership of the artwork remains with the artist.
Support

1 000,-      artist fee
2 000,-      production fee
  400,-       travel costs

up to 6 nights’ accommodation during the exhibition
one week residency in Flachau incl. travel costs and accommodation; dates TBD but preceding exhibition
support from the m20d team with preparations
professional documentation of the work
Extra funding is very welcome and will be supported by minus20degree.