New Contemporaries Submissions

We welcome submissions from emerging and early career artists who are final year students, recent graduates and postgraduate students from UK art schools and alternative learning programmes.


Submissions will be accepted online between 6 January 2021 (10am) and 1 March 2021 (2pm).

To apply, up to 5 artworks should be submitted through our submission website.

There is a £25 submission fee, which goes towards the administration costs of the selection process. The fee is non-refundable and is to be paid through PayPal on the submission site.


Being selected for the 2021 programme includes:

  • Exhibiting as part of Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2021 at both Firstsite, Colchester & South London Gallery with an artist’s fee and reasonable travel and accommodation costs covered for the private view of both exhibitions;

  • Participating in New Contemporaries Bridget Riley Artists’ Professional Development Programme, which includes 1to1 mentoring delivered in partnership with Artquest; Peer Networking Sessions; Symposia and other educational opportunities;
  • Contributing to our Digital Programme of blogs, vlogs, workshops, events and the opportunity to present work on our online spaces;
  • Being eligible, as alumni, for Studio Bursaries, Residencies, Scholarships and other opportunities;
  • Being part of a network of other participating artists and previous alumni that spans over 70 years including: post-war figures Frank Auerbach, Bruce Lacey and Paula Rego; pop artists Frank Bowling, Patrick Caulfield and David Hockney; new media pioneers Stuart Brisley, Helen Chadwick and Derek Jarman; YBAs Damien Hirst, Chris Ofili and Gillian Wearing; alongside contemporary figures such as Tacita Dean, Sunil Gupta, Mark Leckey and Mona Hatoum; and more recently a new generation of exceptional artists including Monster Chetwynd, Rachel Maclean, Haroon Mirza, Hardeep Pandhal, Laure Prouvost and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye.


We are committed to inclusion and equal opportunities and encourage submissions from artists of all backgrounds, ages, genders, socio-economic backgrounds, ethnicities, religions, sexual orientations, and from those who identify as having a disability.

Accessibility

We are happy to assist artists who may identify as having a disability with the application process. Please contact us at submissions@newcontemporaries.org.uk.

An audio version of the guidelines can be found on each page and a step-by-step video on uploading your submission can be found here:



Audio Guidelines:


Download the full Submission Guidelines here:

New Contemporaries 2021 Submission Guidelines