Science Gallery Network
Bringing science, art, technology and design together, Science Gallery delivers unique, transdisciplinary exhibitions, events and educational programmes that engage millions of inquiring minds every year in connective, participative, and surprising ways.
The Science Gallery Network is an international collaboration of leading universities dedicated to public engagement through interdisciplinary art-science initiatives. As a Network, we seek to change the world through youth-led perspectives, igniting conversations and collaborations, and support young people to find connection, hope and agency through curiosity and creativity. We will achieve this as a global platform with a critical mass of public venues and digital spaces engaging millions of people.
Open calls
Each open call runs for 5 - 6 weeks. Ready your submission at least a few days before the deadline to ensure you have no technical difficulties and can have any queries answered in advance. The submission form closes automatically on the last day, and late submissions will not be accepted.
Most open C lls are run by individual locations in the Network (Atlanta, Bengaluru, Berlin, Dublin, London, Melbourne and Monterrey). Be sure to reach out directly to the correct location that has launched the call for any queries about their process. If the call is run by multiple locations simultaneously, a specific contact will be provided on the call page. Contact information for questions can always be found on an individual Open Call page. Review process dates are clearly published, and results are communicated shortly thereafter.
Technical difficulties with the application forms should be addressed to Submittable directly.
Science Gallery Bengaluru, in collaboration with Bangalore International Centre, is pleased to announce the QUANTUM Film Festival. We invite filmmakers to share completed works in any language, format, or genre that explore the theme of our ongoing exhibition-season, QUANTUM.
What if something could be in two places at once? What happens when observing something changes what you see? Could two particles remain connected across vast distances?
Quantum physics has transformed how we understand the world. From the scientists and experiments that first challenged established ideas about matter and light, to today's efforts to build quantum computers, develop new forms of communication, and understand the universe, quantum science is a story of strange discoveries, failed experiments, radical ideas, and technological possibility.
Its ideas have travelled far beyond the laboratory. Superposition, entanglement, uncertainty, and the observer effect have inspired generations of filmmakers, writers, and artists to imagine parallel worlds, alternate realities, teleportation, time loops, doubles, and other strange possibilities.
This year, the QUANTUM Film Festival explores the many worlds opened up by quantum ideas, both real and imagined. We welcome films that engage with quantum science and emerging technologies, as well as works that play with questions of probability, observation, multiple realities, coincidence, uncertainty, and the unknown.
Submissions are open to independent filmmakers, amateurs, and professionals alike. Whether documentary, fiction, experimental film, animation, science fiction, horror, comedy, or something else entirely, we invite storytellers to take us somewhere unexpected.
Alongside screenings, the festival will feature conversations and public programmes that bring filmmakers, artists, researchers, and the public together to explore the strange, speculative, and very real worlds of quantum science.
Timeline
- Call opens: 20 September 2026
- Round 1 closes: 20 October 2026
- Round 2 closes: 20 November 2026
- Films Shortlist: 15 January 2027
- Film Festival: 24-25 April 2027
Venue: Bangalore International Centre
Who can submit?
We are open to national and international submissions from broadcasters, producers, filmmakers, film students, researchers, scientific organisations, NGOs, public organisations, and online channels. We accept films across all languages. For non-English films, please ensure English subtitles are provided to make the screening accessible.
Is there a screening fee?
The festival is an open public event, and there are no costs associated with submitting a film. Selected filmmakers will be offered a nominal screening fee.
When will I hear about the selection?
Shortlisted filmmakers will hear from us in January 2027. We are unable to provide feedback on individual submissions at any stage of the selection process. Directors, producers, or distributors will be contacted upon selection of their films, and any additional requests for material or publicity may be made at that time.
For any queries regarding the open call, please drop us an email at programmes@bengaluru.sciencegallery.com
Look closer. The world around you is full of tiny mysteries and quiet surprises, waiting to be noticed. QUANTUM: Through Your Eyes invites you to look at the familiar differently—to notice something strange in an ordinary moment, or something ordinary in the strange.
A shadow that doesn't seem to belong. A reflection that alters what is real. Two things that appear unexpectedly connected. A fleeting moment held still. A pattern that seems to shift as you look at it.
Quantum physics describes the behaviour of matter and light at the smallest scales, where the familiar rules of the everyday world begin to behave differently. Ideas such as superposition, entanglement, duality and measurement have changed how we understand what we see—and what it means to observe something at all.
Photography has its own connection to this world. Light interacting with the sensor of a digital camera involves quantum phenomena; every photograph is, in some way, a trace of light being observed and recorded.
QUANTUM: Through Your Eyes invites young photographers aged 18–30 from around the world to explore these ideas through photography. We are interested in what happens when you follow a thought, a feeling, an observation or a coincidence—and look at the world a little more closely.
What might Spin look like? What does it mean to Entangle? Where might you find Duality, Measure, Tunnel or Superpose?
Selected participants will be mentored by interdisciplinary artist Arpan Mukherjee, and their works will be showcased as part of Science Gallery Bengaluru's QUANTUM exhibition season.
Timeline:
Call goes live: 27 September 2026
Call closes: 27 October 2026
Mentorship session: 17 January 2027
Showcase: 14 February 2027
Prompts:
Spin
Entangle
Duality
Measure
Tunnel
Superpose
No prior knowledge of quantum physics is required. These prompts are only intended as conceptual starting points rather than literal definitions, and participants are encouraged to interpret them through their own personal, cultural, or imaginative perspectives.
Participant Guidelines:
- This call is open to photographers aged 18–30 from India only.
- You may submit up to five photographs per person.
- Your submission must be a photograph made by you.
- Photographs must meet the minimum resolution required for exhibition: 4961 × 7016 pixels, sufficient for printing at A2 size (420 × 594 mm) at 300 ppi. Photographs that do not meet this minimum specification will not be considered.
- Experimental photographic practices including multiple exposures, collage, and digital or analogue manipulation are all welcome. AI-assisted photography is permitted with disclosure, but fully AI-generated images are not eligible.
- Please submit photographs as high-quality JPEG or TIFF files. File size may vary depending on format and compression; pixel dimensions are the determining requirement.
- The photograph must not have previously won or placed in another competition, or been published in an official capacity in magazines, exhibitions, or similar platforms.
- Each photograph must be accompanied by a 50–150 word description or caption in English. If your submission is in another language, please include an English translation. Photographs without supporting text will not be considered.
- Please include a brief bio of 50–150 words. This may be written in any language, but should be accompanied by an English translation.
- You must own the rights to the work you submit. Any copyright violations or issues concerning permissions may result in disqualification.
- If your photograph includes children, you must have secured permission from the child's parent or legal guardian to photograph and submit the work.
- Any conflicts, issues, or violations arising from the sharing of the photograph will be the responsibility of the photographer and/or subject. Science Gallery Bengaluru will not be liable for disputes arising from submitted works.
- Photographs must not contain nudity or derogatory, racist, discriminatory, or hateful commentary or imagery. Such entries will not be considered.
- You retain all rights to your work. By submitting your photograph, you grant Science Gallery Bengaluru the right to use and reproduce it in connection with QUANTUM: Through Your Eyes and the QUANTUM exhibition season, including for exhibition, documentation, archival, and promotional purposes. Submitted works may also be archived on the Science Gallery Bengaluru website.
About the Mentor
Arpan Mukherjee is a visual artist, printmaker, educator, and researcher whose practice explores the intersections of photography, printmaking, material processes, and image histories. His work engages with archival and found images, historical and alternative photographic processes, and photomechanical printmaking, addressing questions of memory, migration, displacement, and changing landscapes. With over two decades of teaching experience, he is an Associate Professor of Graphic Art (Printmaking) at Kala Bhavana, Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan. He is also co-founder of Studio Goppo, a photography research centre in Santiniketan dedicated to historical photographic processes, experimental image-making, research, and collaborative learning.
About SGB
Science Gallery Bengaluru (SGB) is India's only and Asia's first Science Gallery, a not-for-profit public institution at Sanjaynagar, Bengaluru. SGB was established with the founding support of the Government of Karnataka and academic partners Indian Institute of Science, and National Centre for Biological Sciences. Our work for research-based engagement works at the intersection of science, art, and society to engage young adults through Live Exhibitions, Public Engagement Programmes, Mentorship Initiative, and a pioneering Public Lab Complex.
For any queries regarding the open call, please drop us an email at programmes@bengaluru.sciencegallery.com