open call for artists
WAKEUP Festival
Thematique: ‘Art as a Tool of Resistance’
Location: Geneva
16 - 21 September 2025
-
Do you want to take part in the 7th edition of WAKE UP festivals and join our community?
Are you an artist and would like to tell your story about resistance?
We are collaborating with artists from around the world to host a one-week festival where artists can share their practices, and their understandings of resistance, and connect with fellow artists and communities. The aim of WAKEUP festivals is:
to create long lasting collaborations between international exiled artists, artists who view their art as a method of resistance, and local Geneva communities;
to make the general public aware of the many global and interconnected challenges we are facing today, from a wide range of perspectives;
to nurture connections that spark communication, in an environment where everyone feels comfortable to share stories through artistic and creative practices, from music, to cinema, to workshops…;
to offer an artistic residency to artists who are exploring an evolving concept. The festival days will be an opportunity to share and discuss your practice with fellow artists in the form of ateliers, and expose/show the outcome of the discussions at the end of the festival;
to give emergent artists the opportunity to step on a stage andshow their work to an international community.
We are looking forward to reading why and how you would like to take part in the festival, and look forward to welcoming you in Geneva!
Some examples of projects already proposed to the festival include a painting workshop on making posters as activism, a performance and workshop on rythme signé, a world canteen with different chefs each day and some concerts.
Apply now
Please answer the questionnaire in whatever language you feel most comfortable in ** we have a team that speaks English, French, Spanish, Italian, Farsi, Arabic and will be happy to translate other languages too
*all artists will be paid a fee for their participation, and your travel and accommodation expenses will be covered in Geneva during the festival.
Please bear in mind all artists must be free for the last week of September