Flamm x Auction House: The Manchester Contemporary Open Call 2025

Deadline: Monday 6th October, 11.59pm

Now in its 16th year, The Manchester Contemporary is a collegiate platform for over 150 young galleries, artist-led spaces, charitable organisations and partner institutions. It provides a critically engaged environment for artistic exploration and development. Past exhibitors include Liverpool Biennial, The Whitworth Gallery, and Vane. The event, alongside the more commercial Manchester Art Fair, is the biggest event of its kind in the north of England, and attracts over 12,000 visitors, curators, collectors from across the UK and internationally. This year The Manchester Contemporary runs from 21^st to 23^rd November.

The exhibition will be presented under the Flamm x Auction House banner and will have work from no more than 10 artists, depending on the medium and scale of the work.

Selected artists will receive:

• Exhibition of work at The Manchester Contemporary, which takes place from 21^st to 23^rd November 2025
• 25 x A3 prints made of your work (on 250gsm silk paper) – these are to sell at the showcase and during the Flamm festival in Bodmin in 2026; any unsold prints are yours to keep.
• Marketing and promotion of the showcase through all our networks
• Support with preparing for the show
• Curation and installation/deinstallation of the exhibition
• Invigilation and sales management, plus connections with galleries and agents

Eligibility Requirements

• Visual artists working in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
• Work can be in any medium
• You must be a member of Creative Kernow Associates to apply (membership starts from £5/month and includes access to other opportunities, regular events, resources and mentoring)
• If you took part in The Manchester Contemporary last year, you are welcome to reapply but please submit different work for consideration.

Please refer to The Manchester Contemporary website to ensure it is the right platform for your work.

Artists will be selected based on:

• Suitability of your work to the opportunity;
• The impact this opportunity may have on you and your practice;
• The coherence of the exhibition and relevance to the theme of [Dis]Location.

The selection panel are:

• Liam Jolly, Flamm Producer and Auction House Director
• Anna Harris, Flamm Producer and Creative Kernow Associates Manager
• Ben Borthwick, Curator, KARST

Costs

Besides the CKA membership fee, which brings other benefits, selected artists are not required to pay to take part in this exhibition.

Sales & Commission

The Manchester Contemporary is a selling platform. Although not all work needs to be for sale, this is a selling platform so artists are required to have some sellable pieces available (beyond the A3 prints being produced by Flamm/Auction House – this could be publications and editions). A 40% commission will be taken from any work sold, including the A3 prints.

Attendance

Artists are not required to be present at the show, although everyone is welcome to help and visit.

Submission Requirements

• Each artist can submit up to 3 pieces of work for the main presentation and up to 3 suggestions for the A3 print. We will select up to 3 pieces and 1 image for the A3 print from each artist.
• We encourage works to be wall-based and no more than 1m in size, although we will consider artwork outside of these specifications. This is due to the size of the stand (5 x 2m).
• Artworks of all media can be submitted.
• We encourage works to be no more than £1000 but will consider artwork outside of this range.
• If you took part in The Manchester Contemporary last year, you are welcome to reapply but please submit different work for consideration.

Application Process

• Deadline: Monday 6^th October, 11.59pm
• We hope to inform applicants of the outcome within two weeks of the deadline.
• If you have any difficulties completing the application or have any questions, please contact us at associates@creativekernow.org.uk.