Open Call: Full Circle

We are inviting artists to propose their artistic projects for the upcoming fifth issue of the ETC. Magazine titled Full Circle!

ETC. is an annual showcase magazine dedicated to presenting current artistic production from the Balkans to the Baltics. The most comprehensive section of the magazine is the Portfolio Showcase, presenting selected artworks and projects in detail, consisting of a visual presentation and short descriptions of individual projects. The projects for the Portfolio Showcase section will be chosen and curated by the magazine’s curators (Lara Mejač and Ajda Ana Kocutar) and this issue’s guest curator, Vasil Vladimirov.

No matter how many times we vow not to repeat the mistakes and injustices of the past, we seem to do it regardless. In its fifth issue, ETC. Magazine turns its attention to cycles – personal, political, historical – and asks what it means to come full circle. This issue explores the unstable terrain between the past and history: the former subject to nostalgia and mythologisation; the latter to institutional selectivity. How much do structures of power shape remembrance and commemoration? What role do archives, memorials, and collective memory play, not only in mourning, but in mobilising? And how much of what we know about the past is fictionalised, mythologised or otherwise misshapen and manipulated? As algorithms increasingly curate our understanding of history, magnifying certain narratives while burying others, what role does technology play in reshaping collective memory? Meanwhile, modern warfare, defined by drone strikes and AI-driven systems, repeats age-old patterns of violence while excusing its users from accountability. It leaves us questioning whether technology reveals cycles of oppression or brings new ones into existence.  

When history is reduced to a slogan, is the responsibility to heed its message reinforced or diminished? “Never Again” might be repeated in classrooms, museums, and hashtags, but what does it mean when genocides continue to unfold, now with the eyes of the world observing the horror in real time? How do we, as witnesses, navigate the space between moral clarity and political paralysis? In this issue, we wonder how not to succumb to feelings of helplessness, and what steps we can take to confront them. What does it mean to boycott, to refuse, as well as to act and be present, even when actions often feel small? In any case, the fight feels endless – countless historical examples precede the protests of today, and the rights people once struggled to obtain, the same ones we have perhaps come to take for granted, are under attack again and again.  

Despite claims that we live in unprecedented times, there is much we could learn from history, past dynamics of power and forgotten stories. Full Circle invites artists and writers to consider the loop between memory and amnesia, past and present, reliving and erasing. In this issue, we ask whether we are doomed to repetition or can we return to the past in order to rethink the future?

If you think your artistic project or work would fit the topic, send us your project proposal to: curators@etcmagazine.art.

Deadline: 15. 10. 2025

• emerging artists
• based or from anywhere between the Baltics and the Balkans
• haven’t had major publishing deals, major exhibitions or retrospectives yet
• are submitting an existing project

• an existing project published in the fifth issue of the ETC. Magazine

• invitation to exhibit your work in ETC. exhibition projects 
• presentations and visibility on our digital platforms

• contact information
  

• description of the project
  The text length should be 1000-2000 characters with spaces. In case it was written by another writer, they should be signed with their full name underneath. The text should be submitted in MS Word format ( .doc or .docx). In case your project was financed by a grant, include a short disclaimer at your own discretion.
  
  
• short bio of the artist
  The text length should be up to 500 characters with spaces. The text should be submitted in MS Word format ( .doc or .docx).
  
  
• hi-res images of the project (300dpi)
  Images should include details of the artwork and/or artwork installation. The minimum submission is 6 images. Images should be named as follows: Name and surname of the artist_ title_year_name and surname of the photographer (if different from the artist). Multimedia (video, sound, etc.) can also be published online alongside the article.
  
  
• portfolio / web page / Instagram