Your digital art —
is it drowning inside the screen?
Digital and AI works are born straight into a grid of look-alikes. Instead of one more cell in an endless scroll, we offer a place where your work is seen as a single work, on its own.
Selected still images are printed on canvas, framed, and hung on the walls of our gallery in Kyoto.
Selected videos are screened one at a time, a chosen few, on a dedicated selection monitor.
No grids.
No skip button.
We call it a prize. It is really an invitation to meet.
There are countless works of real value in the world today. Some of them shine on their own, with no story attached. We want to look at that light directly — not at reputations, not at credentials.
The world tends to price a work by who praised it, not by the light inside it. Here, we do the opposite. Titles are hidden. The artist's age, gender, nationality, and background are hidden. We look at the work alone.
The works are chosen by Free Art Space KYOTO — a free exhibition gallery in Kyoto dedicated to digital and AI art.
Not to rank anyone. Simply to meet people, of any age and any country, who make things with the same warmth. That is the only reason we do this.
Dedicated to digital and AI expression.
This open call is dedicated to digital expression and expression made with AI: generated images, digital painting, video, interactive works, real-time works — art that comes to life on screens and in data.
Tools do not matter. Whether you used AI, which model, what steps you took — none of it plays a part in selection. Does the finished work shine, on its own? That is the only thing we look at.
Works that travel between analog and digital are also welcome — for example, a hand-drawn piece substantially developed and finished with digital tools or AI — as long as the submitted data itself is the finished work.
Not eligible: works whose finished form is physical (painting, sculpture, relief, craft, etc.), where digital or AI was used only for composition or ideation. Photographs or scans of physical works cannot be entered as the work itself.
While many major competitions still shut AI works out, we place here a venue that welcomes AI and digital art head-on. Free Art Space KYOTO was built for digital creators from the very start.
Anyone.
- No restrictions on age, gender, nationality, or background. Professionals and amateurs alike.
- Minors (as defined in your country of residence): a parent or guardian must enter on your behalf.
- The work must be digital/AI expression, complete as digital data. Photographs or scans of physical works are not eligible.
- The work must be your own.
- Previously published works are welcome (we look at the power of the work, not its rarity).
- Works that have won or been selected in other open calls or competitions: please refrain from entering them (you yourself are very welcome — please enter with a different work).
- Entry is free.
Four categories.
A work complete as a single image. AI-generated images, digital painting, CG, digitally processed photography, and so on.
300 dpi, A3–A1 size data. Selected works are printed on canvas and framed by Free Art Space KYOTO for exhibition. If you wish, the print is yours to keep.
A work that unfolds in time. AI video, motion graphics, 3DCG, animation, and so on. Sound and music are welcome.
Longest side up to 1920 px (landscape, portrait, or square), up to 3 minutes. Screened one at a time on the gallery's selection monitor.
A work that responds to the viewer. Expression that changes with clicks, touch, or key input — games, web art, stories you touch to move forward.
Playable in a browser (HTML). Shown on a computer in the gallery.
The work must run on an ordinary computer at the venue (latest Chrome / Edge), simply by opening a local HTML file. No installation, no server, no login, no paid APIs. Internet access at the venue cannot be guaranteed, so the work will run offline. Please provide a movie (longest side up to 1920 px) that shows the work being operated. When necessary, we may ask for the URL of a running HTML version to confirm operation.
A work that keeps being born, on the spot. Expression that generates and changes by itself, with no input needed — generative art, live coding. A work in which no moment happens twice.
Generative or responsive works. Selected on quality, and on whether the work can be exhibited in the venue.
A movie showing the work generating (longest side up to 1920 px, about 1 minute). If the final result remains as an image, please also include that still image (300 dpi, A3–A1 size) as data.
- Entries are one category per entry. To enter more than one category, please submit the form again for each category.
- You may present more than one work within a category. However, even if several works are presented, only one work per entry is selected. We recommend narrowing it down to the single work that shines brightest — that choice, too, is part of the work.
- Sound-only works are not eligible.
No name, no title on the work.
- Do not include the title, your name, age, gender, or background anywhere in the work data.
- Selection is based on the work alone. Your details are hidden during selection and used only to contact you about results and exhibition.
- No imitation or plagiarism. Copies of existing works, or works that borrow another artist's style, are not accepted. AI-assisted works must still be your own creation.
- Before entering, please check for similar existing works yourself (for example, with a Google image search).
- Proof of process (required): for each work, include at least one screenshot showing that it was made digitally / with AI (name it e.g. "process01.png"), in the same transfer file as the work. A shot of your editing software or AI-generation screen with the work visible is enough. There is no need to reveal prompts or detailed steps. This material is used only to confirm eligibility (that the work is digital/AI) and never in selection. Works without it cannot be considered.
- Portfolio URL (required): one URL where your past works can be seen (your own site, Pinterest, Instagram, X, Behance — anywhere is fine). Used only to confirm that you are an active creator, and never in selection. Selection is based on the submitted work alone.
- How to submit: through the entry form at the bottom of this page.
Free Art Space KYOTO selects.
Both selection and prizes are decided by Free Art Space KYOTO. There is no outside jury, and no rankings are given.
Up to ¥300,000 in art supplies and equipment, in total.
- Awarded at the discretion of Free Art Space KYOTO. No rankings. No fixed number of winners.
- If no work is selected for a prize, commemorative prizes are awarded by lottery (art supplies etc., up to ¥10,000 equivalent).
- If you can visit the exhibition, we hand you the prize in person — and, with your consent, share a photo of that moment on this site.
- If the prize is shipped, we ask for a photo of you with it and a short comment, to share on the site.
- Prizes are chosen by you from designated online stores such as Amazon.
- We take no copyright. The work remains yours.
* July 21, 2026: the lottery-prize terms and the proof-of-process requirement were revised. Entries received before the revision are handled in good faith by Free Art Space KYOTO under the original terms.
* August 2026: a portfolio URL became required, and entries were changed to one category per entry (multiple works may be presented within a category, but only one work per entry is selected). Category definitions were clarified, the categories were renamed "Original Digital Still Image", "Original Digital Video", "Original Digital Interactive Art", and "Original Digital Real-time Art", conditions and required materials were added for the Interactive and Real-time categories, and the Video spec was changed to "longest side up to 1920 px, up to 3 minutes". Entries received before this revision remain fully valid.
Selected works hang in Kyoto.
Whether or not they receive a prize, all selected works are exhibited in Kyoto (including selected works that receive no prize).
About the selection monitor. Videos are screened on a dedicated selection monitor inside the gallery. Nothing is lined up. Only the chosen few play — one at a time, in sequence. There is no skip button. While a work is playing, the screen belongs to that work alone. It is treated exactly like a single painting on the wall.
- Before exhibition, we confirm your caption details (work title, name, etc.) with you.
- On request, a QR code linking to your own art site is added to your caption.
- Venue: Free Art Space KYOTO (18-2 Kisshoin Miyanohigashi-cho, Minami-ku, Kyoto, Japan).
- Attendance is optional. Works by distant and overseas artists are exhibited on their own.
- If many exhibiting artists are able to visit, we are also considering a small gathering at the gallery, scheduled around everyone's availability.
We handle the announcing, too.
For the exhibition, we publish a guide site introducing the works and the artists, and produce announcement DM postcards and pamphlets.
- Exhibiting artists who wish receive 50 DM postcards free of charge — use them for your own announcements, or to invite the people you want to see your work.
The work is yours. Always.
Copyright stays with the artist. Free Art Space KYOTO does only two things: exhibits the work in Kyoto, and introduces it on this site, on the gallery's social media, and in promotional materials such as DM postcards — always with your credit clearly stated. No sales. No secondary use.
About half a year to enter.
A small gallery runs this.
Free Art Space KYOTO is run by a very small team. That is exactly why we can choose without deferring to anyone — we look at the work alone. The flip side: if illness, accident, or other circumstances beyond a small team's capacity arise, the open call may be postponed or cancelled.
Any such change will be announced on this site. Entry is free; the data you send is used only for selection, exhibition, and introduction, and will be handled properly if the call is cancelled. Thank you for your understanding.
Enter.
Still Image entries: attach your work files directly in the form below (JPEG/PNG, up to 3 files, 10 MB each) — no transfer service needed. Video / Interactive / Real-time entries: send your work data via a file-transfer service (e.g., WeTransfer) and paste the download link below. A URL where the work can be viewed directly is also fine. Use links that open without any permission request or sign-in — links that require access approval (such as Google Drive with restricted sharing) or that have expired cannot be reviewed, and such entries are excluded from selection without individual notice. You do not upload video files through this form.
Please use this form to enter. Entries sent through the form receive an automatic entry number and are guaranteed to reach selection. Works sent directly by email may not be considered.
Important: do not include the title, your name, age, or gender in the work files. Selection is based on the work alone. The contact details below are hidden during selection and used only to reach you.
Minors (as defined in your country of residence): a parent or guardian must enter as your representative.