Sharjah Art Foundation has opened submissions for three of its yearly programmes, focused individually on film, publishing and comic production. By offering open call opportunities, the Foundation remains committed to nurturing artists and providing support to creative professionals for the creation and showcasing of contemporary art in the UAE, the wider region, and beyond.
The open calls are as follows:
Sharjah Film Platform 8 Short Film Production Grant
Local and international filmmakers are invited to apply for the eighth edition of the Sharjah Film Platform (SFP) Short Film Production Grant. Offered alongside SFP—the Foundation’s annual festival celebrating independent cinema and moving image—the grant supports the completion of short films that push the boundaries of contemporary filmmaking. Grant recipients will have the opportunity to premiere their films at a future edition of SFP.
The application is open to independent filmmakers, with no restrictions on age, region or genre. For this initiative, a short film is defined as a work with a total runtime of 50 minutes or less, including credits.
The grant allocates a total of 120,000 AED (approximately 30,000 USD). The number of awardees and the individual grant amounts will be determined based on project needs. The deadline for submission is 11:59 pm UAE time (GMT +4) on 19 June 2025.
Applicants are required to submit a recorded three-minute pitch. Potential recipients will be assessed on the overall vision for their film, including genre, theme, structure and plot; the originality of their script; and their creative and technical skills.
For more information about the Sharjah Film Platform 8 Short Film Production Grant open call, visit sharjahart.org
Publishing Grant 2025–2026
Cultural producers, including art and culture scholars, translators, writers, editors, independent publishers and publishing houses, collectives and non-profit institutions, are invited to submit project proposals for the Foundation’s Publishing Grant. Projects should pursue an experimental and innovative approach to publishing that can contribute to the production of original ideas and critical thinking.
The Foundation will provide a total of 30,000 USD to multiple grantees to support projects that exhibit outstanding intellectual, graphic and material qualities. The requested grant amount per individual project must not exceed 15,000 USD. The deadline for submission is 11:59 pm UAE time (GMT +4) on 17 August 2025.
The Publishing Grant is designed for underrepresented practitioners, writers and cultural workers who foreground an experimental approach to content and publishing, and challenge dominant and canonical knowledge systems. They should be based in, or working on, the Global South, Indigenous and diasporic communities, or other structurally marginalised positions globally. Previous grant winners have been based in Palestine, India, Ghana and Kuwait.
The grant also seeks out independent, non-commercial standalone editorial initiatives and publications that demonstrate thorough knowledge of pertinent topics related to the current theoretical and artistic climate. Proposed publications should have a focused theme, topic and location that can feed into pre-existing knowledge and disciplines. The concept and contents should already be fairly well developed at the time of application. Submissions from publications that include multiple collaborators and collective efforts are encouraged. Although single-authored publications are also eligible, the majority of those selected in the past were commonly the outcome of collaborative efforts.
For more information about the Publishing Grant 2025–2026 open call, visit sharjahart.org
Corniche 7
Illustrators and comic artists are invited to submit pitches for a six-page comic to be considered for publication in the seventh edition of Corniche. The publication takes an exploratory and free-flowing approach to its process, allowing for a range of genres to be published together, including biography, science fiction, fantasy, mythology and art history. The deadline for submitting pitches is 11:59 pm UAE time (GMT +4), on 30 June 2025.
The selected artists will be invited for a three-day creative exchange in Sharjah. The final comics will be compiled and published as an anthology. Corniche 7 will be launched at the Foundation’s upcoming art book fair, Focal Point 2025, scheduled for 12–14 December 2025.
Corniche was born out of a three-day comic-making workshop in 2019. The inaugural workshop was a huge success, and the artists decided to compile their final comics into an anthology named after the view overlooking the workshop space, the Sharjah Corniche. A crucial platform for local illustrators to meet, experiment and publish, Corniche is a community-centred project and one of the Foundation’s core initiatives.
For more information about the Corniche 7 open call, visit sharjahart.org
Sharjah Art Foundation is an advocate, catalyst and producer of contemporary art within the Emirate of Sharjah and the surrounding region, in dialogue with the international arts community. The Foundation advances an experimental and wide-ranging programmatic model that supports the production and presentation of contemporary art, preserves and celebrates the distinct culture of the region and encourages a shared understanding of the transformational role of art. The Foundation’s core initiatives include the long-running Sharjah Biennial, featuring contemporary artists from around the world; the annual March Meeting, a convening of international arts professionals and artists; grants and residencies for artists, curators and cultural producers; ambitious and experimental commissions and a range of travelling exhibitions and scholarly publications.
Sharjah is the third-largest of the seven United Arab Emirates, and the only one bridging the Arabian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Reflecting the deep commitment to the arts, architectural preservation and cultural education embraced by its ruler, Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Sharjah has long been known as the cultural hub of the United Arab Emirates and is home to more than 20 museums, numerous universities, The Africa Institute, Sharjah Performing Arts Academy and the Sharjah Architecture Triennial. In 1998, it was named UNESCO's 'Arab Capital of Culture' and has been designated the UNESCO ‘World Book Capital’ for the year 2019.
Alyazeyah Al Marri
alyazeyah@sharjahart.org
+971 (0)6 5444113