Open Call - Évora 2027: OUR LAB (Portugal)

Our Lab is an open call open to artists, whether individually or collectively, and to collective entities of a private or public nature, residing or headquartered in Europe (excluding Portugal) or in non-European countries, with proven experience in the fields for which they are applying.

The open call Our Lab invites international artists and cultural organizations to explore the concept of VAGAR, the central theme of Évora_27. The proposed projects should offer creations that strengthen human essence and imagine alternative futures, in harmony with European values.

The call covers the following artistic areas: Theatre, Dance, Music, Circus, Street Arts, Opera, Architecture, Design, New Media, and Cross-disciplinary Artistic Projects. Selected projects will be presented in Évora and across the Alentejo region in 2027, in four different types of spaces: cultural (such as theatres and museums); heritage (such as convents and churches); public and urban (such as streets, squares, and avenues); and natural (such as gardens or the Montado, Alentejo’s unique agroforestry ecosystem). The selected projects will form part of the official artistic programme of Évora 2027 – European Capital of Culture, during the year 2027.

Year of implementation: 2027
Target audience: Artists, whether individually or collectively, as well as legal entities of a private or public nature, residing or headquartered in Europe (except Portugal) or outside Europe, with proven experience in the fields for which they are applying.
Budget: 2.000.000€
Applications: 13.11.2025 a 13.01.2026 - deadline extended until 31.01.2026
Regulation: (PDF attached here)
Application form:Évora_27 OUR LAB
FAQ: (PDF attached here)
Júri: John Romão, President of the Jury (Artistic Director of Évora_27); Chloé Siganos (Director of Performing Arts at the Centre Pompidou); Javier Peña Ibáñez (Curator, cultural programmer, director of the Concêntrico Festival); Joana Henriques (Director of Public Programs at MAAT - Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology / EDP Foundation); Rui Horta (Choreographer, dancer and cultural programmer, founder and former director of O Espaço do Tempo). Substitute members: Lorenzo Pappagallo (Curator, cultural manager and artistic director of the Escena Patrimonio Dance Festival, UNESCO Spain); Lucía García (Director of IMAL - Interactive Media Art Laboratory, Brussels).