The world’s largest annual photography and visual arts competition centered around gender is back for its fifth year, and we’re inviting you to be part of it! The This is Gender open call returns for 2025, with a special focus on the important and often overlooked intersection of gender and disability.
Deadline for Submissions: 18 March 2025
Now in its fifth edition, This is Gender continues to serve as a creative platform to explore and challenge how gender and disability intersect across various communities. In partnership with CREA, a global feminist organization, this competition seeks to amplify voices, stories, and experiences that have been marginalized in mainstream discussions. Our aim is to ignite conversations, challenge societal perspectives, and bridge critical gaps in representation across the world.
In the previous years, This is Gender has attracted over 4,000 artists from 85 countries, showcasing the global significance of this topic. With the 2025 competition, we aim to make this year the largest yet, encouraging even greater participation from diverse communities globally.
How to Enter
Entering is simple! To participate, submit your image along with a few essential details:
- Where the image was created
- A brief background about yourself
- The story behind the image
- How the image connects to the theme of gender and disability
You may submit up to three images per sub-category. We encourage you to enter the contest and share your perspective!
What is ‘This is Gender: Gender and Disability’?
The theme for this year’s open call is “Gender and Disability”—an invitation to explore how these two dimensions of identity intersect and shape people’s lived experiences. This competition is divided into five sub-categories, and we are looking for submissions that creatively engage with the relationship between gender and disability in the following contexts:
- Systems: Political and Institutional
How do political systems, laws, and institutions impact individuals at the intersection of gender and disability? - Environment and Space: Public and Private
Explore how spaces—whether public or private—are shaped by, and respond to, the needs of people with disabilities, and how gender influences this experience. - Social Relations: Care and Communities
How do care dynamics and community structures play a role in the lived experiences of those at the intersection of gender and disability? - Bodymind and Embodiment: The Body and Senses
Focus on the embodied experience—how does the interaction between one’s gender identity and disability affect their physical and sensory experiences of the world? - World-building: Imagining Potential Futures
What does the future look like when gender and disability are understood in inclusive, accessible, and equitable ways?
Why Enter?
Participating in This is Gender: Gender and Disability is more than just showcasing your artwork—it’s about joining a global movement that seeks to represent the untold stories of gender and disability. By entering, you are contributing to a larger dialogue for authentic, inclusive representation and challenging long-standing norms.
What’s in it for You?
- Win a £500 cash prize for the top images.
- Have your work reviewed by global experts in the field.
- Gain visibility in This is Gender collections, GH5050 reports, and international media outlets.
- Join a creative community with exclusive access to opportunities, insights, and updates.
Who Can Enter?
This competition is open to everyone. We encourage artists from all backgrounds and skill levels to submit their work. The open call welcomes creativity in any visual medium—be it photography, digital art, collage, painting, or even experimental forms.
We especially encourage submissions from the disabled community and individuals from underrepresented regions and gender identities. This is an opportunity for you to share your unique vision and help create a more inclusive, diverse narrative.
Join the Movement
This is Gender is not just an art competition—it’s a global community for conversation, change, and progress. In a time when discussions on gender equity and inclusion are at the forefront of global issues, the Gender and Disability open call offers an urgent response by promoting the voices of underrepresented communities.
CLICK HERE TO APPLY
Enter Now and Make Your Voice Heard!
