Open Call Regulations
H2O International Mapping Festival – 2nd Edition “Source”

1. General Provisions

These Regulations define the rules for participation in the international open call organized as part of the event H2O International Maapping Festival – 2nd Edition “Source”, taking place in Bydgoszcz in 2026 on 28–29 August.

The organizer of the open call is the Pischinger Foundation operating at Bydgoszcz University of Science and Technology named after Jan and Jędrzej Śniadecki.

The concept, coordination, and implementation of the festival are the responsibility of the festival’s authors and curators: Katarzyna Rumińska-Rutkowska and Łukasz Wiese.

The co-organizer of the event is the Leon Wyczółkowski District Museum in Bydgoszcz.

The festival is carried out in the public space of Bydgoszcz, on the façade of the District Museum in Bydgoszcz building at 4 Gdańska Street. The festival screenings will take place on 28–29 August 2026, i.e. on Friday and Saturday, in the form of a two-day event.

Participation in the open call is free of charge.

Submitting a work to the open call constitutes acceptance of these Regulations.



2. Purpose of the Open Call

The purpose of the open call is to select original site-specific mapping works prepared especially for the façade of the District Museum in Bydgoszcz building at 4 Gdańska Street.

The open call aims to promote audiovisual creativity, animation, new media art, and experimental forms of working with light, architecture, and urban space.

The main theme of the 2026 edition is “Source”. The Organizers encourage interpretations of the theme in relation to water, the river, the memory of place, the history of Bydgoszcz, light, architecture, cultural heritage, and the relationship between humans, nature, and the city. 
References may also be made to the figure of Leonard Pietraszak.



3. Festival Programme

The festival will take place in a two-day format on 28–29 August 2026.

The first day of the festival, Friday, 28 August 2026, will serve as the opening of the event. The programme will include a guided tour of the exhibition dedicated to Leonard Pietraszak at the District Museum in Bydgoszcz, followed by a screening of mapping works on the façade of the District Museum building in Bydgoszcz at 4 Gdańska Street.
The second day of the festival, Saturday, 29 August 2026, will begin with the announcement of the results and the winners of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. This will be followed by another screening of the mapping works.



4. Participants

The open call is international in character.

The open call is open to adults who are at least 18 years old on the day of submission.

Submissions may be made by individuals, artistic teams, or collectives.
In the case of a team submission, the participants shall designate one person authorized to communicate with the Organizers and to represent the team in formal matters.

A participant may submit more than one work, provided that each work constitutes a separate submission.

Members of the jury and persons directly involved in the organization and evaluation of the open call may not participate in the open call.




5. Subject of the Submission

The subject of the submission is a completed mapping work prepared according to the projection mask provided by the Organizers.

The work should be a site-specific realization, meaning that it should take into account the architecture, rhythm, details, and character of the building on which it will be presented.

The work should be submitted in MP4 format, in accordance with the projection mask provided by the Organizers.

The work should include a sound layer.

The preferred duration of the work is 1 minute. The maximum permitted duration of the work is 1 minute and 30 seconds.

The work must be original and must not infringe the rights of third parties, in particular copyright, related rights, personal rights, or image rights. The participant is responsible for obtaining all rights, licenses, and consents necessary for the public presentation of the work, including the rights to any visual, sound, typographic, photographic, film, and digitally generated materials used.

The Organizers reserve the right not to admit for evaluation or presentation any work that violates the law, the rights of third parties, or good practices, contains discriminatory content, incites violence, hatred, or exclusion, or is contrary to the nature of a public event.



6. Artistic and Technical Guidelines

The work should refer to the theme of the edition, “Source”, in an original, poetic, abstract, narrative, experimental, or documentary manner.

Due to the yellow color of the building façade and the properties of light projection, the Organizers recommend using imagery based primarily on light, contrast, structure, movement, tonal value, white, black, and a limited color palette.

The Organizers point out that intense colors, particularly greens, blues, and colors with low luminance, may be significantly weakened or may disappear on the yellow surface of the façade. Participants should take this fact into account when preparing their work.

The work must be prepared in accordance with the projection mask provided by the Organizers.

The final file should be delivered in MP4 format (Full HD, 1920x1080, 30 fps).
The file should contain both image and sound.
The duration of the work should be approximately 60 seconds and must not exceed 90 seconds.
Materials prepared outside the projection mask, without sound, in a format other than MP4, or exceeding the maximum duration may be rejected or referred for correction.



7. Submissions

Submissions will be accepted from 12 July until 20 August 2026, until 23:59.
Submissions must be made via the online form available at:
https://tally.so/r/zxoDeq

The submission should include:
* the first name and surname of the author or the name of the team/collective,
* contact details of the submitting person,
* the country of residence or activity of the author/team,
* a short biography of the author or description of the team,
* the title of the work,
* a short description of the work and its connection to the theme “Source”,
* a link to the work in accordance with the Organizers’ guidelines,
* a declaration of authorship of the work and possession of the rights to submit it,
* consent to the processing of personal data for the purposes of carrying out the open call.

Incomplete submissions, submissions made after the deadline, i.e. after 20 August 2026 after 23:59, or submissions that do not meet the requirements of the Regulations may be left unconsidered.

The Organizers may contact the participant in order to complete the submission or clarify technical issues.



8. Jury and Evaluation Criteria

The works submitted to the open call will be evaluated by a three-person jury appointed by the Organizers.

The jury will select the works qualified for the festival programme and will award prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.

When evaluating the works, the jury will take into account in particular:
* the work’s compliance with the theme of the edition, “Source”,
* artistic quality and originality of the concept,
* use of the building’s architecture and the character of the place,
* quality of animation, rhythm, light, composition, and movement,
* quality of the sound layer and its relationship with the image,
* suitability of the work for projection on a yellow façade,
* compliance with technical requirements,
* the work’s potential for presentation in public space.

The decisions of the jury are final and cannot be appealed.


9. Prizes

The open call provides for a total cash prize pool of PLN 5,000.00 gross, i.e. approximately EUR 1,150.35 gross, in accordance with the project budget.

Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.

The prize pool will be divided as follows:
1st place: PLN 2,500.00 gross, i.e. approximately EUR 575.18 gross,
2nd place: PLN 1,500.00 gross, i.e. approximately EUR 345.11 gross,
3rd place: PLN 1,000.00 gross, i.e. approximately EUR 230.07 gross.

The amounts expressed in EUR are approximate and for informational purposes only. 
The binding prize amounts are the amounts expressed in PLN.

The jury may award honorary mentions, which do not have to be associated with a financial prize. Cash prizes are subject to taxation in accordance with applicable legal regulations.

The condition for payment of the prize is the provision by the winner of the data necessary 
to settle the prize and the signing of the required documents.



10. Qualification for the Festival Programme

The Organizers plan to present selected works submitted as part of the open call in the festival programme. The number of works qualified for presentation will be determined after the end of the submission period, taking into account the festival programme as well as the technical and organizational capacity of the event.

The results of the open call will be announced on 22 August 2026.

The Organizers will also announce the results on the festival website or through the festival’s communication channels and will inform participants by email.



11. Presentation of Works

Qualified works will be publicly presented during the H2O International Mapping Festival – 2nd Edition “Source”.

The screenings will take place in public space and will be available to audiences free of charge.

The Organizers may present the qualified works multiple times during the festival, in particular in looped projection blocks.

The Organizers have the right to make necessary technical adjustments to the file to the extent required for proper projection, without interfering with the authorial character of the work.

The Organizers are not responsible for differences between the appearance of the work on a computer screen and its effect during projection on the building façade, resulting from technical, lighting, weather conditions, or the properties of the façade.



12. Copyright and License

The participant declares that they are the author or co-author of the submitted work and, in the case of using third-party elements, that they hold all rights, licenses, and consents necessary for the submission, public presentation, and promotion of the work.

The participant retains the economic copyright to the submitted work.

Upon submission of the work, the participant grants the Organizers a free-of-charge, non-exclusive license to use the work to the extent necessary to carry out the open call, evaluate the work by the jury, and communicate with the participant.

Upon qualification of the work for the festival programme, the participant grants the Organizers a free-of-charge, non-exclusive license to use the work for purposes related to the implementation, documentation, archiving, and promotion of the festival.

The license includes:
* public display of the work during the festival,
* recording the work and its presentation in the form of photographic and video documentation,
* reproduction of the work or its fragments in documentation, informational, and promotional materials,
* publication of the work, its fragments, and documentation from the screenings on the internet, social media, and the websites of the Organizers and event partners,
* use of the work or its fragments in materials promoting the current and future editions of the festival,
* use of documentation in the Organizers’ reporting, educational, archival, and informational activities.

The license is granted without territorial limitations for a period of 2 years, with the possibility of using archival documentation after this period for informational, educational, and reporting purposes.

The Organizers undertake to credit the authorship of the work whenever technically and editorially possible.

The participant is liable for any claims of third parties arising from infringement of copyright, related rights, personal rights, image rights, or other rights related to the submitted work.



13. Documentation and Promotion

The participant consents to the documentation of the presentation of the work during the festival in the form of photographs, video recordings, broadcasts, reports, and promotional materials.

Festival documentation may be used by the Organizers and event partners for promotional, informational, educational, archival, and reporting purposes.

The Organizers may publish the author’s first name and surname, the name of the team or collective, country of activity, title of the work, description of the work, biography, and visual materials provided in the submission.



14. Personal Data

The controller of participants’ personal data is the Pischinger Foundation, with its registered office in Bydgoszcz, al. prof. S. Kaliskiego 7, 85-796 Bydgoszcz.

Personal data will be processed for the purposes of conducting the open call, contacting participants, evaluating submissions, announcing the results, implementing the festival, settling prizes, and fulfilling the Organizer’s legal obligations.

Providing personal data is voluntary but necessary to participate in the open call.

The participant has the right to access their data, rectify it, restrict its processing, erase it in cases provided for by law, object to processing, and lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority.

Detailed information regarding the processing of personal data may be included in the submission form or in a separate information clause.



15. Accessibility

Information about the open call and the Regulations will be made available in digital form.

Persons with special needs may notify the Organizers of any needs related to participation in the open call by email at: contact@h2ofest.pl

The Organizers will make efforts to ensure that communication regarding the open call is as accessible and clear as possible.



16. Final Provisions

The Organizers reserve the right to amend the Regulations if this is necessary for organizational, technical, legal, or safety reasons, provided that the amendments do not infringe the acquired rights of participants.

The Organizers reserve the right to cancel the open call or change the date of the festival in the event of circumstances beyond the Organizers’ control.

In matters not regulated by these Regulations, decisions shall be made by the Organizers.

The Regulations enter into force on the date of publication.

Contact regarding the open call: contact@h2ofest.pl