SPLIT FORMAT 2025: OPEN CALL “HERITAGE”

This November marks the fifth edition of Split Format, a photography festival organized by the Fotoklub Split. As is now tradition, the festival opens with an exhibition showcasing the finalists of its annual photography competition. This year’s theme is heritage.

Heritage is not only the central theme of the competition and exhibition but also the guiding thread of the entire festival program. Through a rich lineup of workshops, lectures, film screenings, educational photo safaris, and various accompanying events, the festival will explore and rethink the meaning of heritage from multiple angles.

As Ana Žanko, this year’s jury chair and president of Fotoklub Split, explains in the competition brief – heritage encompasses the full range of values and assets passed down from the past, which we are responsible for preserving for future generations. It includes both tangible heritage – such as monuments, architecture, urban and rural environments – and intangible heritage, like traditional customs, skills, oral storytelling, and cultural knowledge passed from generation to generation.

Fotoklub Split invites all photographers – amateurs, professionals, and enthusiasts – to explore and (re)interpret heritage through their work: whether local or global, personal or collective, material or immaterial. The goal is to capture the living thread between what we inherit and what we leave behind.

The winners of the competition will be selected by an international panel of experts:

• Ana Žanko (curator and president of Fotoklub Split)

• Bella Rupena (curator and head of the Tošo Dabac Archive)

• Světlana Malina (curator and artistic director of the Fotograf Zone Festival in Prague)

• Cosimo Pastore (Italian photographer and visual artist)

• Eleni Albarosa (Italian photographer and anthropologist)

As in previous years, valuable cash prizes will be awarded to the top three entries.

The “HERITAGE” photography competition is public and open to all photographers – both professional and amateur – from Croatia and abroad. Participants must be at least 18 years old at the time of the competition’s announcement. Creative interpretations are encouraged, as long as the concept stays aligned with the central theme. Each applicant may submit an unlimited number of entries, with each entry consisting of 10 to 15 photographs conceptually tied to the theme of this year’s festival. The curator of this year’s festival is Ana Žanko, curator and president of Fotoklub Split.

A submission fee of €30 is required per entry (€20 for Fotoklub members). All photographs must have been taken after 2020, and may be in color or black and white. Images must not contain signatures, watermarks, or borders. Submissions that include AI-generated or graphically altered images will not be accepted. Each entry must also include a brief concept description. The winners of the competition will open Split Format 2025 with a joint exhibition at the Fotoklub Split Photography Gallery.

Submissions are open until October 26, and all details regarding the competition rules, how to apply, and how to pay the submission fee can be found on Split Format’s and Fotoklub Split’s social media channels, as well as on the official website: www.splitformat.com.

The Split Format festival is part of the “Regular Annual Program of Fotoklub Split,” supported by the Kultura nova Foundation. The festival is co-funded by the City of Split, the Split-Dalmatia County, and the Tourist Boards of both the City of Split and the Split-Dalmatia County.