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Open Call · Monday Curatorial Line

To Call It Home

What does it feel like to call Iran home?

Dear Artist,

Before you decide whether to become part of this project, I want to tell you where I am coming from. I am not Iranian. Iran came into my life through people — through friendships, conversations, stories about home, things that were missed, carried, left behind, or difficult to return to. Somewhere along the way, a country that was not mine became personally important to me.

When I brought the idea to John Manno, Founder and Director of Decagon Gallery, he chose to support it and give it the space to become real. My close friend, photographer and educator Hossein Fardinfard, also wanted to contribute, and this is how the photography mentorship became part of the project.

I don't want to tell a story about Iran. I want to make room for people to tell something of their own. I may not understand everything you send me — maybe I shouldn't. But I will approach it with attention and care. This project matters to me very much.

Thank you for considering becoming part of it.

Teona MachavarianiFounder, Monday Curatorial LineCurator and Artistic Director, Decagon Gallery

Part 1

The Exhibition & Living Archive

We could give you a description of what To Call It Home is supposed to become. We have chosen to leave its final form open until we hear from the people who will become part of it. Iran may mean something entirely different to each person, and we don't want our language to tell you where to look, what to remember, or what to feel.

Instead, we begin with one question:

What does it feel like to call Iran home?

You may begin with the question itself — including whether Iran feels like home to you at all.

Monday Curatorial Line

Monday is a curatorial line developed within Decagon Gallery, bringing photography into conversation with other media as different forms of human traces. These traces connect stories across space and time. In To Call It Home, they will form a living archive of the different ways people live with the feeling of calling Iran home.

The project will be Monday's first world.

A Note on Voice and Perspective

The project is centered on personal experience rather than political position. Political and social realities may enter the work where they are part of an artist's lived relationship with Iran, but To Call It Home is not intended as a platform for political advocacy or ideological representation.

Who Can Submit

The project is open to artists aged 18 and over living in Iran, Iranian artists living elsewhere, artists of Iranian heritage, and those whose connection to Iran has reached them through family or across generations.

We welcome work in photography, moving image, film, sound, and text.

Participation

Participation in To Call It Home is completely free of charge. There is no submission or participation fee.

What to Submit

Please include the following five elements. Additional materials are optional.

01
Your Work
Submit a work or body of work in photography, moving image, film, sound, or text. For photography, include up to 8 images that can be read together as one body of work.
For other media, please provide a link to your work. We will discuss any further details with you if it is considered for the project.
The work may be complete, still developing, or brought together specifically for this project. It does not need to have been made in Iran or depict the country directly. It may even be something you have never thought of as being about Iran before.
02
One Object
Choose one movable object that connects you to Iran or to your sense of home. It may be ordinary, inherited, carried from one home to another, or simply something you have never been able to let go of. Photograph it alone, in color and square format, against a plain black background. A simple photograph taken on your phone is welcome. Submit this image separately from your main work.
These objects will become another kind of portrait — not through faces, but through what each person has chosen to keep.
03
One Sentence
Share one sentence of no more than 30 words, speaking directly to Iran. Say honestly what you feel this person needs to hear from you. You may submit it as a voice memo, a scan or clear photograph of a handwritten sentence, or typed text. Please indicate your chosen format in the submission form. Use the language in which you would naturally say it and include a written English translation. No explanation is needed.
If you feel that your sentence needs to take another form, you are welcome to propose it in the submission form. We are open to considering other ways in which it might be shared.
04
One Place
Choose a place that matters deeply to you, in Iran or elsewhere, and share a Google Maps link to it. It may be an exact point, a broader area, or the space between two places — near or far apart. For two places, please provide a link to each.
We will present your choice as geographic coordinates in a consistent format, allowing it to become part of the exhibition's architecture as a trace, without naming the place or explaining its meaning.
05
One Date
Share one date you carry close to your heart, without explaining what happened or why it matters. Write the day, month, and year, where known, spelling out the month. A month and year, or a year alone, is also welcome if you do not know the full date. If you use a calendar other than the Gregorian calendar, please name it so we can present dates consistently.
+
Additional Materials Optional
If there is something beyond your main work that continues your response to the project's question, you are welcome to share it. This might be a letter, a recording, a home video, or material from a personal or family archive. Please indicate what you would like to share and provide a link where available. We will consider whether and how it might become part of the project, in conversation with you. Its inclusion is not guaranteed.

Selected Artists

There will be no ranking and no first, second, or third place. This project is not a competition between experiences. Selected works will become part of the final group online exhibition and, should To Call It Home develop further, may also be considered for a future presentation in a physical space.

Rights & Ownership

All rights to submitted work remain with the artist. By submitting, artists grant Decagon Gallery and Monday permission to use selected works and submitted project materials solely in connection with To Call It Home, including its exhibition, project archive, catalog, website, social media, and promotion of the project. Copyright and ownership are not transferred, and credits will follow the arrangements agreed with each artist.

Privacy

If you have any privacy concerns — such as how your name, location, or other identifying details will appear — please indicate them in the submission form. You may choose not to have certain details published. If your work is selected, we will discuss your preferences and agree with you on how your work and personal information will be presented before publication.

Submission Format

Photographs: Submit up to 8 JPGs, sized to 2100 pixels on the long side, without added text, watermarks, or borders. Each file should preferably be under 4 MB.
Object photograph: Submit one additional color JPG measuring 2100 × 2100 pixels, showing the object alone against a plain black background. This does not need to be a professionally produced image; a simple photograph taken on your phone is welcome. The file should preferably be under 4 MB. Please keep the original photograph in its highest available resolution. Decagon Gallery and Monday reserve the right to make minor adjustments to the background and the overall visual presentation of the photograph so that it can be integrated into the shared format of the exhibition. The object itself will not be altered.
File names: Use First-Name-Last-Name_Title.jpg for photographs and First-Name-Last-Name_Object.jpg for the object image. Please use the name you wish to be credited under.
Other media: Provide a link to your work and any password required to access it. We will discuss further technical details with you if the work is considered for the project.
One Sentence to Iran: Submit your sentence as typed text, a scan or clear photograph of handwriting, or a voice memo. Indicate your chosen format in the submission form and include a written English translation.
Place and date: Enter your Google Maps link or links and your chosen date in the corresponding fields of the submission form.

Please submit all materials through the submission form.

Part 2

Beyond Frame

About the Mentorship

Beyond Frame is a photography mentorship created by Hossein Fardinfard, a documentary and portrait photographer and graduate of the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, the Netherlands. He has spent over a decade making documentary and portrait work, recognised by international awards and exhibited from Arles to London.

Pillar 1

Identity and Direction

The first pillar is for photographers who feel uncertain about where their work is going, even when they already have a strong portfolio and plenty of good images. We dissect their obsessions, questions, concerns, and recurring interests to understand what subjects and themes genuinely belong to them and are worth pursuing through photography. Rather than following trends or external expectations, the aim is to uncover a personal direction rooted in who they are and what they genuinely care about. After this pillar, they leave with a clearer sense of what their work is about and a real project idea to pursue.

Pillar 2

Image Making

The second pillar is not a lesson in gear or lighting. Instead of loading you with techniques, it teaches the thinking behind them, so you understand which techniques your own vision actually needs and how to reach for them with purpose. You leave making images that carry your intention, with a more consistent and recognizable style.

Pillar 3

Presentation

The third pillar is for photographers whose work deserves to be seen but who are unsure how to present it. It focuses on how you show both your images and yourself as an artist, from selecting and sequencing a portfolio to writing about your work and speaking about it with confidence. You'll leave able to present your work clearly and professionally to the right audience.

Pillar 4

Opportunities

The fourth pillar is about understanding and navigating the photography ecosystem: how to be seen, how to build relationships, and how to turn your work into real opportunities and income while protecting your artistic growth. You leave with a realistic sense of the paths open to you and the confidence to approach them.

Who the Mentorship Is For

Beyond Frame is open to photographers at any stage of their practice. The mentorship is not limited to the project submitted to To Call It Home. It considers the photographer's broader practice, direction, and current needs.

Format and Schedule

As part of this collaboration with Decagon Gallery, the Beyond Frame mentorship will be offered free of charge and conducted online. The duration, schedule, and structure of the mentorship will be determined after the submission period has ended, based on the number of applications received and the individual needs of the selected photographers.

Language

The mentorship will be conducted in English or Farsi, according to the preferred language of the selected participants.

Limited Places

The number of places in the mentorship program is limited. Expressing interest in Beyond Frame does not guarantee selection for the program.

How to Apply

To help us understand your motivation for joining Beyond Frame, where you currently are in your photographic practice, and what kind of guidance you need, please complete the mentorship section of the submission form in detail.

Selection

Participants will be selected by Hossein Fardinfard. This selection is not an assessment of whose portfolio is strongest. It will be based on each photographer's motivation, their current needs, and the ways in which the mentorship may meaningfully support the development of their practice.

Selection for Beyond Frame is separate from selection for the To Call It Home exhibition. Applying for the mentorship will not affect the selection of work for the exhibition. A photographer may be selected for the mentorship, the exhibition, or both.

Notification

Selected photographers will be contacted individually after the submission period has ended. Further details about the structure, schedule, and duration of the mentorship will be agreed upon at that stage.

Questions

We want every artist to have a clear understanding of the project before deciding to take part. If you have any questions about the project, the submission process, or whether your work might be a good fit, please write to [email protected].

Submission form opening soon