About the competition
BookVision is an international competition reflecting the book art from students of art colleges and faculties of education. The competition presents student artist’s books in the broadest sense, but also book-objects and other book artefacts that conceive the book as a medium for free artistic creation. The competition is organized by the Book Design Studio at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ostrava.
BookVision 2026
The fifth edition of BookVision brings several changes. From this edition onward, BookVision is transitioning to a biennial format, as the activities of the fifth edition have grown too large to fit into a single year, meaning the next open call will be announced in two years. BookVision 2026 will focus on cooperation among the V4 countries. In addition to the organizing Faculty of Arts, University of Ostrava, the project partners are the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava (VŠVU), Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design in Budapest (MOME), and Magdalena Abakanowicz University of the Arts in Poznań (UAP).
We are planning not only an exhibition of selected artist’s books at GAFU in Ostrava, but also at partner institutions in Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary! You can also look forward to workshops, a discussion forum, and a conference—all focused on the theme of the contemporary artist’s book.
Rules and conditions of participation
in the international student
BookVision competition
Students from universities of art and faculties of education in the Czech Republic and abroad are welcome to participate in the competition. Graduates may also submit their works, provided they are no older than three years.
Authors submit their works through this website into three categories:
1. Artist’s Book
Books created by the author as a complete artistic work, including conceptual artist’s books, image-based artist’s books, photographic artist’s books, etc. Bibliophilic editions and book designs do not fall under this category.
2. Book-Object
Unique book objects, sculptures, and experiments with the materiality of the book block.
3. Open Media
Installations, digital outputs, video art, author’s e-books, multimedia projects, interactive books, and similar works.
The submission deadline is 8 March 2026.
Students may submit one work per category. Works may be created using any artistic technique and must not be older than three years. Teachers may submit works with the consent of the students. All submitted works will be evaluated by an international expert jury, which will select pieces for inclusion in the travelling exhibition of the fifth edition of BookVision. In addition, the jury will award one main prize and honorary mentions in each category.
After the jury meeting (mid-March 2026), all participants will be notified by email whether their work has been selected for the exhibition and, if applicable, invited to send in their pieces.
Submitted works must be delivered no later than 15 April 2026 to the following address:
Book Design Studio (BookVision)
Faculty of Arts, University of Ostrava
Podlahova 3
709 00 Ostrava
Czech Republic
The organizer is not obliged to justify the jury’s selection or the exclusion of any work. Participants do not pay any registration fees. All costs associated with participation in the competition and shipping of works are the responsibility of the participants. By submitting their work, participants agree to lend it for the duration of the entire exhibition cycle (Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary).
The opening vernissage and announcement of awarded works will take place on 27 May 2026 at the Gallery of the Faculty of Arts (GaFU) in Ostrava. Authors of winning works will receive financial prizes.
After all exhibitions have concluded, works that participated in the exhibition will be returned by post at the organizer’s expense. If a work is returned due to non-collection, it will be resent at the author’s expense or may be collected in person.