Open Call for Writers & Researchers
Writing (with) Fragility
Are you an intellectually curious emerging writer interested in exploring the intersections of experimental music, audiovisual performance, and technology? Or a student in the fields of culture, media, and the humanities? Do you wish to be part of a small editorial community, where you can grow your skills in the context of a contemporary festival? We welcome applications from emerging writers ready to engage with the programme from the inside.
Following the 2025 theme Wildness, which addressed technological acceleration and the need for artistic and social rewilding, the upcoming 11th edition of FIBER adopts the festival theme Fragile Forces, as a source of collective strength.
In this context, we seek emerging writers and researchers, who are interested in reporting on the festival or exploring its themes through critical analysis and thought-provoking writing.
About you
This open call is directed at early-career writers, (research) MA students, PhD candidates, and researchers, who are interested in broadening their connections in the arts, and/or refining their craft through collaboration. An affinity for experimental and interdisciplinary art is preferred. Writers from non-academic or non-conventional backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.
What we ask
໑ You will produce one written contribution (essay, article, interview, or another format in dialogue with us)
໑ You’ll take part in a small number of collaborative activities, such as feedback sessions
What we offer
໑ Free access to selected parts of the festival programme (depending on capacity)
໑ The opportunity to expand your network within the Dutch (digital) culture field
໑ A supportive environment to enhance your abilities, exchange feedback with peers, and be part of a dynamic editorial community
໑ The chance to interview festival artists
໑ The publication of your contributions on our Substack and in festival communications
໑ A small travel budget within the Netherlands can be discussed, depending on availability
On this year’s theme
For the 2026 festival, FIBER takes up Fragile Forces as its theme, through which to ask: What does it mean to listen, perform and play in relation to fragility? What kinds of forces can instil resilience, when something seems beyond repair? And what forms of resistance become possible when attention replaces speed?
In a time marked by an onslaught of militarisation, ecological extraction, and expanding surveillance, fragility is not a weakness but a condition that demands new ways of listening, relating, and acting. Across the programme, artists engage with slowness, vulnerability, interdependence, and more-than-human perspectives, tracing how subtle, attentive gestures can carry transformative force.
On this year’s theme
FIBER aims to foster a tight-knit editorial community of writers who will convene on a recurring basis before, during, and after the festival, to reflect on its themes and music, context, and art programmes. We invite emerging writers, researchers, students, and artists to think through the conceptual threads that bind FIBER 2026.
With this open call, we are creating space for new, shared stories about social and ecological change, collective resilience, and the forms of care, attention, and collaboration that help us navigate urgent technological, political, and environmental challenges.
Topics can include, but are not limited to:
Forms of “quiet” resistance
Care as a political and artistic method
Cute accelerationism and weaponised softness
Software (as a service) and the implications of “soft” language when it comes to technology and infrastructure
Softness as a tactic rather than an aesthetic
Intimacy and collectivity within club culture and beyond
Atmosphere, immersion, and affect in audiovisual work
Practical information
Submit your application by May 10 via the form. Please include the topic(s) or areas of interest you wish to cover and a short motivation of why you’d like to write for FIBER (max. 400 words). Don’t hesitate to reach out with alternative concepts.
Apply via this form. If you have any questions, reach out to eleni@fiber-space.nl
We will contact successful applicants during the week following the deadline.
Equity & inclusion
FIBER is dedicated to sharing knowledge in an open and accessible way within the public domain. Furthermore, FIBER wants to support students and newcomers within the writing sphere, by offering opportunities to develop their practice.
In addition to understanding our embodied entanglements, FIBER also strives to bring together a rich spectrum of perspectives and experiences to share resources, time, and space.