Now in its 38th year, we are delighted to announce 2022’s Annual Open at Southwark Park Galleries taking place both online and in our Lake Gallery.
Each year a ‘Best in Show’ prize is awarded, generously donated by Breckman & Company. We are very excited that this year’s prize will be £500 towards a solo exhibition in our Salter Space. The 2022 judges are artists Appau Jnr Boakye-Yiadom and Lydia Blakeley who exhibited at our galleries in the summer.
The Annual Open exists to encourage artists at all stages of their career from across the UK to submit their work as part of a large-scale annual salon show. Since the gallery opened in 1984, the Annual Open has been a highlight of Southwark Park Galleries’ calendar. Each year, the exhibition brings together over 300 works from artists of all backgrounds from across the UK.
The exhibition showcases the diverse practices of artists working in the UK today, with drawing, painting, photography, print, sculpture and video work represented. From its inception, the ethos of the Open has always been about accessible participation for all; to this day there is no selection criteria or judging panel
There is an admission fee to enter and all applications are accepted and exhibited*. All artworks are for sale and we endeavour to keep prices of artwork affordable. A small percentage of sales and the admission fee goes towards Southwark Park Galleries, as a charity, in order to help keep our galleries free and open to the public and to meet our charitable objectives to offer people of all ages and from all backgrounds excellent creative experiences. We aim to continually inspire everyone to celebrate their own cultures through creative participation and the Annual Open is crucial to this.
Key Dates //
Exhibition Dates // Sun 13 Nov – Sat 3 Dec 2022 (Wed – Sun, 11am – 4pm)
Preview Date // Sat 12 Nov, 1pm – 4pm
Closing Event // Sat 3 Dec, 1pm – 4pm (Best in Show Announcement)
Before you make your submission please ensure that you are able to commit to delivery and collection dates below:
Delivery Dates for 2D & 3D Works: Fri 4 Nov, 2-4pm // Sat 5 & Sun 6 Nov, 11am – 4pm
Collection Dates for 2D & 3D Works: Sun 4 & Mon 5 Dec, 11am – 4pm.
ID must be provided to gallery staff upon collection of your work
No Postal Entries
All works must be delivered and collected on the specified dates above.
Due to lack of storage on site we cannot store your work temporarily, please do not request this. No exceptions can be made. Uncollected works will be disposed of.
Deadline for Submissions // Thursday 3 Nov 2022 using the online submission form.
If you need assistance with the online form or any other aspect of submitting your work please contact open@
Submission Information //
*No works containing food or perishable items can be submitted. We will endeavour to exhibit all works submitted. However, if we cannot due to space constraints then we will exhibit at least one work by each entrant. Work which the Gallery judges to be inconsistent with our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy and at the Directors discretion will not be exhibited.
2D & 3D Artworks //
Participants using 2D or 3D can submit up to 3 works in total.
2D artworks can be no larger than 800mm in width, length or depth (including frame).
3D work must be no larger than 800mm in width, length or depth (including plinth if supplied). Artists submitting 3D works may also submit 2D work (all rules pertaining to two-dimensional works still apply).
All works must be ready to hang directly onto nails or with wire or mirror plates (we cannot accept clip frames).
Works from an individual artist will not be hung together, triptychs and diptychs will be split up.
After submitting the form, please email one high-quality image of each of the works to open@southwarkparkgalleries.org from the same email address that you enter on the form. This image of your work will enable us to profile your work on our online shop, in addition to the physical exhibition in the gallery.
The image must be titled ‘Surname_First Name_Artwork Title’ and JPG or PNG, JPGs should be in RGB mode. Image must not exceed 1200px X 1200px and no bigger than 3mb. Please attach the image to the email and not embed it into the body.
Moving Image //
Only 1 moving image work can be submitted per individual. Participants submitting moving image work can submit up to two 2D & 3D artworks in addition.
Maximum duration for moving image works: 5 minutes including credits etc.
Moving images file format must be .mov or .mp4 and high quality, works will be displayed as one show reel in the Salter Space as a 16:9 projection.
Please don‘t add a title page, we will create one for you.
After submitting the form, please send your video via WeTransfer or Dropbox this must be title ‘Surname_First Name_Artwork Title’ and include one high-quality image from your video to be used as a thumbnail to open@southwarkparkgalleries.org
Please supply the image as a ratio of 16:9, no more than 1280 pixels wide by 720 pixels tall, with a minimum width of 640 pixels.
Selling your Artwork //
The sales amount to the artist must not exceed £500. Southwark Park Galleries will add commission of 35% + VAT (VAT on the commission), please do not add this yourself. All work must be for sale, in whole pounds and the sales amount you receive must not exceed £500.
Fees //
The Bermondsey Artists’ Group (Managing Southwark Park Galleries) is a not-for-profit company registered in England no. 3353857 & Registered Charity no. 1073851. The fees cover the technical installation of the exhibition, invigilation, administration and keep the show free for visitors.
Submission fees must be paid at the time of your submission by credit or debit card.
If you would prefer to pay by cash or cheque when you deliver your 2D or 3D artwork to the gallery, you can do so during the delivery dates of Fri 5 Nov, 2-4pm // Sat 6 & Sun 7 Nov, 11am – 4pm
Cheques are to be made payable to ‘The Bermondsey Artists’ Group’.
Concessions include: unwaged, full time students, over 65’s and members of the Bermondsey Artists’ Group.
1 artwork – £16 (concessions £12)
2 artworks – £27 (concessions £21)
3 artworks – £38 (concessions £30)
Hanging & Installation of the Exhibition //
The Gallery Team will hang the show and all decisions made by the team about placement of works are final.
The price list and exhibition labels are created from the submission form you submit, therefore please ensure you enter the correct information about your work/s.
Every year hundreds of artworks are submitted into the Open and although Southwark Park Galleries will take professional care handling all artworks, submitting artists should be aware that it is possible that occasional damage may occur.
Southwark Park Galleries shall have no liability whatsoever for any loss, damage, deterioration or wear, including damage to frames.
Contact Information //
If you have any questions regarding our Open, or submitting your work, please contact the gallery team via open@southwarkparkgalleries.org or call us on 0207 237 1230.
Download Submission Guidelines (pdf 47 kb)
