Now in its 39th year, we are delighted to announce 2023’s Annual Open at Southwark Park Galleries taking place both online and in our Lake Gallery.
Each year a winning prize is awarded, generously donated by Breckman & Company. We are very excited to continue this year’s prize will be £500 towards a solo exhibition in our Salter Space. The 2023 judges are Florence Peake and Tim Spooner.
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*.
Key Dates
Deadline for Online Submissions: Thu 2 Nov
Delivery Dates: Fri 3 Nov – Sun 5 Nov, 11am – 4pm (No postal entries)
Exhibition Dates: Sat 11 Nov – Sat 9 Dec ,Wed – Sun, 11am – 4pm
Opening Reception: Sat 11 Nov, 1pm – 4pm
Closing Event: Sat 9 Dec, 1pm – 4pm (Winner Announcement)
Collection Dates: Sun 10 – Mon 11 Dec, 11am – 4pm.
If you need assistance with the online form or any other aspect of submitting your work please contact open@southwarkparkgalleries.org. A member of staff will also be available to assist on delivery days.
Submission Information
Please enter using our online form here // Submission Form
- Please ensure all artwork details are correctly entered into the submission form, as all our interpretation will be taken from this information.
- 2D & 3D artworks must be delivered in person at our Lake Gallery, 1 Park Approach, Southwark Park, London SE16 2UA. No postal entries are accepted.
- If works are not delivered on the dates specified above, the work/s cannot be displayed in the exhibition.
- The gallery’s technical team will install the exhibition at our Lake Gallery, with all final placement of work at the gallery’s discretion.
- Due to lack of storage on site we cannot store work and/or packaging with no exceptions.
2D & 3D Artworks //
- A maximum of 3 works can be submitted per artist. Diptychs and triptychs are not accepted.
- Maximum dimensions for 2D artworks, including frame: 80cm height x 80cm width.
- Maximum dimensions for 3D artworks, including plinth if supplied: 80cm height x 80cm width x 80cm depth.
- All works must be ready to hang with fixings attached (we cannot accept clip frames).
- As the Annual Open is hung in a salon style, works from an individual artist will not be hung together. Final placement of work is at the gallery’s discretion.
- After submitting the form, please email one high-quality image of the work to open@southwarkparkgalleries.org from the same email address that you entered on the form. This image will enable us to profile your work on our online shop.
- Please make sure it is an attachment, not embedded in the body of the email.
- Please title the image file as follows: Surname_First Name_Artwork Title.
- The image should be a JPG or PNG file. JPGs should be in RGB.
- The image must not exceed 1200 x 1200 pixels or 3MB.
Moving Image //
- A maximum of 1 moving image work can be submitted per artist. A further 2 2D & 3D artworks can be submitted in addition, totalling 3 works maximum.
- Maximum duration for moving image, including credits: 5 minutes
- Files must be .mov or .mp4 formats and high quality resolution.
- Works will be displayed as one show reel in the Salter Space as a 16:9 projection. Final order of the showreel is at the gallery’s discretion.
- Please don‘t add a title page to your film if there isn’t one already, we will add one at the beginning of each artist’s work in the showreel.
- After submitting the form, please send your video file via WeTransfer, Dropbox or Google Drive link to open@southwarkparkgalleries.org from the same email address that you entered on the form. The showreel will be added to our YouTube channel to profile the work online.
- Please title the video file as follows: Surname_First Name_Artwork Title
- Please also include one high-quality image from your video to be used as a thumbnail
- Please supply the image as a ratio of 16:9, no more than 1280 pixels wide x 720 pixels tall (minimum width of 640 pixels).
- Please do not add padding or black bars to your video.
Restrictions //
As London’s longest-running truly ‘open’ exhibition, we endeavour to exhibit all works submitted under our guidelines, the following additional restrictions apply:
- Diptychs and triptychs are not accepted.
- Works containing food or perishable items can not be submitted.
- Artists must be 16 years+ and living or working in the UK
- Work that is inconsistent with our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy will not be exhibited, this decision is at the Director’s discretion.
- The gallery reserves the right to withdraw an artist’s work if the artist is in breach of our Code of Conduct.
- In the event that the exhibition is over subscribed and we encounter space constraints, we will exhibit at least one work by each entrant.
Collection Information //
- All works must be collected on the specified dates above. Uncollected works will be disposed of.
- Proof of ID or submission receipt must be provided to gallery staff upon collection of your work.
- All packaging must be provided by the artist and packed on collection.
Fees //
Southwark Park Galleries (registered charity name: Bermondsey Artists’ Group) is a not-for-profit company no. 3353857 / charity no. 1073851. The fees cover the technical and administrative costs of hosting the exhibition and keeps our programme free for visitors.
1 artwork – £18 (concessions* £15)
2 artworks – £30 (concessions* £25)
3 artworks – £40 (concessions* £35)
Submission fees must be paid at the time of your online submission by credit or debit card, unless you need assistance to submit in person.
To pay by cash or cheque, you can do so during the delivery days listed above. Cheques to be made payable to: Bermondsey Artists’ Group.
*Concessions are considered as: full-time student, 65 years+, unemployed and/or in receipt of benefits, and Bermondsey Artists’ Group Artists.
If any work cannot be displayed in the exhibition for any reason as stated above, you will be issued a refund minus administrative fees.
Artwork Sales //
All works in the Annual Open exhibition are for sale. The funding raised both supports the artists directly and contributes to the organisation’s Salter Space programme – our community focused gallery named in honour of Bermondsey hero Ada Salter, revolutionary, campaigner and London’s first female mayor.
The sales amount that the artist receives directly is at the artist’s discretion (please specify this in the submission form), but must not exceed £500.
Southwark Park Galleries will add 40% + 20% VAT commission on top of this amount. Please do not add this yourself in the submission form.
Example:
- Sales amount direct to artist entered in submission form: £250
- Southwark Park Galleries 40% commission + 20% VAT on the commission: £120
- Total price advertised in exhibition: £370
- The total price will be rounded up to the nearest pound
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 164kb)
