We are delighted to invite artists, performers and makers to reimagine existing or developing work for our 2027 festival.

Hidden Door specialises in turning overlooked and unusual urban spaces into temporary festivals filled with art, music, movement and stories.

Our 2027 venue remains a secret for now, but we’re now inviting visual artists, dance artists and spoken word artists to submit works that could adapt to a range of spaces, and that resonate with the idea of Afterlives of Use.

The deadline for these calls is Thursday 3 December 2026.

Afterlives of Use explores how places, objects, images and stories change meaning when they are moved, reinterpreted, reimagined or put to use again. Bodies carry their own archives of movement and memory, reshaped through experience, repetition, exchange and play.

We’re interested in work that uncovers or invents histories, transforms everyday materials and actions, or unsettles familiar ways of seeing, moving and feeling.

We welcome work that sparks curiosity, raises questions or invites unexpected encounters, helping shape how people experience the festival’s spaces.

What we are looking for

There are many ways into Afterlives of Use. The following prompts suggest some possibilities; they are not requirements or an exhaustive list. Your work may connect with the direction in other ways.

• Changing use: Reuse, repair, and transformation Places, objects and familiar actions finding purposes they were never intended to have.
• Traces and incomplete histories: What survives in bodies, places and memories, what disappears, and how gaps are interpreted through evidence or invention.
• Past, present and imagined futures: Different times meeting within a work, or the past being reconsidered through present concerns.
• Invented functions and strange systems: Objects, roles, rituals or instructions developing unexpected purposes, governed by their own logic
• New contexts and connections: Work taking on new meaning through a different space, audience relationship or art form.
• We are interested in how work shapes a place: how people encounter it, and how work retains its own identities while forming connections beyond them.

We welcome existing work and work in progress that could be presented or adapted for a festival environment. This call does not fund the production of entirely new work.

You can also express an interest in expanding your proposed work through collaboration with artists working in other art forms.

See further details in the below guidelines for each strand.

Spoken Word Open Call for Hidden Door 2027

We are now inviting spoken word artists to reimagine existing work or work-in-progress for our 2027 festival.

Our creative direction, Afterlives of Use, explores how places, objects, images and stories change meaning when they are moved, reinterpreted, reimagined or put to use again. We’re interested in how your work connects with these ideas and could inhabit an unusual festival space.

Please read the below guidance, alongside the general open call and creative prompts, before applying.

Key dates and information

• Application deadline: Thursday 3 December 2026
• Selection and notification: 11 January 2027
• Site visits / development: January – February 2027, to be confirmed and dependent on venue confirmation
• Festival: anticipated early June 2027; exact dates to be confirmed
• Location: Edinburgh – venue to be announced

Performance formats and collaboration

We welcome spoken word performances of 20–30 minutes.

We welcome applications from individual artists and existing collaborations.

An optional question in the application form asks whether you would be interested in expanding your proposed work through collaboration with another art form. You can indicate which art forms interest you and share any initial ideas; you do not need to have a collaborator in mind. Your responses will help us identify opportunities to bring artists and works together through our commissioned collaborations.

Collaboration is entirely optional. Any additional development would have its scope, expectations and payment discussed and agreed separately. Expressing an interest in collaboration will not affect the consideration of your work for presentation in its current form.

What you can apply with

We welcome existing work and work already in progress that could be adapted and presented within a festival environment.
This call does not fund the production of entirely new work.

Your work does not need to be completely finished when you apply, but your supporting material should demonstrate what already exists. Please explain what remains to be done, distinguishing between work needed to complete the performance and adaptations specifically required to present it at Hidden Door.

With our 2027 venue still to be announced, we’re interested in how your work could adapt to a range of spaces. Hidden Door has previously occupied buildings including:

• A former insurance building.
• A former council storage depot.
• A former church.
• Unused archways built into the landscape.
• A former box-making factory.
• An old school.
• A gasworks.

Tell us what kind of space it needs and which aspects of its presentation are flexible.

Eligibility

This opportunity is open to artists based wholly or partly in Scotland.

Applicants should show evidence of professional practice in spoken word, not including student work.

We particularly welcome applications from artists under-represented within the Scottish spoken word sector.

Artist fees and support

Our standard rate is £200 for a performance of 20–30 minutes.

Hidden Door is committed to paying artists fairly. Fees will be discussed individually with selected applicants, and contracts will be issued once an engagement is confirmed.

Further funding may be available for creative labs and collaborations. The scope, expectations and payment for any additional activity would be discussed and agreed separately.

Please identify the sound equipment, technical support and any specialist requirements needed to present your work in your application. Hidden Door provides microphones, static or roving amplification, and sound techs. There may also be the possibility of lighting and further technical support, but this will depend on venue constraints.

Our funding does not cover travel or accommodation.

How to apply

Submit your application via the online application form by Thursday 3 December 2026.

You will be asked to provide:

• A description of the proposed work, its current stage, and what remains to be done.
• A short explanation of its connection with Afterlives of Use.
• Duration, spatial needs and technical requirements.
• Any proposed adaptation for Hidden Door.
• Supporting images, video, and transcripts of poems in videos.
• Information about your artistic practice.
• A 50-word artist biography and a 50-word project description, which may be used in festival publicity if selected.
• Any access support you would like us to consider.
• Optional information about your interest in collaboration.

Please do not worry about grammar, spelling or formatting. These will not influence the outcome of your application. We are interested in you, your ideas and your work.

For performance footage, provide Vimeo, YouTube, or Google Drive links that can be watched online rather than downloaded.

Include passwords where needed and identify the section that selectors should watch.