Open Call for visual artists to submit their works for participation in the international curated exhibition “The Gesture Before Words”, to be held in Athens. 

The official languages of the exhibition are English and Greek. A commemorative catalogue-book will be published in digital format in both languages, and the exhibition will also be available online through the ARTgrID platform for one month.

The exhibition is curated by Paris Kapralos.

Accepted artworks. You may submit works of painting, sculpture, photography, and digital art, regardless of style.

There are no restrictions regarding the theme of artworks: they may engage with it in any way their creator deems fit.

Conceptual framework. What can be said without words? When does a gesture become meaning? Can silence constitute dialogue? And how much of what we call communication continues to take place where language cannot reach? Long before acquiring language, human beings communicate through gazes, gestures, expressions, movements, distances, pauses, and rhythms. Communication, therefore, does not begin with speech; language is established upon an already active field of relationships and meanings.

The exhibition “The Gesture Before the Word” explores this prelinguistic realm of human communication, as it persists throughout life and extends through Art. Taking as its starting point Colwyn Trevarthen’s theory of protocommunication and the concept of primary intersubjectivity, it approaches the human being as one who is constituted from the outset through responsiveness and attunement to others. At the same time, drawing on the phenomenology of the body and silence, it examines gesture as an autonomous bearer of meaning rather than an accompaniment to speech.

Prelinguistic communication does not disappear when we learn to speak. It remains active beneath and often beyond words: in the tension of a body, the direction of a gaze, the distance between two people, in breathing, waiting, or the refusal to respond. Likewise, silence may express intimacy, awkwardness, resistance, desire, loss, or an inability to articulate.

The “before” in the title is more than chronological. It exists within every human encounter: in the subtle moment when we perceive and affect one another before we even speak. A similar encounter can also occur in our experience of art. An artwork does not need to articulate a message in order to communicate; it may address us through a gesture, a trace, a form, a tension, a rhythm, a material quality, or a silence. Gesture in art retains something of the act that produced it, while simultaneously becoming autonomous from that act and turning into a sign open to interpretation. The viewer thus encounters a presence that does not speak, yet invites a response: to recognize, associate, feel, or ascribe meaning.

What you need to submit. Please send an email to artistsartgrid@gmail.com with the subject line “GESTURE”, including the following:

• (1) Photographs of up to 2 available works, with each work submitted as a separate image file, in large-size jpg format, clearly photographed and in high resolution. Please note: the submitted works are not indicative. If selected, you may exhibit exclusively the work or works you submitted. Works on paper must be photographed without a frame/glass.
• (2) Artwork details, using the corresponding file name as a reference for each work (e.g. A1.JPG). The following information must be provided in this order, separated by commas: Artist’s full name, Title of work, Materials and technique, Dimensions (in centimetres, Height X Width for wall-mounted works or, for sculptures, Height X Width X Length), Year of completion.
• (3) Your contact details: Full name, Email, contact telephone number, location (Country if you are based outside Greece, City/place of residence).

✨ If you wish to submit Video Art, you should either send us standard video files via WeTransfer, together with an email containing the remaining details, or provide us with a link (Vimeo, YouTube) where the full video can be accessed.

Important notes
– Clarifications, queries, and questions strictly concerning the submission process should be sent in writing by email to the submission address above and will be answered within 24 hours.
– Information regarding the organisation of the exhibition and the participation proposal you will receive if selected will be provided exclusively to selected artists following submission and selection, and not beforehand. Submissions that do not include all the requested information or do not follow the specified format and submission procedure will be disregarded.
– If selected, we will contact you promptly by reply email with full information regarding the procedures for your participation.
– The submission period is not necessarily intended for the creation of new works. You may submit existing works that you feel represent you, relate to the theme, and that you would like to present as part of the exhibition.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Sunday, 20 September 2026 at 23:59.