image
Art

by Alexandra Mansilla

Where Do You Run When the World Is On Fire? CIFRA Calls For Answers In Art

4 Jul 2025

Photo: Components AI

Over the past couple of years, the feeling that everything around us is shaky and falling apart has become almost normal. Every day brings climate news, general anxiety, and that never-ending sense of rush and uncertainty. It feels like the world is on fire, and survival guides now sound more like memes than actual advice.
But CIFRA, the international streaming platform for curated digital art, is offering a different way, not to run or look for life hacks, but to try, through art, to stay alive, real, and feeling. To stay human in a burning world.
In their new open call for digital artists under 30, titled “Future Recipes,” they are not asking for perfect images or for you to save the world. On the contrary, the organisers say honestly: they don’t need “survival guidelines” — they want personal, poetic, sometimes even naïve blueprints for staying human when everything around you is burning. “If you’ve got five minutes to show the world who you are — shoot,” they say.
image

Photo: Alex Shuper

The open call welcomes digital works in any format — video art, animation, AI experiments, 3D, glitch, and more — as long as it speaks the truth. Your piece can be up to five minutes long, vertical or horizontal, complex or simple. If you have something real to say, this is your moment.
Selected works will be presented September 11–14, 2025, at POSITIONS Berlin Art Fair, in CIFRA’s digital zone. Fifteen finalists will have their work featured on UPcycled digital displays (UPframes) — a fresh format designed to spotlight young digital voices. Each selected artist receives a €500 fee, international media exposure across CIFRA’s platforms, and support and mentoring from the CIFRA curatorial team.
A respected international jury — including Nabi Nara (SOMA Art Berlin), Eva Fischer (CIVA Festival & SOUND:FRAME), and Jacek Sosnowski (Polish Pavilion, Venice Architecture Biennale) — will select the finalists. The main criteria are authenticity and emotional truth. CIFRA believes there is no “right or wrong” in art; they are looking for presence, not perfection.
Important dates:
July 1 — Open call launch
August 1 — Submission deadline
August 15 — Finalists announced
August 22 — Final files due
September 11–14 — POSITIONS Berlin Art Fair
To apply, create a CIFRA account, upload your artwork (video, up to 5 minutes), and fill out the submission form. The deadline is August 1, so if you have something to say to the world in these strange times, now is the time to try.
Art, it seems, is still capable of a lot. Even if the world is on fire.