Concept NULL Newsletter #65
👋 Welcome
✨Imbolc shona daoibh✨
Hope you’re enjoying the long weekend as we edge into spring 2026! There’s loads happening across Ireland this month - festivals, gigs, open calls, and opportunities worth knowing about.
Reminder: The digital artists Ireland monthly meetup is happening on the discord this coming Tuesday, come and say hi!!!!
If you’d like to support Concept Null, sharing the newsletter really helps. Got an event, call, or project to flag? Email us at conceptnullofficial@gmail.com.
🔦 Spotlight
RENDR Festival 2026
Organiser/s: Rendr
Location: Belfast
Date: 12-02-2026 → 13-02-2026
Belfast’s RENDR festival returns this February. Celebrating creative craft and artistry in a fully immersive two-day festival exploring the space between creativity and technology. Ignite your imagination with inspiring speakers from the worlds of Film, Gaming, Animation, Immersive, and more! Learn from the best, with 30+ creatives from the likes of Netflix, Pixar, Walt Disney Studios and Epic Games among others. Witness creative uses of new technology, explore the gallery of digital art, chow down at the food village or play in the arcade. We want to transport you to the future, and provide you with unforgettable and inspirational nights. Like nothing you have experienced before, our unique combination is guaranteed to provide two nights you can’t miss.
🎪 Events
Halina Rice Immersive Liveset + AV
Organiser/s: Cyprus Avenue
Location: Ireland
Date: 04-02-2026 → 05-02-2026
Electronic music producer Halina Rice is bringing her new immersive audiovisual show described as “part rave, part art-happening” to Cork [Cyprus Avenue Feb 4th] and Dublin [The Button Factory Feb 5th]. The show follows the recent release of Halina’s new album UNREALITY following on from critically acclaimed album EVOLVE in 2024. Her work, pushing the boundaries of innovation, has drawn commendations from publications such as Clash, Decoded, Magnetic Magazine and Electronic Sound.
Articles & More 📖
Praxis Artists’ Union on the Closure of Vital Art Spaces
Praxis Artists’ Union has published a statement responding to the ongoing loss of artist-run and independent spaces in Ireland, framing it as a structural failure rather than a series of isolated incidents. Drawing on member surveys, the piece points to rising rents, insecure leases, and the absence of long-term cultural infrastructure as key factors driving artists out of cities - and, increasingly, out of the country. It’s a clear call for systemic change, not last-minute interventions once spaces are already gone.
📯 Open Calls
Artlink Exhibitions Open Call 2027
Deadline: 28-02-2026
Organiser/s: Artlink
Location: Buncrana
Artlink’s exhibition programme supports all visual art media and includes both emerging and established artists working locally, nationally, and internationally. Artlink seeks innovation from within its local context alongside distinctive and inspiring work from further afield. The programme is made up of invited projects, partnerships with other organisations, and proposals selected through open calls. The Exhibition Open Call provides emerging and under-recognised artists with the opportunity and resources to present an exhibition at Artlink in 2027. The programme is open to visual artists – both individuals and collectives – working across all fine art media. Proposals should demonstrate how the artist intends to challenge and test their practice, and how the work is relevant to this place. More info in the link below!
FILE – International Electronic Language Festival 2026
Deadline: 19-02-2026
Organiser/s: FILE
Location: São Paulo
Registration is open for participation in FILE – International Electronic Language Festival 2026, one of the most important events dedicated to art and technology. FILE invites Brazilian and foreign artists, as well as researchers, educators and creators, to submit authorial artistic works and educational proposals – lectures, workshops and training actions – focused on contemporary technological poetics. Registration is open until February 19, 2026.
S+T+ARTS Prize ‘26
Deadline: 04-03-2026
Organiser/s: S+T+ARTS
Location: Linz
S+T+ARTS is an initiative of the European Commission to foster alliances of technology and artistic practice that effectively implement European policymaking to nurture innovation and that benefit the art world as well. The focus is on people and projects that contribute to mastering the social, ecological and economic challenges this continent faces. One element of this S+T+ARTS Initiative is a prestigious award generously endowed with €40,000 in prize money. A yearly competition is held to single out for recognition innovative projects at the nexus of science, technology and the arts that have what it takes to make a significant impact on economic and social innovation. The two S+T+ARTS prize winners each receive €20,000 and are prominently featured at Ars Electronica and other events of the consortium partners INOVA+, French Tech Grand Provence, Media Solutions Center Baden-Württemberg, Salzburg Festival, Sonar, T6Ecosystems and Kustodie at TUD Dresden University of Technology.
Studio Light Moves Open Futures 2026
Deadline: 12-02-2026
Organiser/s: Lightmoves Festival of Screendance
Location: Limerick
Studio Light Moves invites dance artists and digital/media artists to apply for Open Futures 2026, a residency programme that explores the intersection of dance, technology and screen-based practice. Now in its fourth year, Open Futures supports three collaborative artist pairs to develop new interdisciplinary work through a paid residency and Creative Lab in Limerick, Ireland.
🏠 Residencies
Stiftung Niedersachsen Media Art Grants 2026
Deadline: 26-02-2026
Organiser/s: Haus für Medienkunst
Location: Oldenburg
The Haus für Medienkunst Oldenburg will award three Media Art Grants of the Stiftung Niedersachsen (€12,500 each). The Stiftung Niedersachsen grant at the Haus für Medienkunst Oldenburg supports a wide spectrum of media art, from video art and net-based projects to audio works and audiovisual installations. Each of the three grants will be awarded for the production of a new project in the area of media art.
Art, Science, Technology and Society 2026
Deadline: 09-02-2026
Organiser/s: Tabakalera
Location: Donostia / San Sebastián
As a centre for creation, Tabakalera has an international residency programme to support artists, creators, and cultural agents. This aid programme aims to support production processes and provide support on both a conceptual and production level. With the aim of supporting research, creation, and professionalisation in the field of Art, Science, Technology, and Society in the Basque artistic scene, Tabakalera - International Centre for Contemporary Culture is launching a new edition of this residency programme with the collaboration of Goethe-Institut Madrid. Four artistic projects will be selected. The residencies, which will last eight weeks, will offer space, context, and time to the selected persons to allow them to develop their projects. They will receive assistance for the project to be developed and may also receive the support of scientists or researchers who have the technical knowledge required for their project. The period during which candidates can apply for the residency is between 4 th May and 5 th July 2026.
KIKK x CCN Residency 2026
Deadline: 15-02-2026
Organiser/s: KIKK
Location: Belgium
The aim of this residency is to foster interdisciplinary research, experimentation, and artistic creation through digital and technological media, providing a framework conducive to exploration, prototyping, and dialogue across disciplines.
🛠️ Workshops
CYLAND MediaArtLab Max/MSP course for beginners
Deadline: 07-02-2026
Organiser/s: CYLAND MediaArtLab
Location: online
CYLAND MediaArtLab invites applications for an online Max/MSP course by Nikita Bugaev. Max/MSP is a creative playground for building interactive software and working with sound and other media. This course will help you: – to get comfortable with MAX interface and built-in library; – understand how objects work in practical ways; – build skills progressively through hands-on exercises.
💰 Funding
Bursary Award Round 1 2026
Deadline: 12-02-2026
Organiser/s: Arts Council Ireland
Location: Ireland
The Bursary Award supports individual artists to develop their artistic practice. It focuses on providing artists with the time and resources they need to think, research, reflect, and deeply engage with their artistic practice.
That’s it for now! The newsletter gets sent out 1st and 15th of every month and we post open calls and events as they come in on our Instagram so be sure to follow us there.
Chat soon, Concept NULL
[conceptnullofficial@gmail.com]