Home

2025 Shanghai international
Paper Art Biennale

Open call for artwork submission

About

ABOUT

2025 Shanghai international Paper Art Biennale

Between November 1st, 2025 and February 28, 2026,the 2025 Shanghai International Paper Art Biennale, titled “PAPER & WATER", will be held in the coastal city of Shanghai, China, a city between history and tradition, modernity and high tech — a city surrounded by a river on all sides, with trade links in the south of the Yangtze River and the East China Ocean.

Shanghai International Paper Art Biennale has been held in Fengxian District of Shanghai for the past nine years. The year 2025 will usher in the "Ten years of progress, ten years of spring and autumn" international Paper Art exhibition. In this regard, IAPMA Congress 2025 is intended to be held concurrently in Shanghai, China 2025,We welcome everyone to actively participate and witness this glorious moment together with the organizers of the biennale.

The exhibition will be juried by the Organizing Committee, consisting of officials from Shanghai Fengxian Museum and the Shanghai International Paper Art Biennale's Organizing team.

The submitted artworks can be two- or three- dimensional paper artworks. All paper-related techniques are accepted such as casting, folding, paper maché, pulp painting, encaustic, etc. All kinds of paper artworks are accepted, including book art, paper collage, paper fashion, paper jewelry, paper installations and more. Artists can submit up to 3 artworks. The Organizing Committee of Shanghai International Paper Art Biennale would appreciate to receive your artwork as donation for the museum when the exhibition is over

Location： Shanghai Fengxian Museum

No.333 Hupan Road ,Fengxian District, Shanghai

Duration：November 1st ,2025 – February 28th 2026

Opening Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 9:00-16:30;The Museum is closed every Monday, except national holidays.

How to submit your work

submit

Call for Paper Artist

—2025 Shanghai International Paper Art Biennale (China)

Entry fee: Free
Submission deadline: August 15, 2025

Exhibition Schedule:

Final submission deadline: September 10, 2025

Jury Notice for Priority Submission: August 20, 2025 — September 1, 2025

Jury Notice for Post Submission: September 5, 2025 — September 10, 2025

Deadline for artwork arrival: September 25, 2025

Exhibition dates: November 1st, 2025 — February 28, 2026

Return of artworks: From April 2026 onwards

Theme:

“Paper & Water”

Water covers more than 70% of the earth's surface and is the basis of our existence. In traditional Chinese philosophy, water represents the cycle of life as one of the five elements. With its powerful Yin energy, the element of water symbolizes purity, transformation, clarity and calm. Water symbolizes fertile life and longevity. Like flowing water, all living on this planet begins in constant motion, leading to constant change and renewal.

Water is a fundamental element in nature, but also for hand papermaking and for creating works of art. The flow of water is invisible and it is important in the production and creation of handmade paper. It washes, soaks, decomposes and fuses paper fiber, raw material and allows artists to maintain the variability of their works in the creation of handmade paper and paper art, thus creating a variety of possibilities for paper art. The theme of 2025 Shanghai Paper Art Biennale is “PAPER & WATER” which has both a historical and humanistic meaning and reflects the local nature of contemporary art creation.

* Please avoid in your artwork political, religious and anti-Chinese content as well as local language content in each country. If there are textual expressions other than English in the work, please provide an explanation and creative concept of their meaning in English in the submission form.

Artwork Size, Weight, Packaging:

2-dimensional: MINIMUM: 50 x 50 cm (20 x 20 inches), exceptions can be made, large-scale artworks welcome
3-dimensional: MINIMUM: 50 x 50 x 50 cm (20 x 20 x 20 inches), exceptions can be made, large-scale artworks welcome
Paper Installation:Size is not limited and the packaging needs to be convenient for transportation.
All artworks should arrive ready for display, either framed or with any special hooks or hardware needed and a manual on installation / handling / caretaking.
All works must arrive in safe and reusable packaging.

Submission Guideline:

Fill the entry form (template provided) -- the title, dimensions, medium, description, and intent of your work. We also accept beautiful small works while welcome large paper art installations
At least 3 digital pictures of your work – 600-800 dpi in .jpg or .tif format
CV in Chinese and English – brief, A4 size in .doc format. The information is important for the catalog and web presentation, but will not affect the selection process.
Personal potrait photo – 400*600 dpi in .jpg format
Label your images: Surname_Artwork title_Number listed on Entry Form
If the paper artworks contain the characters of various languages, please include separate sheets of paper to the package and clearly mark their creativity or the meaning to be expressed in English language.