Community Through a Screen - Open Call Exhibition, Curated by Orla Davey

This exhibition invites young people to display art related to fandoms, digital communities, pop culture and subcultures. The exhibition, curated by Orla Davey, is making an argument for more internet culture representation within museum and art gallery institutions. Calling for art, cosplay and shared memories, the work in this exhibition sheds a light on how young people find kinship through internet culture, and use fandoms to find their communities. Orla Davey is currently studying at Arts University Plymouth, working towards an MA in Museum Studies. Her work is focused on bringing internet culture into conversations around preserving current history.

We're looking for young creatives (aged 16 - 30) to submit their artwork relating to fandoms and digital communities for an exhibition at Studio KIND in October 2026. Work can include photography, drawing, printmaking, painting, sculpture, costume, digital art (printed) and more. 

This open call is run by emerging curator, Orla Davey, in partnership with Studio KIND in Barnstaple, North Devon, running from the 24th October to 7th November. The exhibition is open to artists, creatives and students aged 16 - 30 with an interest in fandom or fandom culture in the UK; from cosplay, to conventions, to digital communities. You can include original artworks or photographs of memories surrounding fandoms (please ensure anyone pictured in photos have given permission to be included).

Deadline for submission is the 1st October 

All artwork must be delivered to Studio KIND on 18th October 2026 9am - 12pm and collected from Studio KIND on 8th November 2026 9am - 12pm 

There is no fee for applying or participating in this exhibition. 

If you have any questions please contact: orla@studiokind.org.uk

The internet fosters an environment in which people can form a safe space, an accepting place for conversation. The way in which websites have evolved from blogs into social media dedicated to sharing information, and expressing interest, opinions and love for different media has shaped the way popular culture has formed. 

Fandom has been present throughout our culture since the 1960’s if not earlier, starting with the beatles and their fanbase forming Beatlemania to today’s fanbases of Taylor Swift and My Hero Academia. Common phrasing within our current language, and icons associated with humour or emotion have all stemmed from fanbases and internet culture. 

While currently there is an ongoing debate surrounding the nature of online presence for young people, this exhibition is built to demonstrate the way in which young people have found their interests and their communities around the internet in a time when some may find it difficult to find community in person.

Within this exhibition young people responded to an open call to demonstrate how they have artistically responded to fandoms, digital communities, pop culture and subcultures through art, cosplay and shared memories. The work in this exhibition sheds a light on how young people find kinship through internet culture, and use fandoms to find their communities.

‘What do Fans produce? Fans produce meanings and interpretations; fans produce art-works; fans produce communities; fans produce alternative Identities. In each case, fans are drawing on materials from the dominant media and employing them in ways that serve their own interests and facilitate their own pleasures.’

- Dr Henry Jenkins, Sociologist and Author of Participatory Culture

Orla Davey (North Devon, 2002) is currently based in North Devon and Plymouth working with photography and textiles to express herself as a neurodivergent woman. Currently, Orla is studying Museum Studies MA at Arts University Plymouth, working on her current thesis, arguing for more internet culture representation with museum and art gallery institutions. As a gallery assistant at Studio KIND in Barnstaple, Orla is working with them to curate this exhibition.