frequently asked questions

  • When will the next open call for submissions takes place? And how will I know about it?
    • The next international open callwill be online in the spring 2024, If you join our mailing list we will let you know in due time.
  • May I submit more than one drawing for Anonymous Drawings?
    • No. please submit only one drawing, according to our guidelines.
  • Is there a participation fee?
    • No. There is  no submission fee.
      If you are from outside Germany you only need to pay 15 € for the reshipment of your drawing - if your work has been selected for the show. If your work sells during the show we will refund postage fee. German residents are asked for a prepaid and self-addressed envelope.
    • You also have the option to donate your unsold drawing to our ARCHIVE, to support the future of our project.
  • How many submissions do you recieve, approximately?
    • With international calls roughly 3000, according to experience. About 500 will be selected for the exhibition. In the case of local calls, we adapt the number of works exhibited to the respective room size. For the next exhibition in Hamburg, about 150 works will be selected.
  • How do you fix the drawings on the exhibition walls?
    • We use removable glue pads. This always worked out pretty fine. Normally they leave no traces on the paper. And if the paper is ver thin, delicate or uncoated, we mount transparent archival-tape on the corners of the drawings before using the glue tabs. This archival tape is acid free, it is used for paper/book-restoration, too. Only thing: glue pads are not suitable for on heavy or transparent materials, such as thick cardboard or tracing paper. Please consider that before picking the work you'd like to submit.
  • Who selects the drawings for the exhibitions?
    • The Berlin based artist Anke Becker. She founded the project 2006 and did the selections for the shows by herself from the very beginning.
  • Why is there a preselection? Why don't you take all the submitted works for the exhibitions?
    • It is a matter of space. And because Anonymous Drawings is about showing diversity without getting lost in wild randomness.
  • Do you accept digital drawings, engravings, etching or other prints?
    • No. We only accept one-of-a-kind hand drawings. That is: Only works that cannot be reproduced by a printer or a printing press.
  • What is your set of criteria when you do the selection for the shows?
    • What is drawing all about? A quick draft, a sophisticated work on paper, a children's drawings, concept art, figurative drawings, abstract works, a written note - all that is possible and so much more. We possibly want to show it all. We try to show a maximum variety and at the same place we want to avoid formal and qualitative randomness. We treat every drawing of the show like a single word in a text: from many single drawings emerges always a new context - according to the particular arrangement of the single pieces. But not every word fits into every text and especially not in any order. The same applies to Anonymous Drawings: We are not able to put every drawing in the overall context in a reasonable way.
  • Is the selection process anonymous?
    • Yes, definitely! Your submitted personal information and the image file will be automatically anonymized by our software for the selection process. We only get access to your name and e-mail address after the final selection for the exhibition.
  • Do you accept collage or mixed media works?
    • Well... Yes. Just make sure that your work does not become too heavy or three dimensional. The main focus at the selection for the shows is not collage, mixed media or painting - but Anke always picks some significant examples to show the wide range of possibilities.