Theme for Guest Room

Guest Room is a format that fosters collaboration and sparks creative exchange. For this edition, curator and researcher Annet Dekker invited Margriet Schavemaker to collaboratively explore "The Brilliance of the Mundane".

"Millions of images circulate daily, some are profiled on social media sites, uploaded on personal pages, or printed in photobooks. Yet most are discarded in the dark corners of hard drives, platforms, and search engines. They form collections of glitched machine workings, slop AI, landscapes on repeat, selfies from all angles, or accidentally touched camera buttons that create blurred pathways. Never to be seen by humans, these images are a dispersed archive of the banal, the repetitive, or the utterly mundane. They were not meant to be seen by other humans, nor do they count as poor images; they are merely a mistake, dull and unexciting.

This open call invites reflections on the unnoticed and the unremarkable: images rooted in everyday life, shaped by happenstance, and hasty habits. We want to explore how these fragments operate as a form of digital folklore fueling the aesthetics and energies of contemporary image practices. Rather than dismissing this proliferation as mere banality, we ask: how to restore dignity to these images? How to speak about what appears grey, unfocused, glitched, out of framing, or merely repetitive, and in doing so, sharpen our perception of the brilliance of the mundane?"

Why submit to Guest Room?

• Get the chance to be awarded a 250 € Der Greif Guest Room Scholarship
• Be discovered by an expert in contemporary art and photography
• Get published in an online showcase on Der Greif alongside emerging artists from all over the world
• Submit for free or pay a voluntary donation of 10€
• Win a Face-to-Face feedback session with the curators
• Please note: Images which have been selected for a previous Der Greif opportunity are not eligible for re-submission. We want to support the broadest range of photographers possible and therefore encourage you to submit work that has not yet been selected by our past Guest Curators. Any images which do not comply with these terms will be removed from the selection process.

Voluntary donation

Der Greif is a registered non-profit. In these challenging economic times – especially for arts organizations and artists – we are convinced to provide a vital platform for our community. If you're in the position to support this mission, we value your support.

Since launching Guest Room in January 2015, we've invited a broad range of professionals (gallerists, editors, curators) to create opportunities for artists to share their work and get it in front of an international network they might not have access to otherwise. We are more commited than ever to continue this work.

We suggest a voluntary 10€ donation to help us sustain these efforts. If you'd like to support us further, we also accept regular donations via our Raisely page.

If you're unable to contribute financially, please email voucher-guestroom@dergreif.org to receive a 50% or 100% discount code. Your artistic and financial contributions enable our continued growth.

About Annet Dekker

Annet Dekker is a curator and researcher. Currently, she is Associate Professor MA Comparative Cultural Analysis and coordinator of DuMA Archival and Information Studies at the University of Amsterdam, and Visiting Professor and co-director of the Centre for the Study of the Networked Image at London South Bank University. She has published numerous essays and edited several volumes, among others, “Green Archiving. Imaginaries of Archival Futures” (Valiz 2026), “Documentation as Art” (co-edited with Gabriella Giannachi, Routledge 2022) and “Curating Digital Art. From Presenting and Collecting Digital Art to Networked Co-Curating” (Valiz 2021). Her monograph, “Collecting and Conserving Net Art” (Routledge 2018) is a seminal work in the field of digital art conservation.

About Margriet Schavemaker

Prof.Dr. Margriet Schavemaker received her education as an art historian and philosopher at the University of Amsterdam. She specializes in modern and contemporary culture and museums. Counterculture, feminism, new media, and diversity and inclusion are at the heart of her multidisciplinary practice, which largely encompasses the making of exhibitions, public programs, and publications, as well as writing, lecturing, and media appearances. In June 2024 Schavemaker started as General Director at the Kunstmuseum Den Haag. In this capacity she is also responsible for the Fotomuseum Den Haag, KM21 and the Escher Museum. Since 2018, Schavemaker has acted as professor of Media and Art in Museum Practice, part of the Media Studies department at the University of Amsterdam.

About Der Greif Guest Room

Guest Room is a monthly online exhibition with open submissions curated in real-time by personalities from the international photography scene. Der Greif is an award-winning organization for contemporary photography. It is print-publication, online-publication, curatorial team and joint project all at once. Der Greif connects the digital and the analogue, exploring and expanding the borders and limits of image-distribution and -reception in the digital era.