Commissions
Every year Exeter Phoenix commissions new work, primarily from artists, filmmakers and theatre makers based in the South West region.
Our aim is to identify, support and nurture fresh talent and many previous recipients have gone on to build careers, win awards and share their work on a national and international stage.
You can see this year’s current commissions in progress and live call-outs below, or follow the link to an archive of incredible past Exeter Phoenix commissions.
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Art | Film | Performance | Archive
Art
Each year, alongside our other short films, we commission a new Artists Moving Image artwork that premieres at our annual Two Short Nights film festival. The commission offers a £1500 cash fee alongside access to mentoring & advice, skills training and technical support, and is selected by open call that goes live each February.
The open call for the AMI commission is now open. Deadline: 5pm, Wed 26 Mar
Other bespoke project commissions are offered, both within and outside of our main gallery programme, where opportunities and resources arise.
Tabatha Andrews – The Gifts
The Gifts is a socially-engaged, multisensory sculpture made for and with learning-disabled and neurodiverse communities of Exeter to form a lasting community legacy. It is commissioned by Exeter Phoenix as part of her wider, Arts Council funded project, The Slightest Gesture, a sculpture, dance and film project, which will unfold throughout 2025.
Green Phoenix Visual Arts Commission – Adam Garratt
Working mainly in sculpture and print, Adam is a queer working class artist whose practice has evolved around constraints of space, the use of material and repetitious making processes. Much of his work is made on reclaimed materials from building sites and is specifically made to expand into an installation when it is not neatly folded, stacked and rolled for storage in the garden shed. Conscious not to make extra waste, Adam chooses carefully which materials to make work with. They come with their own history of use and bare the marks of an embodied labour, often with holes, creases, tears, dirt and stains.
FILM
Each year, alongside bespoke project commissions, we commission a number of short films which premiere at our annual Two Short Nights film festival. The commissions are selected by open call and offer a cash fee alongside access to mentoring & advice, skills training and technical support.
Previous films have gone on to be screened nationally and internationally, winning awards including Best Short Film at BFI London Film Festival, Cannes Short Film Corner, Virgin Media Shorts, Media Innovation Awards and First Light Awards.
The open call for short film commissions is now open. Deadline: 5pm, Wed 26 Mar
PERFORMANCE
Green Phoenix Performance Commission
The Hedgesong Collective
For the commission, Maz McNamara and Emily Unsworth-White will create an interdisciplinary performance exploring our folkloric relationship with trees and plants of the British Isles. They will bring together rich harmony singing and instrumental music, poetic storytelling, and the use of a crankie theatre – a traditional form of visual storytelling using a scroll wound between two spools. The show will be a captivating 30-minute mythic journey through the seasons, providing a gentle opportunity for an audience of all ages to connect with the more-than-human world.
Scratch Night Commissions
Throughout 2025 we are offering micro-commissions to support the development and presentation of new performance work for our regular Scratch Night performances throughout the year.
Commissioned artists receive a £150 fee, free rehearsal space, mentoring & advice, and the opportunity to perform their work in front of an audience.
Find out more and apply here >>
