ERRAR — in Portuguese, the word has multiple meanings. On one hand, errar evokes wandering: an errant practice of photography that moves through territories, from the nineteenth-century figure of the flâneur described by Baudelaire—one who walks without destination, gathering§ impressions along the way—to the situationist dérive, and into contemporary forms of dispersed movement across digital and networked spaces. In this sense, wandering becomes a mode of assembling experiences, a subjective montage shaped by the contingencies of the path; it is exploratory and provisional: a movement whose destination is constantly shifting.
On the other hand, errar means to err—to misstep, to hesitate, to search through uncertainty. Here error is not failure but a generative condition: a way of circling a question, testing viewpoints, and approaching thought through images. Error can be understood as invention, a deviation from established norms and canons. It is an anti-canonical gesture that opens space for experimentation and performance.
This conference invites photographers and other practitioners working with photographic images to present visual essays, photobooks, and other photography-based works that respond to these twin meanings of errar: Projects that wander, drift, or deviate; works that embrace experimentation, doubt, and the productive potential of the mistake. We welcome proposals that explore the photographic as a practice of movement—through landscapes, archives, platforms, and ideas—and as a form of thinking that unfolds through approximation rather than resolution.
PROGRAM
KEYNOTES
CALL FOR WORKS
We welcome submissions presenting Photography, artistic and practice-based research projects that engage with the following themes, although proposals are not limited to these topics:
- Photography, wandering and the exploration of place: drifting through landscapes, and other forms of errant movement through territory;
- The photographic essay as a form of thinking: narrative sequences and montage in photobooks and visual essays;
- Error as method: experimentation, misstep, and productive failure in photographic practice;
- Photography between analogue and digital: movement across devices, surfaces, formats, materials/materialities, archives, and networked spaces;
- Deviations from photographic conventions: iconoclastic, anti-canonical practices and alternative image-making;
- Walking as photographic practice: movement, preception, printing and image-making;
Who can apply?
We welcome submissions from photographers, artists and other practitioners working with photographic images, researchers and students, both from FilmEU Alliance member institutions and other higher education and research institutions.
Presentation format:
We accept proposals for short presentations limited to 20 minutes; and long presentations limited to two hours (minimum 40 minutes).
Short presentations will be organized into panels and are intended for displaying and discussing projects.
Long presentations are intended for sharing sessions involving hands-on practice.
We encourage exploratory approaches from individuals and collectives. Presentations may include visual or audiovisual works, or performative actions, and can be delivered in English or Portuguese.
How to apply:
To submit a proposal, the submitter must be registered as a user of the Research Catalogue (RC) with a full account. This will enable you to access both the Application Form and create an Exposition to display your work. Please make sure to register on the RC as soon as possible to ensure that your registration can be processed in time.
Registering a full RC Account is free.
For more information about the RC registration process, you may consult the video tutorial,
Once you have a full account, you can log in and start working on your application (link para PDF instruções) by going to your profile page.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Title (max. 200 characters).
Abstract for Conference program (max. 2000 characters).
Short biographies of presenters (max. 600 characters).
Image for the Conference program.
Information on the presentation format (max. 1000 characters).
Spatial and/or technical requirements (max. 500 characters).
Previous iterations of the research (max.1000 characters)
RC Exposition: with the application form, we will also ask you to attach an RC Exposition of your project, in which you should provide more detailed information about the project you are submitting, including background, methodologies, processes, references, etc. — anything the authors consider relevant to ensuring that peer reviewers can understand the work. The RC platform ensures that this information can be conveyed through means other than written text; you may submit images, videos, audio, or include external links. The attached exposition should be made specifically for this submission purpose, and should not be previously published. As a guideline, the exposition should not demand more than 15 minutes to read/navigate. We recommend making yourself familiar with the RC requirements in advance of the submission deadline. See the quickstart guide for creating your first RC exposition.
N.B. Please do not "submit for review" the exposition to any of the RC portals (JAR, HUB, etc.) or self-publish it. You can attach the exposition to your application using the application form itself. Attaching it to the form will ensure that the reviewers will be able to view and assess the content once your application is made available to them. Tip: you can attach the exposition using the title, not the url/link.
Deadline for submissions: 15 July 2026
Applications will be reviewed by 31 July 2026
REGISTRATION
AND FEES
AND FEES
Early bird paid by
Aug 28, 2026
Aug 28, 2026
Regular paid between
Aug 29 – 10 Sep 2026
Aug 29 – 10 Sep 2026
90,00€
120€
60,00€
90,00€
(non presenter)
25€
We are committed to making participation accessible to researchers, artists, students, independent practitioners, and community members. A limited number of fee waivers or reduced-fee registrations are available for participants who would otherwise face financial barriers to attending. Applicants should contact the conference organizers for details (via errar.conference@ulusofona.pt), requests will be considered confidentially and on the basis of demonstrated financial need.
TEAM
Rodrigo Tavarela Peixoto
Soraya Vasconcelos
Nuno Ricou Salgado
Sara Morgado Santos
A Fo:RCE Fotografia: Reflexão, Criação e Ensino é um pólo de atividades e pensamento que tem a Fotografia como centro unificador. Integra Licenciatura e Mestrado em Fotografia, englobando investigação, expressão artística, ligação à comunidade, e desenvolvimento técnico.
Procur.Arte
A Procur.arte é uma Associação Cultural sedeada em Lisboa. Criada em 2005 por um grupo de profissionais interessados numa prática crítica e construtiva de projectos no campo das Artes, Cultura, Criatividade e Inovação, tendo como destinatários
indivíduos, organizações e projectos culturais e criativos.
On ESSAYISM
The dynamic cluster On ESSAYISM – Pedagogical Innovation through Essayism, aims to investigate the essay as a pedagogical and artistic method across disciplines such as film, visual arts, music, performance, theatre, and games.
CONTACT