Free Entry
Build a story through AI-generated images and video for the chance to receive a $1,000 grant and be featured in Prompt Magazine.
NightCafe launches NightCafe Select, a new international competition dedicated to artists and storytellers using AI to create complete and intentional narratives.
The first edition, titled The Architecture of Feeling, invites participants to transform an emotion into a visual story with a clear beginning, development, and conclusion. Rather than submitting a single image or standalone clip, artists are asked to present a cohesive Body of Work in which every element contributes to the same narrative vision. Entry is free and open to artists aged 18 and over worldwide, wherever permitted by local law.
AWARD CATEGORIES
Participants may submit more than one Body of Work. However, each artist may receive only one prize, awarded to their highest-scoring entry.
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Best Overall
Best Storytelling
Most Creative
Community Favourite
Highly Commended, awarded to ten artists
Participants may submit more than one Body of Work. However, each artist may receive only one prize, awarded to their highest-scoring entry.
How to Enter
To participate in NightCafe Select, artists must:
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Create a cohesive Body of Work responding to the theme The Architecture of Feeling.
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Write an Artist Statement of at least 30 words.
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Submit the project through the official NightCafe Select portal.
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Share the entry with the NightCafe community.
Artists may use post-production tools to edit their NightCafe creations before uploading the final project.
Participation is completely free, and no purchase is required. Entrants must have a valid NightCafe account.
Entries close on Sunday, 12 July 2026, at 11:59 PM UTC.
CONCEPT
The Architecture of Feeling
How can an emotion become a place, a structure, or an entire visual world?
For this edition, artists are invited to begin with a feeling; wonder, longing, awe, joy, or something more intimate and difficult to define; and construct a narrative around it.
The submission may consist of a collection of images and videos presented together as a NightCafe collection or uploaded within a single post. Alternatively, participants may submit one video created from multiple clips or still images edited together.
The project should not function simply as a mood board or a selection of unrelated works. It must tell a deliberate and coherent story from beginning to end.
Each submission must also include an Artist Statement of at least 30 words, explaining the intention, story, and creative direction behind the work.
