Call for Art / Installations

Important Dates

All dates are 23:59 AoE (Anywhere on Earth).

• 4 December 2026: Submission CMT site opens
• 24 January 2027: Titles, abstracts, and author lists due
• 31 January 2027: Final submissions due
• 19 March 2027: Acceptance decisions and reviews released
• 30 April 2027: Camera-ready and presenter registration deadline
• 21–25 June 2027: NIME 2027, Paris (main conference 23–25 June)

Scope and Contributions

We invite proposals for installations that explore new interfaces for musical expression through sound, space and encounter. We welcome works that invite participation, reward sustained listening, or unfold through the changing relationships between people, technologies and their surroundings.

Sensorial Symbiosis

In line with the NIME 2027 theme, Sensorial Symbiosis, we encourage proposals that explore relationships among bodies, instruments, machines, environments and audiences. How might an installation become a site of shared sensing? What forms of musical expression emerge when agency and authorship move between people, materials and machines? How can interfaces extend, substitute or reshape perception, or allow us to encounter traces across time?

We particularly welcome collaborative projects that explore how human and machine sensing shape shared musical experiences, including works that bring new interfaces into dialogue with acoustic instruments, physical materials and the spaces they inhabit.

Submission Requirements

Installation submissions use structured fields and supporting-media uploads in CMT. Contributors do not prepare or upload a formatted submission PDF for review. Reviewers assess the information and media entered in the submission system. If a work is accepted, NIME will use the submitted data to generate consistently formatted PDF and web records for author review and publication.

Create the submission by 24 January 2027 with its title, abstract, author list, and topic tags. Complete the remaining fields and supporting materials by 31 January 2027. The submission must include:

• Program Notes: the audience-facing text intended for the conference programme.
• Project Description: the background, context, and concept of the work; how visitors encounter, participate in, or listen to it; the interfaces, systems, materials, and technologies involved; and why the work matters to the NIME community.
• Technical Notes: the spatial and acoustic needs of the work; equipment and infrastructure; power, sound, network, lighting, projection, and furniture requirements; installation and deinstallation time; ongoing staffing or maintenance needs; and what the contributors will bring versus what they expect NIME to provide. Explain whether the work runs continuously, in cycles, or through scheduled activations. Describe audience access and experience, including accessibility and safety considerations. Include images, diagrams, and a floor plan or installation layout wherever they help reviewers understand the work and its proposed presentation.
• Media and Supporting Links: required video documentation and any additional audio, video, score, code, repository, or online material that helps reviewers understand the work.
• Ethical Standards: the statement described under Ethics, Accessibility, Sustainability, and Inclusion.
• References and Related Resources where relevant.

Video documentation is required. It should show or otherwise communicate the proposed work through documentation of an existing installation, a prototype, a demonstration, or, for a new work, a mock-up that makes the interaction, spatial arrangement, and intended visitor experience clear. Reviewers must be able to judge the proposal from the structured submission and video together.

The review process is double-blind and uses soft anonymisation. Author identities entered in CMT will be hidden from reviewers. Remove names, affiliations, acknowledgements, funding details, and identifying account names or URLs from the review-facing text and media. Cite prior work in the third person. Contributors do not need to obscure faces in video or images: anonymise identity where practical without compromising the documentation of the work.

Follow the general submission instructions.

Review and Selection

The review process is double-blind, meaning reviewers remain anonymous to the authors and vice versa. Every submission receives peer review by at least three reviewers from an international committee of artists and researchers. A meta-reviewer leads the discussion, writes a summary review, and recommends a decision. The Installation Chairs make the final decision on acceptance, taking feasibility and programme balance into account, and inform the creators of their decision, presentation format, venue, and reviewers' comments.

Reviewers ask one guiding question: does the work present a unique, important, and compelling contribution to the NIME community's installation practice? They weigh:

• originality in the installation, interface, system, interaction design, or concept;
• artistic and experiential quality as evidenced by the documentation;
• significance to the NIME community and relevance to its topics;
• technical quality and feasibility of presenting the work at NIME 2027;
• clarity and completeness of the submission materials;
• ethical standards and responsible use of artificial intelligence.

New insights or new works using established NIMEs are judged on the same terms as new installations. Production details for accepted works are arranged with the Installation Chairs after notification.

Submissions that identify their authors in review-facing text, are not in English, are substantially incomplete, lack video documentation or technical information, or omit the required ethical statement may be rejected without review.

NIME depends on volunteer reviewers. We kindly request that the authors of each submission collectively agree to provide at least three reviews for other installation submissions. To review for NIME 2027, sign up to review.

Presentation and Participation

Installation Formats

Proposals may include physical installations for foyer, room or gallery spaces, as well as virtual installations that exist only online. Works may invite direct interaction, create spaces for listening, operate autonomously, or be brought into activity through live activations.

Proposals should explain how the work unfolds over time: how visitors encounter it, how they participate or listen, and whether it runs continuously, in cycles or through scheduled activations.

Live installation activations may include a remote artist or an online connection, provided that at least one performer is present in person and is responsible for establishing that connection over a standard network configuration.

All proposals must clearly document the technical requirements for presenting the work at NIME, subject to approval by the chairs. Technical Notes should describe the spatial and acoustic needs of the work, equipment and infrastructure, installation and deinstallation requirements, and any ongoing staffing or maintenance needs. Please explain how audiences access and experience the installation, including any accessibility or safety considerations.

Participation and Registration

The NIME organisers cannot provide funding for artists' travel or accommodation.

Artists proposing live activations should be available to present them on any day of the conference, unless otherwise agreed with the chairs.

At least one author of each accepted submission must purchase conference registration by the camera-ready deadline for the work to be included in the conference.

Publication and Archiving

Accepted submissions will be published on the conference website and on NIME.org as part of the Music Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression.

After acceptance, NIME will export the structured CMT data and generate consistently formatted PDF and web records. Authors will receive a password-protected preview and should make any corrections through the CMT fields by the final-materials deadline. Author names, affiliations, acknowledgements, and final programme information must be restored before publication.

Ethics, Accessibility, Sustainability, and Inclusion

All submitted works to NIME 2027 should follow the  NIME Principles & Code of Practice on Ethical Research

Contact

For questions about the suitability of a proposal, contact the Installation Chairs at installations@nime2027.org. For general queries about NIME 2027, contact the General Chairs at general-chairs@nime2027.org.

Submission information: submission instructions