About this opportunity
Most AI governance work is written in the language of risk registers. Anima Mundi starts somewhere else. It asks a founder, an engineer or a designer to name a myth or living tradition from their own culture, then to place it beside a decision a machine actually made in their work, and to explain what the tradition helped them see.
The prize is not a cheque. Every submission, from every country and in every digital medium, is preserved in a permanent open online library under Creative Commons licensing with attribution to the author, and the collection is presented through 2027, including a feature in San Francisco in February 2027 and a presentation in September 2027. The library is meant to be used, so a policymaker or a community leader can ask what a tradition already said about a kind of decision and find an answer in the words and images of the people who hold it.
The invitation is deliberately wide. Submissions are welcome from all over the world, with priority for the 18 Italy-Africa Mattei Plan partner countries and the G7, and young people building the systems under examination are especially invited. What the organisers ask for is lived experience of AI plus something to say about what should guide it. If an algorithm scored your loan, shaped a child’s feed, advised a farm, translated a language or second-guessed your judgment at work, that counts as the expertise this call is built on.
Work can be digital illustration, photography, generative work, motion, or digitised painting and textile, as long as the final piece is digital and reachable globally. Pair it with a description of up to 500 words in any language, naming the myth, the AI decision and why that pairing matters. Two rules decide whether a piece is read. The tradition must be your own, since borrowed or appropriated mythologies are not considered, and the work must stay human at its centre, so circuit boards, glowing screens and humanoid robots are what the call is not looking for.
What you receive
- A permanent place in an open online library of governance practices, with attribution to the author
- Priority attention for submitters in the 18 Italy-Africa Mattei Plan partner countries
- A route into public Dialogue Sessions where practitioners, artists and researchers read submissions against live cases
- Exposure through a programme featured in San Francisco in February 2027 and presented in September 2027
- Volunteer digitisation support for anyone for whom working digitally is a barrier
- Creative Commons handling, so the work stays yours and travels as a public good
Who can apply
- Open to submitters worldwide, with priority for the 18 Italy-Africa Mattei Plan partner countries and the G7
- Aimed at everyone building and deploying AI with and in communities, including start-ups, industry, engineers, designers, researchers and founders
- Young people are especially invited to apply
- What is required is lived experience of AI and something to say about what should guide it
- The myth or tradition must belong to the submitter, since borrowed or appropriated mythologies are not considered
- Any digital visual medium is accepted, including illustration, photography, generative work, motion, digitised painting and textile
- The final submission must be digital and globally accessible
- The work must have been made in interaction with the machine, with technology as a partner in the making
Who should not apply
- Borrowed or appropriated mythologies that are not the submitter’s own tradition
- Illustrations of technology as such, including circuit boards, glowing screens and humanoid robots
- Work that resolves too easily, casting technology as pure villain or pure saviour
- Abstract iconography of technology that is not grounded in human bodies, hands, faces and consequences
- Non digital submissions, since the library is built to travel without freight
Documents to prepare
- The artwork, in any digital visual medium, made in interaction with the machine
- A description of up to 500 words in any language, naming the myth, the AI decision and why the pairing matters
- The difficult choice made in the live situation, plus how the decision was later reviewed, overseen or fed back into the system
How to apply
- Read the call page and the guiding principles before you start, especially the note that the myth must be your own
- Choose one living tradition or myth from your own culture and one real AI decision you have built around or lived with
- Make the work in any digital visual medium, human at the centre, with the machine present but not dominant
- Write the description of up to 500 words in any language, naming the myth, the AI decision and why this pairing matters
- Note the actors, the assets and the actions in that decision, since submissions are read through those three questions
- Open the submission form linked from the call page and upload the work and the description
- Submit before 31 December 2026, and email aihubfordevelopment@undp.org first if you are unsure whether your story fits
Selection process
- Every submission received is preserved in the open library, and nothing in the library is edited into consensus
- Submissions are coded for comparison across cases through three questions: actors, assets and actions
- Work is read against the guiding principles of AI Agency, Ambiguity and The Body
- Synthesis happens in public Dialogue Sessions where practitioners, artists and researchers read the library against live cases
- The Library of Governance Practices from the Industry launches in June 2027
Sources and verification
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Questions applicants ask
Who is this call for?
Everyone building and deploying AI with and in communities, including start-ups, industry, engineers, designers, researchers and founders. Young people are especially invited.
Do I need to be from an African or G7 country?
No. Submissions are welcome from all over the world, with priority given to the 18 Italy-Africa Mattei Plan partner countries and the G7.
Is there a cash prize?
No cash award is published. Each submission enters a permanent open online library under Creative Commons licensing with attribution to the author, and the programme runs to presentations in 2027.
What do I send?
The artwork in any digital visual medium, plus a description of up to 500 words in any language that names the myth, the AI decision and why that pairing matters.
Can I use a story from a tradition that is not mine?
No. The myth must belong to the submitter and come from an authentic relationship with it. Borrowed or appropriated mythologies are not considered.
I work in paint or textile, not code. Am I excluded?
No. Digitised painting and textile are listed as welcome media, and volunteer support is available to help you photograph, scan or record your work.
When does the window close and what happens after?
Submissions close on 31 December 2026. The Library of Governance Practices launches in June 2027, with a feature in San Francisco in February 2027 and a presentation in September 2027.
Who answers eligibility questions?
Questions on eligibility, myth selection and the submission process go to aihubfordevelopment@undp.org.
Important disclaimer
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