The 7th Bolu International Poster Design Competition is organized on behalf of Bolu Abant İzzet Baysal University and forms part of the Bolu International Art Hall initiative. Its 2026 theme, “Beyond Horizons: Designing a Sustainable Future,” invites poster designers to explore sustainability through visual communication and to imagine new perspectives that move beyond established boundaries in knowledge, technology, production systems and social thinking.
The competition connects its main theme with five United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: Quality Education (SDG 4), Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8), Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG 9), Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12), and Partnerships for the Goals (SDG 17). Participants are encouraged to develop original visual interpretations using critical, conceptual, metaphorical or experimental approaches that make different ways of thinking about a sustainable future visible.
BIAH positions poster design not only as aesthetic production but also as a means of generating ideas, raising awareness and strengthening social dialogue around contemporary global challenges. The evaluation emphasizes the strength of the message, conceptual approach and impact on the viewer, giving entrants an international framework in which to communicate ideas about education, work, innovation, responsible consumption, collaboration and sustainable development.
Entry fee: Free to enter for everyone, with no participation fee and no limit on the number of posters that may be submitted.
Eligibility
Open to everyone worldwide with no stated age or professional-status restriction, provided posters relate to the theme, are original and have not previously been exhibited, published or awarded, meet the A3 vertical RGB JPEG/JPG and language requirements, contain no identifying, sponsor, commercial, political, human-rights-violating or sexually explicit material, and disclose any generative-AI use while keeping the concept, visual language and creative decisions the applicant’s own.
Prize
All participants whose works are accepted for exhibition by the jury receive a digital certificate of participation; the owners of the top three works receive the symbolic digital BIAH Achievement Certificate, and the first-place winner also receives the right to serve as a jury member at the next BIAH event.
