Painting, sculpture and photographic submissions will be taken until August 7 and winners will be announced on September 14.

The prize is organized by the Mekong Artists Company and sponsored by arts collector Dominic Scriven, sponsor of Dogma Collection and Dogma Prize.

The prize will be judged by Ma Thanh Cao, director of the HCM City Fine Arts Museum; artist and art critic Pham Thi Nhu Quynh, owner of the HCM City-based Galerie Quynh; and Italian artist Richard San Marzano, curator of the Dogma Collection.

"We want to inspire Vietnamese artists to make themselves the subject in their paintings," said Marzano.

Fellow jury-member Cao said the prize would contribute to encouraging self-portraiture works in Vietnam.

Artists aged 18 and above who are living in Vietnam can send their submissions to www.dogmaprize.vn.

The curatorial panel will grant three special recognition prizes of VND15 million (US$750) to each artist selected from the finalists.

The top self-portraits in the competition will be included in the upcoming exhibition Vietnamese Self-Portraits at the HCM City Fine Arts Museum in September.

Last year, the annual Dogma Prize received more than 230 submissions from artists across the country, with first prize given to Hanoi-based painter Nguyen Van Cuong.