21st Pictoplasma Conference

Pictoplasma returns with a stellar line up of artists, illustrators, filmmakers and designers looking to the future and reimagining the visual culture—including designer duo Craig & Karl, illustrator Angela Kirkwood, and virtual influencer Nobody Sausage. The world’s only conference on contemporary character design and art dives deep into the genealogies and flips the script on the myth of “the original,” often touted as an artist’s singular autograph and guided by an inherent genius or talent, and asks instead: to what extent are our creations our own, and how do we even determine the dimensions of originality, or indeed, imagination?

This question is ever more urgent. On one hand, the rise of generative AI shifts image creation to a search operation, spitting out dreamlike, distorted and often nostalgic echoes of “original material.” And on the other hand, cultural hegemonies are fading, which challenges established conventions of character design as a universal visual language. While the world grows more multipolar, the long-standing dominance of Western pop culture iconography, the influence of Japanese Kawaii, or kitschy, exoticized portrayals of other cultures are all being questioned and reconsidered. Will we see a new era of multiple visual representation, or simply another wave of pictorial hegemonies?

The conference features an extended program of 25+ lectures, panels, animation screenings and workshops, and introduces a new wide range of networking sessions.

Pictoplasma Conference Berlin 2025

When?
May 1st to 4th, 2025

Where?
silent green Kulturquartier
Gerichtstraße 35, 13347 Berlin

Further information here.