Join us May 1–4 in Berlin for the next chapter of Pictoplasma, a lively communal celebration of character creation, with artist presentations, panels, workshops, art-jams and vibrant networking spaces.

In its 21st edition, Pictoplasma, the world’s leading festival and conference on contemporary character design and art returns to its origins, reinvents itself, and questions our common understanding of character representation in the era of generative image production and fading pictorial hegemonies.

This year’s event also features:
– Industry speed dating sessions and portfolio reviews connecting upcoming talent and commercial contributors
– An expanded Animation Festival presenting the latest eye-candy characters in motion and next-level emerging worlds
– Exhibitions, art happenings, performances, and all-night parties
– Plus plenty of character surprises!

Across three bustling days, international creators and producers from all visual genres – illustration, animation, game design, crafts, fine and graphic arts – meet for an exchange of strategies and stories to shape the future of figurative aesthetics.

The central Conference presents 30+ lectures, presentations, panels and talks on the process of character creation by the world’s most influential artists, avant-garde filmmakers, upcoming talents, cutting-edge illustrators, innovative designers, and creative thinkers.

When: May 1-4, 2025
Where: Berlin
RESERVE YOUR TICKETS HERE.

First confirmed speakers:

Angela Kirkwood
Scottish illustrator and animator with a distinct DIY aesthetic playing on feelings of childhood nostalgia, approaching all projects with a unique sense of irreverence and silliness

Balfua
Audiovisual artist using a wide range of digital and analogue techniques to create a fantastical “Sayssiworld”, inhabited by mystical abstract creatures and digital spirits

Felicia Chiao
Industrial designer turned illustrator working with traditional mediums such as marker, watercolour, pencil, and ink to create warm, intricate, and sometimes strange and emotional works

Ina Dyreborg
Danish textile artist exploring the inner animal within us all – a complex interplay of embracing beauty and flaws, the wild, the masculine, the feminine and perhaps the beast

Jonathan Djob-Nkondo
French artist animator and filmmaker delving into the unexpected relationships between characters and objects, exploring social dynamics through striking, fluid visuals

Laser Days
Real-time rendering studio co-founded by Jack Wedge and Will Freudenheim creating worlds, stories and characters using game engines

Master Tingus
Animator of the bizarre and surreal nature – having gained massive internet notoriety over the years, with many of his animations becoming strange viral sensations on social media

Michael Frei
Swiss game designer investigating complex topics such as decision taking or the finiteness of human life with little more than a minimal style of line drawing

MURUGIAH
Multi-disciplinary British-Sri Lankan artist, illustrator and designer creating candy coated visuals to explore the complexities of his South Asian identity

Sestry Feldman
Ukrainian street art sisters spreading colorful and bold visuals deeply rooted in layered folk symbolism and addressing a clear political stance beyond Kyiv’s city walls

More Speakers TBA