PICTOPLASMA x Balkans

CONFERENCE & FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY CHARACTER DESIGN AND ART

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6 – 8 September 2024

Varna, BULGARIA

PICTOPLASMA x Balkans is a conference and festival for contemporary art, design, illustration and animation with a focus on creating visual stories with characters.

By bringing the experience of the world’s largest platform for character design PICTOPLASMA, we are creating a space and time for artists, designers and animators from Eastern Europe to showcase their works, exchange ideas and build a Balkan community around their love for characters. Together, we push forward an interdisciplinary discussion and a new visual vocabulary – from illustration to animation, game to interactive design, urban to graphic arts.

PICTOPLASMA x Balkans is organized by StandArt, with the support of PICTOPLASMA.

Tickets

Get your tickets now and gain access to PICTOPLASMA’s lectures, workshops, concert, party, screening and exhibition.

Artists

EXHIBITION: IMAGINE BALKANS

From the bold and bizarre to the humorous and heartwarming, we’ve gathered an incredible collection of works that dive into the unique character(s) of the region and reveal the true essence of Balkan life. Representing an impressive lineup from across the Balkans and beyond with 2024 PICTOPLASMA x Balkans’ own artistic squad and curated selection of artists from our call for entries.

Animation screening

Takeshi Murata, Christopher Rutledge

8 September, Sunday, 17:00 – 18:30, ReBonkers – free entrance

Directly from PICTOPLASMA Berlin, a fresh selection of 16 animated shorts full of psychedelic eye candy, virtual popcorn and ingenious storytelling, including work by Cristopher Rutledge, Joe Bennett, Tobias Rud and Rachel Fitzgerald.

Workshops

Create YOUR Character or Scene in Midjourney with Karadime Studio

6 September, 14:00 – 17:00
Tags : Animation, AI

Using the generative AI platform Midjourney, participants will experiment with creating and refining animated characters. The essence of crafting your unique style with generated images lies in utilizing original materials. So, bring your own artworks – original digital drawings or sketches in analog form.

Textile creatures with Aleksandar Gerginov

6 September, 14:00 – 17:00
Tags: Fashion, Textile, Recycling

Participants will breathe new life into old clothes and materials, transforming them into unique characters. You will learn various techniques for working with textiles and recycled materials, developing you imagination and creativity. Join us to have fun and create your own character in a sustainable and artistic process!

paint me a wall with Slaven Lunar feat. ReBonkers

6 September, 14:00 – 17:00
Tags: Steet art

Slaven Lunar will guide the participants through the intricacies of street art: from the concept and location, to drawing letters and characters. You will come up with ideas, prepare your sketches and cover a wall in ReBonkers.

Characters for socks with Ruki Chuki feat. Pirin Hill

6 September, 14:00 – 17:00
Tags: Illustration, Textile

Together with Ruki Chuki participants will draw designs for groovy socks. The famous arty socks producer Pirin Hill will choose some designs that may turn up in their shops.

Got the moves: animation with Dimitris Armenakis (Loverman)

7 September, 14:00 – 17:00
Tags: Animation, Stop motion

Dimitris will guide us through the magical world of stop motion by showing how to use cut-out characters and produce photo-frames with the support of a digital camera.

Kukeri: wooden toys with Aleksi Ivanov

7 September, 14:00 – 17:00
Tags: Toys, Sculpture, Woodwork

During the workshop every participant is going to create their own art object – a character inspired by the Balkan Kukeri tradition. We’re going to use wooden shapes, acrylic paint, markers and spray paint to form the base of our sculptures which we’re going to personalize with accents and details to bring our monsters to life. Come together to scare away the evil spirits!

Latch hooking with Sashettu

7 September, 14:00 – 17:00
Tags: Latch hooking, Textile, Embroidery

Latch hooking is a DIY method for making rugs or pillows. It is the ancestor of the tufting gun machine. “This technique was presented to me more than 5 years ago by my sister who lived in the US. She said it was very popular among housewives and hobby artists, then showed me the worst designs made with it. I thought to myself: this thing is absolutely absurd and I love it!” Participants will learn how to latch hook and come up with both functional and aesthetic artworks.

Ceramic art with Saddo feat. Habitat

7 September, 14:00 – 17:00
Tags: Ceramics

During this workshop participants will make flat ceramic pieces in different shapes, choose a color palette and a subject, and paint the objects inspired by Saddo’s collection of painted plates and vases of at the workshop space of Habitati ceramic studio.

Photographer: Costina Purice

Festival

OPENING EXHIBITION & Party with Ivan Shopov (Balkansky, Cooh)

6 September, 19:00 – 22:00, ReBonkers – free entrance

A hand-picked selection of artworks illustrating the flamboyant, sometimes funny or absurd, but always fascinating Balkans. Followed by open-air party with the artist with many faces Ivan Shopov (Balkansky, Cooh).

CONCERT BY IVO DIMCHEV & PARTY

7 September Concert 20:30, Behemoth – 20 lv. pre-sale only, free for registered attendees
Party 22:00, Behemoth – free entrance

The exuberant Ivo Dimchev will light up the room with his energetic, character-rich music performance. After that, the night is ours with good music, friends and drinks.

PECHA KUCHA

8 September, 11:00-12:00 &14:00-15:00, ReBonkers – registered attendees only

A selection of artists from the call for entries take the stage to introduce their work and inspirations in a lively Pecha Kucha-style presentation: 20 slides shown for 20 seconds each, or 6 minutes and 40 seconds per presenter – ranging across the genres from animation and illustration to new media and arts. Check their names here.