ABOUT

PICTOPLASMA x Balkans is a 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. 

Founded in 1999 by Peter Thaler and Lars Denicke, PICTOPLASMA investigates the possibilities and limitations of current character representation within the field of visual arts. The platform holds an annual festival and conference in Berlin, and a second conference in New York, offers programs for further education, undertakes research into anthropomorphic design, curates museum exhibitions, and consults brands and companies on all their character needs.

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