In spring 2009, Pictoplasma and the "Haus der Kulturen der Welt" will generously host a huge PICTOPIA festival, the largest-scale presentation and celebration of contemporary character art the world has ever seen. From Mid-March to the beginning of May, Germany's undoubtably most iconic art institution will transform into a character biotope, opening its gates for an international scene of artists, designers, producers and all the character creations you could possibly imagine.



The festival kicks off with the long-awaited 3rd Berlin Pictoplasma Conference, setting the standard for a playful yet concentrated approach to the subject since its interception in 2004. Mark these dates:

19.03. - 21.03.2009
3rd Pictoplasma Conference
Haus der Kulturen der Welt
Berlin, Germany

Expect an intense, super-long weekend of eye-candy screenings, in-depth panels, too-many exhibitions, hands-on workshops and all-night VJ parties,... but it's truly the personal lectures by outstanding, daring, up-coming and style-defying artists from all corners of the world, that set the standard at the core of the event. No wonder we are overly honored to officially announce the first batch of presenting speakers: James Jarvis (UK), Charles Glaubitz (MEX), Klaus Haapaniemi (FIN), Boris Hoppek (DE), Faiyaz Jafri (USA), W+K TokyoLab (JP), Protej Temen (RUS) and Gaston Caba (ARG) will give insight into their own process of character creation, while revisiting long-time-friends from previous conferences will offer an inspiring update on their latest activities.
http://www.pictoplasma.com/pictopia/speakers

As a premiere, serious scientific light will be shed on the character phenomenon in the Pictoplasma Symposium on Reduced Figuration. Experts from the fields of art history, cultural studies, robotics and media theory will be discussing cultural implications from an academic perspective, such as Cindy Lisica (art theory, GB), Christoph Bartneck (information design, NL), Geoffrey Long (media theory, USA), Ken Belson (New York Times, USA), Klaus-Peter Köpping (ethnology, DE), Verena Kuni (media theory, DE), Ragnhild Tronstad (media and performance studies, NOR).

Additionally, the new edition of our Pictoplasma Animation Festival presents freshly hatched characters conquering the big screen, steering well clear of the mainstream. As always, we're on the hunt for new and convincing characters from the fields of animation, motion graphics and music visuals, so once again we kindly ask you to share your jewels and generously submit. All details and the downloadable entry form are yours at
http://www.pictoplasma.com/events/motion.html

To set the mood, on the 17th and 18th of March, the Character Walk will lead you through more than 20 galleries and project spaces in Berlin-Mitte and deeper into the visual worlds of individual artists. Awaiting you at the very heart of the festival is a central exhibition, exploring the huge diversity of the character universe. For the first time a vast group show gathers the positions of artists, that remix and sample, condense the surreal and uncanny, inflate all proportions and stage bizarre rituals to introduce their characters into contemporary culture. Expose yourself to the original work of AJ Fosik (USA), Akinori Oishi (JP), Ben Frost (AUS), Doma (ARG), Doudouboy (FR), Fons Schiedon (NL), Friends With You (USA), Gary Baseman (USA), Ian Stevenson (GB), James Marshall (USA), Mehdi Hercberg / Shoboshobo (FR), Motomichi Nakamura (JP), Olaf Breuning (CH), Sam Gibbons (USA) and Tim Biskup (USA) and many more.

Tickets are now available online, so all of this can be yours: until mid-January we're luring you in with a limited Early Bird offer for just 140,- Euros, saving you 50! Please keep that in mind when looking for a character-driven Christmas present...
http://www.pictoplasma.com/pictopia/registration