PICTOPLASMA X BULGARIA: THE FIRST FORUM FOR CHARACTER DESIGN WILL BE HELD IN OUR COUNTRY IN SEPTEMBER
29 August 2023
The first PICTOPLASMA x Bulgaria character design forum will be held on September 23rd and 24th in Varna. The programme includes lectures, workshops, screenings and an exhibition with the participation of famous Bulgarian artists in the field of design, illustration, animation, scenography and street art – Nikola Radulovich, Alina Papazova, Rin Yamamura, Kaloyan Iliev – Kokimoto, Ivan Popov – Zaeka, Ina Valentinova, Tsvetana Nedeva – Kinderlist, Victoria Georgieva – MOUSE.
Founded in 1999 by Peter Thaler and Lars Denike in Berlin, Germany, PICTOPLASMA is a platform focused on creating stories and characters in the visual arts. It includes an annual festival and conference in Berlin, a conference in New York, a Character Design Academy and Summer School, and numerous museum exhibitions. This year, for the first time, the festival has a Bulgarian edition, organized by the StandArt association with the support of the international edition of PICTOPLASMA.
Exhibition: open call for artists
PICTOPLASMA x Bulgaria announces an open invitation to participate in the collective exhibition of the forum with the topic "Heroes". We are looking for designers, artists, illustrators, animators, videographers, photographers, sculptors or creative art creators who have a special interest in creating characters and their imagined or perhaps all-too-real worlds.
The application deadline is August 31st.
The works will be assessed by a jury chaired by Pital Thaler, founder and producer of the international PICTOPLASMA festival. The other members of the jury are: Ivaylo Hristov, visual artist and curator, senior graphic designer, UniCredit Bulbank; Ralitsa Gerasimova, curator, Kalina Hristova, artist, head of the Fine Arts Department at New Bulgarian University.
As a partner of the first forum for character design, Varna Free University students receive two special invitations and opportunities for enrichment and development.
Students of VFU "Chernorizets Hrabar" can participate with their works in the open invitation for an exhibition.
Materials are submitted online. See more here ►
They can volunteer at the forum, receiving free admission and the opportunity to meet and work with the featured authors participating in the event.
Volunteers are expected to:
1) assist in organizing the exhibition - September 21st-22nd;
2) provide logistical assistance in welcoming the guests, while lectures are delivered, Q&A and to assist in the organization of the party on the first day of the event - September 23rd;
3) one volunteer at a workshop to help the artist on the second day - September 24th - the students will have the closest contact with the artists, they will be able to choose which of them they want to collaborate with.
Students who wish to attend the event can enjoy a discount after registering here.
The exhibition, which will take place with the support of UniCredit Bulbank, will start in Varna within the framework of the PICTOPLASMA x Bulgaria forum on September 23rd, 2023. It will be open to visitors at ReBonkers until September 30th, and then it will travel +500 km to UniCredit Studio in Sofia for a two-week adventure from October 2nd to 13th.
Pictoplasma x Bulgaria 2023 is realized with the cooperation of the Municipality of Varna and with the financial support of the National Culture Fund under the MOBILITY AND DEVELOPMENT programme.