One week left before Pictoplasma releases its multitude of sparkly characters and antropomorphic bubbles into the stratosphere. Like every year, by now, the central Conference with artist presentations, lectures and workshops itself is long sold out.
But don't despair: should you find yourself in the Berlin area between the 30th of April and the 4th of May, here are 6 great, low-budget and problem-free opportunities for you to join the celebration.

In short:
All 15+ exhibitions, installations and group-shows of the Character Walk are open to the general public for free; our friends from HICKIES premiere their brand new sneaker-pimping fusion of contemporary art, 3D printing and fancy foot wear; the talented Pictoplasma Academy All-Stars treat you with some amazing work and surprising visuals; we challenge you to fix your gaze directly at 100+ characters staring back at you at the Pictoplasma Portrait Gallery (while an extra 1000 #CharacterSelfies give you the evil eye); the historic Babylon cinema offers 24/7 dive-by Characters in Motion Animation Programmes on the big screen; and we're spicing up Berlin's saturday nightlife with a special character-driven reason to PARTY!...

In long:

#1
The CHARACTER WALK, an exhibition agglomeration of numerous project spaces, galleries and art venues throughout the creative scenes of Mitte, Kreuzberg and Neukölln, awaits you with character driven exhibitions by many of the participating conference speakers and international artists. Witness Nychos spread his trademark anatomic splendor over a huge mural, drop by as Chu takes his characters on a colorful journey into abstraction, check out James Jarvis' reenactment of classical paintings with spherical blobs, allow the ink drawings by Hong Kong based artist and designer Bubi Au Yeung to unfold their tender magic and collect all the lost pets of Lizz Lunney along the route while your at it. Printed maps to help you navigate through this madness will be provided at all participating exhibitions locations - free entry! More info here >>>

#2
One perfect starting point to grab a map and gear up for the Character Walk is the PUNGAS GROUP SHOW at Sur la Montagne, presenting new work by longtime Pictoplasma friends and veterans El Grand Chamaco (MX), Guillaumit (FR), Joshua Ben Longo (USA), Mark Gmehling (DE), and Motomichi Nakamura (JP). Each artist has radically transformed a sneaker into a unique sculpture, which will be presented along with their designs for 3D printed footwear accessories, PUNGAS, the latest from the New York brand for elastic shoe laces, HICKIES. More info here >>>

#3
Once you've sexed-up your footwear, why not take it for a stroll to the Urban Spree? As a 2014 festival premiere, the Pictoplasma ACADEMY GROUP SHOW presents the raw talent of the first international participants in our newly established annual master class*. 40 selected students from 20 countries were invited to refine their personal projects and ideas in a 8-day master class under the close guidance of tutors and teachers such as Rilla Alexander, Nathan Jurevicius, Gary Baseman, Philip Hunt, Benjamin van Oost, and Mark Gmehling. More info here >>>

*= The next Pictoplasma Academy is already confirmed and scheduled to take place 27 September – 4 October 2014.

#4
Its our birthday - and we celebrate it with character. THE PICTOPLASMA PORTRAIT GALLERY at Kaufhaus Jandorf presents a vast exhibition of new works by all the artists that have influenced our festival over the past decade. Featuring paintings, busts, sculptures and animated video-installations of the world's most famed character identities, the ancestral portraits also make room to accommodate the current obsession with cellphone self-portraits, collected by Pictoplasma in an open call for #CharacterSelfies. More info here >>>

#5
Four brand new ANIMATION PROGRAMMES at the Babylon compile the very best of today's characters in motion, with selected work ranging from stylish animation all the way to highly bewildering psychedelia, treating you with a big-screen visual ride you're unlikely to get anywhere else. Featuring tenderhearted ghosts, ducks on drugs and satanic teddy bears and by the likes of Charles Huettner, Eamonn O'Neill, Jun Seo Hahm, Fluorecent Hill, Will Anderson or Parquerama Studios. More info here >>>

#6
And - last but not least - Saturday night is when the characters come out! For those never tiring, the Festival culminates in a BIG PICTOPLASMA BIRTHDAY BASH at Urban Spree: Explore the joyous performative strength of characters with a live concert by Big Butter (US), the duo of Tim Biskup and his brother Mike, and the premiere of Radio Minus Senior Sound System, brought to you by nobody less than Gangpol & Mit (FR). Party like it's 2004!!! More info here >>>



In any case:
our character confetti cannons are loaded,

peter and lars

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Eye-candy of the month from top to bottom: Ori Toor and David Kamp making us proud, Wiyumi designed Character Walk maps pleasing our eyes, Pungas pimping up our foot-wear, PictoAcademy diplomas available on Ebay, the Missing Link in oil (artist unknown), Charles Huettner animated Ghost Story, and the Missing Link dancing like its 2004.