The format of the MEDIA FACADE FESTIVAL reflects on the increasing presence of massive-infrastructures with digital visual elements in public spaces while investigating their communicative function in the urban environment.

MEDIA FACADES FESTIVAL EUROPE 2010 will explore the networked possibilities of urban screens and media facades via internet and the new technologies on a European level.

The festival encourages art projects that create a dialogue to connect the local public virtually with the other places through the networked infrastructure of digital screens and media facades. It aspires to share dreams of the different cities and report about local issues and exchange peoples’ stories and ideas in Europe-wide ‘Joint Broadcasting Events’ starting on 27 August 2010.

The Pictoplasma Berlin Festival brings together an international scene of artists, directors, designers and agencies, offering a unique forum for all those working with – or simply loving – the visualisation and application of contemporary character design. Whether illustration, animation, graphic design, urban vinyl, street or fine art – the emphasis is not on the limits of style or format, but on the shared dedication to explore character-driven aesthetics. The lively exchange between the various disciplines highlights the importance of characters in contemporary visual culture.

The 4 day festival and conference will take place at Maria, a venue which is situated immediately on the former Berlin Death Strip – which once divided the city and the world into eastern and western hemispheres. These days have long past – but the 20th anniversary of the tear-down of the wall recalls pictures of helping hands reaching out to pull people from both sides up on the wall. We saw dancing people on top of the then useless scarf of concrete – and felt the beginning of a new historic chapter, visualized by the reunification of the two German states. In 2009 we will pick up the spirit of those days and invite many hands and minds from all over Europe – and beyond – to find out more about the needs and possibilities, challenges and chances of netaudio under the various cultural frameworks in East- and West-European countries.