Illustration/Comic

The culture of graphic narration has changed visibly over the past three decades. Beyond its function in conveying knowledge, for example in exhibitions or reportage, an internationally connected network of non-commercial, independent, and experimental narrative forms has emerged. Today, illustrators are also authors: they engage with contemporary debates and carry them forward through their own expressive means. Publishing itself is increasingly understood as a collective practice, opening up spaces for exchange, whether in dialogue with institutions and publishers or through self-organized initiatives. Universities play a decisive role in this development: we understand the field of Comics/Illustration as an open framework that embraces the full range of possible aesthetics and narrative approaches.

A drawn world never emerges in a vacuum; the claim to depict it convincingly involves more than developing a personal style or a good plot idea. Influences from fashion, design, and architecture shape the narrative content just as much as historical, political, and narratological dimensions – whether the work is fictional or fact-based. This also includes a critical engagement with technological and digital production methods. A central part of our methodological approach is to place one’s work openly up for discussion, to integrate diverse perspectives, and to refine it through collective feedback.

Comics and illustrations are present in a wide variety of contexts – in public space, in design and games, in education, digital culture, and the book trade. Depending on context, the perception and meaning of narrative images change. Narrative conventions can be explored, confirmed, or challenged across disciplines. We value curiosity and a spirit of experimentation as much as a realistic awareness of structures and working conditions, in order to help students develop an artistic position within the dynamic between fine art and applied practice.