International competition for young professional illustrators launched

Pictoric, the independent curatorial group, has announced its first Pictoric Illustration Contest (PIC), an international competition designed to support illustration as a contemporary professional practice.

“The Pictoric Illustration Contest (PIC) brings together illustrators from different countries and career stages, offering a space for artistic exchange, experimentation, and professional visibility. Developed with strong institutional and international support, PIC follows high professional standards while remaining open and accessible,” description on the website reads.

The competition is organized in partnership with Book Arsenal, the Goethe-Institut in Ukraine, and NAOMA. Illustrators aged 18 and above are eligible to take part.

The competition features three categories:

The Student Nomination is designed to support and recognize emerging talent in the field of illustration. It is open to students of art, design, and illustration institutions from around the world. Book illustrations created in any technique, genre, or style are accepted. Participants may submit one book project, and within a single project no more than three illustrations may be submitted. Only illustrations can be submitted. Covers and illustrations with text are not accepted.

The Children’s Book Illustration Nomination is open to all artists aged 18 or older. Participants may submit one project only, consisting of up to three illustrations. Only illustrations can be submitted; covers and illustrations with text are not accepted. Projects may be published or unpublished, and all works must have been created in 2024–2026. Participation is free of charge.

Special Topic Nomination “Bear Your Freedom.” It invites reflection on freedom as an inner human experience, as choice, responsibility, and strength that stay with us even when circumstances limit our opportunities.Within this special theme, participants are invited to interpret different dimensions of freedom through illustration: personal, social, or symbolic. Works may address topics such as dignity, resilience, inner independence, as well as the fragility of freedom and the effort required to preserve it. This nomination calls on artists to visually explore what it means to bear one’s freedom today as a value, as an experience, and as a human responsibility toward oneself and the world. Within this nomination, the focus is on the personal and universal dimensions of freedom; therefore, political illustrations and works containing direct political statements are not considered.

The international jury for the competition included:

Artist and printmaker Katrin Stangl;

Art director and publisher Flóra Peťovská;

Founders of the Agrafka art studio Romana Romanyshyn and Andriy Lesiv;

Illustrator Anna Sarvira;

Illustrator Gosia Herba.

Applications may be submitted through the link. The submission period will remain open until May 2, 2026.

Pictoric is a community of illustrators, graphic designers, and artists that was founded in 2014 to popularize Ukrainian culture and address the urgent need to develop a high-quality visual language for educational and social topics.

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Main image: Pictoric website

Copyediting: Ben Angel