Out of the Book

A group exhibition by Picturebooks Berlin

Curated by Cynthia Alonso, Berta Cusó, and Cristina Sitja Rubio

This summer, the picture book comes to life! “Out of the Book” is the first group exhibition by the international collective Picturebooks Berlin. The exhibition celebrates the picture book as a contemporary, dazzling art form. The artists extract characters, scenes, and objects from their books and transform them into sculptures, ceramics, paintings, and other mixed-media installations.

Each artwork is presented alongside the picture book that served as its inspiration. Through this juxtaposition, the artists reveal facets of their stories that have no place on the printed pages. As visitors move between the books and the artworks, the reading experience takes on a new dimension—the stories expand into the space surrounding them.

In addition to the installations, there is even more to experience: Throughout the exhibition, the participating artists will hold readings from their picture books and lead interactive workshops in the gallery. The diverse program offers activities for all age groups. Dates and registration details will be announced on picturebooks-berlin.com.

The production is supported by the University of Potsdam.

About Picturebooks Berlin:

Founded in 2024, Picturebooks Berlin is a collective of over one hundred authors and illustrators who work in many different languages. The group organizes monthly meetings as well as workshops, lectures, and exhibitions in Berlin and abroad.

For more information, visit picturebooks-berlin.com.

Artists

Anastasija Altmann, Arinda Craciun, Berta Cusó, Catherine Adufe Folawiyo, Cecilia Galoppo, Colleen Anderhub, Cristina Sitja Rubio, Cynthia Alonso, Daniela Spoto, Elaheh Habibi and Yaka Hara, Elenia Beretta, Emma Åkerman, Esther Samuels-Davis, Frenci Sanna, Giuseppe Sofo, JURO (Julieta Rollhaiser), Karen Exner, Karen Runge, Lea Giesecke, Maria Nogueira Nössing, Melina Lebel, Mina Braun, Mira Schönegge, Monte Packham, Nele Brönner, Ophélie Paris, Sandra Brandstätter, Sangma Francis, Sasha Pshenychna, Sven Völker, Tiiu Kitsik, Vastiane Tamayo, Zack Rock

Exhibition Program

– WORKSHOPS –

Monday, July 27, 2026, 2:00–3:00 p.m.

Sven Volker (he/him)

“Piano Key Stamps”

Drawing workshop for kids and their parents (English/German)

Instagram handle to tag: @sven_voelker

A one-hour creative stamping and printing workshop based on Sven Völker’s picture book “The Piano.” Children will create all kinds of animals and creatures using the black and white keys of a piano as stamps. The workshop is for children accompanied by their parents.

Sven Völker is a picture book author, artist, and professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Potsdam. “The Piano” is a minimalist picture book that transforms the 88 black and white keys of a broken grand piano into a universe of animals. svenvoelker.com

This workshop is free

Registration via email at studio@svenvoelker.com

Monday, July 27, 2026, 3:30–5:00 p.m.

Eva Marina Burckhardt (she/her)

“A Character Walks into the Wild”

Drawing workshop for adults and young teens (English/German)

Instagram handle to tag: @eva_marina_burckhardt

A picture book illustration workshop for adults and young teens

A playful workshop exploring how a single image can tell a story. Through simple drawing exercises, participants will create a picture book scene in which a character steps into nature and something small but meaningful happens. Along the way, I’ll share insights into visual storytelling, form, and color based on my experience as a picture book illustrator.

Eva Marina Burckhardt is a Caribbean-born illustrator with Swiss-Venezuelan roots based in Berlin. She works as a freelance illustrator on editorial projects, book covers, and picture books, and also teaches color and design. Innately curious, she is fascinated by imagination and storytelling, and how they can lead to unexpected discoveries about creativity and the world around us.

This is a donation-based event

Register via email at evaburckhardt@gmail.com or via Instagram DMs at @eva_marina_burckhardt

Wednesday, July 29, 2026, 2:00–4:00 p.m.

Sasha Pshenychna (she/no pronouns)

“A Creative Exploration of Scent and Memory”

Drawing workshop for all ages (English/German)

Instagram handle to tag: @psheute

Our sense of smell is a powerful time machine. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and let your imagination run wild. Following our noses, we’ll create visualizations based on a collection of curated scents.

Our sense of smell is like a time machine. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and let your imagination run wild. We’ll translate the pre-selected scents into visual images.

Sasha Pshenychna is a Berlin-based Ukrainian-German illustrator, graphic designer, and artist. With a background in medicine and biology, her artistic practice explores the world of perception.

This workshop is free

Register via email at pshenychna13@gmail.com or via Instagram DMs at @psheute

Saturday, August 1, 2026, 2:00–3:00 p.m.

Sangma Francis (she/her)

“Wild Word Making”

Presentation, reading, and writing workshop for adults (ENG)

Instagram handle to tag: @angsanfran

A wild word-making workshop with Sangma Francis. Inspired by Ted Hughes’ BBC programs on listening and writing, this hour-long event will be a wide-ranging exploration of picture books, poetry, words, and images. Come prepared to listen, write, and create your own tiny beast of living words.

Sangma Francis is an award-winning British-Bangladeshi writer of illustrated nonfiction and picture books. Her work explores different facets of the natural world, celebrates the wilderness of words, and the soaring imaginations of children. Her latest picture book, *Wildspeak*, was released in the spring of 2026 and has already received starred reviews from *Kirkus* and the *SLJ*, and was selected as an *Indie Next Pick* for 2026.

This workshop is free

Register via Instagram DMs at @angsanfran

Wednesday, August 5, 2026, 2:00–3:00 p.m.

Lea Giesecke (she/her)

“Book Transformation”

Drawing workshop for kids ages 7 and up (younger children with parents) ENG/DE

Instagram handle to tag: @lea_giesecke

You’ll receive blank, folded sheets of paper to explore all the objects a board book could be: a door, a mouth, a shell, a butterfly… During the workshop, you’ll use pens or collage to design your own book dummy, which you can take home afterward. Inspired by the book “This Is Not a Book” by Jean Jullien.

No prior experience is necessary.

Lea Giesecke loves working with paper and creating tactile books. What makes the book on display special is that when you turn the pages, the book transforms into the illustrated objects: a mushroom, a tent, a chick’s wide-open beak. Lea runs the bookbinding workshop at Potsdam University of Applied Sciences, where she teaches students how to bind their book projects.

This workshop is free

Register via email at lea@laufrichtung.studio or via Instagram DMs at @lea_giesecke

Thursday, August 6, 2026, 2:00–3:00 p.m.

Sandra Brandstätter (she/her)

“Paula: Love Letter of Horror”

Reading (comic book) DE

Instagram handle to tag: @brandstattersandra

Paula: Love Letter of Horror

When Paula’s friend Suse finds a mysterious love letter with no sender one morning, Paula’s big moment has arrived: This is clearly a case for a savvy detective! Sandra Brandstätter takes her audience on an exciting and funny summer adventure full of sleuthing. You can look forward to an exciting children’s comic book reading with pictures and sound, as well as a brief look behind the scenes. The event will be held in German.

Sandra Brandstätter is an Austrian illustrator and comic author based in Berlin. With a background in animation, her illustration work focuses on expressive and diverse character design. Her comic debut, *Paula: Liebesbrief des Schreckens* (Reprodukt, 2016), paved the way for her to work with publishers, agencies, and companies as an illustrator.

Selected illustration work: *L wie Liebe* (Kindermann Verlag), *Ada & Zangemann* (O’Reilly), *Ben & Teo: Zwei sind einer zuviel* (Beltz & Gelberg)

This is a donation-based event

Registration is not required

Thursday, August 6, 2026, 3:00–4:00 p.m.

Nele Brönner (she/her)

“SUPERGLITZER”

Reading (comic/picture book) for kids ages 7 and up (German)

Instagram handle to tag: @nelebroenner

SUPERGLITZER Reading

I’ll be reading from my children’s comic book, talking about the creative process, and showing lots of illustrations. The comic tells the story of how a group of animals finds a phone in the city forest and what happens next…

I work as an illustrator, children’s book author, and comic artist for various publishers.

My drawings are characterized by a great passion for ink and strange animals, while my books are marked by a penchant for unique colors.

While working on my latest children’s book, *Tierisch Wilde Schlafmützen*, I was reminded that, as a child, I often turned into a mole before falling asleep. These days, I prefer to turn into a big cat or, on warm summer nights, a gecko. It’s during those nights when I’m a gecko or a lazy cat that the best stories come to me.

This is a donation-based event

Registration is not required but is welcome via email at nelebroenner@gmail.com

Friday, August 7, 2026, 2:00–4:00 p.m.

Mina Braun (she/her)

“Book: Nora & the Swifts”

Book launch & reading for all ages (German)

Instagram handle to tag: @minabraunillustration

Book launch for the picture book “Nora & die Mauersegler,” published by Goldblatt Verlag. The event will feature a reading and a discussion about the book’s creation process.

Mina studied Visual Communication at the Kassel Academy of Art and illustration at the Edinburgh College of Art. Her illustration work is strongly influenced by her love of printmaking, particularly screen printing and Riso printing, and she has a soft spot for minimalist color palettes and textures. Mina loves capturing stories from everyday life and encounters with nature.

This event is free

No registration required

Saturday, August 8, 2026, 2:00–4:00 p.m.

Monte Packham (he/him)

“How to Write a Picture Book”

writing workshop for adults ENG

Instagram handle to tag: @montepackham

Have you ever wondered how even just a few words can transform a picture book into an engaging, timeless story? In this creative, hands-on workshop, we’ll explore the craft of writing for children and discover how to make words and images work together in harmony. We’ll create our own analog zines and experiment with prose and rhyme, using language to illuminate, surprise, and imaginatively interact with images. Expect collaboration, laughter, and plenty of inspiring storytelling!

Monte Packham writes for children and adults. He is the author of books including “Concentric Circles: A Chronicle of Steidl Publishers” (2010), “ABC Photography” (2016), “Living with Matisse, Picasso, and Christo: Theodor Ahrenberg and His Collections” (2018)—Book of the Year at the 2019 Collector’s Awards—“Photo Adventures” (2019), “Rhyme Time” (2021), "The Blueberry Machine" (2022), and "Rooms for Dessert" (2024). He lives and works in Berlin.

This event is free

Registration via email at mp@montepackham.com

Thursday, August 12, 2026, 2:00–3:30 p.m.

Karen Exner (she/her)

“Hats”

book reading + scratching workshop for all ages (DE)

(children must be accompanied by a guardian)

Instagram handle to tag: @karenkex

Hats, helmets, hoods—in her award-winning non-fiction picture book, Karen Exner uses headwear to show just how much we have in common despite the diversity of our world. In her interactive reading, she explores with the audience the various existing (and as yet undiscovered) reasons why we cover our heads. In the hands-on workshop that follows, participants will create their own scratch art pieces inspired by the illustrations in the book, using the oil pastel scratch technique.

Karen Exner is a German artist living in Berlin. She works on various freelance projects, collaborations, and commissions in the fields of visual art, illustration, and animation. To this end, she has developed her own unique illustration style, in which she does not draw her illustrations but instead scratches them using oil pastel chalk. This time-consuming and sometimes meditative technique gives her the space to immerse herself completely in a topic and reflect on new ideas while scratching.

This event is free

Registration via email at karen.exner@web.de