The International Professional Illustration Meeting of Euskadi, organised by Euskal Irudigileak, is celebrating its tenth anniversary as a significant international gathering for illustration and the publishing sector. From 22 to 24 October at the Artium Museoa in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Irudika will connect a total of 39 professionals, publishers, and cultural agents from various countries, fostering networks and opening new avenues for collaboration from Euskadi.
This edition aims to bring professional illustration closer to diverse audiences, focusing on transversal themes and mediums such as podcasts, performances, music videos, comics, and intuitive drawing. It will also emphasise social engagement through talks that centre on minorities and marginalised voices, featuring artists, publishers, and agents from countries including Palestine, France, South Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, the United States, Italy, Argentina, and Mexico.
Event highlights
Irudika's tenth anniversary aims to break away from the traditional format of invited countries and instead build a varied programme with more performances and new mediums, broadening interest in professional illustration among new audiences. Over the past decade, the event has seen 1,300 illustrators attend 150 conferences featuring 350 invited professionals, facilitating 2,000 professional meetings.
Irudika has played a crucial role in internationalising the Basque illustration sector and promoting other graphic cultures to enrich local creators. The event has collaborated with professionals from 30 different countries, helping to position the region on the international illustration map.
Programme structure
The content of the International Professional Illustration Meeting is organised into four areas: professional meetings, workshops, artist residencies, and conferences, spread across three days focusing on Parallel Sectors, the Publishing World, and the World of Illustration.
1. Parallel Sectors
The first day, Thursday 22 October, will focus on the parallel sectors of illustration. This anniversary edition will feature the Basa Basa exhibition in collaboration with the Iparralde Udada Festibala, led by French artist Bonnefrite. The day will commence with a sound performance by Txaranga Urretabizkaia, followed by a brief retrospective of the ten years of Irudika. Conferences will cover topics such as movement with speakers Sandra Garayoa and Gina Thorstensen. The successful format “Mientras el Mundo Explota” will return, providing a platform to discuss current crises with contributions from Valencian illustrator Ximo Abadía and Argentine illustrator María Luque. Additionally, a unique conference-experience will be led by illustrator and yoga teacher Bruno Ibañez, accompanied by music from Txaranga Urretabizkaia. The day will conclude with a musical performance by Lekeitiarra combo Silitia, featuring live illustration by Russian artist Varya Yakovleva.
2. The publishing world
On Friday 24 October, the morning session will focus on children's and youth illustration and publishing, with a discussion titled “Personal, large and small” featuring Korean illustrator Eunji Ryu from Ghost Books, Chilean illustrator Paloma Valdivia, and Portuguese illustrator and editor Bernardo P Carvalho from Planeta Tangerina. The session will explore perspectives on selection through examples such as Udada Festibala and curatorial and publishing projects from American Leonard S. Marcus and Mexican Mariana Mendía. The focus will also be on experimentation and technique with the San Sebastián team from La Pera Ediciones and Dutch artist Teuntje Fleur. The final conference will address the margins of the book, showcasing non-standard projects like ¡ay corazón! by screen printer Usoa Zumeta, and comic publisher Una editorial grande from Mexico, as well as Llamp Edicions and the musical project about musician Daniel Johnston from the Museo Bellas Artes de Bilbao. The day will end with a concert by Salade and Verde Prato.
3. The world of illustration
Saturday 24 October will be dedicated to the World of Illustration, featuring discussions on “Illustrating the difficult” with Issa Watanabe, Yolanda Mosquera, and Shereen Quttaineh. In the afternoon, the focus will shift to “Illustrating intuition” with Jesús Cisneros, Bonnefrite, and Bára Satranská. Attendees will also learn about the Irudika 2026 Residencies with selected artists Rocío Álvarez and Varya Yakovleva, alongside projects selected for the 2027 edition. This day will also include simultaneous professional meetings and interviews, allowing illustrators to connect with agents and showcase their work. Workshops will offer practical guidance on mediums such as Trajes and Turutas. A new feature this year is a radio segment featuring the podcast Grupo de Autoayuda de Dibujo, hosted by Iván Mayorquín and Raúl Pardo from Mexico, along with a special music programme from Moimoi Colectif's DIA! Radio.
4. Artist residencies
Irudika is launching calls for state animators and international illustrators with a grant of €2,450 for each selected artist. The residencies will take place from March to May, across four phases in three creative spaces located in three different countries: La Maison des Auteurs d’Angouleme (France), La Casa del Autor de Zapopan (Mexico), and BilbaoArte Fundazioa, culminating in an exhibition at Vital Fundazioa spaces in Vitoria-Gasteiz. Artists for the 2027 residencies will be selected by an external jury during this edition of Irudika.
With a total capacity of 125 people for in-person attendance, the event also allows online participation for professionals unable to travel, featuring a virtual gallery of works and an intranet, as well as on-demand viewing of content in both original and translated versions. The meeting will be streamed live and freely accessible through irudika.eus.
Irudika is organised by the Professional Association of Illustrators of Euskadi, Euskal Irudigileak, with support from the Basque Government, the Provincial Council of Álava, the Department of Economic Promotion, Employment, Commerce and Tourism of the Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council, the Spanish Ministry of Culture, the Programme for the Internationalisation of Spanish Culture (PICE) of Acción Cultural Española (AC/E), Fundación Vital Fundazioa, Czech Literary Centre – CzechLit, and the Basque Country Museum of Contemporary Art, Artium Museoa, among many other collaborating entities.
