[Commlist] 16th International Illustration Research Symposium - Failure and Resistance

16th International Illustration Research Symposium: Failure and 
Resistance, 13-14 November 2026


We are excited to announce the upcoming symposium: ‘FAILURE & 
RESISTANCE’, the 16th International Illustration Research Symposium, 
This will take place on 7th (online), 13th & 14th November 2026 at Arts 
University Plymouth (Devon, UK).

This symposium provides space to discuss the often hidden (but ever 
present) topic of failure in the context of illustration. In this 
symposium, we hope to consider the topic of failure from many angles, to 
understand how it can help us reimagine trajectories of illustration 
research, education and practice.

On the 7th, the event will be online with Genderfail 
(https://genderfailpress.info/PROTEST-FONTS) and Edie Fake 
(https://westernexhibitions.com/artist/edie-fake/) as keynotes.

An in-person strand of the event will take place on the 13th and 14th 
November at Arts University Plymouthwith Rosa Menkman 
(https://beyondresolution.info/) and Vivian Chan 
(https://vivienchan.co.uk/) as keynotes.


Find out more and view the full programme at: 
https://illustrationresearch.org/failure-resistance


———————

In illustration, we are used to the idea that as successful 
practitioners, failure to communicate effectively is something to be 
avoided. As professional illustrators, many of us feel that we know what 
success looks like, either in our careers or in terms of the creation of 
‘good’ or excellent images. We do not often talk about unsuccessful 
illustrations or their attributes. This tendency towards success over 
failure may be preventing us from seeing the radical potential of 
working against the grain, and may be stopping us from recognising what 
other forms of practice could look like.

In illustration education, it is common that students deemed successful 
are celebrated and made visible while unsuccessful peers are forgotten. 
In his seminal 2011 book The Queer Art of Failure, Jack Halberstam 
outlines the ways in which our conceptions of success might be failing 
us and our students. True failure can be a painful subject – but to 
avoid it may also reinforce the notions of success which cause that 
discomfort. By embracing failure and redefining success, could we 
discover new and alternative forms of knowledge production?

Beyond this, we might consider the potential of ‘failing’ as an active 
form of resistance to normative modes of making, capitalist frameworks, 
and conventions that uplift certain voices or stories while silencing 
others. What might it mean to engage with the idea of failure as a 
creative force that challenges these conventions? We might ask this 
question against the backdrop of the climate crisis and other contextual 
conditions, such as the changing landscape of arts education, or the 
emergence of AI technologies within and beyond the creative industries. 
What happens when we look failure in the eye?

In this symposium, we hope to consider the topic of failure from many 
angles, to understand how it can help us reimagine trajectories of 
illustration research, education and practice.




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