Herbert W. Franke 100 – The Centennial FUTURE
Ahead of the Curve: A Centennial of Coding the Future
In 2027, the Foundation will celebrate Herbert W. Franke’s 100th birthday together with the generative art and science fiction community. The major HERBERT W. FRANKE 100 project consists of several events, including two new Summits and a scientific symposium, as well as performances that will take place with renown partners in Europe, America, and perhaps even in Asia. The Foundation has also launched several art projects in collaboration with the Generative Art Community, such as ASTROPOETICON and HWF goes AI, about which we will provide regularly updated information on this page from now on.
Launching the Centennial Year HERBERT W. FRANKE 100
January 9th, 2027 – Folkwang Museum Essen
Opening of the Celebration Year
Finissage Herbert W. Franke / Gottfried Jäger. Kunst und Konstruktion
Exhibition Museum Folkwang (2026, October 16 – 2027, January 10) – more information soon
March 2027 – V&A London
Creators, Thinkers, and Spaces
Herbert W. Franke Centenary Summit
in Cooperation with the Victoria and Albert Museum London (V&A)
Symposium and Art Performances
Keynote Speakers: Margit Rosen and Lev Manovich
May 14th, 2027 – Science Museum Vienna
The Evolution of the World between Chaos and Order
HERBERT W. FRANKE 100: Celebrating a Visionary
in Kooperation with the Science Museum Vienna
Symposium and art performance
May 2027 – Rijeka
Glowing Globe
June 28 – July 2, 2027 – Innsbruck
The Next Decade of Speleothem Chronology
International Scientific Expert Symposium (invitation only), University of Innsbruck
September/October 2027 – New York:
Generative Art Summit
Symposium and art performance
More events, exhibitions and immersive performances to come
HERBERT W. FRANKE 100 — ASTROPOETICON
To mark its centennial year, the foundation has launched the multimedia project ASTROPOETICON. It is based on a cycle of poems of the same name, which Herbert W. Franke wrote in 1979 for an illustrated book by the space artist Andreas Nottebohm. The 16 poems deal with the physical laws governing the cosmos and its evolutionary processes leading up to the emergence of life. The foundation has invited multimedia artists from three continents to re-interpret the poems in a multimedia format for fulldome and immersive theater. The entire cycle will premiere in 2027 at one of the HWF 100 events and will be shown at different interntional locations throughout the year.
HERBERT W. FRANKE 100 — Research Project HWF goes AI
In March 2026, HWF goes AI was launched—a collaborative project between the Foundation and Goldsmiths, University of London and the young artist Huichuan Wang. Here is an interview with interesting background information to the project.
This research initiative explores how modern AI can breathe new life into the visionary concepts of a pioneer of computer art. As early as 1957, Herbert W. Franke foresaw the transition from his static generative artworks to moving processes—something he was unable to realize with the technical means of that era.
At the heart of this research is a profound shift in perception: Franke’s early works are no longer viewed as mere static images, but as visual artistic records of dynamic mathematical processes. The artistic implementation is led by Huichuan Wang, a recent graduate of the Master’s program in Computational Arts. As a research assistant working alongside Prof. William Latham and Dr. Rachel Falconer, she contributes to the School of Computing’s research agenda in the field of AI and art. The 30 minutes immersive multimedia work of Franke’s early generative art from Lichtformen to the Tanz der Elektronen will be publicly showcased during the 2027 Herbert W. Franke centennial celebrations at different locations.
The Edition Herbert W. Franke on the Occasion of the HERBERT W. FRANKE 100 Event Series
In October 2026, the first two volumes of the Edition Herbert W. Franke will be published, featuring key non-fiction and academic books by Herbert W. Franke. Released by Deutscher Kunstverlag, these volumes are created in cooperation with the Herbert W. Franke Foundation and edited by Susanne Päch. In addition to the title book, each volume includes further articles by Franke (most of them first time in an English translation) from the Franke manuscript database at ZKM Karlsruhe. Furthermore, two or more scientists and scholars from various disciplines—such as art history, media theory, philosophy, media theory, information technology, and the natural sciences—provide commentary on each book.
Edition Herbert W. Franke 1: Art and Construction / Kunst und Konstruktion
(First publication 1957 – release date October 2026)
Edition Herbert W. Franke 2: Computer Graphics – Computer Art / Computergrafik – Computerkunst
(First publication 1971 – release date October 2026)
Edition Herbert W. Franke 3: The P-Principle / Das P-Prinzip
(First publication 1995 – release date spring 2027)
Edition Herbert W. Franke 4: I: HWF / Ich: HWF
(First edition – release date spring 2027)