Herbert W. Franke’s Centennial in 2027
Ahead of the Curve: 100 Years Looking into the Future
In 2027, the Foundation will celebrate Herbert W. Franke’s 100th birthday together with the Generative Art Community. The major HWF 100 project consists of several events, including two new Summits and a scientific symposium, as well as performances that will take place with partners in Europe, America, and perhaps even Asia. The Foundation has 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 over the next few weeks. Initial details about the plans can be found here. On this page, we will provide information about these events and projects, which will be updated on an ongoing basis.
Launching the Centennail Year HWF 100
January 9th, 2027 – Essen:
Finissage exhibition Herbert W. Franke / Gottfried Jäger. Kunst und Konstruktion
Museum Folkwang, Essen – more information soon
March 2027 – London:
Generative Art Summit
May 14th, 2027 – Vienna
Birthday Celebration with Symposium and art performance
May 2027 – Rijeka:
Glowing Globe
28. June – 2. July 2027 – Innsbruck
The Next Decade of Speleothem Chronology
Scinetific Symposium (invitation only), University of Innsbruck
September/October 2027 – New York:
Generative Art Summit, New York
More events, exhibitions and immersive performances to come
HWF 100 — ASTROPOETICON
To mark its anniversary 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.
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.