ICAF's Mission

The International Comic Arts Forum (formerly the International Comic Arts Festival) is an annual academic conference dedicated to promoting the scholarly study and appreciation of comic art, including comic strips, comic books, albums and graphic novels, magazine and newspaper cartooning, caricature, and comics in interactive media. Unique among English-language conferences, ICAF aims:

• to foster recognition of comic art as an international phenomenon, both by seeking common ground between various world traditions and by exploring the crucial differences between them;

• to welcome a multidisciplinary and pluralistic approach to the study of comic art, with due attention to larger cultural, political, literary and artistic contexts;

• to encourage discussion among, and collaboration between, academics, independent scholars, comics professionals, and the wider public;

• to provide an accessible, public showcase for innovative comic art and comics scholarship, with special emphasis on traditions hitherto neglected in English-language studies.

To achieve these objectives, ICAF actively seeks collaboration with scholars, historians, critics, teachers, journalists, curators and comics professionals from around the world. Each year we aim to create a supportive, collegial environment, one in which discussion can flourish, with the larger goals of enabling new work within the international scholarly community and inspiring greater public appreciation of comic art.

With these goals in mind, ICAF encourages a variety of programming, including (but not limited to) illustrated lectures and readings, plenary speeches, chalk-talks by comics creators, roundtable discussions, and multimedia performances. We are committed to bringing distinguished international scholars and comics creators to every conference, and to representing an increasing range of cultures and traditions.