The annual Museum of Comics and Cartoon Art festival returns to NYC March 15-16th, under the direction of the Society of Illustrators executive director, with international headliners such as Badiucao, Chloé Wary, Charles Burns, and Anders Nilsen.
Comics fans are notoriously passionate and can be fractious—how does MoCCA serve this community?
Programs will cover everything from comics and ecology to protest art. All that’s happening geopolitically, you can find it—and if you’re tired of the news, there’s escapism. We also have a new partnership with Calmer Con NYC to host a quiet space especially for people in the neurodiverse community, with Legos and plush toys—almost like a little panic room.
How are you handling hot button issues like AI art?
AI has been part of the discussion panels, but we do not allow any AI-generated art in the festival. That’s what we stand for—the community values human art. We’re preaching to the choir.
You’ve rebranded the festival “SI MoCCA,” highlighting that the long-running Society of Illustrators runs it. Why?
In the past, we were almost too modest. MoCCA fest weekend is such a huge and successful undertaking, and the dynamic young crowd that attends downtown is so valuable for the society. All that week at the Society of Illustrators museum uptown, entry will be free to a show called Modern Comics. Plus the New Yorker cartoon show—that’s 100 cartoons from 100 years. In the poster by Linnea Sterte, from Sweden, we made sure her art says “Society of Illustrators presents,” because it will be blown up on a huge wall where people take selfies.
