#ICA26 Cape Town
As the very first ICA annual conference to be held on the African continent, this year’s gathering brought together communication scholars from around the world for a week of knowledge exchange, international collaboration, and meaningful reunions.
It was also an opportunity to celebrate outstanding scholarship, support emerging researchers, and explore some of the most pressing questions facing visual communication today.
The conference week kicked off with our pre-conference, Decolonizing the Visual: Community, Memory, and Resistance. Paper presenters shared their work and engaged in thoughtful discussions about the power of images in shaping communities and challenging dominant narratives. Thanks to organizers Tom Divon, Ashley Stewart, and T.J. Thomson (VCSD Vice Chair), along with the warm hospitality of local hosts Sisanda Nkoala and Zolani Matolengwe, for making the pre-conference a success.
The conference also provided an opportunity to recognize outstanding research through our Division’s annual awards. Congratulations to this year’s recipients:
• Menna Elhosary – Outstanding Journal Article Award (2026)
• Gordon Coonfield – Top Faculty Paper
• James Crissman et al – Third Place Faculty Paper
• Yuan Fang – Top Student Paper
A special congratulations goes to Lior Ayali, who received one of ICA 2026’s top student poster awards. The recognition highlights the strength of student research within our Division and reflects the exciting work being done by emerging scholars in visual communication.
Our Division also continued its commitment to supporting international participation through its travel grant program. This year’s VCSD Travel Grant, funded through the generous support of the Paul Messaris and Klaus H. Krippendorff Memorial Travel Grant Funds, was awarded to Aliaa Khaled El Shabassy. The grant helps make conference participation more accessible and strengthens the division’s efforts to foster a truly global scholarly community.
These award-winning papers and projects of our members represent the creativity, rigor, and diversity of scholarship that continue to shape the field of visual communication studies.
VCSD is grateful to everyone who contributed their time, ideas, and energy throughout the conference.
Please consider making a donation to The Paul Messaris Visual Communication Studies Development Fund, which advances the Division’s internationalization mission to be an inclusive, border-spanning, and vibrant community of scholars from all corners of the globe. Any donations made to the Paul Messaris Visual Communication Studies Development Fund are tax deductible in the U.S.
ICA Visual Communication Studies 