ICI (Independent Curators International)

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ICI (Independent Curators International)

ICI supports the work of curators to help create stronger art communities

Independent Curators International (ICI) supports curators to help create stronger art communities through experimentation, collaboration, and international engagement. Curators are arts community leaders and organizers who champion artistic practice; build essential infrastructures and institutions; and generate public engagement with art. We work with art spaces in the US and around the world to

present exhibitions and public programs for broad audiences; and professional development initiatives for curators. Our collaborative programs connect curators, artists, and audiences from across social, political, and cultural borders. They form an international framework for sharing knowledge and resources — promoting cultural exchange, access to art, and public awareness for the curator’s role.

08/06/2026

Only three days left to apply for our 2026 Chicago Curatorial Seminar! This opportunity takes place from September to December 2026, and is open to BIPOC curators based in the Chicago Metropolitan Area with fewer than five years of experience. Over eight sessions, six to eight emerging curators meet regularly to gain knowledge and resources, share ideas and connect with peers, and think through developments in their curatorial practice. We focus on strengthening practices that support overlooked artists and engage with local art communities while working outside of a large institution. Learn more and apply on our website!

08/05/2026

We mourn the loss of Francisco Correa Cordero, who worked at ICI as Executive Coordinator from 2015 to 2022. Francisco was one of the hardest-working people we knew, which was something in him that was fueled by passion and endless excitement at the prospect of making the impossible possible.

He always kept a red Husky tool bag under his desk at ICI. He loved that bag. And on his lunch break, or after work, the bag would be gone; Francisco was at Lubov down the street, installing artworks or fixing something in the space. He was a dreamer in the best possible ways: he spent hours figuring out how to make something happen, because it needed to happen. His dreaming moved us forward, brought artists out of the shadows, rewarded us with weird, challenging, meaningful, exciting art. His dreaming, like so much of the art he championed, was countercultural; it found a place in our lives even when the conditions for its existence were absent.

As we remember him, we honor his courage, we remain inspired by his vision, and we will forever be comforted by his beaming, somewhat nervous smile.

08/04/2026

In mid-June, our Executive and Artistic Director Renaud Proch traveled to Basel, Switzerland to receive one of 33 medals in the 2026 Art Basel Awards on behalf of ICI. We're recognized in the "Ally" category as "a critical infrastructure within the art ecosystem, foregrounding curatorial practice as a driver of dialogue and cultural production." We're so honored to be a Medalist alongside Allies and and so many visionary artists, arts organizations, cultural workers, and curators--a special to Curatorial Intensive alum Diana Campbell (), Medalist in the Curator category! This recognition is a testament to the depth of our global network and the power of curators to act as civic leaders in their communities. Congratulations to all the Medalists and thank you to !

08/03/2026

Exciting news from ICI's network! Rachel Adams (Intensive alum, New Orleans 2016) curated the current solo exhibition of work by Miatta Kawinzi, whose work is featured in our traveling exhibition "States of Becoming"! "Miatta Kawinzi: An Alphabet of Unfolding" is on view at the Bemis Center through September 13. This multi-gallery exhibition "explores hybridity, memory, and sustenance through mixed-media works, sculpture, video, and text. With a fusion of new and recent work, An Alphabet of Unfolding is an expansive, multisensory exploration of cultural lineage, ecological interconnection, and the embodied practices through which individuals and communities persist and adapt."

07/31/2026

This , we're celebrating Christopher Gregory-Rivera, whose work is on view in Sunlight on the Sea Floor in Indianapolis, IN now!

For over ten years, Christopher Gregory-Rivera has been investigating the meticulous files created by the Puerto Rican police department in conjunction with the FBI in their secret surveillance of individuals and organizations. From the 1930s until 1987, a large-scale operation aimed to suppress Puerto Rican independence, resulted in the monitoring of around 150,000 individuals and the creation of approximately 16,000 dossiers, known as “carpetas.” Following a class action suit, in 1988 The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico declared this practice was unconstitutional and the files were to be returned to their victims. Unclaimed files are currently in the General Archives of Puerto Rico.

Gregory-Rivera turns the lens towards this archive as a way of interrogating the distinct perspective and visuality created by policing, presenting a new photographic archive of original still lifes and police images that reveal the surveillance operation's materiality. The installation includes images of individuals confronting the gaze of surveillance and the mundane aspects of Intelligence Division office life, exposing hidden details from these dossiers to highlight the government’s violent practices of data accumulation and secrecy.

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07/30/2026

Video is now available of Irlando Ferreira's Curator's Perspective talk! Ferreira explores his “Atlantic perspective” through which art and curatorial practice can serve as acts of resistance. He opens by "bringing us sonically" to Cabo Verde with music and a sonic landscape by Vasco Martins, then describes how Cabo Verdean life interweaves art and performance, where "creativity is not a privilege, but a survival strategy." The talk also features a Q&A with Vanessa Selk (Founding Art Director, Tout-Monde Foundation) who offers responses to the curatorial resistance framework "from the other side of the Atlantic" with a focus on the Caribbean and its diasporas. Watch the full video on our website!

07/29/2026

Our next ICI Travels patron trip visits Montevideo and José Ignacio, Uruguay, the site of our most recent Curatorial Intensive! This seven-day journey, developed in collaboration with Laura Bardier (ICI Trustee and Founding Director of ESTE ARTE) opens doors to a remarkable network of artists, collectors, and cultural leaders shaping Uruguay’s burgeoning art scene. From the city of Montevideo to the luxurious seaside town of José Ignacio, join ICI and fellow art patrons for privileged access to artists' studios, private collections, and architectural landmarks, where the experience is personal, conversations are unhurried, and meaningful connections are made. Plus, a portion of trip fees goes toward making our international programs possible. Learn more and reserve a spot on our website!

07/22/2026

Meet the recipients of the Étant Donnés Contemporary Art Curatorial Fellowship: Perwana Nazif, Mélanie Kress (Curatorial Forum participant, 2024), and Ariana Faye Allensworth (ICI Fellow, 2023 and Intensive alum, New Orleans 2019)!

For the fourth year, ICI partnered with Villa Albertine and the Albertine Foundation--which supports French-American cultural exchange in education and the arts--to offer travel grants for U.S-based alumni of our professional development programs. The Research Fellows will conduct research in France to further an ongoing project, and will engage with the country’s contemporary art ecosystem as well as a forum for the exchange of ideas and knowledge among artists, professionals, researchers, and institutions. The Fellows also receive support from the Villa Albertine team and their connections with professionals in France, by expanding their network of contacts and directing them towards venues, artists, and directors of institutions of potential research interest. Learn more about the curators' research and the Étant Donnés grants at the link in bio!

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07/17/2026

This , we're celebrating the upcoming opening of Sunlight on the Sea Floor in Indianapolis, IN with a look at the work of Clément Siatous, whose extensive work chronicling life on the Chagos Islands forms the starting point for this multi-faceted exhibition.

For the past fifty years, Clément Siatous has been building a visual archive of the history of his homeland, the Chagos Islands, a British Colony in the Indian Ocean. In 1973, along with the entire population, Siatous was expelled to make way for a U.S. Naval Base. The paintings from his ongoing epic chronicle portray life on the islands, remembered and imagined, before and after eviction. For example, "Île Boddam Salomon" illustrates life on the islands before occupation in an idyllic scene imbued with historical knowledge, accurately depicting the traditional architecture, industrial coconut processes, tools, landscape, and way of life. The contemporary presence of the U.S. military is pictured in "Bateau patrol dans Diego Garcia," while "Dernier déportation Nordvaer dans Diego en 1973" transports us back to the witness the ominously looming ‘Nordvaer’ boat, which was used to deport the population in 1973. In the background, Chagossians are huddled at the end of the dock awaiting their inevitable eviction. Through his practice, Siatous reclaims ownership of his own history, while becoming a voice for his community in defying their culture’s eradication. His paintings reveal a counternarrative to government & military record, articulating the importance of radical imagination and archiving in the creation of collective memory.

📷s: Clément Siatous, Île Boddam Salomon | Bateau patrol dans Diego Garcia | Dernier déportation Nordvaer dans Diego en 1973 | Installation view, "Sunlight on the Sea Floor," Museo MAC Puerto Rico, San Juan, 2024-2025. (Photo: Raquel Perez Puig)

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07/16/2026

Applications are open now for our 2026 Chicago Curatorial Seminar! In this free program, six to eight Chicago-based emerging curators will meet regularly from September to December 2026 for discussion-based seminars led by ICI staff, guest curators, artists, and arts professionals, as well as site visits including Hyde Park Art Center, Patient Info, the National Museum of Mexican Art, and Wrightwood 659. Over the eight sessions of the Seminar, each participant will also workshop a proposal for a project and receive individual advisement from selected mentors, who provide a unique perspective on the participant's curatorial practice.

This opportunity is open to BIPOC curators based in the Chicago Metropolitan Area with fewer than five years of experience to gain knowledge and resources, share ideas and connect with peers, and think through developments in their curatorial practice. We focus on strengthening practices that support overlooked artists and engage with local art communities while working outside of a large institution. Applications are due August 9; learn more and apply on our website!

Address

401 Broadway, Ste 1620
New York, NY
10013

Telephone

+12122548200

Website

http://www.curatorsintl.org/

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