The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an

artistic Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wh ...

and cultural centre on The Mall in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, just off

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...

. Located within Nash House, part of

Carlton House Terrace Carlton House Terrace is a street in the St James's district of the City of Westminster in London. Its principal architectural feature is a pair of terraces of white stucco-faced houses on the south side of the street overlooking St. James's Pa ...

, near the Duke of York Steps and

Admiralty Arch Admiralty Arch is a landmark building in London providing road and pedestrian access between The Mall, which extends to the southwest, and Trafalgar Square to the northeast. Admiralty Arch, commissioned by King Edward VII in memory of his mo ...

, the ICA contains galleries, a theatre, two cinemas, a bookshop and a bar.

Bengi Unsal Bengi is a common Turkish given name. It means "eternal", "endless", "never-ending", or "immortal". It is an Oghuz accented version of Bengü which is also a Turkish given name. Compared to Bengü, Bengi has an additional meaning: "a mythical wa ...

became the director in 2022.

History

The ICA was founded by

Roland Penrose Sir Roland Algernon Penrose (14 October 1900 – 23 April 1984) was an English artist, historian and poet. He was a major promoter and collector of modern art and an associate of the surrealists in the United Kingdom. During the Second World ...

, Peter Watson, Herbert Read, Peter Gregory,

Geoffrey Grigson Geoffrey Edward Harvey Grigson (2 March 1905 – 25 November 1985) was a British poet, writer, editor, critic, exhibition curator, anthologist and naturalist. In the 1930s he was editor of the influential magazine ''New Verse'', and went on to p ...

and E. L. T. Mesens in 1946. The ICA's founders intended to establish a space where artists, writers and scientists could debate ideas outside the traditional confines of the Royal Academy. The model for establishing the ICA was the earlier Leeds Arts Club, founded in 1903 by

Alfred Orage Alfred Richard Orage (22 January 1873 – 6 November 1934) was a British people, British influential figure in socialist politics and modernist culture, now best known for editing the magazine ''The New Age'' before the First World War. While he ...

, of which Herbert Read had been a leading member. Like the ICA, this too was a centre for multi-disciplinary debate, combined with avant-garde art exhibition and performances, within a framework that emphasised a radical social outlook. The first two exhibitions at the ICA, ''40 Years of Modern Art'' and ''40,000 Years of Modern Art'', were organised by Penrose, and reflected his interests in Cubism and

African art African art describes the modern and historical paintings, sculptures, installations, and other visual culture from native or indigenous Ethnic groups of Africa, Africans and the African continent. The definition may also include the art of the ...

, taking place in the basement of the Academy Cinema, 165 Oxford Street. The Academy Cinema building included the Pavilion, a restaurant, and the Marquee ballroom in the basement; the building was managed by George Hoellering, the film, jazz and big band promoter. In 1968

Jasia Reichardt Jasia Reichardt (born 1933) is a British art critic, curator, art gallery director, teacher and prolific writer, specialist in the emergence of computer art. In 1968 she was curator of the landmark ''Cybernetic Serendipity'' exhibition at London's ...

curated the exhibition on computer generated art and music: Cybernetic Serendipity at the ICA. With the acquisition of 17 Dover Street, Piccadilly, in May 1950, the ICA was able to expand considerably. Ewan Phillips served as the first director. It was the former residence of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson. The gallery, clubroom and offices were refurbished by modernist architect

Jane Drew Dame Jane Drew , (24 March 1911 – 27 July 1996) was an English modernist architect and town planner. She qualified at the Architectural Association School in London, and prior to World War II became one of the leading exponents of the Modern ...

assisted by Neil Morris and

Eduardo Paolozzi Sir Eduardo Luigi Paolozzi (, ; 7 March 1924 – 22 April 2005) was a Scottish artist, known for his sculpture and graphic works. He is widely considered to be one of the pioneers of pop art. Early years Eduardo Paolozzi was born on 7 March ...

. Paolozzi decorated the bar area and designed a metal and concrete table with student

Terence Conran Sir Terence Orby Conran (4 October 1931 – 12 September 2020) was an English designer, restaurateur, retailer and writer. He founded the Design Museum in Shad Thames, London in 1989 The British designer Thomas Heatherwick said that Conran ...

. Ewan Phillips left in 1951, and Dorothy Morland was asked to take over temporarily, but stayed there as director for 18 years, until the move to the more spacious Nash House. The critic Reyner Banham acted as assistant Director during the early 1950s, followed by

Lawrence Alloway Lawrence Reginald Alloway (17 September 1926 – 2 January 1990) was an English art critic and curator who worked in the United States from 1961. In the 1950s, he was a leading member of the Independent Group in the UK and in the 1960s was an i ...

during the mid- to later 1950s. In its early years, the Institute organised exhibitions of modern art including Picasso and

Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He was widely noticed for his " drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a hor ...

. A Georges Braque exhibition was held at the ICA in 1954. The first woman to exhibit there was

Fahrelnissa Zeid Fahrelnissa Zeid (, ''Fakhr un-nisa'' or ''Fahr-El-Nissa''; 7 January 1901 – 5 September 1991) was a Turkish artist best known for her large-scale abstract paintings with kaleidoscopic patterns as well as her drawings, lithographs, and sculp ...

in 1956. It also launched Pop art, Op art, and British Brutalist art and architecture. The Independent Group met at the ICA in 1952–1962/63 and organised several exhibitions, including '' This Is Tomorrow''. Institute of Contemporary Arts in London 2004

Institute of Contemporary Arts in London 2004

With the support of the Arts Council, the ICA moved to its current site at Nash House in 1968. For a period during the 1970s the institute was known for its often anarchic programme and administration. Norman Rosenthal, then director of exhibitions, was once assaulted by a group of people who were living in the upper floors of the building: a bloodstain on the wall of the administrative offices is preserved under glass, with a note reading "this is Normans's blood". Rosenthal claims the group which assaulted him included the actor Keith Allen. Bill McAllister was ICA Director from 1977 to 1990, when the Institute developed a system of separate departments specializing in visual art; cinema; and theatre, music and performance art. A fourth department was devoted to talks and lectures. Iwona Blazwick was Director of Exhibitions from 1986 to 1993. Other notable curatorial and programming staff have included

Lisa Appignanesi Lisa Appignanesi (born Elżbieta Borensztejn; 4 January 1946) is a British-Canadian writer, novelist, and campaigner for free expression. Until 2021, she was the Chair of the Royal Society of Literature, and is a former President of English PEN ...

(deputy director of ICA and Head of Talks, 1980–90), James Lingwood (Exhibition Curator, 1986–90), Michael Morris (Director of Theatre), Lois Keidan, (Director of Live Arts, 1992–97),

Catherine Ugwu Catherine Oliaku Ugwu (born 1964) is a British executive producer, artistic director, and consultant working in large-scale ceremonies and events, including for the Summer and Winter Olympics, the Summer Paralympics, the Asian, European, Islam ...

, MBE (deputy director of Live Arts, 1991–97), Tim Highsted (deputy director of Cinema, 1988–95) and Jens Hoffmann (Director of Exhibitions, 2003–07). Mik Flood took over as director of the ICA in 1990 after McAllister's resignation. Flood announced that the Institute would have to leave its Mall location and move to a larger site, a plan that ultimately came to nothing. He also oversaw a sponsorship scheme whereby the electrical goods company

Toshiba , commonly known as Toshiba and stylized as TOSHIBA, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, ...

paid to have their logo included on every piece of ICA publicity for three years, and in effect changed the name of the ICA to ICA/Toshiba. He was replaced as Director in 1997 by Philip Dodd. In 2002, the then ICA Chairman Ivan Massow criticised what he described as "concept art", leading to his resignation. Following the departure of Dodd, the ICA appointed

Ekow Eshun Ekow Eshun (born 27 May 1968) is a British writer, journalist, broadcaster, and curator. He is the editor-in-chief of the quarterly magazine ''Tank'', a former editor of ''Arena'' magazine, and the former director of the Institute of Contempor ...

as artistic director in 2005. Under Eshun's directorship the Live Arts Department was closed down in 2008, the charge for admission for non-members was abandoned (resulting in a reduction of membership numbers and a cash shortfall), the Talks Department lost all its personnel, and many commentators argued that the Institute suffered from a lack of direction. A large financial deficit led to redundancies and resignations of key staff. Art critic JJ Charlesworth saw Eshun’s directorship as a direct cause of the ICA's ills; criticizing Eshun's reliance on private sponsorship, his cultivation of a "cool" ICA brand, and his focus on a cross-disciplinary approach that was put in place "at the cost", Charlesworth wrote "of a loss of curatorial expertise." Problems between staff and Eshun, sometimes supported by the Chairman of the ICA Board,

Alan Yentob Alan Yentob (born 11 March 1947) is a BBC presenter and retired British television executive. He stepped down as Creative Director in December 2015, and was chairman of the board of trustees of the charity Kids Company from 2003 until its colla ...

, led to fractious and difficult staff relations. Eshun resigned in August 2010, and Yentob announced he would leave. In January 2011, the ICA appointed as its Executive Director Gregor Muir, who took up his post on 7 February 2011. Muir stepped down in 2016 and was replaced by former Artists Space director Stefan Kalmár.

Notable exhibitions, events and film festivals

*1948: ''40 Years of Modern Art'', the ICA's first exhibition organised by Herbert Read and

(10 February to 8 March, at Academy Hall, Oxford Street, W1). *1948: ''40,000 Years of Modern Art'', the ICA's second exhibition organised by Herbert Read and Roland Penrose. *1950: ''London-Paris: New Trends in Painting and Sculpture'' launched the Geometry of Fear sculptors. *1952 ''Sixteen Young Sculptors'', organised by David Sylvester. *1952: Formation of the ''Young Group'', consisting of artists Nigel Henderson, Toni del Renzio, Reyner Banham and Richard Lannoy, facilitated by the ICA Director Dorothy Morland. *1953: Herbert Read delivers four lectures under the title "The Aesthetics of Sculpture". *1953:

Alfred Barr Alfred Hamilton Barr Jr. (January 28, 1902 – August 15, 1981) was an American art historian and the first director of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. From that position, he was one of the most influential forces in the development of ...

, Director of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

(MoMA) delivers a lecture entitled "They hate Modern Art or Patterns of Philistine Power". *1953: The Independent Group, including the sculptor

, begins meeting at the ICA. This leads ultimately to the launch of British Pop Art. The leading theorist of the group,

, lectures on "The Human Head in Modern Art". *1953:

features in a show called ''Opposing Forces''. *1955: Public discussion on the works of

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626), also known as Lord Verulam, was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Bacon led the advancement of both ...

with Lawrence Alloway and Victor Willing. *1956: Richard Wollheim delivers a lecture entitled "Art and Theory". *1956: Meyer Shapiro delivers a lecture entitled "Recent Abstract Painting in America". *1956: Ernst Gombrich delivers a lecture entitled "Aspects of Communication through Painting". *1956: Richard Hamilton, Anthony Hill and Colin St. John Wilson in public discussion "Revaluation of Duchamp", the first revaluation of

Marcel Duchamp Henri-Robert-Marcel Duchamp (, , ; 28 July 1887 – 2 October 1968) was a French painter, sculptor, chess player, and writer whose work is associated with Cubism, Dada, and conceptual art. Duchamp is commonly regarded, along with Pablo Picasso ...

in Britain after the Second World War. *1957: First UK screening of the French film '' Hurlements en Faveur de Sade'' by Guy Debord, which caused riots when shown in Paris because it mostly featured a black screen and silence. *1957: ''Paintings by Chimpanzees'', curated by future ICA director Desmond Morris. *1966–68:

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

contributes to Destruction in Art Symposium orchestrated by Gustav Metzger. *1967:

Ian Dury Ian Robins Dury (12 May 1942 27 March 2000) was a British singer, songwriter and actor who rose to fame during the late 1970s, during the punk and new wave era of rock music. He was the lead singer and lyricist of Ian Dury and the Blockheads ...

Pat Douthwaite Pat Douthwaite (28 July 1934 – 26 July 2002) was a Scottish artist. She has been notably compared to Amedeo Modigliani and Chaïm Soutine, the ''peintres maudits'' of early twentieth-century Paris. Life Douthwaite was born in Glasgow, ...

, Herbert Kitchen and Stass Paraskos exhibition ''Fantasy and Figuration''. Dury was to become a celebrated punk rock musician, and Stass Paraskos had, in 1966, been the last artist in Britain to be successfully prosecuted for showing obscene paintings under the Vagrancy Act 1838. *1968: The inaugural exhibition in the Nash building ''The Obsessive Image'' features a waxwork model of a dead hippie by

Paul Thek Paul Thek (November 2, 1933 – August 10, 1988) was an American painter, sculptor and installation artist. Thek was active in both the United States and Europe, exhibiting several installations and sculptural works over the course of his life. Po ...

. The '' Cybernetic Serendipity'' exhibition features computers, pulsing TV screens and a mosaic floor made of coloured lights. *1976: Mary Kelly exhibits the first part of ''Post-Partum Document'', an exploration (developed between 1973 and 1979) of the mother-child relationship. Each section highlights a formative moment in her son’s mastery of language, along with the artist's sense of loss. Informed by feminism and psychoanalysis, the work alternately adopts the voice of the mother, the child, and an analytic observer. The installation provoked tabloid newspaper outrage because of stained (but laundered) nappy liners incorporated in "Documentation I". *1976: A retrospective of

COUM Transmissions COUM Transmissions was a music and performance art collective who operated in the United Kingdom from 1969 through to 1976. The collective was influenced by the Dada and surrealism artistic movements, the writers of the Beat Generation, and underg ...

(a performance group whose core subsequently formed Throbbing Gristle) entitled '' Prostitution'' features sanitary towels and explicit photographs. The exhibition was held concurrently with Mary Kelly's ''Post-Partum Document''. *1977:

Adam and the Ants Adam and the Ants were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. The group existed in two incarnations, both fronted by Adam Ant, over the period 1977 to 1982. The first, founded in May 1977 and known simply as The Ants until November of t ...

, at this point known simply as The Ants, perform their official debut concert in the restaurant. Singer

Adam Ant Stuart Leslie Goddard, better known as Adam Ant (born 3 November 1954), is an English singer, musician, and actor. He gained popularity as the lead singer of new wave group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring 10 UK top ten ...

's stage costume at this point includes a

bondage hood A bondage hood (also called a gimp mask or bondage mask) is a fetishistic hood. It may be made from rubber, latex, PVC, spandex, darlexx or leather. Full-faced hoods are typically used for the practice of head bondage, and to restrain and ob ...

and other leather garments. The performance is aborted by venue staff after one song, "Beat My Guest" (later the B-side of major hit single " Stand and Deliver"), but is resumed and completed later that day in the main theatre during the interval of a performance by John Dowie and Victoria Wood. *1980: Sees several important feminist art exhibitions: **4–26 October, ''Women's Images of Men'' (curated by Joyce Agee, Jacqueline Morreau, Catherine Elwes, Pat Whiteread); **30 October–9 November: ''About Time: Video, Performance and Installation by 21 Women Artists'' (curated by Catherine Elwes, Rose Garrard, Sandy Nairne); **14 November–21 December: ''Issue: Social Strategies by Women Artists'' (curated by Lucy R. Lippard). *1981: Roger Westman exhibited his scheme ''Walls: A Framework for Communal Anarchy''. *1986:

Helen Chadwick Helen Chadwick (18 May 1953 – 15 March 1996) was a British sculptor, photographer and installation artist. In 1987, she became one of the first women artists to be nominated for the Turner Prize. Chadwick was known for "challenging stereotypic ...

’s artwork ''Carcass'', consisting of composting vegetation in a perspex tower, is removed after the gasses from the compost caused the tower to give way. The smell led to complaints from neighbours and a visit by health inspectors. The main part of the exhibition, 'The Oval Court' (a major installation of sculptural forms, photocopies of animals, vegetation and the artist's body) was bought by the Victoria and Albert Museum for its permanent collection. *1988: ''Taking Liberties: AIDS and Cultural Politics'', organised by Erica Carter and

Simon Watney Simon Watney is a British writer, art historian, and AIDS activist. His 1987 article, "The Spectacle of AIDS", was included in ''The Gay and Lesbian Studies Reader''. He also published ''Policing Desire: Pornography, AIDS and the Media'' in 1987. ...

, tackles cultural and activist responses to the AIDS crisis. A book of the same name is published by

Serpent's Tail Serpent's Tail is London-based independent publishing firm founded in 1986 by Pete Ayrton. It specialises in publishing work in translation, particularly European crime fiction. In January 2007, it was bought by a British publisher Profile Book ...

in 1989. *1989: Gerhard Richter shows black-and-white oil paintings of the Baader-Meinhof gang inspired by contemporary newspaper and police photographs. *1990: Vaclav Havel launches Censored Theatre, a programme of readings of suppressed plays. The first reading of ''Death and the Maiden'' by the young Chilean playwright

Ariel Dorfman Vladimiro Ariel Dorfman (born May 6, 1942) is an Argentine-Chilean-American novelist, playwright, essayist, academic, and human rights activist. A citizen of the United States since 2004, he has been a professor of literature and Latin American ...

is performed by actors including Juliet Stevenson. Harold Pinter, in the audience, said the play "felt like it was a sequel to his own 1984 play One for the Road, which also revolved around a woman who had been raped and tortured". *1991:

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...

’s ''International Affairs'', his first solo exhibition in a public gallery, features glass cases containing items such as a desk, cigarette packets and an ashtray. *1992: The conference ''Preaching to the Perverted'', organised with The Spanner Trust asks: "Are fetishistic practices politically radical?" *1993: The exhibition ''Bad Girls'', curated by Kate Bush and Emma Dexter, celebrates a new spirit of playfulness, tactility and perverse humour in the work of six British and US women artists:

, Dorothy Cross, Rachel Evans,

Nicole Eisenman Nicole Eisenman (born 1965) is French-born American artist known for her oil paintings and sculptures. She has been awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship (1996), the Carnegie Prize (2013), and has thrice been included in the Whitney Biennial (1995, 20 ...

Nan Goldin Nancy Goldin (born September 12, 1953) is an American photographer and activist. Her work often explores LGBT subcultures, moments of intimacy, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and the opioid epidemic. Her most notable work is '' The Ballad of Sexual Depe ...

and Sue Williams. *1994: A video camera is set up in the men’s toilets of the ICA, and real-time images of urinating visitors are relayed to a screen in the theatre in a piece by Rosa Sanchez. *1994: The world's first cybercafe is held in the ICA theatre. *1995: ''Bear'' and ''Five Easy Pieces'', films by future Turner Prize-winning artist Steve McQueen, are included in the exhibition ''Mirage: Enigmas of Race, Difference and Desire'', curated by David A. Bailey and organised with InIVA. Other artists whose work is included are Sonia Boyce, Eddie George and Trevor Mathison of Black Audio Film Collective, Renée Green,

Lyle Ashton Harris Lyle Ashton Harris (born February 6, 1965) is an American artist who has cultivated a diverse artistic practice ranging from photographic media, collage, installation art and performance art. Harris uses his works to comment on societal constructs ...

Isaac Julien Sir Isaac Julien (born 21 February 1960Annette Kuhn"Julien, Isaac (1960–)" BFI Screen Online.) is a British installation artist, filmmaker, and distinguished professor of the arts at UC Santa Cruz. Early life Julien was born in the East End ...

, Marc Latamie, and

Glenn Ligon Glenn Ligon (born 1960, pronounced Lie-gōne) is an American conceptual artist whose work explores race, language, desire, sexuality, and identity.Meyer, Richard. "Glenn Ligon", in George E. Haggerty and Bonnie Zimmerman (eds), ''Gay Histories a ...

. An accompanying symposium, ''Working with Fanon'', debates the legacy of

Frantz Fanon Frantz Omar Fanon (, ; ; 20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961), also known as Ibrahim Frantz Fanon, was a French West Indian psychiatrist, and political philosopher from the French colony of Martinique (today a French department). His works have b ...

within the context of art and visual representation. Speakers include

Homi K. Bhabha Homi Kharshedji Bhabha (; born 1 November 1949) is an Indian-British scholar and critical theorist. He is the Anne F. Rothenberg Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University. He is one of the most important figures in contemporary post ...

Paul Gilroy Paul Gilroy (born 16 February 1956) is an English sociologist and cultural studies scholar who is the founding Director of the Sarah Parker Remond Centre for the Study of Race and Racism at University College, London (UCL). Gilroy is the 2019 ...

, Stuart Hall, bell hooks,

, Kobena Mercer,

Raoul Peck Raoul Peck (born 9 September 1953 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti) is a Haitian filmmaker, of both documentary and feature films. He is known for using historical, political, and personal characters to tackle and recount societal issues and historical ...

Ntozake Shange Ntozake Shange ( ;
FilmReference.com. Retrieved October 27, 2018. October 18, 1948 – October 27, 2018) ...

, Françoise Versages, and

Lola Young Margaret Omolola Young, Baroness Young of Hornsey (born 1 June 1951) is a British actress, author, crossbench peer, and Chancellor of the University of Nottingham. Education and career Born in Kensington, Lola Young was educated at the Parlia ...

. *1996: Jake and Dinos Chapman display ''Tragic Anatomies'', sculptures of children with genitalia in place of facial features, as part of their exhibition ''Chapman World''. *1996: The Onedotzero digital film festival is hosted at the ICA for the first time. *1996: ''Incarcerated with Artaud and Genet'' traces the legacies of the avant-garde French writers in a weekend event with participants including the writer and musician

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ''Horses''. Called the "punk poet ...

, writer Tahar Ben Jelloun, film maker

Alejandro Jodorowsky Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky (; born 17 February 1929) is a Chilean-French avant-garde filmmaker. Best known for his 1970s films ''El Topo'' and '' The Holy Mountain'', Jodorowsky has been "venerated by cult cinema enthusiasts" for his work ...

, and theatre director

Peter Sellars Peter Sellars (born September 27, 1957) is an American theatre director, noted for his unique contemporary stagings of classical and contemporary operas and plays. Sellars is professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where ...

. *1997: Four female models, naked apart from high-heeled shoes, stand in mute silence in an upstairs gallery for a piece by Italian artist Vanessa Beecroft as part of the show ''Made in Italy''. *2000: The annual Beck’s Futures prize is set up to celebrate the work of emerging artists, and continues at the ICA until 2005. *2006: The ''Alien Nation'' exhibition is presented with inIVA, exploring the complex relationship between science fiction, race and contemporary art. Among the featured artists are Laylah Ali, Hew Locke and

Yinka Shonibare Yinka Shonibare (born 9 August 1962), is a British-Nigerian artist living in the United Kingdom. His work explores cultural identity, colonialism and post-colonialism within the contemporary context of globalisation. A hallmark of his art is t ...

. *2008: Over a six-month period, and as part of the ICA's 60th-birthday year, the exhibition ''Nought to Sixty'' presents 60 emerging artists based in Britain and Ireland. *2010: The first major solo exhibition of cult figure, artist, musician and writer Billy Childish is presented at the ICA. *2011: The ICA hosts ''Bruderskriegsoundsystem'', a project from Edwin Burdis, Mark Leckey, Kieron Livingston and Steven Claydon. Pablo Bronstein's exhibition ''Sketches for Regency Living'' takes over the entire ICA building for the first time in its history. *2015: The ICA hosts ''fig-2'', a one-year series of week-long exhibitions curated by Fatoş Üstek that included the artists Laura Eldret, Charles Avery, Rebecca Birch, Annika Ström, Young In Hong, Beth Collar,

Tom McCarthy Thomas McCarthy (also Tom and Tommy) may refer to: Academia *Thomas A. McCarthy (born 1940), American professor of philosophy *Thomas J. McCarthy (born 1956), American professor of polymer chemistry at the University of Massachusetts *J. Thomas Mc ...

, Shezad Dawood,

Suzanne Treister Suzanne Treister (born 1958) is a British contemporary artist based in London. Her works are known for being conceptually oriented around emerging technologies. An ongoing focus of her work is the relationship between new technologies, society, a ...

, Jacopo Miliani, Kathryn Elkin, Marjolijn Dijkman,

Ben Judd Ben Judd (born October 25, 1974) is an American translator, producer, and agent. He is a former Capcom employee. Judd is an American and lives in Japan and became Capcom's first non-Japanese producer. Judd has had several voice acting cameos in ...

, Karen Mirza, Oreet Ashery, Eva Grubinger, Melanie Manchot, Bruce McLean, Vesna Petresin, and duo Wright and Vandame. *2016: The first edition of FRAMES of REPRESENTATION (FoR) film festival was launched on the 20th of April 2016. FoR was conceived to engage with new visions of cinema through the presentation of innovative and politically aware cinematic languages situated at the intersection between fiction and non-fiction. Throughout its ongoing annual event, the festival presented international and UK premieres of films by Roberto Minervini, Khalik Allah, Salome' Lamas, Wang Bing, Clement Cogitore, Teddy Williams, Nele Wohlatz, Betzabe' Garcia, Anna Zamecka, Gürcan Keltek, Pietro Marcello, Zhao Liang, Yalda Afsah, Rosa Barba, Ana Vaz, Isabel Pagliai, Dorian Jespers, Alexander Abaturov, Zhu Shengze to mention a few; masterclasses, workshops and conversations with speaker guests such as Walter Murch, Gianfranco Rosi, Laura Poitras, Joshua Oppenheimer and Carlos Reygadas amongst many others. The fifth edition of the festival originally planned for April 2020 was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic but due to taking place at the end of 2020. *2019: Image Behaviour with works from

Nora Turato Nora Turato (born 1991) is a Croatian graphic designer, installation and performance artist, based in Amsterdam. She is known for her works around everyday linguistic usage which are then enlarged and imprinted onto exhibition walls. Turato’s sc ...

Marianna Simnett Marianna Simnett (born 1986) is a Berlin-based multi-disciplinary artist who works with film, installation, drawing, and sculpture. She is best known for her large-scale video installations. Early life and education Simnett studied at a musical th ...

, Hannah Quinlan + Rosie Hastings, Keiken, Lawrence Lek + Clifford Sage, Andros Zins-Browne, Lexachast ( Amnesia Scanner, Bill Kouligas, Harm van den Dorpel), Ken Okiishi, Julie Béna, Patrick Staff, and others.

Organisation

Membership of the ICA is available to the general public. The ICA is constituted as a private limited company and registered charity, run by a 13-member Board and led by a Director.

ICA Directors

* Ewan Phillips 1948–1951 * Dorothy Morland 1951–1967 * Desmond Morris 1967–1968 * Michael Kustow 1968–1970 *

Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English actor, comedian, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishme ...

1970–1973 * Ted Little 1973–1977 * Bill McAlister 1977–1990 * Mik Flood 1990–1997 * Philip Dodd 1997–2004 *

2005–2010 * Gregor Muir 2011–2016 * Stefan Kalmar 2016–2021 * Bengi Unsal 2022-

References

External links