Independent Curators International and the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art announce Curatorial Intensive in Beijing
Program Dates: August 5–11
Application Deadline: May 9
Independent Curators International (ICI), New York, and the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), Beijing are now accepting applications from curators working around the world to participate in The Museum of the Future?: Curating Institutions, the first Curatorial Intensive to be held in China.
Organized from August 5–11, 2012, the short-course training program will use curatorial thinking to examine strategies for creatively building infrastructures for contemporary art that respond to the changing needs of artists and new art publics. Since the “Experimental Institutionalism” that arose in Europe at the beginning of the new millennium curators have increasingly taken on directorial roles to establish new precedents for programming institutions and challenging traditional exhibition formats. Now, worldwide we are witnessing the development of an incredible range of institutions—from the smallest and most itinerant to vast exhibition halls amidst the mega-complex—that are responding to the social and political contexts through which they arise.
This 7-day program will explore the historical precedents, new models, and emergent curatorial practices that are influencing the infrastructures for art through an intensive schedule of seminars, site visits, individual meetings, and round table discussions. Faculty include Zdenka Badovinac (Director, Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana), Tobias Berger (Curator, M+ Museum for Visual Culture), Zoe Butt (Curator and Director of Programs and Development, San Art), Yu Ding (Vice President, School of Humanities and Director of Arts Management Department, CAFA), Kate Fowle (Executive Director, Independent Curators International), Wang Huangsheng (Director, CAFA Art Museum), Rodrigo Moura (Curator, Instituto Inhotim), Zhou Tiehai (Director, Minsheng Art Museum), and Philip Tinari (Director, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art).
The Curatorial Intensive at UCCA is organized in affiliation with the College of Humanities at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.
Application Guidelines: 12–15 applicants working internationally will be selected to participate in the Curatorial Intensive. Individuals must apply with a description of a curatorial project that he or she would like to develop through the program; a resume; a description of a recent exhibition that has made an impact on the applicant; and a cover letter. Applicants must demonstrate at least three years of curatorial experience for consideration.
Fees and Scholarships: The program fee is 1,900 USD. Participants are also responsible for covering travel and accommodation expenses. Scholarship packages that subsidize or eliminate the program fees, accommodation and travel expenses are available and awarded based on merit. Scholarships for Chinese nationals are supported by the Wu Zuoren Foundation. Scholarships for Turkish nationals will be supported by SAHA.
For more information and to request application materials, visit ICI’s website, or contact Chelsea Haines at chelsea@curatorsintl.org.
About the Curatorial Intensive
The Curatorial Intensive is ICI’s short-term training program that offers curators the opportunity to develop curatorial ideas and make connections to professionals in the field. The program takes place twice annually in New York, and in other locations in conjunction with institutional partners worldwide.
The Curatorial Intensive is made possible, in part, by grants from the Dedalus Foundation, the Hartfield Foundation, the Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, and the Toby D. Lewis Philanthropic Fund; and by generous contributions from ICI’s Board of Trustees, James Cohan, the ICI Gerrit Lansing Education Fund, and the supporters of ICI’s Access Fund.
About Independent Curators International
Independent Curators International (ICI) connects emerging and established curators, artists, and institutions to forge international networks and generate new forms of collaboration through the production of exhibitions, events, publications, and curatorial training. Headquartered in New York, the organization provides public access to the people and practices that are key to current developments in curating and exhibition-making around the world, inspiring fresh ways of seeing and contextualizing contemporary art. Since it was established in 1975, ICI has worked with over 1,000 curators and 3,700 artists from 47 countries worldwide.
About the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art
The Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) is a not-for-profit art center in Beijing, located at the heart of the 798 Art District. As a platform for contemporary art linking China and the world, UCCA offers around 15 exhibitions and over 500 public programs each year. The Center maintains a special focus on recent and historical developments in contemporary Chinese culture, showcasing the latest in art and design and fostering international exchange. UCCA was founded by Guy and Myriam Ullens and opened in November 2007.
