Founded in 1992, INSITE is an initiative committed to the production of artworks in the public sphere through collaborations among artists, cultural agents, institutions, and communities. INSITE has produced six editions over the past twenty-eight years, each with a different curatorial and artistic perspective, but always privileging the long-term engagement of artists developing projects conceived for specific contexts. The conceptual framework of INSITE is rooted in the notion of the public, and of geographical spaces that have inspired artists to imagine the civic and social arena.
Conceived as a binational initiative, INSITE was based, for its first five editions (1992, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2005), in the Tijuana/San Diego border region at a moment of vigorous discussions within the artistic field about site-specificity, globalization, multiculturalism, and geopolitics. The constantly changing and oftentimes contradictory conditions of the border region provided a unique context to test the boundaries and impact of artistic practice in a dynamic political, social, and cultural terrain. In turn, INSITE sought to develop innovative platforms and structures for artists to conceive multifaceted projects along with regional and international curators and interlocutors through site-specific installations, performances, exhibitions, conversations, publications, public programs, and residencies.
