Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance (ICPP) at Wesleyan University

Introduced as a pilot initiative in 2011, the Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance at Wesleyan University is the first institute of its kind, a center for the academic study of the presentation and contextualization of contemporary performance. The low-residency program offers students a master’s degree in innovative and relevant curatorial approaches to developing and presenting time-based art. ICPP encourages emerging curators to enrich their understanding of intellectually rigorous, innovative, and artist- centered curatorial models. The mix of instructors—artists, curators, cultural leaders, dramaturges, and scholars—is intended to spark new possibilities and connections both intellectually and professionally. Instructors provide theoretical and practical tools for students to deepen their research methodologies through reading, writing, viewings, and discussion. Through a low-residency model, students simultaneously put ideas into practice in their professional lives, developing responsive curatorial practices that address the interdisciplinary nature of performance work today.

Above: Okwui Okpokwasili with ICPP students. Courtesy Brendan Plake, Wesleyan University, 2017.