Curating Under Lockdown
Jenifer K Wofford, Point of Departure (Nurse Falling), 2007. Featured in Reports from the Field: "Epicenter of the epicenter" by PJ Gubatina Policarpio & Catherine Ceniza Choy.
Like many arts organizations, ICI has been deeply impacted by the direct and secondary effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdown, confinement, social distancing, and travel restrictions have affected both our programs and the communities of the curators we serve. During the early months of the pandemic, ICI connected with over 1,500 of our collaborators, including curators, artists, and art professionals in our international network. Our outreach revealed urgent needs that must shape our programming as we advance: Expanding our efforts to promote equitable and inclusive practices in the curatorial field, and pushing for curatorial models— independent and institutional—that are more responsive to society, make sense of loss, and offer spaces for mourning and cultural rebuilding.
ICI’s programs exist to help curators remain connected through times of crisis. Projects such as Reports from the Field and the production of the collectively curated exhibition Notes for Tomorrow invite curators to reflect on our new global reality. We forge collaborations with museums and art centers worldwide that were unable to remain open to the public and produce at-home art activity packs that show us how to reach one another beyond the limits of geographic space.
