Independent Curators International (ICI) supports the work of curators to help create stronger art communities through experimentation, collaboration, and international engagement. Curators are arts community leaders and organizers who champion artistic practice; build essential infrastructures and institutions; and generate public engagement with art. Our collaborative programs connect curators across generations, and across social, political and cultural borders. They form an international framework for sharing knowledge and resources — promoting cultural exchange, access to art, and public awareness for the curator’s role.
Hans Ulrich Obrist

Hans Ulrich Obrist (b. 1968, Zürich, Switzerland) is Artistic Director of the Serpentine Galleries in London, and Senior Artistic Advisor of The Shed in New York. Prior to this, he was the Curator of the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Since his first show ‘World Soup (The Kitchen Show)’ in 1991, he has curated more than 300 exhibitions.
Obrist has lectured internationally at academic and art institutions, and is a contributing editor to the magazines Artforum, AnOther Magazine, 032C, a regular contributor to Mousse and Kaleidoscope and he writes columns for Das Magazin and Weltkunst. In 2011 he received the CCS Bard Award for Curatorial Excellence, and in 2015 he was awarded the International Folkwang Prize for his commitment to the arts.
His recent publications include Mondialité, Conversations in Mexico,Ways of Curating, The Age of Earthquakes with Douglas Coupland and Shumon Basar, and Lives of The Artists, Lives of The Architects.
involved in:
VOTI Book Launch and Discussion
VOTI: Union of the Imaginary will be launched at the ICI Curatorial Hub with Hans Ulrich Obrist, Carlos Basualdo, Jordan Crandall, and Susan Hapgood, and November Paynter.
read more »do it (short)
An animated short about Hans Ulrich Obrist’s ongoing exhibition do it, narrated by Reggie Watts.
read more »do it 2013 at Manchester Art Gallery
do it on view at Manchester Art Gallery from July 5 – September 22, in conjunction with the Manchester International Festival.
read more »CELEBRATE DO IT
do it: the compendium, at the Park Avenue Armory, New York. The soiree was highlighted by the enactment of do it instructions by Uri Aran and Yoko Ono, a live performance by Burberry Acoustic musician Roo Panes, and DJ set by artist Eddie Peake. Photographer: Joe Schildhorn /Billy Farrell Agency
read more »“Looking Back: 1993” with Hans Ulrich Obrist and Massimiliano Gioni
Join Hans Ulrich Obrist and Massimiliano Gioni for a talk on the exhibition do it and the seminal year of 1993. This event is sold out!
read more »The Independent Vision Curatorial Award: Winners
Independent Curators International (ICI) Announces the Winners of the 2012 ICI Independent Vision Curatorial Award: NAV HAQ and JAY SANDERS
read more »The Independent Vision Curatorial Award: Nominees
Announcing Independent Curators International (ICI’s) 2012 Nominees for the ICI Independent Vision Curatorial Award.
read more »do it
do it is the longest-running and far-reaching exhibition, giving new meaning to the concept of the "Exhibition in Progress."do it takes written instructions by artists, which can be interpreted anew each time they are enacted.
read more »The Critical Edge of Curating
From November 4-5, 2011, curators from around the world discussed critical issues in their practice today, examining the possible impact of exhibitions and related curatorial activities on cultural and social change.
read more »FAX
FAX invites a multigenerational group of artists, as well as architects, designers, scientists and filmmakers, to conceive of the fax machine as a tool for thinking and drawing.
read more »Project 35
Project 35 is a program of single-channel videos selected by 35 international curators who have each chosen one work by an artist that they think is important for audiences around the world to experience today. The resulting compendium is released in four installments and is presented simultaneously in an ever-expanding number of venues.
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