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.
Leeza Ahmady

Born in Afghanistan and based in New York, Leeza Ahmady is an independent curator, the Director of Asian Contemporary Art Week (ACAW), and dOCUMENTA(13) Agent. Ahmady has traveled widely in Central Asia, presenting the largely unknown artists of the region in international art forums such as the Venice Biennale, Istanbul Biennial, and Asia Art Archive in Hong Kong. She directs Asian Contemporary Art Week (ACAW), an annual event initiated by the Asia Society, New York, comprising a series of special exhibitions, lectures, and performances at leading city museums and galleries. Ahmady’s efforts in complicating categorical notions about Asia have resulted in an expanded list of participating artists, and a broad consortium of venues that support the initiative, such as the Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Modern Art.
involved in:
Dialogues in Contemporary Art: Take 5 with Erin Gleeson
Leeza Ahmady and Erin Gleeson, co-curators of the Season of Cambodia Visual Art program, IN RESIDENCE, will discuss the curatorial process.
read more »Dialogues in Contemporary Art: Take 4
Dialogues in Contemporary Art: Take 4 brings writer, art historian and sometimes curator Murtaza Vali in conversation with DCA host, independent curator Leeza Ahmady.
read more »Dialogues in Contemporary Art: Take 3
As part of this ongoing series, Leeza Ahmady speaks with John Menick and Yusuf Misdaq about their projects in sound and writing.
read more »Project 35 Volume 2
Following the widespread popularity and success of PROJECT 35, ICI is collaborating with 35 more international curators to produce PROJECT 35 VOLUME 2. This program of single-channel videos is selected by 35 international curators who each chose one work from an artist they think is important for audiences around the world to experience today.
read more »DIALOGUES IN CONTEMPORARY ART
Join us on Tuesday, May 8, at the ICI Curatorial Hub for the 2nd in the conversation series with Leeza Ahmady and Mariam Ghani.
read more »