Beginning in 2014, ICI developed lasting cultural partnerships with curators and art spaces in New Orleans, strengthening independent cultural production and exchange networks within the city and reaching beyond it, across the U.S. and towards Central America and the Caribbean.
In collaboration with the Contemporary Art Center New Orleans (CAC), ICI produced the traveling exhibition EN MAS': Carnival and Performance Art of the Caribbean (2014-18) and its accompanying publication. The exhibition, curated by Claire Tancons and Krista Thompson, was conceived around a series of nine commissioned performances that were realized during the 2014 Carnival season across eight cities in six countries.
From 2015 to 2019, we also collaborated with the CAC, Prospect New Orleans, and the Joan Mitchell Center to establish the Curatorial Intensive in the city.
Other ICI partnerships have opened new opportunities for curators to connect with the city's cultural landscape, and to bring New Orleanian perspectives to broad audiences.
Building on their participation in ICI's programs, curators based in New Orleans have advanced their careers with access to research grants and other professional opportunities, and incorporated parts of New Orleans' cultural life into their practice, exhibitions, and even into the collections of museums across the country.