I is for Institute

ICA

Welcome to the I is for Institute podcast, hosted by Alex Klein, the Dorothy and Stephen R. Weber (CHE’60) Curator at ICA, the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. In this series you will hear from our colleagues working in contemporary arts organizations around the world about their individual perspectives on the work they are doing to shape and imagine different institutional models. At this critical moment when museums and their infrastructures are being reevaluated, these dialogues highlight pressing concerns for art workers, artists, arts institutions, and their publics. We invite you to follow these ongoing conversations to access the archive at our website iisforinstitute.icaphila.org.

Episodes

  1. 03/28/2022

    I is for Institute, Episode 3: Lulani Arquette and Flint Jamison

    In this episode our guests Lulani Arquette, President and CEO of the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation (NACF), and Flint Jamison, a co-founder and Board Chair of Yale Union (a non-profit contemporary art center), both in Portland, Oregon, recount Yale Union’s decision to dissolve as an organization and to transfer the building and land over to the NACF. Arquette and Jamison reflect on the complexities and new possibilities created by this radical action with host Alex Klein, Dorothy and Stephen R. Weber (CHE '60) Curator, and co-interviewer Tausif Noor, ICA Spiegel-Wilks Curatorial Fellow (2017— 2020). I is for Institute is a collaborative project that focuses on the many individuals who are working to reimagine models for arts institutions. Above all, the “I” in I is for Institute acknowledges that institutions are composed of people and rooted in places. Launched in 2016, the project began with an investigation into ICA’s own history and structure and with a desire to rethink what an “institute” could be in the future. The project includes a podcast, a website that catalogs over 50 dialogues with colleagues working internationally, and a series of institutional partnerships. Currently on view is RAW Académie at ICA: Infrastructure, an exhibition and experimental study program taking place at ICA through May 2022 under the artistic direction of Linda Goode Bryant in collaboration with RAW Material Company.

    I is for Institute, Episode 3: Lulani Arquette and Flint Jamison
  2. 01/18/2022

    I is for Institute, Episode 2: Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy, Kunstinstituut Melly

    What’s in a name? One of the core questions at the center of I is for Institute is explored this week in the second episode out today. Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy, Director of the Kunstinstituut Melly, Rotterdam and host, Alex Klein, ICA’s Dorothy and Stephen R. Weber (CHE '60) provide background and transparency around the internal decision process and external pressures that led to the renaming of the organization formerly known as the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art to Kunstinstituut Melly, and discuss the importance of language for inclusivity. Discussing the multi-layered process at play, Chong Cuy explains “What was very clear to me was that the first people who had to be convinced to transform and to change from within, and not just the name, was our staff. And I think that if that team did not have the conviction to change the name, then we were not going to be able to change the institution.” She adds “It really meant that to transform beyond the symbolic nature of the name change, you had to first have the backing and have the will and the determination from the team. And so that meant creating a self-awareness, understanding and recognizing other talents and values that were being unspoken about or unidentified at the institution. And really creating a work culture where participation is much more, you know, palpable, and real. Meaning you feel more involved much more committed, whether it's because you're sharing the responsibility of a budget or of a name change.” To learn more about the Kunstinstituut Melly visit https://www.kunstinstituutmelly.nl/en/.

    I is for Institute, Episode 2: Sofía Hernández Chong Cuy, Kunstinstituut Melly

About

Welcome to the I is for Institute podcast, hosted by Alex Klein, the Dorothy and Stephen R. Weber (CHE’60) Curator at ICA, the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. In this series you will hear from our colleagues working in contemporary arts organizations around the world about their individual perspectives on the work they are doing to shape and imagine different institutional models. At this critical moment when museums and their infrastructures are being reevaluated, these dialogues highlight pressing concerns for art workers, artists, arts institutions, and their publics. We invite you to follow these ongoing conversations to access the archive at our website iisforinstitute.icaphila.org.