Institute of Contemporary Art
he Institute of Contemporary Art in Moscow (ICA Moscow) was launched in 1991 as an independent non-profit organisation, as an initiative by several Moscow artists and critics to represent the alternative movements in Russian art of the 1970s-1980s. The founder and director is Dr. Joseph Backstein.
The Institute was designed in order to realize exhibitions, research and educational projects, intended to form the basis of intensive discussions and to assist in creating an intellectual atmosphere around the phenomena of contemporary art and culture.
In 2001 the ICA/Moscow joined with a new and permanent partner, the State Center for Museums and Exhibitions "ROSIZO", Ministry of Culture, RF.
All these initiatives are aimed at reintegrating contemporary Russian art into the structures of the international art world.
The Institute's activities can be described as follows:
case studies and analysis of the history, theory and philosophy of contemporary art, organisation of various seminars and conferences, focused on studies of new art trends as well as formulation of the new role of curators and critics in the Russian art world.
organization of exhibitions which reflect the changes in contemporary art, and intellectual inquiry in the domain of visual culture.
publication of exhibition catalogues, collections of articles and translations, dedicated to issues in contemporary art, as well as monographs by prominent Russian and foreign art scholars.
The educational program "New Strategies in Contemporary Art Education" forms a basic part of the ICA Moscow activities.
The theoretical part of the Program is complemented by master classes, aimed at mastering the art and understanding of contemporary aesthetics. Multimedia technologies are also involved in this exploration of modern art practices.
The students of the Program attend the lectures and seminars on the theory, history and philosophy of the 20th century art. The lectures are given by the leading Russian and foreign scholars (Prof. V. Podoroga, Dr. V. Misiano, Prof. J. Flatly, Mrs. E. Degot, Dr. A. Erofeev, Dr. M. Rykhlin, Prof. A. Yakimovich).
Another goal of the Program is to integrate the most talented students into the international art process by supporting their participation in different exhibitions in Russia and abroad. The international part of the Program, "New Art Strategy for International Partnership"; is a long-term project of summer schools and numerous exchange projects carried out in collaboration with Schools and Academies of Fine Arts in Great Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Finland and Sweden.
The successful outcome of this part of the project is confirmed by the numbers of the Program's graduate students, who were able to continue their education at such prestigious institutions as the University of Fine Arts (Berlin), Valand School of Fine Arts (Goteborg, Sweden) and Stadelschule Frankfurt am Main (Frankfurt am Main, Germany).
Another important project, initiated by the Institute, is focused on art managers' continuous education. This is particularly important in terms of Russian art market development. The specific character of that business has been defined anew by the variety of subjects within the course. A successful art manager is not just an excellent organizer, but an open-minded person, proficient in the humanities. Thus course covers the economic, legal and other "technical" issues of arts management as well as the specifics of PRtechnologies and lectures on theory and philosophy of contemporary art.
