Research and Archives

Research

The International Studio & Curatorial Program engages in contemporary art research and serves as a repository of knowledge on and imagery of international art from all over the world. A vital part of our mission is to bring the artistic practices and research of established and emerging artists and curators into the public realm.

Our programming provides in-depth information and fresh insights on global contemporary art from the past twenty years from a wide-range of cultural perspectives, practices and sensibilities. ISCP regularly presents artist and curator conversations, lectures by internationally renowned theorists, cultural figures, and art historians, as well as gallery talks and panel discussions. Across its two galleries, the Project Space and Second Floor Gallery, ISCP organizes a series of ambitious solo and group exhibitions that feature work by current residents, alumni and artists outside the program. ISCP’s website is highly searchable anddocuments all current and past residents and most of their practices. The institution’s print and online publications offer scholarship on a range of subjects and artists, and provide documentation for posterity. Through these channels, ISCP generates new knowledge about artistic practices, ideas and methods, and advances critical thinking around important topics addressed in thematic exhibitions.

ISCP facilitates research in numerous ways. Arts professionals from major museums, nonprofit organizations, and higher education institutions come to ISCP to conduct research through studio visits with residents. Curators, researchers, students, and arts professionals also attend bi-annual Open Studios, where the works of around 35 international artists and curators are presented to the public.

ISCP’s residency program serves as a research hub for emerging and mid-career curators as well. Curatorial residencies have been offered to over 80 curators since the late 1990s. The program provides curatorial residents with the time and space to delve into their ongoing projects, work on forthcoming exhibitions, write publications, and interact with artists, often resulting in collaborations and future creative endeavours. ISCP also engages with a vast network of curators who serve as visiting critics, guest speakers in public programs, guest curators of exhibitions and jurors involved in the selection process for residencies.