This June, ICI, in collaboration with Fundación Jumex Arte Contemporáneo, will present a Curatorial Intensive in Mexico City––the third program conducted entirely in Spanish. The Curatorial Intensive is the first short-course program to offer training to curators on the concepts and logistics of organizing exhibitions, public events, and other discursive programs. Topics under discussion will include the developments of the curatorial field and the changing role of the curator, while exploring research-based initiatives, independent projects, collections and institutional building, and new financial architectures, among other topics.

The Curatorial Intensive is designed to immerse participants in a rigorous schedule of seminars and presentations that support the process of developing an idea into a full exhibition or program proposal, and is targeted toward self-motivated individuals—working independently or in institutions—who would benefit from a week of intensive discussions around the issues and questions that arise for curators today.

This Curatorial Intensive in Mexico City will offer Spanish-speaking curators the opportunity to meet colleagues from around the world, share ideas on how to push the parameters of their practice, and build a network for future collaborations. Applicants should be fluent in Spanish, as seminars and discussions will take place in Spanish only.

Seminars, site visits, individual meetings, and roundtable discussions will be led by a group of international professionals that include Bruce Altshuler (Director, Program in Museum Studies, New York University), Magalí Arriola (Curator, Fundación Jumex Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico City), Manuel Borja-Villel (Director, Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid), María del Carmen Carrión (Associate Director of Public Programs & Research, ICI, New York), Patrick Charpenel (Director, Fundación Jumex Arte Contemporáneo), Juan A. Gaitán (Curator, 8th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art), Julieta González (Curator, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City), Inés Katzenstein (Director, Department of Art, Universidad Torcuato di Tella, Buenos Aires), Carlos Motta (artist, New York), and Daniela Pérez (independent curator and co-founder, de_sitio, Mexico City).

Application guidelines 
12–14 applicants working internationally will be selected to participate in the Curatorial Intensive. The applicant must have at least three years of curatorial experience. All applications must include a 500-word description of an exhibition idea or program that the applicant would like help in developing further. This description should outline the proposal concept and any artists that the applicant is considering for the project. Additionally, a current 250-word bio, a 500-word letter of intent, and a 300-word text that describes a recent curatorial project that has made an impact on the applicant are also required. Please submit an application in Spanish. To apply, and for full application guidelines, visit ICI’s website.

Fees and scholarships
The program fee is 1,900 USD. Additionally, participants are responsible for covering travel and accommodation expenses. Scholarship packages that subsidize or eliminate the program fee, accommodation, and travel expenses are available and awarded based on need and merit. Fundación Jumex Arte Contemporáneo will support three full scholarships for Mexican curators, and two for international curators, and Instituto Distrital de las Artes (IDARTES) will grant one full as well as one partial scholarship for curators from Bogotá or living and working in Bogotá. If you would like to apply for a scholarship, please include a letter of motivation with your application.

For more information or questions, visit ICI’s website or email [email protected].

About Independent Curators International
ICI connects emerging and established curators, artists, and art spaces to forge international networks and generate new forms of collaboration through the production of exhibitions, events, training programs, research initiatives, and publications. Headquartered in New York, the organization provides public access to the people and practices that are key to current developments in curating and exhibition-making around the world, inspiring fresh ways of seeing and contextualizing contemporary art. Since it was established in 1975, ICI has produced 128 traveling exhibitions and profiled the work of more than 3,700 artists and curators, working with 478 museums, university art galleries, and art centers in 49 states and 42 countries worldwide.

About Fundación Jumex Arte Contemporáneo 
Fundación Jumex Arte Contemporáneo was created to promote the production, reflection, and knowledge of contemporary art and to generate new proposals of cultural support. This is done through Colección Jumex, the Foundation’s art collection; Museo Jumex, a place for the exhibition and activation of contemporary art; Galería Jumex Ecatepec, an experimental exhibition space; and Editorial Jumex, a platform for the publication and dissemination of contemporary art discourse. Additionally, Fundación Jumex promotes its mission through three complimentary areas: Fomento, a program dedicated to support the production and study of independent projects; Investigación, a department dedicated to the research and analysis of contemporary culture; and Educación, an area committed to spreading art through pedagogical programs.