IKT CONGRESS TO BE HELD IN THE US FOR THE FIRST TIME
MIAMI, FL (APRIL 11-14)
POST-CONGRESS IN HAVANA, CUBA (APRIL 15-18)
Lucinda Linderman, Straits of Florida and Approaches - 2100. Reclaimed Thread, wool, and fabric
Miami, FL—The annual Congress for IKT, the International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art, will be held in Miami April 11-14, 2019, marking the first occasion in its 45-year history that the event will be hosted in the United States. A Post-Congress will take place in Havana, Cuba April 15-18. Approximately 100-150 international curators and art professionals are expected to participate along with local curators, art professionals, and artists and local residents.
The goal of IKT Miami is to highlight the diversity and vitality of the contemporary art scene in Miami focusing on resiliency and sustainability through the lens of cultural production in South Florida, the Caribbean, and Latin America.
Organized by Ombretta Agró Andruff, a Miami Beach-based curator and IKT Board Member, and a team of eleven other Miami-based curators, the four-day event will kick-off with an opening reception at The Wolfsonian-FIU on Thursday, April 11. The subsequent three days will involve visits to seventeen other Miami-Dade arts institutions and nineteen individual events, five of which will be open to the public which will widen the reach of the Congress.
The highlight of the Congress is the Symposium on Sunday, April 14, which will be held at the Perez Art Museum Miami and open to the public. The keynote address will be given by the internationally recognized art historian and critic, T.J. Demos, whose current work explores how artists and activists have negotiated crises associated with globalization, including climate change, political sovereignty, and colonial history. Additional presentations will be made by several South Florida-based artists, cultural producers and academics investigating these issues.
Fresh Art International will host two podcast events, at the Wolfsonian-FIU on April 11 and the Riviera Hotel on April 12, which are also open to the public, as well as recording sessions, and web streaming radio programs. Hosted by curator Cathy Byrd, the events will feature international curators discussing their current projects as well as participants from the Symposium and Five-Minute Rounds Artist Presentation.
Other public events include 5-Minute Rounds Artist Presentations at the Rubell Family Collection (Saturday, April 13); a closing reception at ArtCenter/South (Sunday, April 14) and WALLCAST, featuring work by Bill Fontana commissioned by Miami Beach Art in Public Places (Sunday, April 14).
From April 15-18, IKT will host a Post-Congress in Havana. The IKT Miami Committee has worked closely with local art professionals to organize the program, including visits to artists’ studio, institutions such as the Casa de las Americas, Museo de Bellas Artes, and Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam as well as the 13thHavana Biennial, which takes place April 12-May 19, 2019.
The lead sponser for the IKT Miami Congress is John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, with support from the Miami Beach Visitors and Convention Authority, Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs, Perez Art Museum Miami, Institute of Contemporary Art Miami, and ArtCenter/South Florida. Institutional partners include The Wolfsonian - FIU, The Bass Museum of Art, Rubell Family Collection, The de la Cruz Collection, and Piero Atchugarry Gallery. Media partners are Cultured Magazine and Fresh Art International.
About IKT
IKT is the International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art, a network of that brings together curators from across the world, to meet, share knowledge, exchange ideas and broaden their professional relationships. Founded in 1973, IKT’s early members included prominent curators such as Eberhard Roters, Eddy de Wilde and Harald Szeemann. The organization’s mission is to stimulate and extend debate concerning curating and also to offer opportunities to find partners for the co-production of exhibitions, publications, events, and special initiatives. IKT represents the professional interests of over 700 curators and artistic directors of non-profit exhibition spaces and museums as well as freelance curators from Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas. By holding its 2019 annual Congress in Miami, IKT hopes to expand its network across the United States, as well as to Central America, Latin America, and the Caribbean.
About the IKT Miami organizers:
Ombretta Agró, Project Director, is a Miami Beach-based freelance curator and environmental activist with more than 20 years of curatorial and production expertise.
Susan Caraballo, Symposium Artistic Director is a South Florida-based independent arts consultant, producer, and curator, who served as ArtCenter/South Florida’s Artistic Director (2012-2016).
Cathy Byrd of Fresh Art International, is a globally recognized independent curator, writer, and educator based in Miami Beach, who launched Fresh Art International in 2011 and worked at the Wolfsonian-FIU (2013-2016).
Carol Coombes, Operations Manager, is an independent event manager and grant writer, who has won awards for her contribution and service to the non-profit cultural-arts sector in Miami-Dade County.
IKT Miami Congress details:
Dates: Miami, April 11-14.
Location: Miami Beach
Registration: €20 members / €70 non-members. Available online.
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