Curatorial Intensive in Kampala, Uganda

This August, ICI will organize the Curatorial Intensive in Kampala, Uganda, in collaboration with the Njabala Foundation, which promotes and facilitates visibility for women artists.

The Curatorial Intensive in Kampala will draw from the vibrant artistic and intellectual production in East Africa, and focus on curatorial practices that promote the work of women, create support structures for artists adapted to their local contexts, and foster innovative thinking around what constitutes curatorial space beyond the conventional white cube, gallery, or museum.

The Curatorial Intensive, an eight-day professional development program, offers emerging curators the opportunity to discuss, among colleagues, the concepts, logistics, and challenges of organizing exhibitions, public programs, and other curatorial models. It is designed to immerse participants in a rigorous schedule of seminars, presentations, site visits, and one-on-one meetings that support the process of developing an idea for a project into a full proposal. The Curatorial Intensive is targeted toward self-motivated individuals at an early stage in their career, working independently or within institutions. It is a unique opportunity to forge a close network of peers and embark on future collaborations. This program is the seventh Curatorial Intensive in Africa since 2013, following past iterations in Johannesburg, Addis Ababa, Marrakesh, Dakar, Accra, and Cape Town.

Seminars, site visits, individual meetings, and roundtable discussions will be led by a group of professionals that includes Martha Kazungu (Assistant Curator, Markk Museum am Rothenbaum, Hamburg, and Founder and Curator, Njabala Foundation, Kampala), Serubiri Moses (thinker, curator, and teacher, New York), Dr. Lilian Mary Nabulime (sculptor and lecturer, Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Art (MTSIFA), Makerere University, Kampala), Marie-Hélène Pereira (Curator and Director of Programs, RAW Material Company, Dakar), and Renaud Proch (Executive and Artistic Director, ICI), among others. A complete faculty list will be announced in coming weeks; for updates, sign up for our mailing list here.

Application guidelines
12–14 applicants working internationally will be selected to participate in the Curatorial Intensive. Applicants must have 3+ years of curatorial experience, or a similar track record of working with artists or organizing cultural projects.

Applications may be submitted in English or French, though working proficiency in English is essential, as the program will be held in English. Translation assistance will be available to French speakers.

Applications are now open, and should be submitted through ICI’s application portal. Applications are due by June 6, 2022.

Required materials
–Description of an exhibition or project that the applicant would like help in developing. This description should outline the proposal concept and any artists or work under consideration (500 words max)
–Bio (250 words max)
–Letter of intent (250 words max)
–Description of a recent curatorial project that has made an impact on the applicant (250 words max)
–Scholarship request (optional) (250 words max)

Please reach out to ICI’s Programs Coordinator, Zoe Dobuler, at zoe [​at​] curatorsintl.org with any questions.

Fees and scholarships
The program fee is 1,900 USD. Participants are also responsible for covering travel and accommodation expenses, and securing visas.

Generous scholarship packages that subsidize or eliminate the program fees, travel, and/or accommodation costs are available and awarded based on merit and need. If you would like to apply for a scholarship, please include a letter of motivation with your application. We are unable to award scholarships to curators who did not indicate their interest in one at the time of application.

All applicants based on the African continent are eligible for full scholarships, supported by the Marian Goodman Gallery Initiative in honor of the late Okwui Enwezor.

In addition, ICI offers a limited number of scholarship packages available to all curators, based anywhere in the world.

For more information, please visit ICI’s website.

The Curatorial Intensive is made possible by the Marian Goodman Gallery Initiative in honor of the late Okwui Enwezor, and the generous support of Teiger Foundation, Mercedes Vilardell and ICI’s Leadership Council.