This May, Independent Curators International (ICI), in collaboration with Zoma Contemporary Art Center (ZCAC), produces the Curatorial Intensive in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. This one-week professional development program offers curators the opportunity to explore art production and international connections currently developing in Ethiopia, while discussing among colleagues, the concepts, logistics, and challenges of organizing exhibitions globally. Sessions will focus on topics that range from the pragmatics of developing a program to building infrastructure and platforms for the support of artistic production.

This program marks the second Curatorial Intensive in Africa. 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. The Curatorial Intensive 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. The program fosters horizontal learning and promotes the development of an international network of collaboration.

Seminars, site visits, individual meetings, and roundtable discussions will be led by a group of international professionals that includes Meskerem Assegued (Director, Zoma Contemporary Art Center, Addis Ababa), María del Carmen Carrión (Associate Director of Public Programs & Research, ICI, New York), Kate Fowle (Chief Curator, Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, Moscow, and Director-at-Large, ICI), Naima Keith (Curator, The Studio Museum, New York), Riason Naidoo (Director, South African National Gallery & Old Town House Museums, Cape Town), Renaud Proch (Executive Director, ICI), and Konjit Seyoum (Director, Asni Gallery, Addis Ababa), among others.

Application guidelines
12–14 applicants working in Africa and/or  internationally will be selected to participate in the Curatorial Intensive. The applicant must have 3+ 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. To apply, and for full application guidelines, visit ICI’s website. and apply here.

Application deadline: March 10, 2014

Fees and scholarships
The program fee is 1,900 USD. Additionally, participants are responsible for covering travel and accommodation expenses. Generous scholarship packages that subsidize or eliminate the program fee, accommodation and travel expenses are readily available. If you would like to apply for a scholarship, please include a letter of motivation with your application.  Scholarships for Turkish nationals will be supported by SAHA.

About Independent Curators International
ICI connects emerging and established curators, artists, and institutions to forge international networks and generate new forms of collaboration through the production of exhibitions, events, publications, and curatorial training. 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 Zoma Center for Contemporary Art
ZCAC is an eco-sensitive and educational artist-in-residence village. The concept was first introduced to the public in 2002 during Giziawi #1, its first art happening. Named after Zoma Shifferaw, a young Ethiopian artist who died of cancer in 1979, ZCAC is located in two major cities in Ethiopia. ZCAC Addis is in a house built by Elias Sime in Addis Ababa, and ZCAC Harla is in Harla, a small historic village east of Dire Dawa. ZCAC is run like a family where the surrounding community is an extension of the center. ZCAC’s mission is to bring together multidisciplinary artists from around the world and create innovative and environmental contemporary art.

The Curatorial Intensive is made possible in part by grants from the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, the Dedalus Foundation, and the Hartfield Foundation,  with the generous support of  Mercedes Vilardell, ICI’s Leadership Council,  the ICI Board of Trustees, the ICI Gerrit Lansing Education Fund, and the supporters of ICI’s Access Fund.

www.curatorsintl.org