Call for participants: IMMA International Summer School 2023

From June 19 to 30, 2023, the IMMA International Summer School will be held online. This two-week program of lectures, seminars, conversations, and workshops will focus on the idea of “assembly,” and will feature a variety of national and international artists, theorists, and educators, including Sarah Pierce, Ahmet üt, and Eva Weinmayr.

The ability of people to come together, voice their views and opinions, share ideas, problem-solve, create, and collaborate is a necessary characteristic of a thriving democracy. Citizens can organize and promote political and social change by gathering in public space to meet, rally, or demonstrate. This right to peaceful assembly is increasingly under attack, whether through privatization and enclosure of public space, laws aimed at limiting protest and strike action, or oppressive official responses to acts of assembly around the world.

In recent years, when many democratic institutions and procedures have come under attack, it seems relevant to evaluate the role of assembly in addressing these present challenges, and how it might provide the circumstances for new collective action thinking and practice. Innovative and innovative approaches are being developed to bring people together, create public spaces, and enable decision-making and collective action. Such strategies have been created and implemented in contemporary art.

The Summer School will investigate the topic of assembly, emphasizing the importance of art and artists. We will investigate what happens when people get together in person or electronically to debate, make, think, dispute, and be with each other, drawing on a variety of thinking and ideas on the subject of assembly. We will also address the possibility of the collective as a model for artists’ work as well as political activity, as well as the role of the museum as a place of assembly.

Call for participants
This interdisciplinary program will appeal to artists, students, and graduates, as well as anybody interested in the subject of assembly, and many aspects of the program, such as the lectures, will be free to the general public.

The program will be delivered in English and will be free of charge.

Participants must attend online workshops, lectures, and debates between 12.00noon and 8.00pm (GMT+1) weekdays from June 19 to 29, as well as a closing event on June 30. Over the course of the program, participants will also be asked to participate in group discussions and online project work. Between the 19th and 29th of June, there will also be a number of electives such as reading groups, curator presentations, and workshops. A few electives may be held on-site at IMMA, but the core curriculum will be delivered online.

The workshops and keynote event will be free to the public and videotaped.

Participants will also be asked to complete preliminary reading and attend three online reading/discussion sessions prior to the 11th, 25th, and 8th of June, 2023. It is critical to have consistent internet access.

Participation is based on a statement of intent that explains why you want to attend the summer school (400 words max). Include your name and contact information.

The deadline for applications is March 3, 2023.