Institute for Contemporary Culture, Contemporary art museum at Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Canada
The Institute for Contemporary Culture is located within the Royal Ontario Museum and presents changing exhibitions of modern media art and installations. The space was designed to flexibly accommodate different artistic formats and presentation styles.
The Institute was founded in 1989 to connect the museum's historical collections with contemporary artistic expression. Its creation marked a turning point in the museum's approach to modern art.
The ICC coordinates the ROM's participation in Toronto events such as Nuit Blanche, Luminato and the Toronto International Film Festival. From 2006 its annual highlight was the Eva Holtby Lecture on Contemporary Culture, which has not been held since 2019. Its last show, in 2011, was "Fresh Perspectives: Tours of El Anatsui: When I Last Wrote to You about Africa".
The exhibition space offers room to walk around and explore, with artworks arranged so you can view them from different angles. It helps to take your time and linger between installations to fully take in the details.
The ICC's last new show was "Fresh Perspectives: Tours of El Anatsui: When I Last Wrote to You about Africa" in 2011, and its Eva Holtby Lecture on Contemporary Culture, held annually since 2006, has not taken place since 2019. As of 2025 it is unclear whether the institute is still active.
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