If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with
death.

— an excerpt from Keeping Quiet,
by Pablo Neruda*

The ICA is keeping quiet.

With the Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing crises in all realms of life, we’ve been humbled and acknowledge our limits “in these uncertain times.”

While much of the human world has retreated from public life or has migrated online, we’ve been taking our time to consider the crisis and trying to understand what lies beneath and beyond it. We won’t try to capture your attention nor attempt to soothe you in isolation. We still believe in art’s capacity to open up and propose new ways of knowing, being, and relating to ourselves and the world. We’re still reading, listening, watching, writing, and speaking... quietly.

But we will not miss this chance for rethinking and remaking ourselves and the world, or otherwise regret “the sadness of never understanding ourselves.”

We hope to see you again soon.
Take care.

* Pablo Neruda, "Keeping Quiet," in Extravagaria, trans. Alastair Reid (New York: Noonday Press, 2001).