The Institute of Contemporary Arts at NYU Shanghai is a non-profit kunsthalle and research center committed to the development, presentation, and exchange of diverse ideas through contemporary arts.

Our commitment aligns with the mission of NYU Shanghai, dedicated to education, research, and public service, and is based on a core belief that engagement with art engenders critical thought, creativity, and openness to complexity, across disciplines and society and in everyday life.

Every two years, together with artists and our surrounding communities, the ICA at NYU Shanghai pursues thematic inquiries through public exhibitions, events, and publications that experiment with ways of knowing, being, and relating to ourselves and the world.

In our first five years (2019-24), our vision for the ICA at NYU Shanghai is “Instituting an Institute," which draws inspiration from the dual meaning of the word “institute” as both a verb and a noun.  In this truly exciting moment for the ICA at NYU Shanghai, we have the opportunity not only to make something new, but to also experiment with the form and the means of making an institution.

By “instituting an institute,” the ICA at NYU Shanghai seeks to: 

• initiate a distinct and unique model of transdisciplinary research-oriented arts programming within mainland China;
• invert the dominant logic of “museum building” by first cohering institutional infrastructure and a legacy of programs over time; 
• support the ongoing mission of NYU Shanghai to educate, research, and serve our publics.

By naming “contemporary arts” as our object of institution, the ICA at NYU Shanghai believes in:

• learning from artists who live and work in our shared time, but who also invent new tools with which to examine the past and imagine our future;
• modeling the reflexivity and plurality of art being made today, which collaborates with a variety of disciplines, objects, and materials;
• advancing image and object-based forms of exhibitions (as well as logo-centric forms of public programs and publications) as a mode of research.

Founded in 2012 by New York University and East China Normal University, NYU Shanghai is China’s first Sino-US research university.  Three years later, the NYU Shanghai Art Gallery was established as one of the few university-affiliated art institutions in China to focus on contemporary art.  Though the Gallery began with a modest space and nascent parent institution, its program was nevertheless ambitious and presented work by a broad range of artists.  Following the departure of founding director LIN Qian, the Gallery went into a two-year hiatus.  

In 2019, the university art gallery of NYU Shanghai reopened to the public with a new mission and reinvigorated vision as the Institute of Contemporary Arts at NYU Shanghai.  The ICA at NYU Shanghai builds upon the earlier ambitions of the Gallery, while expanding our aims to emphasize experimentation, to further understand art and exhibition-making as a form of research, and to learn from artists living and working today.  

Michelle Yeonho Hyun 
Director/Curator
michelle.hyun@nyu.edu    

ZHU Sicong
Assistant Curator
iris.zhu@nyu.edu

BAO Yang
Curatorial Assistant
ybao@nyu.edu

Fall 2023 - Spring 2024 Interns:
ZHANG Yiying 
YUAN Ruoxuan

Spring 2024 Exhibition Gallery Hosts:
CHEN Dian
Emily Tran
WANG Chenyu
WU Zhenzhen
Kaleo Zhu

For public relations and media inquiries:
iris.zhu@nyu.edu
+86 21 2059 5035

Intern Recruitment 

This position is an opportunity for advanced undergraduate or graduate students interested in learning about the gallery and museum sector through first-hand observation and involvement. The intern provides administrative and logistical support on all ICA operations and programs. Interns will acquire a wide range of skills and knowledge associated with the programming of a university art gallery and gain experience working within both a small organization and a large institution. Interns will also have the opportunity to connect with local and global art communities, especially those who collaborate with the ICA as exhibiting artists and program contributors. The intern reports to the director/curator, but is primarily supervised by the curatorial assistant.

The ICA offers two internship cycles:

1.  Biannual internship (Spring-Fall / Fall-Spring)

Biannual internships are available twice a year: from April through September and from October through March. In this long-term internship, the intern will be committed to nearly an entire cycle of exhibition preparation, installation, opening, event execution, and exhibition maintenance.

2.  Seasonal internship (Spring / Summer / Fall)

Seasonal internships are available three times a year: January through May (Spring), from June through August (Summer), and from September through December (Fall). During this short-term internship, the intern will be involved in different exhibition programs simultaneously, e.g., the opening execution and maintenance of current exhibition and related events, while preparing for the forthcoming exhibition program.

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. For more details about this position and how to apply, please download the job description here: ICA Intern Job Description