Institute of Contemporary Arts

ICA in the USA!

Ekow Eshun introduces Figures of Speech

The fourth week of October was a special one for the ICA's international profile as we debuted our new presentation format Figures of Speech at intimate dinners in New York City and San Francisco. In partnership with our sponsor SpinVox we had the immense pleasure of welcoming a range of local heroes to the stage in each city to introduce and explain the one object they could not live without and why, in only five minutes. Sounds like a long time to speak, but when inspiration takes hold and you are on a roll, curbing your enthusiasm is more difficult than it seems.

Throughout two excellent dinners, a mixture of artists, musicians, authors and entrepreneurs enlightened and inspired responsive audiences first at the immense Gotham Hall on the East Coast, and then at the more boutique Clift Hotel on the West coast, all introduced by ICA Artistic Director Ekow Eshun.

NYC's speakers included musicians DJ Spooky and Melissa Auf der Maur, cabby turned New York Hack blogger Melissa Plaut, Cool-Hunting founder Josh Rubin, youth activist and Global Inheritance founder Eric Ritz, and the director of New York's Museum of Arts and Design, Holly Hotchner.

San Francisco's six were artist and gallerist Aaron Rose, media-art pioneer Lynn Hershman Leeson, SF Chronicle art critic Kenneth Baker, NY magazine mogul Jack Rabid, surf entrepreneur Keir J Beadling and local Green party political hero and civil rights litigator Matt Gonzalez.

A big, big thank you to all our speakers, who helped define a brand new ICA event, and made each evening unique and memorable for everyone there, and to our sponsor SpinVox for enabling these cross-Atlantic forays.

Figures of Speech will return in London on February 27th 2008 in the guise of our yearly fundraising gala, tickets for which are available now.

Figures of Speech events take New York and San Francisco by storm