London's Institute of Contemporary Arts: Less could mean more

The Institute of Contemporary Arts used to be London’s most creative cultural institution. How can it regain its crown?

Like many of the artists it shows, the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) had a great time in the sixties. It has a 60 year history of showing groundbreaking art, being the first to show artists like Damien Hirst, Richard Prince, and Steve McQueen.

A daring experiment

The ICA was established by anarchist poet Herbert Read to be "an adult play centre, a workshop where work is a joy, a source of vitality and daring experiment". In 1947 its first show was controversial, led by the now mundance figure of a woman with her head floating away, by the sculptor FE McWilliams.

But the last ten years have seen it lose a number of expensively appointed directors, job losses, some uninspired exhibitions and a loss of the experimentation it used to focus on. I’ve been to meetings there with government ministers and with marketing agencies. Herbert Read would be turning in his grave.




It has a few cinemas, a couple of galleries, and a very nice bar (seen here). But the art itself is boring, so visitor numbers are down, and it has a lower profile.





One problem is that it is located in the heart of the British traditional establishment, within sight of the Queen on The Mall.

It is only a few minutes walk from Westminster and Downing Street, where the government makes its decisions. But most great art in London is now produced on building sites or in big, cheap warehouses in the East End.

Creativity takes courage

So, like many of the artists it championed, the ICA has now become part of the establishment. It wouldn’t annoy or scandalise anyone - like it used to - because it had too much to lose. It was frightened of losing its funding or the lucrative sideline in hosting conferences. As Henri Matisse said, “Creativity takes courage”.

So there may be good news for the ICA. Last week it had its government grant cut by nearly 40 per cent. Now it really does have little to lose, so it might as well start offending people again.

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