ICA kyoto TALK 066

Run & Learn: KL–Tokyo–Amsterdam
Curating Across Contexts, Scales, and Publics

Speaker： Jo-Lene Ong (Curator / Netherlands, Malaysia)
Moderator： Takuya Tsutsumi (Program Director of ICA Kyoto)
Consecutive Interpreter： Miho Tsujii

In this talk, Jo-Lene Ong reflects on her curatorial journey through on-the-job learning and training programs. Tracing an arc from the Japan Foundation Curators Program (2014) to the exhibition SUNSHOWER (2017), held at venues including the Mori Art Museum, then to the de Appel Curatorial Programme (2017-18) in Amsterdam, and DIY initiatives in Kuala Lumpur, Ong explores what it means to curate for distinct publics across varying contexts and scales. She examines how these field-tested lessons in polyvocality and relational practice inform her current work as a curator at Buro Stedelijk.

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Event Details

Date： October 23 (Fri.), 2026, 18:30-20:00
Venue： TAKI
Capacity： Approx. 40 persons / Advance booking is not required
Admission： Free
Organized by： ICA Kyoto, Kyoto University of the Arts Graduate School
Cooperation： Higashiyama Artists Placement Service (HAPS)

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Jo-Lene Ong

Jo-Lene Ong is Curator of Buro Stedelijk, an independently managed multidisciplinary experimental platform within the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Her practice centres on collaboration, research and long-term projects that reconsider how institutions work with artists and audiences. She develops programmes that foreground shared authorship, sustained dialogue and public engagement. Ong was previously Curator at esea contemporary in Manchester and Program Advisor for the 12th Seoul Mediacity Biennale. Her curatorial work includes projects with Sharjah Biennial, Hartwig Art Foundation, Framer Framed, the National Art Center Tokyo and the Mori Art Museum. From 2020 to 2024, Ong was a theory tutor at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie and is an alumna of the de Appel Curatorial Programme (2017–2018).

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About ICA Kyoto TALK

ICA Kyoto was set up in 2020 as an adjunct to the Kyoto University of the Arts Graduate School, and since then has offered an ongoing program of talks with guest artists, curators, and researchers working in Japan and elsewhere. ICA Kyoto TALK is part of this program, and has now merged with the previous Global Art Talk initiative in a platform designed to connect Kyoto with diverse art scenes worldwide, and encourage dialogue. The aim of ICA Kyoto TALK is to open up new perspectives by moving between local, on-the-ground activities and global trends to deliver authentic experiences of our multilayered world.

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Contact

info-icakyoto@office.kyoto-art.ac.jp