Institute of Contemporary Arts
galleryArt and cultural centre on The Mall in central London hosting contemporary art exhibitions, a theatre, two cinemas, a bookshop and a bar; known for interdisciplinary programmes of visual art, film, performance and talks.
Upcoming Events (50)
Keiji Haino
Renowned improviser Keiji Haino performs a live exclusive set at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) using polygonola, a metal-flat instrument built around a 2nd-dimensional vibration theory, promising a boundary-pushing, intense night of sound.
The Machine That Kills Bad People: Peggy and Fred in Hell + Innocence
A provocative double feature at ICA: The Machine That Kills Bad People: Peggy and Fred in Hell + Innocence screens back-to-back, pairing boundary-pushing visuals with enigmatic storytelling in the intimate ICA cinema.
Keiji Haino @ Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA)
Keiji Haino dives into improvisational fire at London's ICA, delivering blistering experimental noise and mythic guitar-driven soundscapes that push boundaries and leave the crowd spellbound.
Cities Aviv
Experience a rare live appearance by Cities Aviv on 2026-03-18 at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, in collaboration with D.O.T Audio Arts and Scenic Route. An intimate, genre-pushing hip-hop performance blending experimental production in ICA’s iconic space.
Bed Trick Book Launch: The Bed Trick by Izabella Scott
Izabella Scott teams with film scholar Lucy Bolton to unpack The Bed Trick: Sex and Deception on Trial, tracing the cultural history of deception in literature in a thought-provoking ICA talk at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London.
Cities Aviv @ Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA)
Cities Aviv delivers cutting-edge rap-noir at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London, fusing abrasive beats with punk energy inside the stark, gallery-lit rooms of this iconic arts space.
Resurrection
Join the ICA on March 19, 2026 at 12:00 for a cerebral screening of Resurrection, a surreal tale where humanity forgets dreaming and a lone creature clings to fading dream visions as a mysterious woman enters the dreamworld.
PULSE Photography and Expanded Authorship
An interactive workshop at the ICA exploring connection and authorship through a live photo-therapeutic process, inviting audiences into collaborative inquiry and response to shared space.
Macdo: UK Premiere
UK premiere of Macdo, the debut feature by Mexican filmmaker Racornelia, at ICA London. A sharp, intimate drama that unravels power dynamics around a Mexican family’s Christmas dinner in Mexico City.
Sound of Falling
Screening of Sound of Falling at ICA in London: a feature-length film tracing four adolescent girls across a century in one farmhouse, weaving desire, secrets, and shifting gazes into a quiet, intimate drama.
Cardion Nights: Queer Performance
Cardion Arts and the ICA present Cardion Nights: Queer Performance for akt, featuring Wet Mess, Nando Messias, Travis Alabanza, Adam Christensen and Emily Pope—an electric, boundary-pushing evening of live queer performance at ICA.
The Love That Remains
A documentary feature screening at the ICA that follows a family through a year of separation, capturing bittersweet moments, shared memories, and the changing seasons in intimate, emotionally resonant scenes.
Pompei: Below the Clouds + Q&A
A documentary portrait of life in Naples under the shadow of Vesuvius, screened at ICA with director Gianfranco Rosi, followed by a Q&A and an intimate acoustic set by John Butcher and Seymour Wright.
In Focus: Meriem Bennani
An ICA London screening program presenting Meriem Bennani's decade-spanning multimedia films, tracing human–non-human interactions and previewing her latest personal work, Bouchra, within a vibrant contemporary-art setting.
Screen Cuba: Films to change the world
A curated program at the ICA spotlighting Cuban cinema, Screen Cuba explores the achievements and challenges of Cuba’s filmmakers since the 1959 Revolution, featuring titles rarely screened in the UK.
Bed Trick: M. Butterfly on 35mm at ICA
A rare 35mm screening of M. Butterfly as part of the Bed Trick Film Programme at the ICA, showcasing David Cronenberg’s provocative tale of love, deception, and cultural illusion, unmasking identity on an archival print.
Shock Factory: The Visual Culture of Industrial Music
Author Nicolas Ballet presents Shock Factory: The Visual Culture of Industrial Music in conversation with Stephen Mallinder at the ICA, exploring how industrial music's visuals redefine underground culture in a sharp, engaging talk.
When Art Comes Alive: Laura Lima Panel
A transatlantic panel at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) with Solar (Rio) exploring Laura Lima's practice, featuring artists, curators, and scholars, followed by a Q&A with the artist.
Broken English
A bold documentary portrait of Marianne Faithfull, tracing the iconic singer-songwriter's decades of music, rebellion, and reinvention, shown at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA).
KINOTEKA 2026
The 24th KINOTEKA Polish Film Festival returns to the ICA London, presenting a curated slate of contemporary and classic Polish cinema, documentaries, and special events in an intimate, cinema-focused program.
Off-Circuit London Premiere: Bouchra + Q&A
London premiere of Bouchra, the debut animated feature from Orian Barki and Meriem Bennani, following a queer Moroccan coyote navigating distance and family through New York’s emotional landscapes, with a post-screening Q&A at ICA.
Book Launch: Collected Works Vol. 3 (2010–2020)
A book launch at the Institute of Contemporary Arts celebrating Collected Works: Volume 3 (2010–2020), featuring architects Adam Caruso and Peter St John with writer Owen Hatherley in a live, cross-disciplinary discussion.
Diasporas Now x PRS Foundation MIXER
Join a networking mixer at ICA where musicians and artists connect with UK arts funding bodies to learn about funding structures and career pathways. An information-sharing event that brings together Diasporas Now and PRS Foundation to foster connections.
Jean-Luc Godard: Unmade and Abandoned Palestine
On March 29, 2026 at 12:00 UTC, the ICA presents a program of five rarely screened Palestine-era documentaries, including Jean-Luc Godard and Anne-Marie Miéville's Here and Elsewhere (1976). The program traces the Dziga Vertov Group's abandoned Until Victory project and offers a vivid glimpse into revolutionary cinema.
Bed Trick: Sex, Lies and Videotape on 35mm
As part of the Bed Trick Film Programme, this 35mm screening of the Palme d'Or-winning Sex, Lies and Videotape at ICA London probes deception and intimacy, transforming voyeurism and confession into a provocative meditation on reality in cinema.
Treat Me Like Your Mother — Film Screening & Q&A
Screening of Mohamad Abdouni's documentary Treat Me Like Your Mother at ICA, with a post-film Q&A. A intimate look at Lebanon's trans history through archival footage and elder testimonies, weaving wartime upheaval with underground nightlife and resilience.
Bed Trick Book Launch + Film Programme
At the ICA, a hybrid program pairing the Bed Trick book launch with a curated film programme on disguise and deception—from ancient myth to contemporary cinema—featuring author Izabella Scott in discussion and screenings.
Visual Diaries: Lecture-performance with Fabio Cherstich
Fabio Cherstich presents Visual Diaries, a poignant lecture-performance at ICA that blends theatre and opera to honor 1980s New York artists lost to the AIDS epidemic.
By Storm
ICA hosts By Storm, the experimental hip-hop duo formerly Injury Reserve, featuring RiTchie and Parker Corey, delivering a cutting-edge live set inside the Institute of Contemporary Arts.
Laurel Halo Live Score: Midnight Zone
ICA presents a live score by Laurel Halo to Julian Charrière’s Midnight Zone, a film tracing a drifting Fresnel lighthouse lens into Earth's last untouched ecosystems, pairing immersive visuals with experimental, boundary-pushing sound.
Laurel Halo @ Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA)
Laurel Halo returns with hypnotic, boundary-pushing electronic textures at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), weaving immersive soundscapes that mingle techno tremors with ethereal ambience.
Kulku + Kiran Leonard + Gentle Stranger
Experience a raw, ritual-flavored live set at ICA as Kulku headlines with Kiran Leonard and Gentle Stranger. Drawing on minimal music, ritual atmospheres, and 60s art-rock energy, this immersive evening blends experimental textures with intimate, high-energy performance.
Purelink
Purelink, a New York–based project via Chicago featuring Tommy Paslaski, Ben Paulson and Akeem Asani, performs a boundary-pushing live set at ICA London, blending experimental electronics with contemporary visuals in an intimate, gallery-style venue.
D is for Distance
Screening of D is for Distance at the ICA, a documentary by Emma Matthews and Christopher Petit. A tender meditation on cinema, the NHS, and family through an archive of personal footage and Jodhi May’s narration about their son Louis.
AKIRA: Past and Present
Rare original 35MM screening of Akira at the ICA, the UK’s first venue to show it in the early 90s. A special guest panel will follow, discussing the film's seismic cultural impact and enduring influence on anime and cinema.
ICA Creatives with Lulu Wang Term 3
Led by artist Lulu Wang, this final term of ICA Creatives × Diasporas Now explores the body as a creative engine. Across six weeks, participants develop manifestos and experiment with movement tools, body-generated sound and live archiving to build collective performance structures.
Inner and Outer: The Mongolian Films of Byambasuren Davaa
A curated screening program of Byambasuren Davaa’s Mongolian films at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), offering intimate, thoughtful portraits of life in Mongolia and crisp, humane documentary storytelling.
Juana Molina, TRISTÁN, Flo Dill (DJ) (NTS 15)
Juana Molina headlines a boundary-pushing evening at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), pairing experimental pop textures with live sets by TRISTÁN and Flo Dill (DJ) for an immersive, genre-defying concert.
Juana Molina @ Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA)
Juana Molina and Flo Dill light up ICA London with experimental folk and subtle electronics, a spellbinding evening at a buzzed, gallery‑bright venue that blurs music and art.
Juana Molina + weed420 (NTS 15)
Juana Molina delivers a mesmerizing live set of experimental pop at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) as part of NTS 15, blending hypnotic electronics with intimate acoustic textures for a spellbinding evening.
Juana Molina @ Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA)
Juana Molina, joined by Flo Dill, weaves playful loops and surreal soundscapes at the ICA, turning London's venue into a sun-drenched electro-acoustic dream where rhythm and whimsy softly collide.
Members' Book Club: Jack the Modernist by Robert Glück
ICA Members gather for a focused discussion of Robert Glück's Jack the Modernist, exploring 1980s modernist fiction in an intimate, member-only talk at the Institute of Contemporary Arts.
Father Mother Sister Brother
Jim Jarmusch's latest feature, Father Mother Sister Brother, screens at the Institute of Contemporary Arts as a triptych about adult children and their distant parents. The Venice Golden Lion winner blends intimate storytelling with art-house style for a thoughtful cinema experience.
Open City Documentary Festival 2026
Open City Documentary Festival presents international non-fiction cinema across London, with screenings, workshops, talks and an ICA exhibition that showcase documentary storytelling from filmmakers around the world.
Genuine Fake Premium Economy: Jenna Bliss, Buck Ellison & Jasmine Gregory
From the Institute of Contemporary Arts, this exhibition by Jenna Bliss, Buck Ellison and Jasmine Gregory uses satire, staging and appropriation to question capitalism’s promises of fairness and progress in a post-crash era, offering a provocative glimpse into modern myths.
Crack Cloud @ Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA)
Crack Cloud performs live at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), blending experimental post-punk textures with electronic undertones in a cutting-edge arts venue. Expect a moody, immersive show that pairs atmospheric guitars with cinematic synths, showcasing the band's restless creativity.
Nothing But Life: The Cinema of Rita Azevedo Gomes
ICA presents a screening/retrospective of Rita Azevedo Gomes's cinema, rooted in literature, theatre and art history, highlighting language, performance, and space with the director's signature clarity and subtle strangeness.
Crack Cloud
Crack Cloud, the Canadian experimental indie collective, performs live at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London, delivering an immersive blend of art-punk and unconventional soundscapes in a contemporary gallery setting.
Jasper Tygner
Live set by North London–based artist and producer Jasper Tygner at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA). He performs material from his debut album Blue, with collaborators Art School Girlfriend, Kaeto and holybones, blending intimate indie textures with experimental production in a contemporary venue.
Tempers
Live at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, Tempers (Jasmine Golestaneh) brings tracks from the album Delusion, blending electronic textures with intimate, healing themes in a soaring, non-linear set.