ICA History: 1970s
During the 1970s, the ICA became more overtly political. The theatre presented Horace Ove’s and Lindsay Barrett’s Blackblast, a controversial piece examining the repression of Africans. Meanwhile the 1974 exhibition Art Into Society – Society Into Art, during which Joseph Beuys spent 8 hours a day at the ICA in discussion with the general public, caused a political storm in Germany. More controversy was created due to the graphic nature of the exhibitions Mary Kelly: Post-Partum Document and COUM Transmissions: Prostitution which had the tabloids baying for the ICA’s funding to be withdrawn; the latter exhibition had to be closed after only 4 days.
Less controversially, the 1970s also saw the start of events for children at the ICA, mostly theatre productions and a weekly cinema club. These continued throughout the 1980s. The ICA’s long tradition of supporting experimental music continued with the first UK performance by the Steve Reich Ensemble, Intermodulation: a Live Electronics and Short-Wave feast featuring Arne Nordheim and Stockhausen and the start of the MusICA series of contemporary classical concerts.
Live Art became an important part of the ICA’s programming in the 1970s, and the Body as a Medium of Expression season of lectures and events included a performance by the Fluxus artist Carolee Schneemann. The 1974 ‘Festival of Expanded Cinema’ [a type of cinema often involving several screens or projectors and a performative aspect on behalf of the projectionist/director] gave avant-garde British directors an opportunity to show their films at a time when there were few venues in which they could do so.
Launched September 2007