Institute of Contemporary Arts

#73

A restless laboratory on The Mall since 1946, the ICA mixes exhibitions, performance, talks and an arthouse cinema to test what ‘contemporary’ can be. Expect risk-taking shows alongside artist Q&As, festivals and cult film seasons. If you like your culture provisional, argumentative and alive, this is home base. Budget 60–90 minutes for galleries plus a screening or event.

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Opening Hours

Sunday: 12:00 – 23:00

Tuesday: 12:00 – 23:00

Wednesday: 12:00 – 23:00

Thursday: 12:00 – 23:00

Friday: 12:00 – 23:00

Saturday: 12:00 – 23:00

What's not to miss inside?

Galleries Sweep

Compact, idea-dense shows

Rotating exhibitions swap spectacle for argument—often with strong writing and live events around them.

Read the intro panel, pick one room to slow-read, then skim the rest—quality over coverage.

📍 Lower & upper levels off the foyer

Cinema 1

Indie and international programming

From restorations to first-feature debuts, the ICA’s screen makes a case for film as a thinking person’s nightlife.

Stay for the post-film chat—audiences here are part of the programme.

📍 Off the main foyer

Bar & Bookshop

Where the conversation spills over

Artist books and theory texts rub shoulders with zines; the bar doubles as foyer for ideas.

Pick one publication from the show’s reading list and browse it with a drink; exhibitions click into place.

📍 Ground floor

🤓 Fun Facts

The ICA incubated the Independent Group (1950s)—the think-tank behind British Pop Art’s ideas about mass media and everyday objects.

Its 1968 show ‘Cybernetic Serendipity’ was a world first for computer art, introducing plotter drawings, algorithmic music and machine choreography to a general audience.

The Nash-designed terraces on The Mall house the ICA: neoclassical shells with a history of avant-garde contents.