Organizer Information

The International Symposium for Visual Culture (ISVC) is a premier global intersection organized in a unique transnational partnership between CICA Museum (Gimpo, South Korea) and the Visual and Performing Arts Department of Montgomery College (Takoma Park/Silver Spring, Maryland, USA). CICA Museum serves as an international laboratory for contemporary media art, while Montgomery College acts as a prominent regional incubator for academic excellence and civic artistic engagement. Together, these institutions provide an expansive platform that fosters critical discourse, builds sustainable global networks, and deepens public and scholarly understanding of contemporary visual realities.

Title & Description

International Symposium for Visual Culture & Exhibition 2026.

Submissions are officially open for this multi-layered global call, inviting contemporary visual artists, art historians, cultural researchers, and academics to pitch original concepts. The program acts as a dual-continent nexus: hosting an academic conference and a localized pop-up gallery show in the United States, alongside a weeks-long international group exhibition in South Korea. Rather than enforcing siloed explorations, ISVC provides a collaborative framework where experimental practice and theoretical critique actively cross-pollinate.

Core Conceptual Categories & Keywords:

Proposals must align with or conceptually interrogate at least one of the following structural fields:

  • Art, Capital, & Critique: Art and Capitalism, Mass Culture, Postmodernism, Globalism, and Critical Studies.
  • Identity & Political Spaces: Nationalism and Visual Culture, Race and Identity in Art & Culture, and Feminist Studies on Visual Culture.
  • The Post-Human Condition: Post-humanism, Post-Human & Ecological Perspectives, Environmental Issues and Culture, and Bio Art & Post-Nature Culture.
  • Algorithmic Architecture: Art, Technology, and Culture, New Media Art, Digital Culture and Social Media, Digital Humanism, Artificial Intelligence and Humanism, Algorithmic Bias & Visual Culture, and Data Aesthetics.
  • Mobility & Spatial Realities: Art & Culture in a Global Pandemic, Global Mobility & Diaspora Visualities, Archival Art, Digital Nomad, and Immersive Media & Presence.
THE THREE CORE PROGRAMMATIC SEGMENTS

1. The International Symposium (Silver Spring, Maryland, USA)

A concentrated onsite presentation circuit held from September 19 to 20, 2026, at the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation Arts Center at Montgomery College.

  • Format Options: Welcomes detailed proposals for traditional paper presentations, practical workshops, experimental interactive sessions, and live artistic performances.
  • Attendance Mandate: All selected presenters must complete registration and present fully onsite and in person. Note: Online virtual sessions are strictly limited to presenters who cleared the preliminary online application loop, which is now closed.
  • Presenter Perks: Presenters receive three (3) complimentary general admission guest tickets to invite peers, curators, or collaborators to their session block.

2. The International Exhibition: “Visual Culture 2026” (Gimpo, South Korea)

An optional international group showcase running from September 9 to 27, 2026, on-site at the CICA Museum. Selected cohort members may showcase up to two (2) original artworks under the following technical conditions:

  • Photographs & 2D Digital Art: Works are printed locally by the museum in standard formats (10×15 or 10×10 inches), framed, and hung by in-house curators. Custom oversized formats must be pre-approved and may invoke extra structural costs.
  • Video & Interactive Art: The museum supplies standard digital projectors and media players. Multiple single-channel pieces share a single display loop. Requests for dedicated project equipment or multi-monitor configurations must be noted in the submission email and may require extra fees.
  • Physical Works & Sculptures: Artists are entirely responsible for funding and arranging round-trip fine art shipping transit to and from Korea. Two-dimensional pieces must not exceed 39 inches (1 meter) on the longest side. Three-dimensional installations must fit within a footprint of 39×39×79 inches (1×1×2 m). Wall-mounted works face a maximum weight restriction of 10 kg. Complex installation art requiring custom structural layouts or direct handling by CICA staff may incur additional setup fees.

3. The Visual Culture 2026 Popup Show (Silver Spring, Maryland, USA)

An optional, temporary pop-up exhibition open exclusively during the symposium dates (September 19–20, 2026) at the Maze Gallery within the Cafritz Foundation Arts Center.

  • Scale & Framework: Presenters may showcase exactly one (1) artwork. Size, weight, and dimensional constraints mirror the South Korean limits exactly.
  • Logistical Mandate: Presenters are entirely responsible for the hands-on delivery, physical installation (on September 18, 2026), and prompt dismantling/removal of their piece (on September 20, 2026). Limited video monitors may be supplied by the college, subject to on-site coordination after selection.

Categories

  • Visual Arts (Painting, Sculpture, Installation, etc.)
  • Photographs & 2D Digital Art
  • Research / Archive Studies
  • Curatorial Practice / Criticism
  • New Media / Digital Art

Eligibility

  • Global Boundary: Open to artists, scholars, researchers, and academics worldwide.
  • Specialization Alignment: Welcomes entries across diverse fields including Archaeology, Architecture, Art Education, Art History, Art Studio, Cultural Studies, Graphic Design, and Museum Studies.
  • Student & Faculty Perks: Active Montgomery College students receive a free guest pass to the live symposium. College faculty and staff are eligible for an exclusive 51% discount on general registration fees as presenters or guests.

Program Benefits and Awards

  • Elite Institutional Double-Exposure: Opportunity to deliver an academic paper or performance in the United States while simultaneously showcasing artwork inside a major contemporary museum in South Korea.
  • CICA Press Monograph Feature: All accepted presenters and artists will be formally published in the upcoming book, New Media Art 2027. Released by CICA Press in December 2026 as a premium full-color paperback, contributions can feature English text portfolios (interviews, research abstracts, essays, poetry) alongside drawings and visual plates.

Fees

  • Application Submission Fee: None (Completely free to email initial proposals for panel consideration).
  • Mandatory Registration Fees Structure: Selected participants and general attendees must purchase a baseline pass package that systematically includes a specific tier of required guest passes to confirm participation. Note: Registration deadlines will be notified directly to participants via email.
    • Presenter Pass Tier: $210 USD. Coded strictly for accepted artists and scholars who received an official acceptance email. Registrants gain full admission to all symposium sessions, events, and entry to the exhibitions. To secure their spot, Presenters are required to purchase a mandatory minimum of three (3) guest passes. Registration links are sent separately to accepted presenters.
    • Additional Group Member Pass Tier: $140 USD. Applicable for secondary members of an accepted artistic or research group where one lead colleague has already filed as the primary Presenter. Includes full admission to all symposium sessions, events, and entry to the exhibitions. Requires a mandatory minimum purchase of two (2) guest passes.
    • General Admission Pass Tier: $70 USD. Open to the public and general audiences. Includes entry to all symposium tracks, academic sessions, and institutional exhibitions. Package automatically requires a minimum purchase of one (1) guest pass.

Application Requirements

Proposals must be compiled in English and sent via email directly to the selection desk. The folder requires the following exact files and text modules:

  1. Field Declaration: Explicitly state your chosen field of specialization within the email body.
  2. Short Biography: A professional biographical summary outlining your career milestones and context.
  3. Presentation Abstract: A text file detailing your research thesis, project overview, or performance conceptual scope, capped between 150 and 300 words (provided as a clean .DOC or .PDF file).
  4. Supplementary Artwork Proposal (Optional): If you desire to participate in the Korea group show or the US pop-up gallery, attach a structured design paper (up to 1,200 words, .DOC or .PDF) showcasing up to 10 images and 3 video hyperlinks to anchor your staging needs.
  5. Mandatory Subject Line Template: The email header must strictly follow this pattern:
    • Subject Heading Example: Submission: Visual Culture 2026 – Presenter’s Name

How to Apply?

Format your text abstract, consolidate your optional visual portfolio images, identify your field of study, apply the required email subject title, and transmit the packet directly to the curators at submission@cicamuseum.com.

Key Dates

  • Application Submission Deadline: Friday, June 19, 2026.
  • Exhibition at CICA Museum (Korea): September 9 – 27, 2026.
  • US Pop-up Gallery Installation Block: September 18, 2026.
  • Symposium Dates (Montgomery College): September 19 – 20, 2026.
  • Official ISVC Gala Party: September 20, 2026, from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM.
  • Popup Gallery Teardown & De-installation: September 20, 2026, from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM.
  • CICA Press Book Release Date: December 15, 2026.

Location

USA (Silver Spring, MD) and South Korea (Gimpo-si).

Additional Details

Presenters are required to attend in person as applications for online sessions are currently closed. For physical works at CICA, 2D pieces must not exceed 39 inches, and installation works are limited to 1x1x2 meters.

Website Link: International Symposium for Visual Culture Official Page