Image: Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston has announced its 2026/27 performance season, a lineup that brings together returning choreographers, experimental musicians and a major immersive work by Andrew Schneider. Tickets are available now for ICA members, with public sales beginning August 7 at 11 a.m. The museum says the season is part of its 90 YEARS programming, marking 90 years of artistic innovation.
The new season gathers a wide range of live events under the ICA Live banner. Among the earliest dates are Colin Stetson and Brìghde Chaimbeul on September 20, followed by the London-based artist anaiis on September 25. The program then moves into dance and performance with 'Braiding Futures' on October 23, presented by MIDDAY Movement Series and ICA/Boston, before returning to major names in contemporary performance later in the fall and winter.
Stetson and Chaimbeul are set to appear together in support of their collaborative album 'All the Light in the World'. The ICA describes the record as a meeting of Stetson’s saxophone practice and Chaimbeul’s command of the Scottish smallpipes, with the music moving between drone, ritual and cinematic expanse. Their Boston date is scheduled for September 20 at 8 p.m., with support from cellist and composer Clarice Jensen.
The season also includes a return engagement by the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company. On November 20, 21 and 22, the company will present 'Collage Revisited and Story/'. The ICA says the program reflects on history, legacy and continued experimentation, with 'Collage Revisited' revisiting 'The History of Collage', the last collaboration between Bill T. Jones and Arnie Zane before Zane’s death. 'Story/' is described as the latest result of the company’s ongoing use of John Cage’s 'Indeterminacy' as a choreographic tool.
One of the season’s more overtly site-specific projects is 'The Inevitable Return: Exploding Plastic Revisited', scheduled for December 11 from 7 to 11 p.m. The ICA notes that on October 29, 1966, its Boston museum hosted Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground’s 'Exploding Plastic Inevitable' as part of Warhol’s second museum exhibition. The 2026 event is framed as a 60th-anniversary resurrection of that performance’s spirit and as part of the museum’s history-focused '90 YEARS' initiative.
In January, Schneider’s 'NOWISWHENWEARE (the stars)' will run on January 21–24 and January 28–31, 2027. The ICA presents it as an immersive gallery experience that moves beyond a conventional installation, guiding each visitor through an individualized journey with nearly 4,000 reactive LED lights and a 496-channel sound system. The work is said to be inspired in part by Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Rooms, and the museum says each visit may last up to an hour.
The season continues into 2027 with Ogemdi Ude’s 'MAJOR' on February 26 and 27, Suzanne Bocanegra’s 'Motherhood, an Artist Lecture by Suzanne Bocanegra Starring Judah Lang' on March 18 and 19, and 'sweat variant – Okwui Okpokwasili and Peter Born: adaku, part 2' on April 9 and 10. Across the schedule, the ICA is pairing new work with returning artists and established figures from dance, music and interdisciplinary performance, while member presales and ticketing windows are already underway for several dates.
