Slought Foundation is a not-for-profit organization in Philadelphia that broadly encourages new futures for contemporary life through public programs featuring international artists, architects, and theorists. Their programs are purposely critical and provocative in an intimate and participatory environment, and they invite their audiences to consider criticality itself as a source of dynamism and enjoyment. The name of the organization is derived from etymologies of the word 'slough,' and gestures towards ecological metaphors of networks and rejuvenation.

Programs and Productions

Since opening in Philadelphia in 2002 adjacent to the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

, Slought Foundation has featured international figures such as Dennis Oppenheim, Werner Herzog

Werner Herzog

Werner Herzog Stipetić , known as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director.He is often considered as one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner...

, Helene Cixous

Hélène Cixous

Hélène Cixous is a professor, French feminist writer, poet, playwright, philosopher, literary critic and rhetorician. She holds honorary degrees from Queen's University and the University of Alberta in Canada; University College Dublin in Ireland; the University of York and University College...

, Hermann Nitsch

Hermann Nitsch

Hermann Nitsch is an Austrian artist who works in experimental and multimedia modes.Born in Vienna, Nitsch received training in painting during the time he studied at the Wiener Graphische Lehr-und Versuchanstalt. He is called an "actionist" or a performance artist...

, William Anastasi

William Anastasi

William Anastasi is an American painter and visual artist. He has lived and worked in New York City since the early 1960s...

, Arakawa

Shusaku Arakawa

was a Japanese artist and architect. He had a personal and artistic partnership with writer and artist Madeline Gins that spanned more than four decades.-Life:...

 + Gins

Madeline Gins

Madeline Gins is an American artist, architect, and poet.Madeline Gins met her partner, the artist Arakawa, in 1963. Together, they founded the Architectural Body Research Foundation. They have designed and built residences and parks...

, Braco Dimitrijevic

Braco Dimitrijevic

Slobodan Dimitrijević , known as Braco Dimitrijević is a Paris-based Yugoslavian artist. His works deal mainly with history and the individual's place in it....

, and Lorand Hegyi. The Foundation is situated at the forefront of cultural production in North America and has presented hundreds of exhibitions, events and performances, trade publications, and a significant internet presence featuring extensive audio recordings. Their primary activities in Philadelphia are frequently complemented by international projects in cities such as Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

, and Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. All of these programs demonstrate their commitment to contemporary cultural life, and the importance they place on cultivating cross-cultural collaborations that enrich and expand our understanding of contemporary practice.

Philosophy

At Slought Foundation, their planning process and programming emphasizes collaboration, visitor interaction, and critical feedback as generative principles. Their projects implicitly respond to questions and concerns such as: how can organizations on the periphery of major international art cities and institutions contribute to the cultural and intellectual landscape? What should small organizations aspire to in relation to the prevailing economic and educational focus of major cultural institutions and funding platforms? Many of the individuals they present emphasize research as a fundamental component of their work, and they challenge the public to reconsider the politics of exhibition display and prevailing curatorial approaches by evading clear distinctions between artist, critic, and curator.

Rather than conceiving of the public as homogeneous, the curatorial staff undertakes each Slought Foundation project with the intent of engaging and establishing relationships with new and emerging audiences. They seek to present a provocative curatorial agenda that responds to the particular challenges confronting Philadelphia, and they envision their activities as a bridge between different socio-economic and cultural communities.