Speaking in Tongues

Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, East 7th Street 1717, 90021, Los Angeles

4 aprile 2026 – 23 agosto 2026

In spring 2026, ICA LA will present Speaking in Tongues, an exhibition featuring an intergenerational and international group of contemporary artists who embrace the role of art as a conduit to the spiritual. Exploring and expanding notions of the sacred and the divine, the presentation includes both new and pre-existing works by artists engaging with embodied and ecstatic forms of expression, ritual, and translation. At a moment when religion is increasingly weaponized as an instrument to divide, Speaking in Tongues celebrates the spiritual as a tool for survival, kinship, and communion—centering the work of Indigenous and diasporic artists from the Global South to trace shared connections across geographies, cultures, and time. The exhibition's title references a term commonly associated with the Pentecostal church and points to mother tongues that evade capture, honoring those whose communities, native languages, and sacred rituals have been systemically riven by colonialism.