The Irish Museum of Modern Art hosted a major symposium on curating contemporary art in public institutions in November 2004. Nine international curators made illustrated presentations on their curatorial practice; they discussed their institutions' policies and practice, including programming, acquisition and purchasing policies as they relate to artist, arts practice and art audience. They also set out the context for their institutions, both nationally and internationally, in terms of inter-institutional relationships and trans-national global trends.

In their professional context of 2004, each speaker spoke about their curatorial practice and how this was integrated into the broader vision of the institution at the time. The following nine international speakers presented the following papers:

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Profile: Rachael Thomas is Senior Curator: Head of Exhibitions at the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin. Thomas has curated various exhibitions including solo surveys of the American Fluxus and feminist artist Eleanor Antin, Thomas Ruff, Karen Kilimnik, Margherita Manzelli, Sophie Calle and Mark Manders. Curated group shows include the experimental group exhibition all hawaii eNtré;es / luNar reGGae with Philippe Parreno, Anri Sala and Rirkrit Tiravanija. She curated the Irish Pavilion, New Territories, ARCOག, Madrid (2006). Other curated Biennials include the Welsh Pavilion with Cerith Wyn Evans, Biennale di Venezia (2000) and the Lyon Biennale (2008). As a writer, she has published widely in journals and exhibition catalogues. Thomas is currently developing Dublin Contemporary, the first Irish Biennale of which she is Co-founder and Artistic Director.

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Profile: Iwona Blazwick is the Director of the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (2001-present). Most recently Head of Exhibitions and Displays at Tate Modern, she has also worked as an independent curator in Europe and Japan. Artists she has recently presented include: Liam Gillick (2002); Rodney Graham (2002); Cristina Iglesias (2003); Gerhard Richter (2004); Paul McCarthy (2006) and Annie Ratti (2007). A critic, art historian, lecturer and broadcaster, she has written for Art Monthly, Contemporay; Frieze and Parkett magazines. She created the Contemporary Artists Monographs and Themes and Movements series for Phaidon Press (1996). She is currently Series Editor of Documents of Contemporary Art co-published by Whitechapel Ventures and MIT Press.

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Profile: Ivo Mesquita is Chief Curator for Pinacoteca do Estado in São Paulo, and is visiting professor at the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, New York (1996- present). He was the Researcher, Assistant Curator Fundação Bienal de São Paulo (1980-88). He served as the Artistic Director for the Fundação Bienal de São Paulo (1999-2000) and the Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo (2001-02). Among the various exhibitions curated by Mesquita are: Panorama da Arte Brasileira, Museu de Arte Moderna, São Paulo (1995); Stills: works from the Marie Louise Hessel Collection, CCS-Bard College (1997). Mesquita is chief curator for the Bienal de São Paulo (2008).

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Profile: James Rondeau is Curator and Frances and Thomas Dittmer Chair, Department of Contemporary Art at the Art Institute of Chicago, He is head of the Department of Contemporary Art at the museum (2004-present). He has organised one-person exhibitions such as: Stan Douglas (2000); Rineke Dijkstra (2001); Steve McQueen (2002); Marlene Dumas (2003); Mark Manders (2003) and Roni Horn (2004). He served as the Co-Commissioner and Co-Curator of the United States Pavilion, 49th Venice Biennale. In addition to feature articles in Sculpture, Frieze, and Parkett magazines, he regularly publishes critical contributions to exhibition catalogues, writing on artists such as Alighiero e Boetti, Sol LeWitt, Gaylen Gerber, Michael Asher and Maureen Gallace.