IACCCA was conceived to unite the expertise of corporate collectors, as they grew into a potent community that lacked a shared platform.
Between 2000 and 2005, a series of informal roundtables were held in Paris, Spain and Brussels, bringing together several curators of corporate collections to share ideas.
In 2005, during a roundtable held by Lhoist, Jacqueline d'Amécourt, then curator of the Lhoist Collection, realised that curators of corporate collections barely knew each other and did not discuss issues they had in common. This fascinated her and she decided to create an international association for corporate collections.
IACCCA, which is the acronym for the International Association of Corporate Collections of Contemporary Art, was thus born, driven by the needs of its founding and prospective members. Curators wanted to meet and speak privately about the specific issues they encountered. At the same time, the association sought to provide substance, for example through visits to corporate collections, which would also offer premises for workshops.
The formal launch took place in 2007, as the first General Assembly of IACCCA was held in Basel during the annual art fair. Since then, membership has grown globally and it has become a key fulcrum for sharing expertise among corporate collectors.
During the IACCCA meeting at Fondation Cartier in 2008, Aline Pujo was appointed chair of the association and during her time as chair she contribuited significantly to IACCCA's developement. In 2014 Loa Haagen Pictet was elected as current chair.
Note on corporate structure: From 2007 to 2014, the IACCCA legal entity was a French association. In 2015, IACCCA streamlined its structure and became a Swiss association.
