The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Artsy, and Nicole Bray, the 2015 winner of the Robert Rauschenberg Emerging Curator Competition, invite students enrolled at accredited institutions to submit artworks to be considered for inclusion in the inaugural Emerging Curator exhibition. The ROCI Road to Peace: Experiments in the Unfamiliar is inspired by the ethos of the original Rauschenberg Overseas Culture Interchange (ROCI, 1984–91)—to foster understanding and promote peace through art. The exhibition will be held at the Academy Art Museum in Easton, Maryland from December 5, 2015 – March 6, 2016 and will complement a related exhibition, Robert Rauschenberg: ROCI Works from the National Gallery, curated by Anke Van Wagenberg. The concurrent exhibition will include iconic works by Rauschenberg taken from the ROCI series, which have been graciously loaned by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.

With his ROCI project, Rauschenberg traveled to ten nations around the world—Chile, China, Cuba, East Germany, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, the Soviet Union, Tibet, and Venezuela. Exploring diverse cultural traditions, new materials, and local artistic practices, Rauschenberg used his art to shine a light on the commonalities and differences of human experience. The original intentions advocated by ROCI are as relevant today as they were in 1984—to share, understand, and celebrate difference. In the words of Rauschenberg, "a one-to-one contact through art contains potent peaceful powers." The ROCI Road to Peace: Experiments in the Unfamiliar will explore what a modern day ROCI might look like in today’s social, political, and technological landscape.

For more information and submission instructions, please visit artsy.net/emergingcurator. Submissions will be accepted from September 10 through September 24, 2015.