Founded in the background, 1837.

The founding

On 20 June 1837, the day of the accession of Her Late Majesty Queen Victoria, the International Institute was founded. It kept no rooms, held no objects, admitted no visitors, and employed no one. It existed, in the background, with royal approval.

No royal approval was sought. None was given. The Institute’s position, minuted in 2019 and backdated in spirit, is that approval is assumed where it has not been refused, and that 189 years of unrefusal constitutes the warmest endorsement in the Institute’s possession. Correspondence with the Palace on the matter is filed under “pending,” where it has rested, unanswered and unobjected to, ever since.

The background years, 1837–2019

For 182 years the Institute operated entirely in the background. It observed the two-minute silence of 1919, in background; it had no news in 1930, in background; it queued, in background, without sighing. The background years are kept by no one and are complete.

The building, 2019

In 2019 Eden Ludlam built the Institute in the foreground: five rooms (now fifteen), one bench, and a paperclip, accessioned as Ref 0001. The background was not demolished. It continues underneath, load-bearing, like the launderette’s hum.