The Research Focus Cultural Analysis in the Arts has existed as an independent research unit since the summer of 2019 and emerged from the former Institute for Cultural Studies in the Arts (ICS).
The ICS was founded in 2003 from the earlier Institut für Cultural Studies in Art, Media and Design, which originated in 2000 at the former Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst Zürich (HGKZ). With the foundation of the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) in 2007, the ICS was assigned to the Department of Cultural Analysis (DKV). Until 2019, the ICS was headed by the founder of the institute, Prof. Dr. Sigrid Schade, and from 2015 together with Prof. Dr. Sigrid Adorf.