Call for UK Emerging Curator - Museum without Walls Professional Development Opportunity
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Museum without Walls Call for UK Emerging Curator Professional Development Opportunity www.britishcouncil.org
Museum without Walls MWW is an accessible digital exhibition platform developed to showcase works from the British Council Collection and works by international artists since 2017. The platform now provides an accessible online exhibition experience compatible with screen readers, audio descriptions and sign language translations of the texts and works, as well as traditional text-based descriptions. The project offers a professional development opportunity for curators to hone skills in digital curation, accessibility and intercultural dialogue, whilst familiarising themselves with UK and local visual art scenes. The first three editions focused on curators from Turkey, and the fourth exhibition 'Almost There', hosted three curators from Georgia, Turkey and Ukraine and was delivered in five written languages (Georgian, English, Russian, Turkish and Ukrainian) and their respective sign languages. Since 2017, Museum Without Walls has showcased more than 60 works by 25 international artists, curated by six curators from three different countries. It has reached 850,000 unique visitors from more than 90 countries and received over 15 awards from local and international competitions including the Honorary Award at the 2020 Webbys, two Best Website of the Year Awards at the Golden Spider Awards and a Silver Medal at the International Design and Communications Awards. This fifth edition will host two emerging curators, one from the UK and one from Turkey, with the exhibition going live in May 2021. The theme of the fifth edition is a celebration of feminist solidarity. The theme coincides with the first WOW (Women of the World Festival) in Istanbul, which will take place in March 2021, celebrating women’s empowerment and gender equality. The exhibition will explore the lives of women today - and particularly as highlighted by the disruptions of 2020 – the crucial interplay of the domestic and public spheres. Together, the curators will explore how these topics resonate with audiences from the UK and Turkey and will use the British Council Collection as a core resource. Due to the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic this will be an online only opportunity. Visit previous exhibitions for more information: exhibitions.britishcouncil.org
Who are we looking for? We are now looking for a UK based emerging curator to co-curate the fifth exhibition of the platform in collaboration with a curator from Turkey. The curator from Turkey is being selected through a concurrent open call. This professional development opportunity is offered to emerging visual arts curatorial professionals who are looking to expand their experience. Candidates: ● Must be resident in the UK. ● Should live and/or work in Britain. You do not need to have been born in the UK. ● Could either be employed by organisations or work independently but must be able to take time away from other commitments to fulfil the work of the co-curator. As part of the application, the candidates will need to confirm how they plan to manage this opportunity with other work commitments, including a letter from their current employer(s) if applicable. ● Approximately 3 years ’experience in exhibition curation. ● Must be interested in international work including building connections in Turkey, and able to collaborate curatorially. ● Demonstrate their knowledge of, and interest in developing their skills in digital arts, online exhibitions and arts accessibility. ● Have a fluent command of spoken English and good command of written English. ● A proven knowledge and interest in gender issues and women’s rights would be an asset. ● Be a team player. We do not accept curator group proposals. We particularly welcome and encourage applications from candidates who are under-represented in the Visual Arts sector. The opportunity The UK emerging curator will be responsible for co-curating a digital visual arts exhibition together with the curator from Turkey and will work closely with a British Council Project Manager based in Turkey, and an external Artistic Advisor based in the UK. The curators will be responsible for: ● Co-curating a digital exhibition on the theme of celebration of feminist solidarity, working closely with the Project Manager, co-curator and Artistic Advisor. ● Together with their fellow co-curator, deliver exhibition texts (i.e. concept, captions, biographies) – (approx. 3500 words). ● Support Project Manager with liaison and copyrights of artworks of non-collection works. 2
● This opportunity also includes training and development on various topics to support the
curation of the exhibition including: digital exhibition making, digital curation, digital
accessibility. The content and schedule of training will be confirmed together with and
according to the needs of selected curators, but we expect will be weekly for eight weeks.
This is a requirement of the opportunity and the selected curator will be expected to attend
all meetings.
● Weekly progress report and evaluation meetings supervised by Project Manager and Artistic
Advisor.
● Act as spokesperson champion for the project and exhibition.
Deliverables
February – March 2021 Concept Development
Deliver texts: Exhibition text, biographies, captions
(approx. 3,500 words)
Artist Research / Networking
Artist Liaison (contacting and engaging selected non
Collection contemporary artists)
Present to internal and external stakeholders
Attend an agreed schedule of team meetings online
Attend an agreed schedule of workshops online
April – May 2021 Attend an agreed schedule of meetings with Design
Agency
Attend launch event to present the exhibition
This is not a full-time appointment and is a professional development opportunity that we
anticipate will require an overall commitment of 18 days starting in February 2021 and ending in
May 2021 when the exhibition launches.
Co-curators will be supported by experienced members of British Council staff in their
relationships with the co-curator, consultants, other stakeholders and the media. As a result of
this opportunity co-curators will have:
• gained insights into and knowledge of the British Council Collection;
• acquired a strong understanding and knowledge of digital exhibition making and
accessibility features;
• gained contacts in and knowledge of contemporary visual arts from Turkey and the UK;
• increased international contacts;
• learnt more about the cultural relations work of the British Council.
3The Process The curators will be selected and paired together by the British Council Turkey team whose decisions are final. The curators will follow the theme outlined above. At least 50 per cent of exhibited works must be from the British Council Collection. The curators will be provided with a pre-prepared list of works of British Council Collection from which to make their selection. In addition the curators will make their own selection of non- British Council Collection works by living artists to exhibit alongside them and create a dialogue between the UK and Turkey. The curators will work closely with the Design Agency to develop an online design that reflects their exhibition concept, is accessible and incorporates project outcomes. The British Council has final sign off on all content for the programme. Fee The successful applicant will be expected to sign a contract with the British Council and will receive a Fee of £3,080. This fee is to cover the time and work required to meet the Responsibilities and deliverables outlined in The Opportunity section, of approximately 18 days. Project Timeline Dates are for indication only, will be detailed after selection of curators. 23 December 2020 – 17 January 2021– Open call for Curators By end of January 2021 – Announcement of curators February – March 2021 – Development of exhibition concept and narrative, Delivery of texts for exhibition March – May 2021 – Development and design of exhibition platform Mid-May 2021 – Online exhibition launch The Application process The open call application is a two-stage process. Stage 1: Applications submitted via open call by 23:59 UK time Sunday 17 January 2021 Stage 2: Shortlisted candidates interviewed online by a selection panel between 26-27 January 2021 Please use: https://airtable.com/shrvMIocvNeDNGeZA to complete the application form for this position. Please note, we recommend you keep a copy of your answers as you will not 4
receive an automated copy of your response and if you leave the browser before the form is
submitted, your application will not be saved.
The candidates will be expected to submit:
● A CV demonstrating three years ’curatorial experience and any relevant digital curation
and international experience
● A letter of support from employer if appropriate
● Statement explaining how the role will support the development of their career and what
they hope to gain from the experience (no more than 200 words)
● Curatorial concept note (no more than 500 words) responding to the proposed exhibition
theme and including a preliminary selection of five artworks from the British Council
Collection (see website link below*) and three additional artworks by living UK based
artists. The concept note should contain links to the British Council Collection works and
explain why they have been selected. However the three non Collection works should be
illustrated, clearly labelled and their inclusion explained. (The final exhibition concept and
work list will be defined at concept development.)
● Personal statement on how you will ensure that British Council’s commitment to equality,
diversity and inclusion (detailed in links below**) are articulated in their exhibition (no
more than 250 words).
*to access the British Council Collection please go to:
http://visualarts.britishcouncil.org/collection
** Visit: https://www.britishcouncil.org/about-us/how-we-work and
https://www.britishcouncil.org/about-us/our-values
Selection criteria
The shortlisting process to determine who will be called to interview will be based on following
scoring on the criteria below and carried out by the British Council. Due to the volume of
submissions, we will be unable to give feedback to applicants.
If your application is eligible, your CV, submissions and personal statement will be awarded
points as follows:
Selection criteria Points (out of Evaluation of:
100)
Curatorial experience and demonstrable 25 CV
knowledge of the diversity of contemporary
British art
Experience of teamworking 15 CV
Experience of digital curation 5 CV
How will this opportunity support the 15 Online
development of your career and what do you application
hope to gain from the experience?
5How will you ensure that British Council’s 10 Online commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion application are articulated in your exhibition if you are successful in this application? Curatorial concept note responding to the 30 Online proposed exhibition theme and including a application preliminary selection of five artworks from the British Council Collection and three additional artworks by living UK based artists. The concept note should contain links to the British Council Collection works and explain why they have been selected. However the three non Collection works should be illustrated, clearly labelled and their inclusion explained. Desired Outcomes UK based audience for first time for Museum Without Walls. New online opportunities and skills for emerging curators from the UK and Turkey. Intercultural dialogue between curators, artists and arts practitioners from the UK and Turkey. An appealing and accessible exhibition that engages new and diverse audiences. About the Collection Since 1938, the British Council has been collecting contemporary works of art, craft and design for use in its cultural relations programmes. The British Council Collection showcases the work of innovative UK-based visual artists, demonstrates the diversity of experience and creative practice in the UK and is used with our international partners to explore contemporary questions and issues through the arts. The Collection began with a modest group of works on paper and has now grown to more than 8,700 artworks, from prints, paintings and sculpture to new media. The Collection was never intended to be comprehensive, but responsive to the needs of the organisation’s cultural relations mission. Artists represented include Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Bridget Riley, David Hockney, Paula Rego, Tracey Emin, Chris Ofili and Lubaina Himid and the artists that the British Council has shown at the Venice Biennale including Anish Kapoor, Rachel Whiteread, Chris Ofili, Steve McQueen, and Sarah Lucas. The Collection has no permanent gallery and is a nationally significant lending Collection. The Visual Arts team helps these works to travel around the world as part of our international exhibitions, curatorial research and exchange and through loans to museums and galleries. 6
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