Curating.info

Curator, The Hayward
33,000 GBP per annum

Southbank Centre is the UK's largest arts centre, occupying a 21-acre site that sits in the midst of London's most vibrant cultural quarter on the South Bank of the Thames. The site has an extraordinary creative and architectural history stretching back to the 1951 Festival of Britain.

As the hub of visual arts activity at Southbank Centre, The Hayward plays a vital role in the UK and internationally by presenting a wide range of ground-breaking art exhibitions, project exhibitions and outdoor installations. Boasting one of the largest and most versatile exhibition
spaces in the UK, The Hayward aims to place artists at the heart of its every activity and to offer visitors adventurous encounters that defy expectations.

As Curator, you will work with the Director and Chief Curator of The Hayward to deliver a series of exhibitions and installations in The Hayward Project Space, outdoor spaces around Southbank Centre's site and in the gallery. You will be responsible for curating and writing about each project as well as supervising design and installation and managing project budgets.

With demonstrable knowledge of and interest in international modern and contemporary art, you will have significant experience of working in an art gallery or museum at all stages of curating an exhibition from conceptualising, planning, and administering exhibitions to their installation. Outstanding interpersonal skills and the ability to manage relationships at all levels are also essential.

You will be available to start in November 2008.

For further information and details about how to apply, please visit http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/jobs or phone 02079210641. Application forms should be submitted to recruit -at- southbankcentre.co.uk or posted to HR, Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London, SE1 8XX by 5pm on the closing date.

Closing date: 17th July 2008

The second edition of Curating.info Conversations is with Manchester-based curator, Karen Gaskill.



Karen is currently the Director and Curator of Interval, and a Researcher at the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology (FACT) in Liverpool. She is also currently completing her practice-based PhD in Digital Media and Social Practice at the Digital Research Unit, The University of Huddersfield. The interview with Karen covered topics ranging from getting outside of the white cube to the expanding role of the audience. This interview, the second in the series of e-books that will be released here, is intended to become part of a larger conversation. Comments on the topics raised in this series of e-books are welcomed, and responses may be collected later into a companion e-book.

To create the e-book, I used the DIFFUSION e-book generator, which was developed by artist-led studio and think tank Proboscis. To enjoy your copy of this e-book, simply choose a download link below (depending on what part of the world you are in, you will require either the Letter or A4 formatted version). Once you have downloaded the PDF file, print the e-book, and assemble according to the directions on the last page of the e-book. Then read it, share it, and print another for yourself or a friend!

Download the DIFFUSION e-book:
Curating.info Conversations: Karen Gaskill - A4 Format
Curating.info Conversations: Karen Gaskill - Letter Format

(Can't open PDF files? Download a free PDF reader.)

Building on the achievements of the Wales exhibitions at the last three Biennales of Art in Venice, the Arts Council of Wales is now appointing to the following posts to work on the 2009 Biennale. It also has vacancies on its Wales at Venice Advisory Committee.

Fixed term freelance contract, fee £24,000 per annum, commencing July 2008, in Cardiff.

Duties: To select the artist or artists to represent Wales at the Biennale in 2009 and curate the exhibition. The Curator will work with the Commissioner and Project Manager and will report to the Advisory Committee. Applicants must have extensive knowledge of the contemporary visual arts in Wales and internationally and evidence the skills and track record necessary to ensure a major contribution to the presence of Wales at the 2009 Venice Biennale. Applications for the above are by letter accompanied by CV.

For information about previous Wales at Venice exhibitions visit http://www.walesvenicebiennale.org

Closing date for applications: Noon on Monday, 30 June 2008. The Council works in both Welsh and English. Further information is available online at http://www.artswales.org.uk or from the Human Resources Department: Tel: (029) 2037 6500.

Goldsmiths' Department of Art is a world-leading centre for research in contemporary art. Research and teaching focuses on three areas: fine art practice, art writing and curating, each led by internationally recognised scholars and artists. The Department attracts exceptional students from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures from the UK and overseas.

The Department has vacancies in the following areas for high-achieving, dynamic people who can contribute to the future development of this important centre for research and teaching in contemporary art:

Lecturer in Curating
From £29,372 to £43,286 p.a. incl pro rata
Part time (0.2 fte)
ref: 08/80AE
New Cross, London

For further information please visit: www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/hr/employment
Or email: hr -at- gold.ac.uk

Closing date: Tuesday 24 June 2008 by 5.00pm

On-Curating.org is an independent international web-journal focusing on questions around curatorial practise and theory.

For the inaugural issue, the editors asked thirty-one curators a series of questions around what topics in curating they would most like to see discussed, about key resources online, and about exhibitions and peers that have influenced them.

"We have written to professionals, whose position in curating, in the arts and in theory we think most interesting and challenging in contemporary discussion. We invited a broad selection of art-world figures, curators we find critical, artist-curators and other interesting people from our direct networks."

On-curating.org is published by Dorothee Richter. The concept was developed by Dorothee Richter in cooperation with Maren Brauner, Johanna Franco Bernet, Barnaby Drabble, Irene Grillo, Petra Haider, Damian Jurt, Christoph Kern, Wolf Schmelter, Thomas Zacharias. Supported by Postgraduate Program in Curating, Institute for Cultural Studies in the Arts (ICS), Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK).

Hamilton Artists Inc. (HAI) Call for Proposals
Proposal Deadline: July 31, 2008

Established in 1975, Hamilton Artists Inc. (HAI) is one of the founding galleries of the artist-run centre system in Canada. The organization is entering an exciting development stage as it approaches the opening of a newly purchased, multi-presentation complex in November of 2008. For the 2010-2011 exhibition schedule, HAI is seeking: a wide range of multi-disciplinary proposals from artists as well as curatorial proposals for solo and group exhibitions in the Main Space; community-based proposals for limited programming in the community gallery area; intermedia works, sculpture/installation, performance art, video projection, sound art, site-responsive and relational works and other imaginative proposals for the courtyard space and the glass corridor that links the two buildings; and proposals by critical writers to produce exhibition texts.

The new home of HAI (opening in November 2008) features: Two gallery spaces - A 1200 sq. ft Main Space, and a 600 sq ft Members Space/ Community Gallery; a 2500 square ft. multi-purpose outdoor courtyard; a programmable glass corridor linking the two galleries; and a two-floor artist-in-residence space with a studio, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom.

Hamilton Artists Inc. pays CARFAC artist fees for Main Space exhibitions and related exhibition costs, and assists with shipping. For more details, visit the website.

176 is looking for a motivated and dedicated curatorial intern to work on exhibitions, publications, gallery management and the interaction programme. Applicants should have some curatorial experience, and be interested in the range of skills involved in working in a small public gallery with an ambitious programme. The internship will begin mid-June 2008 and is carried out 3 days per week for a duration of three months. CV and covering letter to Ellen Mara De Wachter: ellen -at- zabart.org. Deadline 6 June 2008.

Welcome to the June edition of Pick 'N Mix, my monthly annotated list of things that caught my eye over the course of the previous month. It's a real jumble of stuff this month! Check it out:

- Firstly, this recent article in LA Weekly talks about MOCA’s Paul Schimmel and the concept of "curatorial ecstasy". Schimmel recounts a moment wherein he reflects on a mentor moving him "...very quickly from the idea of art museums being places that just maintained a history to the museum as a place where you define culture at the moment [...] It was a very activist, engaged approach, stemming from a belief that to begin to define what later will be understood as the history of your particular moment is one of the richest aspects of being a curator."

- I've just noticed that the Icebox in Philadelphia, USA takes curatorial proposals. It's also one of many curatorial proposals wherein it specifically requests that the curator be present for the installation. What it actually says is this: "Curators may not include their own work in the project/exhibition proposal and are expected to be involved in and on-site during the installation process." This statement leads me to two questions: (1) Have artist/curators not got the message yet that including their own work is beyond tacky?, and (2) Do curators feel they do not need to be involved and engaged in the installation process (possibly one of the most interesting moments in the manifestation of your curatorial concept, except in a few (obvious) cases)? I admire the Icebox folk for laying it on the line, but I have to say that confronting what should be clear points like these makes one wonder about that black, white, and grey area called ethics.

- Again on the notion of ethics, but with a different approach, I was intrigued by this post about intangible digital cultural heritage on iCommons: Sarah Kansa and her husband Eric Kansa head The Alexandria Archive Institute, an institution in digital open access for world cultural heritage. Sarah Kansa writes:

"There is no lack of digital content out there. Each community, institution or individual creating and sharing it needs to also take responsibility for preserving it. Currently, content isolated in silos stands the least chance of survival because of its inaccessibility and the lack of portability and re-usability of content. An open access (and open licensing and open standards) approach will go a long way towards preserving our digital cultural heritage in perpetuity, albeit a few years at a time."

Curators who are in the position of making or breaking accessibility to intangible cultural heritage surely feel this pressure. Are institutions supporting moves towards openness, or do curators have to take the lonely path of advocating this alone?

- I had a wonderful time at the IKT Congress in Montreal, and shortly will be posting a report on the Congress here, so keep your RSS readers and browsers poised at attention!

Associate Curator (Contemporary and 20th Century), National Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery houses a unique collection of all forms of portraiture of the people who have made or who are currently contributing to British history and culture. With more than 1.5 million visitors each year, the Gallery is one of England's most important and popular galleries. The Gallery seeks an Associate Curator to work on a range of contemporary and 20th Century projects, including acquisitions, displays and commissions. One year fixed term contract. Circa £27,000 per annum.

Full details of this and all other employment opportunities at the Gallery can be viewed at http://www.npg.org.uk/jobs or requested by e-mailing: personnel -at- npg.org.uk

Closing date for returned applications is Monday 16 June 2008. The Gallery is committed to equality and is a member of the Employers' Forum on Disability, Race for Opportunity and the Equality Exchange.