Barbican & Iniva: curatorial traineeship programme

3 April 2017 – 31 January 2018
Salary circa £14K for a 10 month contract based on London Living Wage, £9.45 per hour

Barbican and Iniva (Institute of International Visual Arts) are launching a joint curatorial traineeship programme, which is an excellent opportunity to gain an insight into working for two arts organisations of different scale with separate programmes, where you will acquire practical skills to support your qualifications and inform future career choices.

The aim of the Barbican part of the traineeship is to provide an overview and understanding of the process of developing and presenting temporary exhibitions and commissions. The Trainee will gain practical experience on specific exhibitions, which may include a commission by John Akomfrah and Basquiat: Boom for Real. Some of the tasks that the trainee will be involved in are conducting research, liaising with key contacts and artists, and archiving. The trainee will have an opportunity to work on installations and de-installations and assist with the delivery of private Views and public programme events.

Working at Iniva for one day a week, the trainee will gain an understanding of how to deliver a regular events programme and the skills required to do this effectively. There will be opportunity to encounter curators, artists, academics and researchers working in areas related to Iniva’s artistic programme and the collections of the Stuart Hall Library. There will be opportunities to get involved with delivering a monthly public programme in the Library and work directly with resident artists, researchers and curators. You will also be involved in research towards fundraising bids related to delivering the artistic programme alongside experienced staff.

To be considered for this post you will need to have an undergraduate degree or equivalent in Art, Art History or related subjects. You will have a flexible and proactive approach to work, and excellent communication skills. You will be able to work well on your own as well as in a team setting. You’ll also need to be able to use basic computer programmes from the MS Office suite. You will have an excellent eye for detail enabling you to undertake your work to a high standard.

The successful candidate will be provided with day to day curatorial mentoring, supervision and opportunities to shadow more experienced colleagues. As part of the traineeship there will also be a training and development allowance to pay towards attendance at conferences, networking and other development opportunities.

BAME and ethnic minority candidates are particularly encouraged to apply for this placement. We are committed to increasing diversity of staff within the Barbican Centre and within the Arts Sector as a whole and it is recognised that BAME and ethnic minority groups are currently under-represented within the Art Gallery curating team. We welcome applications from everyone irrespective of ethnic origin and appointment will be based on merit alone.