Curatorial Intern

This internship is designed to enable people at the beginning of their museum careers to gain experience and insight into curatorial work and public programming within a national museum.

This role is offered as part of STEP

STEP is a training programme for young East Londoners local to the Olympic Park, who are ready to bring ideas, creative energy and perspectives to the creative and cultural sector. You must be:

Aged 18 to 30
Resident of Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Newham or Waltham Forest, and lived in the boroughs whilst at school or college

Through STEP, you’ll get paid London Living Wage over a 12-month training programme to develop a range of skills and creative approaches and build on your network across different organisations or departments. You’ll complete a work-based placement, grow as part of a peer network, take part in regular professional development workshops, and get a budget to produce a collaborative project. 

We’ll also connect you with a specialist industry mentor, provide careers coaching and continue to offer support as part of our community after the programme.  

The V&A is the world’s greatest museum of art, design and performance, with more than 2 million objects representing more than 5,000 years of creativity.

Founded in the wake of the 1851 Great Exhibition, the V&A is dedicated to educating and inspiring people through collections drawn from the entire spectrum of the fine, applied, industrial and performing arts.

The Museum holds many of the UK’s national collections and houses some of the best available resources for the study of many subjects, including architecture, Asian art, textiles, furniture, fashion, photography, sculpture, ceramics, metalwork and graphic design.

It was the UK’s first national museum to develop a designated Research Department, which is now home to the premiere postgraduate programme in the history of design and material culture, as well as the promising V&A Research Institute (VARI).

The V&A is entering a new era with the creation of V&A East, an ambitious new institution located across two public sites in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park: a dynamic new museum at Stratford Waterfront, and a major, future-facing centre for collections, research and learning at Here East.

The project will be part of a collaboration between world-leading institutions including London College of Fashion, University College London, and Sadler’s Wells all moving to the Olympic Park as part of a new Culture and Education District (CED) due to open in 2023/ 2024.

The V&A East project will radically expand the museum’s reach and impact providing unprecedented access to the museum’s unrivalled collections of art, design, and performance.

V&A East aims to inspire and empower the next generation of artists, designers, and innovators; support and promote the creative industries; and help people discover the value of creativity and design.

It will enable the V&A, its expertise and world-renowned collections to become part of East London's rich heritage and uniquely diverse community, working in partnership with the area’s thriving creative industries and the flourishing population of students, makers, designers, and digital innovators on its doorstep. With significant connections to the rest of the UK, Europe and the world, V&A East will become –with its neighbours –a destination with local character, global cultural importance, and universal appeal.

Support the V&A East curatorial team with their work developing displays and public programming concepts for V&A East
Support the V&A East Community Engagement and Outreach Lead to build sustained relationships with a wide range of communities and organisations across East London. This may include attending meetings and focus groups, supporting the delivery of public events and activities
Conduct research into the collection and contemporary art, design and performance
Helping to devise and deliver the V&A East pre-opening public programme
Carrying out administrative and project-related tasks as required
Shadowing colleagues and attending project meetings as appropriate
Be willing to work some flexible hours to assist with V&A East-related events
Comply with museum-wide policies and procedures
Be committed to health and safety and ensure familiarity with all of the Museum's health and safety policies and procedures
Be security conscious, ensure familiarity and co-operation with all museum security procedures and ensure you wear a security pass at all times when on museum premises
Promote equality and diversity in all aspects of your work by developing and maintaining positive working relationships, ensuring that colleagues are treated fairly and with respect/dignity and actively contributing to developments that support the museum’s strategy for widening access, inclusion and diversity
Carry out ad hoc duties as requested by the Chief Curator, V&A

Please note this is just a guide, do apply if you have transferable skills and even if you do not meet every single requirement

A demonstrable interest in a career in museums, galleries or other arts and cultural organisations
Experience of working in East London

Previous experience in administration and research activities
An enthusiastic self-starter with excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Evidence of practical and organisational skills
An ability to work under pressure, to multi-task and to work effectively as part of a team
Demonstrable computer skills, competence in standard software in professional use, experience of working with social and other digital media, and ability to manage information systematically and accurately

Knowledge of the V&A collection, curatorial and learning programmes is desirable
Interest in working across collections, public engagement and outreach programme is desirable
Experience in Art / Design, Art / Design History or a similar discipline related the V&A and its collection either as work or in education

Applications have now closed.

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Attend an online Information and Application Support Workshop, meet some of our partners, learn about the placements and programme, get advice on your application and ask any questions.

Curatorial Intern

This role is offered as part of STEP

Employer

Location

Hours

Salary

Deadline

Please note this is just a guide, do apply if you have transferable skills and even if you do not meet every single requirement

Applications have now closed.

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