Curatorial Assistant, British Art Show

Southbank Centre is the UK’s largest arts centre and one of the UK’s top five visitor attractions, occupying a 17 acre site that sits in the midst of London’s most vibrant cultural quarter on the South Bank of the Thames. We exist to present great cultural experiences that bring people together and we achieve this by providing the space for artists to create and present their best work and by creating a place where as many people as possible can come together to experience bold, unusual and eye-opening work. We want to take people out of the everyday, every day.

The site has an extraordinary creative and architectural history stretching back to the 1951 Festival of Britain. Southbank Centre is made up of the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery as well as being home to the National Poetry Library and the Arts Council Collection. It is also home to four Resident Orchestras (London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Sinfonietta and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment) and four Associate Orchestras (Aurora Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Chineke! Orchestra and National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain).

We are looking for a Curatorial Assistant to assist the Hayward Gallery Touring team with the planning and development and delivery of British Art Show 9 and to provide administrative support to members of the Touring team. Recognised as the largest and most ambitious exhibition of contemporary British art, The British Art Show is presented every five years and tours to multiple venues across four British cities. The British Art Show has been a cornerstone of Hayward Gallery Touring and Hayward Gallery’s programme since 1979.

The Curatorial Assistant will contribute to the development of the project, from inception to delivery at the first venues in Manchester, and continuing with contributing across the four-city programme.

We are looking for someone to assist the Senior Curator and the Touring exhibitions team and undertake research for the exhibition curators and the Senior Curator, Hayward Touring. You will have experience of supporting the organisation of exhibitions and of liaising with artists and have experience of working in a visual arts organisation. You will have a willingness to travel within the UK.

We present work for everyone and we welcome applications from everyone. We particularly welcome applications from people from a BAME background or those who are Deaf or disabled as they are currently under-represented in our workforce.  If you wish to discuss reasonable adjustments for this role please indicate this on your application form and we will be in touch with you.

By attracting people to work for us from a broad range of backgrounds with diverse attitudes, opinions and beliefs we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things.  We offer a stimulating and professional environment in which to work – and the pace and scale can be breathtaking. This is a remarkable place to work and our people require the ability to work in The Southbank Centre Way – to think, act and learn with speed and agility.

Contract: Fixed-term contract until April 2022

Closing date for applications: 10:00, Monday 17th February 2020

Interviews: Monday 2nd & Tuesday 3rd March 2020

We reserve the right to close the advert early if enough applications are received.

Job Objectives

• To assist the Hayward Gallery Touring team with the planning and development and delivery of British Art Show 9.
• To provide administrative support to members of the Touring team.

Main Responsibilities

• Contribute to the development of the British Art Show, from inception to delivery at the first venues in Manchester, and continuing with contributing to venue liaison across the four-city tour
• Liaise with and provide exhibition information and materials to other sections within the Department, other staff within Southbank Centre, and externally as necessary.
• Assist the Senior Curator and the Touring exhibitions team in:
  • Liaising with artists, curators, venues and lenders
  • Helping to coordinate and facilitate new artists’ commissions and supporting them in planning their presentation
  • Supporting the exhibition curators with plans and details of each venue and coordinating their travel arrangements and studio visits as required
  • Preparing loan correspondence and monitoring loan requests.
  • Obtaining press catalogue photographs and/or arrange photography.
  • Collating catalogue material, including liaison with authors, lenders, designers, photographers, etc., in liaison with exhibitions teams and the Art Publisher.
  • Arranging appointments and meetings for allocated projects, making travel, subsistence and accommodation arrangements for artists, curators,  couriers and relevant staff.
  • Liaising with and receiving artists, curators, venues and lenders, on and off site.
  • Preparing and helping to realise exhibition/project related events (eg private view, press view and possibly performances)
  • Contributing to working on any developed digital platforms
  • Liaising with the venues to organise installation photography, collating and disseminating images to artists, lenders and institutions
  • End of tour packs for each artist (images, press etc)
  • Liaise on delivery of exhibition graphics, with support from HGT team
  • To carry out any other duties as are appropriate

Research for programme:

• Undertake research for the exhibition curators and the Senior Curator, Hayward Touring.
• Contribute to interpretative materials and publications for exhibition and projects when appropriate.

Administrative support:

• Assist the Senior Curator and the Touring exhibitions team in maintaining project related files and record systems (e.g. lenders, index, photographic records of exhibition items, attendance figures, press cuts, etc.) and preparing material for transfer to archives
• Organise, co-ordinate and attend meetings, including preparation of agendas, circulation of papers, room bookings, catering arrangements, minuting and monitoring action points.
• Provide general support to the Touring exhibitions team, if necessary attending other exhibition installations outside London.

Person Specification

We are looking for someone who:

• Has experience of supporting the organisation of exhibitions and of liaising with artists;
• Has good research skills;
• Is able to work well and communicate with a wide range of people;
• Has experience of working in a visual arts organisation;
• Is well organised, with excellent administration skills, a methodical approach and strong attention to detail;
• Can manage their own time and is able to work to, meet and ensure others meet deadlines;
• Has a passionate interest in visual arts;
• Is able to work effectively under pressure, to multi-task and to prioritise workload;
• Has good IT skills, including proficient use of MS Office, Google Drive and Photoshop;
• Has a positive attitude, enjoys working as part of a team and has a flexible and collaborative approach;
• Has a willingness to travel within the UK;
• Is able to demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to the role that diversity and inclusion play in the activities of the Southbank Centre as a whole and in the work of this particular job.

The Southbank Centre Way

The Southbank Centre Way is a framework that sets out how we want our people to work together, enjoying what we do. It describes the qualities that drive our ability to inspire, provoke and transform lives and illustrates behaviours that make Southbank Centre a warm and welcoming destination in which to work, perform or visit. The language that forms the Southbank Centre Way comes from the people who work here. We have captured their words to help everyone we work with understand us. We believe it is vital for our staff to display these qualities and behaviours for us to be the world class organisation we aspire to be and we will be looking for these attributes as part of our selection process for this role.