Assistant Curator
Position: Assistant Curator
Contract type: full-time, permanent contract (40 hours per week)
Start date: May 2025
Mudam Luxembourg – Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean is seeking an Assistant Curator for its Artistic Department.
Opened in 2006 and housed in a building designed by renowned architect Ieoh Ming Pei, Mudam is Luxembourg’s contemporary art museum. Our mission is to collect, preserve and present the most relevant contemporary art of our time and make it accessible to a wide audience. We aim to be a key player in promoting and understanding contemporary art through our exhibitions, publications, and artistic and educational programmes. Our museum has always been a place of artistic creation and collaboration with artists.
Located in Europe at the heart of a cosmopolitan country with 179 nationalities, we strive to engage all communities and promote access to contemporary art. We aim to make the museum a lively and accessible space for all, where contemporary societal issues can be addressed and debated. We are committed to a more inclusive, tolerant and responsible world where museums play a major role in passing on heritage to future generations.
Under the supervision of the Senior Curator, the Assistant Curator plays a key role in Mudam’s Artistic Department, helping to implement the museum’s exhibition programme. Working closely with project curators and other members of the Artistic Department, the Assistant Curator takes part in all the development stages of our temporary exhibitions, from initial design to final evaluation. They work closely with the museum’s other departments, as well as with external collaborators, including artists, guest curators, partner institutions and galleries.
The Assistant Curator also plays an essential role in the life and activities of the Artistic Department and contributes to the implementation of the museum’s curatorial vision along with the other members of the curatorial team.
Your mission
Developing and implementing exhibition projects:
- Proactively participate in the research, development and implementation of temporary exhibition projects that vary in scope and ambition, while demonstrating initiative and critical thinking.
- Play an active role in generating and monitoring exhibition documents (contracts, budgets, planning, lists of works, exhibition layouts, contact lists, etc.) in collaboration with the production team.
- Liaise with artists, assistants, galleries, lenders, partner institutions, external service providers, etc.
- Help set up and coordinate touring exhibitions and institutional partnerships.
- Support the planning of installations in accordance with schedules and floorplans in collaboration with all relevant museum departments. Help manage the travels and hosting of external contributors.
- Ensure the information is shared across the other museum departments.
- Supervise trainee work, when appropriate.
Research and writing:
- Carry out bibliographic, documentary and iconographic research with a cross-disciplinary perspective that is inclusive of other artistic disciplines, curatorial practices, and the human sciences.
- Contribute to researching and drafting curatorial and interpretive texts that are accessible to all audiences.
- Prepare presentation dossiers and help draft press and marketing documents.
- Contribute to discussions and research that help define the public programmes developed in conjunction with the exhibitions.
- Check, fact-check and proofread exhibition texts, including interpretive material, publications and exhibition catalogues.
As a member of the curatorial team:
- Contribute to prospective research and innovative ideas that could enrich the museum’s programme and curatorial vision in collaboration with the other members of the curatorial team, while taking into account audience diversity in Luxembourg and internationally.
- Contribute to the strategic content of curatorial and departmental meetings.
- Lead guided tours and presentations and represent the museum in external meetings where necessary.
Your profile
- Hold a Master’s degree in art history, curatorial studies or human sciences, with a sound knowledge of twentieth-century and contemporary art.
- A minimum of two years’ professional experience developing and producing exhibitions in museum or art centre contexts.
- Be able to work independently and collaboratively with the entire museum team.
- Proven research and analytical skills.
- Knowledge of international art exhibitions, curatorial practices and related disciplines such as performance, film, dance and music.
- Excellent budget management, administrative and production monitoring skills.
- Experience in diversity and inclusive programming, and a sensitivity to issues of equality and cultural diversity in arts institutions and society.
- Good interpersonal skills with a wide range of audiences and excellent public speaking skills.
- Thoroughness, pragmatism and ability to work under pressure.
- Perfect oral and written skills in English. Knowledge of French, German and/or Luxembourgish is considered an asset.
- Excellent computer skills.
- Flexibility in working hours (evenings and weekends as required).
Mudam welcomes applications from candidates of diverse backgrounds without discrimination because of gender, religion, race, nationality, sexual orientation, or disability, aiming to reflect Luxembourg’s diversity in both staff and audience.
If you would like to join us in this new challenge and take part in implementing the artistic programme of one of Luxembourg’s most emblematic cultural institutions and make contemporary art accessible to a broad, international audience, please send your CV and cover letter in English or French, with the reference MUDAM / CA2025, to Frédéric Maraud, Human Resources Manager, at the following address: rh@mudam.com. All applications must be received by 23 February 2025.
Initial interviews will take place during the week of 3 March 2025.
For any further information, please contact rh@mudam.com.