Posted: 16/02/2022 10:49
Salary: £27,107 to £29,475
Location: National Museum Of Scotland, Chambers Street
Level: Curatorial
Deadline: 16/03/2022 23:59
Hours: 18.5
Benefits: membership of Civil Service pension scheme
Job Type: Temporary
National Museums Scotland is one of the leading museum groups in Europe. With one of the largest and most diverse collections in the world, we are responsible for the acquisition, preservation and display of a substantial part of Scotland’s cultural, historic and national heritage.
Millions of local and international visitors enjoy our four museums each year, and we also introduce our collections to a much wider audience than can physically visit our museums through, touring exhibitions, loans, community engagement, digital programmes and research.
Over the last decade, we have invested over £120 million in our sites and have more than doubled our visitor numbers, with over 3 million people now visiting our four museums. Alongside this, we have continued to transform how we communicate and engage with our audiences. 2019 has seen the completion of our Masterplan for the National Museum of Scotland with the opening of three new galleries dedicated to Ancient Egypt, East Asia and the Art of Ceramics.
Within the Department of World Cultures at National Museums Scotland, the Mediterranean, Africa, Americas, and Oceania Section encompasses over 36,000 objects from across the globe. The internationally recognised early ethnographic collections, covering principally Oceania, Africa and North America are connected to early voyages of exploration, trade, and government that can be traced to individuals such as Captain James Cook (1776-1779), Frederick Beechey (1796–1856), and Dr David Livingstone (1813-1873) amongst others. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century, missionaries were significant contributors to the collections, including Reverend James Moon, resident in what is today the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Adam Darling Purves in Zambia. The Jean Jenkins Collection of sound archives features pioneering records of traditional music. The ancient Mediterranean collections include internationally important ancient Egyptian and Sudanese collections, largely acquired through archaeological excavations. Collecting of contemporary arts and material culture remains an important expression of our public role and remit.
You will work within the Mediterranean, Africa, Americas, and Oceania Section of the Department of World Cultures with a particular focus on the African collections to support the delivery of our strategic priority projects, loans, exhibitions and digitisation programmes.
With a degree in a related subject (Anthropology, Archaeology, Art History, Ancient History, History, Museum Studies, or equivalent), you will have knowledge of working with non-European art, archaeology and/or ethnographic collections from Africa, the Americas, or Oceania.
Proven experience in paid or unpaid work in museums or a similar environment is essential. You will be organised and methodical, with good verbal and written communication skills and Office 365 skills. You should also have experience of managing your own time and workload, working to deadlines and handling multiple priorities.
