Collections Collaborator at Kanal

Organisation: Kanal
Location: Brussels, Belgium, with regular travel to Zaventem
Salary: Not specified
Contract: Permanent, full-time
Application deadline: 11 October 2026

Translated and adapted from the original French listing.

Kanal is seeking a Collections Collaborator to support the development, care and public access of its collection. Working within the Artistic Department alongside the Head of Collections, Conservator and Documentalist, the postholder will coordinate acquisitions and loans, document artworks and help develop a new digital collections database.

Established in 2018, Kanal’s collection focuses on twenty-first-century art by artists living and working in Brussels and Belgium. It spans media from painting and sculpture to film, installation, performance and archival material.

Responsibilities

The Collections Collaborator will help prepare acquisition cases for committee review, researching artworks, writing collection entries and corresponding with artists and galleries. Once works are acquired, they will coordinate contracts, rights, insurance, condition reports, transport and database records.

They will manage loans for external venues and Kanal’s own programme, working with the Conservator, storage facility and transporters on packing, movement and artwork care. The role also includes maintaining artwork files, tracking locations, supporting preventive conservation and helping handle and document physical and digital works.

A further focus is the collection’s online access. The postholder will help implement a new collections management system, catalogue works and artists, organise photography and digitisation, and contribute to editorial plans for the online collection. They will respond to research enquiries and work with colleagues to make the collection accessible through displays and public programmes.

Candidate profile

Applicants should have training in art history, art conservation or an equivalent field, and at least two years of relevant experience. They need knowledge of artwork handling and preventive conservation, experience using databases, and a strong interest in contemporary art.

French fluency and excellent comprehension of Dutch are required; bilingual French and Dutch skills are an advantage. Applicants should also understand English and be willing to work at Kanal’s Brussels spaces and travel regularly to Zaventem.