Curator Modern Europe 1800 to Present

Job Summary

Job Description

To curate, research, document, display and augment the Museum’s collection of European material culture dating from 1800 to the present in support of the Museum Operating Plan and all relevant Museum strategies. This includes interpreting the significance of the collection for the public through exhibitions and planning for the eventual re-display of the Museum’s collection. The jobholder will be expected to become a recognised authority internally, nationally, and internationally in and beyond, their relevant areas of academic expertise.

Job Requirements

• Good first degree in a relevant humanities subject, e.g. history, art history, English, Classics
• Postgraduate qualification in a relevant humanities subject.
• Experience of display, research, cataloging, publication, and public speaking such as lectures, gallery talks or broadcast projects.
• Experience of managing in museum or university context
• Ability to lead and manage curatorial and research teams.
• Fluency in at least one other European language
• Externally recognised authority in a relevant subject area such as 19th-20th century jewellery, ceramics, decorative arts 1820 to present, material culture of traditional European societies including textiles, British Empire, enslavement, colonialism, Eastern Europe and the Iron Curtain
• Significant publication record in relevant subjects

Job Responsibilities

• To generate and lead new research projects in support of the Research and Display Strategies
• To lead major cross-museum permanent exhibition projects as part of the Museum’s Masterplan to re-display the collections in the light of 21st century thinking with a greater focus on Empire and its legacies.
• To build the collections as necessary in support of the of the Acquisition Strategy and in relation to the Masterplan
• To integrate traditional, regional and minority material cultures into these new displays to create a holistic view of European culture and the ways in which the modern world has both exploited and been inspired by traditional crafts.
• To document the collections to a high standard, cataloguing objects digitally on the collection database with image taking and uploading as necessary, as well as maintaining essential paper records.
• To work with the relevant teams within the museum on care of the collections, their storage, display, and conservation