British Council Museum Without Walls Programme 2021 for British & Turkish Curators

Application Deadline:

Museum Without Walls is an accessible digital exhibition platform developed to showcase works from the British Council Collection and works by international artists since 2017. 

The platform now provides an accessible online exhibition experience compatible with screen readers, audio descriptions and sign language translations of the texts and works, as well as traditional text-based descriptions. 
The project offers a professional development opportunity for curators to hone skills in digital curation, accessibility and intercultural dialogue, whilst familiarising themselves with UK and local visual art scenes. 

Since 2017, Museum Without Walls has showcased more than 60 works by 25 international artists curated by six curators from three different countries. It has reached 850,000 unique visitors from more than 90 countries and received over 15 awards from local and international competitions including the Honorary Award at the 2020 Webbys, two Best Website of the Year Awards at the Golden Spider Awards and a Silver Medal at the International Design and Communications Awards.  

This fifth edition will host two emerging curators, one from the UK and one from Turkey and with the exhibition going live in May 2021. 

The theme of the fifth edition is a celebration of feminist solidarity. The theme coincides with the first WOW (Women of the World Festival) in Istanbul, which will take place in March 2021, celebrating women’s empowerment and gender equality. The exhibition will explore the lives of women today – and particularly as highlighted by the disruptions of 2020 – the crucial interplay of the domestic and public spheres. 
Together, the curators will explore how these topics resonate with audiences from the UK and Turkey and will use the British Council Collection as a core resource.

Candidates: 

• For UK curator: Should live and/or work in Britain. Don’t need to have been born in the UK. 
• For Turkey curator: Should live and/or work in Turkey. Don’t need to have been born in Turkey.
• Could either be employed by organisations or work independently but must be able to take time away from other commitments to fulfil the work of the co-curator. As part of the application, the candidates will need to confirm how they plan to manage this opportunity with other work commitments, including a letter from their current employer(s) if applicable.
• At least 3 years’ experience in exhibition curation.
• Must be interested in international work including building connections between the two countries, and able to collaborate curatorially. 
• Demonstrate their knowledge of, and interest in developing their skills in digital arts, online exhibitions and arts accessibility.
• Have a fluent command of spoken English and good command of written English. The application language is English. 
• A proven knowledge and interest in gender issues and women’s rights would be an asset. 
• Be a team player.

The Opportunity

The succesful applicants will be responsible for co-curating a digital visual arts exhibition and will work closely with a British Council Project Manager based in Turkey, and an external Artistic Advisor based in the UK. 

The curators will be responsible for:

• Co-curating a digital exhibition on the theme of celebration of feminist solidarity, working closely with the Project Manager, co-curator and Artistic Advisor. 
• Together with their fellow co-curator, deliver exhibition texts (i.e. concept, captions, biographies) – (approx. 3500 words). 
• Support Project Manager with liaison and copyrights of artworks of non-collection works.
• This opportunity also includes training and development on various topics to support the curation of the exhibition including: digital exhibition making, digital curation, digital accessibility. The content and schedule of training will be confirmed together with and according to the needs of selected curators, but we expect will be weekly for eight weeks. This is a requirement of the opportunity and the selected curator will be expected to attend all meetings.
• Weekly progress report and evaluation meetings supervised by Project Manager and Artistic Advisor. 
• Act as spokesperson champion for the project and exhibition.

Fee

The successful applicant will be expected to sign a contract with the British Council and will receive a fee of £3,080. This fee is to cover the time and work required to meet the Responsibilities and deliverables outlined in The Opportunity section, of approximately 18 days.

Official Website: British Council Museum Without Walls Programme