The postgraduate Curatorial Studies programme, organised by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK) of University College Ghent, Ghent University, and the Museum of Contemporary Art S.M.A.K., seeks to appoint a part-time (20%) Curatorial Studies (CS) Fellow, Parallel Projects starting on January 1, 2019. This is a new position based at KASK aimed at strengthening curatorial practice within the Curatorial Studies programme and increasing its national and international profile.
Curatorial Studies is an intensive one-year postgraduate programme taught in English, attracting 15 to 20 highly qualified students per year, many of them with international backgrounds. Established in 1999, it is the only postgraduate curatorial programme in Belgium, benefitting from a unique collaboration between KASK, Ghent University, and S.M.A.K. Curatorial Studies students follow theoretical as well as practical courses covering art and exhibition histories, art collections, audiences and learning, conservation and contemporary curatorial theories.
Each year, in June or July, Curatorial Studies students collectively organise a public curatorial project in parallel to the programme’s curriculum. The CS Fellow will be responsible for managing all aspects of the parallel project for the coming two academic years, 2018–19 and 2019–20. In summer 2018, Curatorial Studies students took part in the large-scale group exhibition Somewhere in Between at BOZAR, Brussels. In summer 2019, the project will be a group exhibition in Ghent in partnership with Ghent University and art@CMS at CERN.
The CS Fellow will oversee the parallel project from idea development to its realisation and dismantling. Under the CS Fellow’s mentorship, students will be exposed to often undervalued aspects of exhibition-making, including fundraising and budget management, communication and audience development.
Since the parallel project does not carry formal academic points within the Curatorial Studies curriculum, the CS Fellow is free to design a course tailored to her/his own interests and to the project’s specific requirements. While the 2019 project has already been selected, the CS Fellow is expected to design and coordinate the 2020 project—which can take any form, in Belgium or elsewhere—from scratch.
The CS Fellow will be considered a full member of the Curatorial Studies teaching staff and expected to play an active role in supporting and promoting Curatorial Studies.
Read more about the legal and competence requirements.
Appointment
Recruitment will be made at 20% of a full-time job within the Fine Arts department of KASK-Royal Conservatory, the School of Arts of the University College Ghent. The position is offered on a fixed-term contract, from January 1 to September 30, 2019. Pending successful evaluation, the postholder would be renewed for another one-year period, until September 30, 2020.
Application
Candidates are invited to upload their complete application—addressed to Wim De Temmerman, Dean of KASK-Royal Conservatory—via hogent.be by Sunday, November 18, 2018. Applications should include a letter of motivation, a full CV and a max. 2-page outline of a possible parallel project for summer 2020, with indicative budget and timeline.
Short-listed candidates will be invited to interview on December 5, 2018. Final selection will be based on the suitability of the candidate’s qualities and skills to the stated criteria, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, origin or disability.
For informal inquiries please contact Antony Hudek, Curatorial Studies programme director: antony.hudek [at] hogent.be
University College Ghent wishes to reflect the society it works for in the best possible way. Candidates will be selected on the basis of their professional qualities and skills, regardless of gender, ethnicity or handicap.
