Fellowships at Performa in New York

Performa, the internationally acclaimed organization dedicated to live interdisciplinary performance by visual artists, and the Hartwig Art Foundation, which is developing a new museum for contemporary art in Amsterdam, are pleased to announce a new fellowship program that will provide hands-on training for individuals working in contemporary art, new media and performance. The fellowships are part of a recently announced institutional partnership.

The Hartwig Art Foundation Fellowships at Performa in New York City will provide a training program for the next generation of curators, producers and archivists. One fellowship will foster curatorial and production acumen, and will engage curators directly in the Performa commissioning process from concept to presentation. A second fellowship will be focused on the Performa Archive and will include research and scholarship, as well as curating of archival material for online and IRL exhibitions. Both programs will involve fellows in seminars with curators and leaders across cultural fields, visits to museums and performing arts organizations, and research into current practices around the presentation, collecting and conservation of performance.

The fellowships are designed to provide professional development for early-career curators, producers, and archivists. The fellows will work directly with the Performa team in New York, learning Performa’s methods for commissioning, presenting, and preserving performance by visual artists. Beginning in March 2023, for approximately 18 months, the inaugural fellowships will serve as a prototype for a permanent Performa-Hartwig Art Foundation training program beginning in 2025, once the new facility in Amsterdam has opened.

The Hartwig Art Foundation Curatorial Fellow will work directly with Performa’s curatorial and production teams, Performa commission artists and an international advisory board of the Performa Biennial. They will be directly involved with the Performa Biennial 2023, from November 1st to November 19, 2023, with the Performa Institute, Performa publications, and the Performa Magazine. They will also engage in extensive historical research of performance of the 20th and 21st centuries by artists from around the globe.

The Hartwig Art Foundation Archives Fellow will collaborate with the Performa team and international partners to activate and expand the Performa Archive comprising thousands of hours of original edited and unedited video, sound recordings, photographs, physical and digital ephemera, as well as drawings, writings, interviews and correspondence with Performa Commission artists. The archive is unusually complete in its reveal of the commissioning and production processes, budgets, tech riders and timelines behind the renowned Performa commissions.

Qualifications: Candidates must hold a minimum of a Bachelor’s Degree in art history, museum or performance studies, diaspora studies, arts administration or relevant work experience, and should show a special interest in the history of performance by visual artists, contemporary art and new media. Fluency in English and writing skills are a must, as are the ability to work in a collaborative and pressured atmosphere during the three-week run of the biennial.

Application deadline: February 17, 2023
Fellowship time frame: March 2023–December 2024, in person in New York City
Fellowship salary: Successful candidates will follow a full-time schedule, salaried at 52,000 USD with health insurance and paid time off.
Address correspondence to jobs [​at​] performa-arts.org with the header Hartwig Art Foundation Fellowship Application.
Link to how to apply Jobs—Performa (performa-arts.org)