Seeking Artistic Director

The CIVA Public Utility Foundation is a centre for architecture, landscape architecture and the urban ecosystem. Through its collections and its scientific and cultural programmes, CIVA promotes architecture, urban planning, landscape architecture and the urban ecosystem in the Brussels-Capital Region. 

CIVA proposes a varied cultural offer (exhibitions, debates, conferences, book presentations, educational activities, workshops and guided tours, publications, etc.) for a diverse public (general public, children, schoolchildren, students, specialized public, etc.). It provides the public with a library, archives and documentation relating to architecture, landscape architecture, urban planning and the urban ecosystem as well as museum collections (models, drawings, furniture, design, the decorative arts, etc.). More information on the collections and programme can be found at www.civa.brussels.

CIVA will be integrated in the new cultural hub KANAL in the former Citroën building after the conversion of this building is completed in 2023 (www.kanal.brussels). 

The Foundation is looking for an Artistic Director (AD) with the following profile: 
The AD can put forward a convincing vision for the scientific, cultural and artistic development of CIVA and its future growth within the framework of CIVA’s integration in KANAL.

He/she will position CIVA as an initiator of debates and reflections on the city, planned and built according to its impact on the environment. In this context, he/she will propose—in consultation with the CIVA teams and in partnership with other actors in the field—a varied cultural and scientific offer in terms of cultural means (exhibitions, publications, guided tours, activities, workshops, conferences, symposia, debates, etc.) covering all CIVA themes (landscape architecture, urban planning, [modern and contemporary] architecture, the urban ecosystem, etc.). He/she will encourage cultural interdisciplinarity. 

The enhancement of CIVA’s own collections is an essential element of his/her mission, in dialogue with other public and private collections, in relation to the issues tied to the city, architecture and landscape architecture, and this, in an original and contemporary way.

The AD will develop a vision on cultural and museum mediation and will seek a balance between an offer accessible to the general public and the school/family public, on the one hand, and an original and innovative offer for the specialized public(s), on the other.

In close collaboration with KANAL’s Artistic Director, he/she will develop bridges, synergies and a permanent interaction between art and architecture, landscape architecture and the urban ecosystem.

Together with the Board of Directors and the MD, he/she will ensure the exemplary management of the administration and functioning of CIVA and will aim for excellence in terms of cultural production. He/she will be responsible with the MD for the implementation of the new CIVA organization chart.

He/she will ultimately be responsible for the scientific and cultural offer of CIVA and—together with the MD—will be responsible for the daily, operational and strategic management. He/she will ensure a financial balance for the programme budget entrusted to him/her. He/she will have autonomous use of the resources within the framework of the budget and of the programme approved—at his/her own proposal and that of the MD—by the Board of Directors.

He/she will develop and prepare with the MD the strategic policy of the Board of Directors and will be in charge of implementing the decisions taken at this level. The AD will implement the missions and activities identified in the 2019-2023 Management Contract and will be responsible for preparing the scientific and cultural programme of the 2024-2028 Management Contract. (The Management Contract [FR and NL] and the 2018 Activity Report [FR] are available on the “jobs” page of the CIVA website, in the “more information” section)

The development of strategic partnerships with schools, cultural and scientific institutions, public authorities, etc. is one of his/her core tasks, in close consultation with the MD and the Board of Directors.

The AD will build a team spirit that is essential to ensure the harmonious and socially responsible management of a cultural programme.

Knowledge and experience

–A university degree or equivalent experience in the field of architecture, landscape architecture and/or the urban ecosystem
–Experience in the museum/cultural sector at (inter)national level (minimum 5 years’ experience in a programming function and implementation of a cultural offer in the form of exhibitions, publications, etc.)
–Good knowledge of (the history of) architecture and landscape architecture; sensitivity to the urban ecosystem is an important asset
–Good knowledge of Belgian and international cultural institutions in the field of architecture and/or landscape architecture
–Academic experience in CIVA’s fields of activity is an asset (art history, architecture, landscape architecture, etc.)
–With his/her leadership skills, the AD knows how to mobilize his/her teams around a vision and around the objectives to be achieved
–Good management skills to set out and pursue his/her project with an independent mind
–Have an international network in the field of architecture, landscape architecture and/or the urban ecosystem
–Ability to lead and manage a (multidisciplinary) team as well as a network of subcontractors and partners on an ad hoc and/or structural basis
–Ability to identify societal changes related to the city, architecture, landscape and the urban ecosystem and to translate them into a museum vision
–Knowledge of French and/or Dutch is an important asset in addition to a good knowledge of English
–Mastery of the common IT tools (Word, Excel, email, etc.)

Recruitment procedure
Send a detailed CV (max. 4 pages) and a covering letter (max. 3 pages) by email to the attention of Mr Yves Goldstein, Chair of the CIVA Board of Directors (y.goldstein@civa.brussels) by Friday, February 14, 2020 at 12pm noon at the latest.

The selection jury is composed of four members of the CIVA Board of Directors, assisted by four external experts. The jury will receive the selected candidates during the first two weeks of March 2020.                

For more information on the job offer and the procedure, please send an email to the Chair of CIVA (y.goldstein@civa.brussels).

Each application will be treated with the utmost discretion.