Seeking Senior Curator

The Van Abbemuseum is looking for a Senior Curator! Are you able to combine your radical and critical mind with maintaining an inclusive and hospitable approach? Are you committed to working with the thinking generated by decolonizing, demodernizing and intersectional feminism? Then we have the perfect role for you.

Your role
A Senior Curator in the Van Abbemuseum is not just a maker of exhibitions. You are also an active mediator committed to creating multivocal stories that shape our exhibitions and museum in general. We are looking to understand better what decolonising and demodernising means for a museum of modern and contemporary art, including how to break with the narrow, modernist protocols of looking and feeling, and how we can speak to the broadest possible range of bodies and backgrounds through multisensory experiences. As a Senior Curator you will a key role in the development of these ideas in the next years by means of exhibitions, events and acquisitions. You will also be involved in developing the strategic policy of the museum over the long term.

–Researching, programming, organisation, and touring of temporary exhibitions of international interest working with concerns such as ecology, collectivity and harm reduction. You will be co-writing fund applications to support the temporary exhibition programme, and are a member of the museum’s acquisitions committee;
–Playing an active role in the modern and contemporary art institution confederation L’Internationale, working together with colleagues from partner institutions to realise the programme and goals of the confederation. Building up and maintaining other international networks of modern and contemporary art as appropriate;
–Writing and mediating about the exhibitions and convincingly presenting ideas to both internal and external audiences;
–You will work with the artistic team on building the museum’s collection together.
–Developing a relevant regional network inside and outside the world of contemporary art and museums, aimed in particular at keeping in touch with Eindhoven’s diverse society;
–Being well-informed about developments in the world, especially in terms of contemporary art and social change. You ensure diversity and intersectionality in your working methods and partnerships.

Who will you be working with 
As a Senior Curator, you will work closely with your colleague Senior Curator and report directly to the museum directors. You play a key role in the artistic team and will work together on research initiatives and exhibition/event programming. You are also part of the acquisitions committee for the collection and library. You will work closely with colleagues in production, technical services, mediation, education, development and marketing.

Your contribution 
–You have an academic education, preferably in Art History or comparable area and you bring with you broad knowledge of international modern and contemporary art and its exhibitionary contexts;
–You have some years of experience in developing and realising exhibitions in an (inter)national museum or similar context through which you build up a good existing international network;
–You are skilled in developing policy, giving advice, leading projects and fundraising;
–You have excellent Dutch and English communication skills or are prepared to develop your Dutch or English language skills to an excellent level in a short period of time . You live in (the vicinity of) Eindhoven or are willing to move, as you are expected to be physically present in the museum;
–You are an active mediator of art with different publics who embraces multisensory and multivocal modes of address.

The Van Abbemuseum endorses the Cultural Diversity Code and has set itself the goal of being a museum that reflects society. Over the past years the team at the museum has been changing towards these ends and is in an ongoing learning process. In case of equal suitability, preference will be given to the candidate who strengthens the diversity within our team.

For applicants outside of the Netherlands: please note that a certificate of conduct (VOG) is required to work at Van Abbemuseum. You must be able to present us a valid EU work permit as part of the procedure. 

Does this job description make you enthusiastic about applying, but are you worried you won’t qualify due to a missing competency? We would still like to invite you to apply. We are a firm believer of equal opportunities, and we can support you to grow into this role. 

We offer you 
The Van Abbemuseum is part of the municipality of Eindhoven. We’re known for our pleasant and informal organization culture, and offer a healthy work-life balance. Conditions of employment consist of:

–We offer a salary in accordance with the collective labour agreement, between 4,020–5,725 EUR based on a fulltime (36h) workweek. The exact salary will be in accordance with your knowledge, experience and weekly work hours.
–A fixed term one-year contract for 30–32 hours per week, with the prospect of a permanent contract when expectations are met.
–27 days of paid leave (based on a full time contract). There’s the possibility of building up extra paid leave, up to ten weeks per year.
–On top of the yearly salary, we offer a 17.05% extra monetary budget. You can either have the budget paid in wages, buy extra time off, or have it paid as part of your commute expense program.
–Commute expenses when you travel ecological, for example by foot or (electric) bicycle.
–Learning and development programs.
–A healthy work-life balance by working hybrid from home or any of our locations. We offer additional compensation for the days you work from home.
–Free fruit at our locations and a 20 EUR discount on your sports/gym subscription.
–Free digital newspapers and eight hours per year of paid voluntary activity to give back to our community

What do you stand for
Eindhoven is the city of innovation, technology, design, and the future. At the heart of our rapidly growing city, we have over 2700 colleagues driven with energy, working on making the city a great place to live, work and recreate. Together with our residents, partners and societal institutions, we stand for our city.

For most roles, including this one, we endorse hybrid work conditions. This means our colleagues work from home, online and at our locations. This means less commuting, and a better life-work balance. 

Interested
Please check this website and respond by clicking on the application button and leaving your details and CV with us before the end date of 10 December 2023. Need more info about applying? Please contact Sharon.augustus@eindhoven.nl. Need more information about the role? Please contact applications@vanabbemuseum.nl.

The first round of job interviews is scheduled for January 17, 2024. No recruitment agencies or unsolicited intermediary services.