Call for proposals: Fellowship Transhistorical Curating

Curatorial Fellowship
Frans Hals Museum | De Hallen Haarlem calls curators, researchers, academics, artists and cultural producers interested in transhistorical curating, to submit a proposal for an exhibition project that challenges traditional art historical notions of periodization and chronology, to be realized within the institutional context of Frans Hals Museum | De Hallen Haarlem in the fall of 2017.

The Curatorial Fellowship offers the opportunity to do research and curate an exhibition project exploring the exceptional collections and buildings of the Frans Hals Museum | De Hallen Haarlem, which span a period of the 16th century up to the present. The Curatorial Fellow will develop a transhistorical exhibition project during a one-year working period in Haarlem, introducing new and innovative ways of curating across historical and cultural chronologies and categories. During this period, the Fellow will become a part time member of  the museum team, actively participating in discussions on topics like the rearrangement of the permanent collection display. She or he will simultaneously be gaining first-hand experience of working within the organization, with access to its collections, program, staff and networks. The Fellowship provides an opportunity for professional development, while simultaneously contributing to the institution’s long‐term vision. We seek proposals that question traditional museological modalities and methodologies, introducing new research perspectives and innovative curatorial ideas employing a transhistorical approach.

The transhistorical museum
The Curatorial Fellowship is part of a long-term institutional endeavour to bring together different perspectives (museological, curatorial, theoretical) on the subject of transhistoricity in a museum context, in order to critically map this domain. In the recent international conference "The Transhistorical Museum: Objects, Narratives & Temporalities" (organized in collaboration with Museum M, Leuven), with eminent speakers such as John C. Welchman, Bice Curiger, Catherine de Zegher, and Willem de Rooij, a first attempt was made to trace genealogies of "the transhistorical" in existing theory and practice. Participants aimed to present new ideas with regards to questions like: Can a transhistorical approach to exhibition making or collection display produce relevant new insights into the specific qualities of art objects, by maneuvering them into unchartered contexts—historically, materially, and ontologically? What can we learn from historical artworks, when we study them through the lens of contemporary artistic production—or vice versa? How do we read art history forward into the present, and use recent practice as a vantage point from which to revise the past?

Fellowship summary:
Aimed at curators, researchers, academics, artists, or cultural producers focused on transhistorical curating in a museum context. A minimum of curatorial experience is required.

Fellowship period: July 1, 2016–September 1, 2017 (project opening)

Preference for candidates with some proficiency in Dutch, living and working in the Netherlands (internal museum communication is in Dutch)

The Fellow will be assigned a curator as their main contact at Frans Hals Museum | De Hallen Haarlem for the Fellowship’s duration.

Participation in the international 2-day workshop Transhistorical Curating in the week of November 21, 2016, with international curatorial and museum professionals, and scheduled field trips to institutions and advisors

A total project budget of 80,000 EUR. The Fellow will receive a lump sum fee of 15,000 EUR for a minimum of 2 days per week on site. The Fellow is responsible for his or her own travel and accommodation in Haarlem or the Netherlands.

The Fellow is selected on the basis of a project proposal and a succinct motivation elaborating on the candidate’s interest in a transhistorical approach in curating. This proposal should be no longer than 400 words, and can be submitted via e-mail to: fellowship@dehallen.nl. Please enclose your CV. Submission deadline: March 3, 2016.

The proposals will be judged by an international jury consisting of curators, academics and museum professionals end of March 2016, after which shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview via Skype. The Curatorial Fellow will be appointed end of April 2016.

The 2016 Curatorial Fellowship is an updated version of the Curatorial Grant that was organized by Frans Hals Museum | De Hallen Haarlem in 2009, 2011, and 2013. It is financially supported by the Dr. Johannes Marijnus van Toorn & Louise Scholten Foundation.