A woman looking at a set of photos on a wall.

The submissions for this call are now closed. Thank you for your interest.

 We are now looking for a UK based Artistic Advisor to lead on the artistic development of the next iteration of our digital exhibition platform Museum without Walls. The person could either be independent with their own companies or working for an arts institution.  

Candidates should:

  • Have extensive curatorial experience and strong knowledge of British Contemporary art. 
  • Have led international visual arts programmes or exhibitions, 
  • A proven knowledge and interest in gender issues and female rights
  • Have experience of curatorial mentoring and teaching. Project Management skills
  • Demonstrate knowledge and interest in any of the following: digital arts, inclusivity and/or disability arts,
  • Have excellent writing, editing and communicating skills. 

The opportunity

The Artistic Advisor will work closely with Project Manager based in Turkey for delivery and will be responsible for shaping the artistic approach programme and mentoring the curators in their roles. 

The UK supplier will be responsible for:

  • Devising the open call text/content for the UK and Turkey curators and leading the selection process;
  • Collaborating with Project Manager from British Council Turkey to set clear deliverables and deadline for curators;
  • Mentoring the selected two curators to develop a joint concept and work;
  • Curating jointly with the Project Manager an online weekly development plan for the two curators;
  • Editing first round of exhibition texts (captions, concept, biographies)
  • Signing-off final exhibition texts in English before translation
  • Accepting to be a speaker or moderator at possible public events 

This is not a full-time appointment and we anticipate that it will require an overall commitment of approximately 25 days starting in December 2020 and ending in May 2021 when the exhibition launches. 

Museum without Walls has an existing programme structure. Though the UK supplier will not be responsible for overall programme design, British Council nonetheless welcomes suggestions of any improvements, changes or augmentations to the existing programme outline.

Due to the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic we do not foresee any international travel. In case of a positive change in the pandemic situation we might be able to organise international travel opportunities where the British Council will cover visa fees, flights, accommodation and per diems. 

Fee

£5,000 (VAT included) 

Project Timeline*

3-25 November – Open call for Artistic Advisor

December – Open call for UK and Turkey curators

January – March 2021 – Concept development, mentoring, content delivery 

Late April – Exhibition launch 

*The timeline is subject to change 

How to apply

The candidates should provide the below documents: 

  • a short biography highlighting previous experience in leading international visual arts programmes,
  • letter of motivation explaining suitability for the role 
  • personal statement on the importance of Diversity and İnclusion in visual arts (no more than 250 words)

to su.basbugu@britishcouncil.org.tr with subject

“Application for Museum without Walls - (Your Name)"

Deadline for applications is 25 November 23.59 GMT (You will receive a confirmation once your submission is confirmed)

Museum without Walls

It is an accessible digital exhibition platform developed to showcase works from the British Council Collection and works by international artists since 2017. The platform provides a fully accessible online exhibition experience compatible with screen readers, audio descriptions and sign language translations of the texts and works, as well as traditional text-based descriptions. 

The project offers a professional development opportunity for curators to hone skills in digital, accessibility, intercultural dialogue, and familiarisation with UK and local visual arts scenes.

The first three editions focused on curators from Turkey, and the fourth exhibition 'Almost There', hosted three curators from Georgia, Turkey and Ukraine and was delivered in five written languages (Georgian, English, Russian, Turkish and Ukrainian) and their respective sign languages.

This fifth edition will host two emerging curators, one from the UK and one from Turkey and will be launched in May 2021. 

Since 2016, Museum Without Walls showcased more than 60 works by 25 international artists curated by six female curators from three different countries. The exhibition reached 850,000 unique visitors from more than 90 countries and received over 15 awards from local and international competitions including the Honorary Award at the 2020 Webbys, two Best Website of the Year Award at the Golden Spider Awards and a Silver Medal at the International Design and Communications Awards. 

About the collection

Since 1938 the British Council has been collecting works of art, craft and design to promote abroad the achievements of the UK's best artists, craft practitioners and designers abroad. The Collection began in the late 1930s, with a modest group of works on paper; and has now grown to a collection of more than 8,500 artworks, from paintings, prints and drawings, to photography, sculpture, multi-media and installations. The Collection has no permanent gallery and has been referred to as a 'museum without walls'. 

The British Council Collection was awarded the 2001 ARCO International Prize in recognition of its contribution to ‘promote, educate and inform about contemporary art’ on an international stage. Ours is not a study collection, but a hard-working and flexible resource that introduces the achievements of successive generations of British artists to audiences worldwide.

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