CLOSED: Curator, Brent Biennial
“BRENT HAS REIMAGINED THAT INTERNATIONAL MONSTER, THE ART BIENNIAL, AS A SIMPLE EXPRESSION OF ONGOING COMMITMENT TO CREATIVE ENGAGEMENT.” – THE GUARDIAN
CURATOR, BRENT BIENNIAL 2024
Full-time equivalent (FTE) £40,000 pro rata for 0.6FTE; actual salary £24,000 for 3 days per week/ 22.5 hours per week. Potential to extend to 5 days leading up to the Biennial.
Fixed term: March 2023 – September 2024
Metroland Cultures is looking for a committed, approachable and collaborative Curator to join the team and lead on the delivery of the Brent Biennial 2024. The Curator will develop the conceptual and programmatic vision for the third edition of the biennial. The main outcome is expected to be an exhibition across multiple sites showcasing local, national and international artists side-by-side. Central to the Curator’s proposal should be a desire to speak to and from the borough, its communities and heritage, regardless of whether this is to pursue an existent or a new line of curatorial inquiry within the Curator’s practice. Partnerships will be key to ensuring that the biennial is rooted in its community while also expanding the breadth and scale of the project through additional reach and resources. It is expected that the Curator will work with already-existent partners set out by the Director, as well as bring their own relationships and networks to create new ones.
The Curator will work in close dialogue and collaboration with the Director to develop the overall project. This will involve implementing innovative approaches with community members and stakeholders to realise the programme and in the commissioning of projects; ensuring Brent people, places and politics are at the centre. The Curator will oversee relationships with all artists and the delivery of the works, and line manage a freelance team including producers, technicians and an Assistant Curator. The postholder will also oversee the budget for the commissions and installation of the full programme and will be expected to contribute towards fundraising. In consultation with the Director, the Curator will also appoint a Curatorial Committee to support the shape of the Biennial to ensure it is locally owned and relevant.
To find out more about the role, please download the Job Description below.
How to apply
To apply for the role, please send the following to team@metrolandcultures.com:
- An up-to-date CV.
- A covering letter outlining your suitability for the role and your experience to date, referring back to the Person specification. (Maximum two A4 pages).
- A brief proposal on how you would approach curating the third edition of the Brent Biennial. This could include things such as an outline of your proposed curatorial framework for the delivery of the project; a programme theme, question or research enquiry; or a set of principles and/or ways of working that you would seek to instil. (Maximum one A4 page).
We also ask that you please submit an anonymous Equal Opportunities Form, via the link below.
The deadline for applications is Friday 3rd of March 2023, at 10am. Interviews will be held on Friday 17th of March. Successful applicants will be asked to present their proposed vision and approach for the Brent Biennial 2024 to an interview panel.
Metroland Cultures is an Equal Opportunities and London Living Wage employer.
ABOUT THE BRENT BIENNIAL
Metroland Cultures delivers the Brent Biennial alongside a yearly programme of support for artists and young people, through Peer-to-Peer, Metroland Studios and Metroland Young Associates. The Brent Biennial came out of Brent’s year as London Borough of Culture in 2020, and has so far commissioned more than 25 projects by local, national and international artists in unusual venues, public spaces and the streets of Brent. In 2022, Curator Eliel Jones alongside a Curatorial Committee made up of artists Adam Farah, Jamila Prowse and Abbas Zahedi, presented In the House of my Love, bringing together artists and community groups whose work in various ways propose strategy for homemaking in the context of hostile environments. The programme also set out a vision for a new type of biennial; one that seeks to be deeply rooted in Brent, while remaining open to the world.
Moving into 2024, we want to continue expanding the definition of what a Biennial can be and provide alternatives; particularly ones that contribute towards the sustainable development of resources and programmes over time. We are also keen to establish models that can be responsive to the difficulties of the current funding climate, centring collaboration, partnerships and co-commissioning. To this end, the Curator will be expected to build on the work, relationships and learnings of the previous editions, and to instil artist and community collaboration at the heart of the project.