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Curator of TheatreV&A
5 days ago
  • LevelMid Level
  • ProfessionsCurator, Administrator, Account Manager
  • TypeFull Time
  • LocationLondon, United Kingdom

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Description

Closing Date: 03-Nov-2024

The Role
We are seeking to appoint a full-time, permanent Curator of Theatre. The post-holder will form part of the team responsible for the care, research, display, and interpretation of the Theatre and Performance Collections and form part of the wider curatorial team in the Department of Performance, Furniture, Textiles and Fashion. The successful candidate will have an interest in nineteenth-century theatre and the evolution of drama, circus, comic opera, melodrama and puppetry, amongst other popular performance forms, to the present day. A significant aspect of their role will be confronting problematic material from the period in the collection and devising a strategy of how to contextualise this through a range of public interpretation and engagement initiatives. The Theatre and Performance Collections are dedicated to the history, craft and practice of the performing arts both live and recorded. Their emphasis is on drama, dance, music, popular entertainment and film. Founded in 1924 by Gabrielle Enthoven, the collection constitutes one of the oldest and most significant in the world. It is widely acknowledged as the UK’s National Collection of Performing Arts. After celebrating the Theatre and Performance Collections’ centenary in 2024, 2025 is set to be another exciting year as we look forward to opening our new research and collections centre ‘Storehouse’ as part of the museum’s ambitious V&A East project as the V&A evolved into a multi-site family of art, design and performance museums. Storehouse will revolutionise collections access and provides many opportunities for engagement with the collections and public programming. The earliest material in the Theatre and Performance Collections dates from the seventeenth century, although the V&A’s holdings are strongest from the nineteenth century to the present day. The collection comprises a diverse range of material types including playbills, posters, programmes, photographs, paintings, costume, designs, stage properties, stagecraft, letters, legal documents, published books, unpublished manuscripts, prompt books, scripts, scores, set models, puppets, backcloths, performance recordings, born digital material and files on practitioners, companies, theatres and productions. The postholder will be expected to represent the museum at the highest level and play an active role in the field of theatre and performance both nationally and internationally. As a member of PFTF Department, the postholder will also play a role in the wider work of the V&A, contributing to policy, supporting fundraising /income generation, and assisting senior colleagues in the running of the Department, including creating a positive environment, encouraging collaboration across the museum, contributing to change, and sharing knowledge, expertise and best practice. Interviews will be scheduled during November 2024. We expect the successful candidate to start in early 2025. We occasionally close vacancies early in the event we receive a high volume of applications. Therefore, we recommend you apply early.
The V&A
The V&A is the world’s leading museum of art and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects, books and archives that span over 5,000 years of human creativity. The museum holds many of the UK's national collections and houses some of the greatest resources for the study of architecture, furniture, fashion, textiles, photography, sculpture, painting, jewellery, glass, ceramics, book arts, Asian art and design, theatre and performance.
Our mission is to be recognised as the world's leading museum of art, design and performance, and to enrich people's lives by promoting research, knowledge and enjoyment of the designed world to the widest possible audience. We strive to make the V&A matter to more people and in that context we work to the following six strategic objectives:
  • To create a world class visitor and learning experience across all V&A sites and collections.
  • Focus and deepen the relevance of our collections to the UK creative and knowledge economy.
  • Expand the V&A's international reach, reputation and impact.
  • To operate with financial and organisational initiative and efficiency.
  • Showcase the best of digital design and deliver an outstanding digital experience.
  • Diversify and increase private and commercial funding sources.

Skills Required

  • Curation
  • Computer Literacy
  • Communication Skills

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