About me
Tamsin Silvey is Cultural Programme Curator at Historic England where she commissions artists, curates exhibitions and develops cultural programming for this national heritage organisation. She specialises in curating and managing photographic projects, and is a PhD researcher at Birkbeck interrogating how conflict photographs have been curated within temporary exhibitions at British institutions from 2010-20. She has substantial experience assessing and archiving photographs having developed and managed the international photography prize Prix Pictet for 8 years in her previous role.
CAREER OVERVIEW
• Worked at Historic England since 2015 commissioning artists, curating exhibitions and developing a cultural programme for this national heritage organisation.
• Specialist in developing and curating contemporary photography projects.
• Began working in this field in 2008; at cultural consultancy Candlestar. Tamsin developed, managed and curated the international tour of the global photography prize on sustainability, Prix Pictet.
• Alongside working for Historic England, part of the steering group for the subject specialist network Photography Collections Network.
• A PhD candidate in Birkbeck’s History of Art department interrogating how conflict photographs have been curated within temporary exhibitions at British institutions from 2010-20.
• In April/May 2020 produced Picturing Lockdown, commissioning 10 artists and issuing a public call out for photographs that captured a week of Lockdown in England, to generate a new collection of photographs in response to Covid-19 to enter into Historic England Archive (a national accredited archive holding over 14m items).
Projects
- 2014 Sony World Photography Awards ExhibitionThe Sony World Photography Awards are one of the world’s leading photography competitions, the exhibition showcases the winning and shortlisted photographers from the 139,000 submissions from across all disciplines, from fine art to photojournalism to lifestyle. Reflecting the very best international contemporary photography from the last year, the exhibition includes photographs to suit all tastes. Well-documented scenes are given a fresh look with ground-breaking photography styles and photo
- Photo LondonPhoto London is a major international photography event that takes place at Somerset House, in the heart of London. Our second edition will open its doors from 19-22 May 2016. Photo London is a unique festival of photography. It combines a major international photography fair of the world’s leading photography galleries together with an innovative public programme supported by the LUMA Foundation. The public programme aims to open up new audiences for photography, showcase emerging talent and promote the concept of photography as an asset class. Photo London showcases the broad range of photographic practice – from vintage to contemporary. Photo London is produced by Candlestar, an internationally renowned cultural consultancy with an outstanding reputation within the field of photography and the arts. Candlestar produces the Prix Pictet on behalf of the Pictet Group. ‘At a time when so many of us are using our smartphones to capture images of the people and sights around us, we shouldn’t forget photography’s significance as a long-lasting art form. There is an incredibly rich variety of photography, both historical and contemporary and it would be wonderful to see a new international photo festival in London. It would add to the other art and design festivals that draw visitors from across the UK and around the world.’ Boris Johnson, Mayor of London A high level Advisory Board advise on the development of Photo London. They play a key role in the development of the various networks on which Photo London depends. The Advisory Board are committed to establishing Photo London as a major event in international art world calendar.
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Projects credited in
- Where Light Falls - St Paul's Cathedral and Coventry Cathedral - Free light showsHistoric England is working with the Poetry Society and leading creatives Double Take Projections on Where Light Falls to tell the story of those who risked their lives to protect the places they loved during the Second World War, at two cathedrals with opposing fates – London’s St Paul’s survived the Blitz largely intact whilst the medieval Coventry Cathedral could not be saved.1
- What Remains - a free exhibition at IWM LondonFrom the Nazi theft of art and the bombing of cathedrals in Coventry and Dresden to the destruction of objects from Mosul Museum in Iraq, war devastates lives, kills people and destroys the cultural heritage that they hoped would outlive them. Sometimes destruction is accidental, but often our cherished places, objects and stories are deliberately targeted in conflict.
- OPPORTUNITY for Pop-Up Film Screenings - LOOKING FOR SUPPLIERSWe are currently looking for potential suppliers for pop-up film screenings during summer 2019, for a program called 'Heritage at Risk Goes to the Movies'.1
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Work history
Cultural Programme CuratorHistoric England
London, United KingdomFull Time
• Commission new photographic and art work to celebrate England’s unique heritage, support of the work and mission of Historic England including a photographic portrait series I Am London (2017), Jon Kippin’s Spirit of the North (2018) and Lucy Orta’s PROCESSIONS (2018) banner to mark 100 years of suffrage in Britain.
• Curate exhibitions including Human Stories: Another England (2017) a photographic exhibition surveying historical and contemporary narratives in Black and Asian Heritage in England and What Remains (2019) a partner exhibition with IWM London looking at 100 years of heritage destruction during conflict.
• Broker cultural partnerships to co-produce projects that bring art and heritage into dialogue, including with British Council (2017), Royal Academy (2018) and Where Light Falls (2019), a light installation project at St Paul’s and Coventry cathedrals drawing on the archival record of the cathedrals during World War 2.
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Senior Project Manager & Prix Pictet Project ManagerCandlestar
- London, United KingdomFull Time
2008-2015: Candlestar, Senior Project Manager and Prix Pictet Manager
• Managing Prix Pictet photography prize (100,000 CHF), running the prize logistics from nomination to archiving and liaising with the photographers, building and maintaining international network of 250+ nominators including curators, picture editors, critics and museum directors.
• Organisation and development of Prix Pictet global exhibition tour with over 70 exhibitions in 35 cities (2008 -2015) and museum partnership with V&A in London.
• Development and communications management of inaugural Photo London photography fair (May 2015), with international exhibitors, 4 public exhibitions and a programme of talks and events which resulted in over 20,000 visitors in 4 days.
• Assistant Curator for annual Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition at Somerset House, 2012-14.
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Skills
- Editing
- Museums
- Art
- Photography
- Public Relations
- Social Media
- Digital Photography
Education
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PhDBirkbeck College, University of London
London, United Kingdom
History of Art PhD candidate