Profession exhibition curator

Exhibition curators organise and display artworks and artefacts. They work in and for museums, art galleries, museums for science or history, libraries and archives, and in other cultural institutions. In general, exhibition curators work in artistic and cultural exhibition fields and events of all kinds.

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Personality Type

• Enterprising / Conventional

Knowledge

• Museum databases

  The tools and processes involved in working with museum databases.

• Art-historical values

  The historical and artistic values implied in examples of one's branch of art.

• Cultural projects

  The purpose, organisation and management of cultural projects and related fundraising actions.

• Inheritance council practices

  Principles and approach to treat heritage appropriately within a project in order not to damage and where possible improve its conditions.

• Art collections

  The variety of paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings and other works that form collections in a museum and prospective new collections which are of interest for a museum or art gallery.

• Art history

  The history of art and artists, the artistic trends throughout centuries and their contemporary evolutions.

Skills

• Present exhibition

  Present an exhibition and give educational lectures in a comprehensible way that is attractive to the public.

• Communicate in English in a competent way

  Competent use of English; R351refers to level C1 in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).

• Coordinate operational activities

  Synchronise activities and responsibilities of the operational staff to ensure that the resources of an organisation are used most efficiently in pursuit of the specified objectives.

• Evaluate art quality

  Correctly evaluate the quality of art objects, artefacts, photographs and documents.

• Create new concepts

  Come up with new concepts.

• Create solutions to problems

  Solve problems which arise in planning, prioritising, organising, directing/facilitating action and evaluating performance. Use systematic processes of collecting, analysing, and synthesising information to evaluate current practice and generate new understandings about practice.

• Organise an exhibition

  Organise and structure an exhibition in a strategic way, making the artworks more accessible to public.

• Train employees

  Lead and guide employees through a process in which they are taught the necessary skills for the perspective job. Organise activities aimed at introducing the work and systems or improving the performance of individuals and groups in organisational settings.

• Plan resource allocation

  Plan future needs of various resources such as time, money and specific process resources.

• Perform project management

  Manage and plan various resources, such as human resources, budget, deadline, results, and quality necessary for a specific project, and monitor the project's progress in order to achieve a specific goal within a set time and budget.

• Listen actively

  Give attention to what other people say, patiently understand points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times; able to listen carefully the needs of customers, clients, passengers, service users or others, and provide solutions accordingly.

• Work independently on exhibitions

  Work autonomously on the development of a framework for artistic projects such as locations and workflows.

• Coach employees

  Maintain and improve employees' performance by coaching individuals or groups how to optimise specific methods, skills or abilities, using adapted coaching styles and methods. Tutor newly recruited employees and assist them in the learning of new business systems.

• Have computer literacy

  Utilise computers, IT equipment and modern day technology in an efficient way.

• Present reports

  Display results, statistics and conclusions to an audience in a transparent and straightforward way.

• Provide project information on exhibitions

  Provide information on the preparation, execution and evaluation of exhibitions and other artistic projects.

• Advertise an art collection

  Write catalogues, research documents, articles, reports, policies, standards and project grant proposals.

• Manage budgets

  Plan, monitor and report on the budget.

• Use ICT recources to solve work related tasks

  Ability to choose and use ICT recources in order to solve related tasks

• Cope with challenging demands

  Maintain a positive attitude towards new and challenging demands such as interaction with artists and handling of artistic artefacts. Work under pressure such as dealing with last moment changes in time schedules and financial restraints.

• Ensure safety of exhibition

  Ensure safety of exhibition environment and of artefacts by applying safety devices.

• Interact with an audience

  Convey the artistic values of the art form(s). Respond to the reactions of your audience and involve them.

• Meet deadlines

  Ensure operative processes are finished at a previously agreed-upon time.

• Apply strategic thinking

  Apply generation and effective application of business insights and possible opportunities, in order to achieve competitive business advantage on a long-term basis.

• Work in an organised manner

  Stay focused on the project at hand, at any time. Organise, manage time, plan, schedule and meet deadlines.

Optional knowledge and skills

Source: Sisyphus ODB