Curatorial

Curatorial Residency
The New Art Gallery Walsall
Supported by the British Council
Connections Through Culture Programme
The New Art Gallery Walsall is offering a unique opportunity for a curatorial development residency
for an aspiring curator from Pakistan.
The proposed intensive three week residency will take place in March 2015, and will provide
opportunities to explore issues and strategies around curating, including both intellectual and
practical guidance. The resident curator would be based at The New Art Gallery Walsall where they
would explore the curatorial activity of the organisation in depth. Deborah Robinson (Head of
Exhibitions) will be the key contact but there will be opportunities to spend time with other key staff
members including the Exhibitions and Artists’ Projects Curator (Zoe Lippett), the Exhibitions
Coordinator (Hannah Anderson), the Head of Technical Services (Kevin Storrar), the Collections
Curator (Julie Brown) and the Education team (led by Zoe Renilson), exploring their roles and
responsibilities within the specific context of The New Art Gallery Walsall. They would also have the
opportunity to meet Director, Stephen Snoddy. In addition, the resident curator would be taken to a
range of different venues, both locally, (Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, Eastside Projects, Birmingham,
Grand Union, Birmingham, Movement, Worcester, etc) and nationally (Whitechapel Gallery, London;
Tate, London; Quad, Derby; New Art Exchange, Nottingham plus a range of commercial galleries) to
explore different contexts for curating and to meet other curators to discuss their curatorial
practices.
The timing of the curatorial residency will coincide with a forum engaging with South Asia, which will
take place at Whitechapel Gallery, London on 20 March 2015 and the curator will be expected to
play a role in this forum.
We would like to offer the resident curator the opportunity to continue working with us on a second
phase of the project by curating an exhibition for our 4th floor gallery to be staged one year later
(around May 2016). This could be a project for the individual curator or for a group. The exhibition
would be selected from Walsall’s Collections and also from the British Council’s Collections. Both
databases can be accessed online. Continuing support will be available over this period with a
possible return to Pakistan by Deborah Robinson to offer face to face support.
The successful candidate should be able to demonstrate a strong interest in modern and
contemporary art and should speak English to a high standard. They should live and work in
Pakistan. We are keen that the knowledge and skills developed can be disseminated in some way
through broader networks.
With support from the British Council, the successful applicant will be provided with accommodation
and per diem payments for the duration of the residency. We will cover the costs of a return flight
to the UK and the costs of a visa. The applicant will need to apply for their visa but will be supported
by The New Art Gallery Walsall and the British Council.
thenewartgallerywalsall.org.uk
To apply, please send your CV and a short statement of no more than 500 words demonstrating why
you should be selected for this opportunity to ctcwalsall@gmail.com
The selection panel will include Katrina Schwarz, (Visual Arts Curator, British Council), Sumbul Khan,
(Director, Arts, British Council, Pakistan), Deborah Robinson, (Head of Exhibitions, The New Art
Gallery Walsall) and Riffat Alvi, (Art Director, VM Gallery, Karachi, Pakistan).
Deadline: 1 December 2014
For enquiries please contact: Sumbul.Khan@britishcouncil.org.pk
Background
The New Art Gallery Walsall opened in 2000 to international acclaim. The building, designed by
Caruso St John, was shortlisted for the Sterling Prize in 2000. It houses world class temporary
exhibition galleries (the focus of the programme being contemporary art), an Artist Studio
programme, a Family Gallery, an Art Library, Activity Rooms (largely used for the Education
programme), a Rooftop Terrace and Collections Galleries. Collecting has been active since the late
19th century and Walsall holds a range of art collections including the renowned Garman Ryan
Collection, a collection of 365 works by artists brought together by Lady Kathleen Garman and her
friend Sally Ryan, Kathleen Garman being the widow of Sir Jacob Epstein. The collection includes
works by artists such as Picasso, Braque, Delacroix, Gericault, Lucian Freud and of course Epstein.
More recently a collection of works by international contemporary artists (including Rashid Rana and
Naiza Khan) has been developed by a consortium of Birmingham Museums Trust, Ikon Gallery
Birmingham and The New Art Gallery Walsall supported by Art Fund through Art Fund International.
The Gallery also runs an Artist Development programme in partnership with Turning Point West
Midlands and others.
Connections through Culture (CTC) is a programme designed to bring together creative people and
broker institutional partnership; supporting the British Council’s global vision for the arts by
strengthening professional networks, developing skills, and creating better understanding of the UK
among partners in South Asia and vice versa. In 2012 and 2013, eighteen museums and galleries
(ten from the UK, five from Pakistan and three from Bangladesh), participated in a curatorial
exchange; travelling to Pakistan and Bangladesh and around Britain. CTC has facilitated
collaboration between the UK and South Asia through a programme of residences for curators and
artists, and a forum to be held at Whitechapel Gallery in March 2015.
VM Gallery is one of Karachi’s leading art galleries. It was established as part of the Ragoonwala
Trust in June 1987 to promote art education and fine art. Under its Art Director, Riffat Alvi, the
Gallery has brought international art to Pakistan as well as providing a venue for artists from
Pakistan to show their work. The Gallery hosts international exchange exhibitions, residences for
artists, art history classes, guided tours, multimedia presentations, workshops, study tours and
education programmes for schools and colleges.