Curatorial Assistant, South Asian Art

Position Summary

Working under the supervision of the Curator of South Asian Art, Islamic Art, and Antiquities, the Curatorial Assistant of South Asian Art, Islamic Art, and Antiquities will support the Curator in the research, management, care, and development of departmental projects, including exhibitions and contributing towards collection development and collection care. This individual coordinates between key staff and external stakeholders to ensure the department’s projects and programs are effectively administered. They are critical to the implementation of exhibition and curatorial programming as well as departmental organization and administration.

Essential Functions & Responsibilities

Working under the direction of the Curator of South Asian Art, Islamic Art, and Antiquities, duties include, but are not limited to:

• Supports curator, conservators, and registrars in the in the coordination of loans.
• Other special projects or departmental duties as assigned.
• Attends internal curatorial and exhibition planning meetings as assigned. Attends special events related to curatorial division activities as assigned, including meetings, lectures, and exhibitions.
• Facilitates incoming gifts and purchase considerations, including research and documentation, arranging for conservation review of objects, and liaising with external stakeholders.
• Researches and responds to outside queries as assigned, and meets with visiting scholars to review permanent collection objects when appropriate.
• Assists the curator in the development, planning, and installation of temporary exhibitions and rotations within the permanent collections.
• Assist curator with organizing talks, lectures, scholarly symposium, and study days and related programs as needed.
• Works collaboratively with the museum’s Conservation, Registration, Design & Installation, Learning & Interpretation, Marketing, Photography, IT and others to ensure the care of the collections.
• Supports the curator in the acquisition of objects for the permanent collections, including research and cataloging duties as assigned.
• Researches, amends, and completes cataloguing information in the collections database.
• Works collaboratively with other staff on projects to rehouse, re-organize, and rotate works of art in the permanent collections, including planning and coordinating related meetings and events.
• Conduct research on objects in the collection and on related topics in consultation with the curator.
• Educates docents and volunteers with regards to the department’s collections and temporary exhibitions as assigned.
• Under the supervision of the curator, project manages semi-annual gallery rotations which includes scheduling with Design & Installation, coordinating with conservators and preparators, and contributing creatively to the thematic displays.

Minimum Requirements

• The ability to work collaboratively with others to achieve common goals.
• Academic experience and/or interest in some aspect of art or archaeology from South Asia, the Islamic world, ancient Mediterranean, or ancient Middle East.
• Several years’ experience in a comparable office setting, with previous museum experience preferred.
• Bachelor’s in Archaeology, Art History, or related field required. Master’s in Archaeology or Art History preferred.
• Knowledge of a foreign language relevant to the collection areas of the department preferred.
• Strong research skills.
• Excellent organizational skills with attention to detail.
• Experience with Microsoft Office.
• Strong English written and verbal communication skills with the ability to connect with varied audiences.

PI216872087