Curator

Job overview
A curator, also known as a keeper or a collector, selects, organises and looks after items in a collection or exhibition.

Curators play an important role in museums and galleries, and are highly influential in the cultural sector.

What do people do in this career?
Curators make decisions about what items to collect and/or display. They undertake research on the different aspects of their exhibitions.
 
Once the collection is complete they decide how items will be displayed.
 
Curators maintain catalogues and records of acquisitions and collections.

They provide notes interpreting the items in the exhibition and they also deal with enquiries from researchers and the public.
 
Further to the technical aspects of their job, curators often have to acquire funding from various sources, including government, the corporate sector and private individuals.

At the largest institutions overseas, they can be in charge of yearly budgets of millions of dollars.

A significant part of being a curator involves liaising with various stakeholders, such as local government and arts bodies.
 
This role includes networking with other people working in the same sector, at events, meetings and collaborative projects.

Whether affiliated with a museum or gallery, or working freelance, curators are usually specialists in one or several types of exhibit. This could be a period of history or style of work, such as ancient Greek sculpture, or a medium, such as photography.

Larger institutions may have many curators, each in charge of their own specific area, for example one could oversee an exhibition on dinosaur skeletons while another is in charge of African stone sculpture.

The last decade has seen the rise of “online curators”, who gather content for particular websites.

The majority of these online curators' work is the same as traditional curators', but with digital, rather than physical, content.

In addition to their standard work, many curators also work as consultants, advising other organisations such as auction houses.

What kinds of people are suitable for this career?
A curator needs to possess in-depth knowledge of their specialisation, as well as an overview of the field.
 
They must consistently pay attention to detail and have the self-discipline to keep appointments and stay within their budget.

Natural curiosity is an advantage to aspiring curators as they must develop good research skills.
 
Given the need to communicate with diverse people, a curator must be comfortable interacting with a wide range of people and overseeing their own team of professionals.

Curators must have spatial awareness, which is the ability to correctly perceive distances within their environment.

What qualifications are needed?
Almost all professional museum curators hold undergraduate degrees in a related subject such as History, Archaeology, Anthropology or Geology.

Most museum curators working in more prestigious and larger institutions will likely hold a Masters degree, and many museums expect a Doctorate, in a related subject.
 
In addition to a higher degree, curators are normally expected to have presented widely on their subject, in print and at conferences and lectures.

Some international universities and other organisations now offer professional courses in curating/curatorial practice, while selected arts colleges offer curatorial degrees, or curating components in other arts degrees.

Aside from an extensive knowledge of aesthetic design, history and art, it is useful to have a basic understanding of chemistry, restoration techniques, museum studies, and even physics and public relations.

Many employers look favourably on foreign language skills as well.