OPEN CALL: Steirischer Herbst Seeks Curator of Visual Arts/Performance

Steirischer Herbst is an interdisciplinary festival for contemporary art taking place annually in Graz and Styria, Austria, since 1968. Initially dedicated to the postwar avant-garde, it has been reinventing itself with each director. Under Ekaterina Degot (since 2018), the festival has been focusing on new productions in various media—performative as well as installative, cinematographic as well as discursive—shown mostly as site-specific works in unusual locations and in public space. The festival explores the Central and Eastern European context and the shifting border between West and non-West in captivating stories that resonate both locally and internationally. It speaks to audiences beyond the art world bubble and has strong connections to local initiatives. The current iteration of Steirischer Herbst challenges both the biennial format and that of the performing arts festival. Its central ambition is to create forms, contexts, and languages that fit the decentralized world of the 21st century while examining the festival’s avant-garde legacy with a critical eye.

Steirischer Herbst is looking for a curator in the field of visual arts and performance to strengthen its existing team from 2023 onward.

Your areas of responsibility:

Programming
–researching and monitoring art scenes internationally, nationally, and locally, developing networks
–researching histories and contexts of Graz, Styria, Austria, and Central and Eastern Europe in relation to the whole world
–proposing artists’ projects and program elements to the chief curator, developing them further in case they are confirmed
–supporting the chief curator in all curatorial matters
–contributing, within a team of curators, to festival’s yearly scenario, structure, and themes

Realization
–location scouting for site-specific projects, researching history and basic feasibility
–budgeting, organizing, managing, and realizing/installing confirmed projects together with artists and the festival’s production team
–proactive approach to funding and contributing content to funding applications (researching and writing)

Contextualization
–developing the public/discursive program, participating in the educational program and audience development
–writing about art projects
–developing documentation strategies together with the communications department

Local outreach
–developing connections to local institutions and the art scene in Graz and Styria and collaborating with them, showing a strong local presence
–selecting projects for the festival’s parallel program as part of a jury, monitoring and responding to artists’ proposals

Your profile
–substantial experience in curating and organizing art projects in various media, installative as well as performative
–a substantial network of international artists
–an art network within Graz, Styria, and Austria (alternatively, a willingness to develop one)
–an in-depth knowledge of contemporary art and its discourses
–an anthropological interest in the development of society as translated into artistic forms
–an ability to think outside the box
–a high sensibility to art and the forms it is presented in
–fluency in German and English (the two working languages of the festival)
–good organizational skills, clear and quick thinking, reliability in observing deadlines, and flexibility in uncertain and constantly changing situations

Steirischer Herbst strives for a diverse and socially representative workforce and therefore welcomes applications from all candidates regardless of their nationality, cultural or social background, age, religion, worldview, dis/ability, or sexual identity.

General information
Place of employment: steirischer herbst festival gmbh, Sackstraße 17, 8010 Graz, Austria

The curator needs to be ready to relocate to Graz, if not already based there.

Start of employment: January 1, 2023

Duration: unlimited
Working hours: 40 hours per week

Application
Please submit your application to Rita Puffer, puffer@steirischerherbst.at, by August 15, 2022.

Your application (all documents included in one PDF file) should consist of:
–a cover letter (maximum 1 A4 page) including a few names of artists with whom you would like to work immediately (existing contacts) and in the future (wish list), as well as themes and approaches that interest you;
–a CV with a summary of your professional experience as a curator.