DIVERSIFYING THE CULTURAL WORKFORCE IN CORNWALL
Cornwall Museums Partnership have invested in a new wave of museum professionals through training-based placements in museums across Cornwall including Bodmin Keep, Falmouth Art Gallery, Museum of Cornish Life, Wheal Martyn Clay Works and Royal Cornwall Museum. The Trainee Curators, annual paid placement provides experience in a wide range of curatorial, engagement and visitor services tasks, typical of those carried out by museum professionals in smaller, regional museums.
Alongside the placements, the Trainee Curator Programme is designed support trainees to map the cultural landscape with trips to museums in London and Cornwall. Offer peer supported training and collaborative projects to build confidence. Developing an understanding of contemporary museum practice and engagement with a series of specialist talks, training, networking, 121 mentoring and curatorial tasks that lead to a live exhibition or project in their host museum.
The Trainee Curator roles are designed to be a high quality work experience that will equip 15 trainees, over three annual intakes, with the skills and knowledge to pursue a career in museums, galleries and the wider heritage sector. The Trainee Curators programme is funded by Arts Council England, the John Ellerman Foundation, and Cultivator Cornwall via Cornwall Museums Partnership.
WHAT DOES THE TRAINEE CURATOR PROGRAMME DO?
WHO ARE THE 21ST CENTURY CURATORS?
The first cohort of the 21st Century Trainee Curators started in January 2020, the second in 2021 and the third in 2022. Each year has presented challenges and opportunities in adapting to pandemic affected conditions. Each Trainee Curator built their skills and knowledge to devise and curate live exhibitions at their host museums. To find out more about each Trainee Curator click on their image…
Talking Interns Podcast
“Talking Intern is a podcast born from lockdown. Lockdown has been incredibly limiting to museums in some ways but has also offered the opportunity to start creative projects that, whilst not physical, are nonetheless impactful.
So…what is the podcast about? Each episode, five trainee curators in museums across Cornwall answer three questions on a particular topic. Some of the topics we have covered so far have been starting out in the industry, what is a curator’s role during lockdown and what social history means to each of us. Who is it for? We intended this podcast to be for those starting out in their careers within the culture and heritage sector. But hope that doesn’t mean it won’t be of interest to anyone else.
We are in a moment of continuous change where discussions are being had on the diversity of collections and exhibitions, negotiating the repatriation of objects and exploring new ways for museums to become more accessible to all. We’re excited to carve out some time each week during our podcast recording sessions to reflect on how the sector can evolve to become a more inclusive space and how we might be able to contribute to these goals in our own work as emerging museum professionals.”
Sian Powell
Read full blog post: https://www.cornwallmuseumspartnership.org.uk/talking-intern/
