Mellon Curatorial Fellow on Oceania

Department Summary

The Fowler Museum at UCLA invites people to understand art and the world we live in from multiple perspectives by promoting the creativity and knowledge of global and local artists, past and present. Through art, research, and programs, we foster reflection, debate, community, and joy for our campus, Los Angeles and beyond. We envision a world where art connects communities across borders and generations, inspiring respect, equity, and social justice. The Fowler aspires to be a collaborative space for life-long learning, cultural exchange, and open dialogue that celebrates multiple ways of knowing and being.

Position Summary

The Fowler Museum at UCLA seeks a Mellon Curatorial Fellow to participate in a research project devoted to the Museum's Oceanic art collections. The project, supported by a major grant from the Mellon Foundation, will focus on Oceanic objects from the Sir Henry Wellcome Collection that were donated to the Fowler between 1965-67. The Curatorial Fellow will work alongside key Fowler staff : the Director, Senior Curator of African Arts and Manager of Curatorial Affairs, Director of Collections Management and Registration, Head Conservator and Collections Information Coordinator. The project (New Relational Ethics in the Museum : University Museums and Indigenous Arts from Formerly Colonized Regions) has the goal of documenting and understanding the full complexity of a group of Oceanic objects formerly in the Wellcome Collection from the perspectives of their roles, meanings, materiality, and provenance. Essential to this process is the work of robust and complete cataloguing of each object, including past attributions, cultural affiliations, collection history, and materials analysis. Over the course of thirty-three months the Mellon Fellow will be responsible for carrying out in depth research on a selected group of Oceanic objects from the Wellcome Collection. These objects will be selected in consultation with other team members with a goal of providing the Fellow an opportunity to deepen an existing area of expertise or establish a new one. As part of this effort, the Fellow will coordinate and compile relevant sources on the objects' history – both as collected and as part of a larger cultural tradition, essentially creating a biography for each. This detail-oriented research will be augmented by research travel and community consultations. At the end of the project, we expect that the Fellow will have a deep background in understanding the role objects play in museum collections, the role they once played in the cultures that created them, and the role they continue to play in the ongoing conversations about cultural patrimony and source communities. The Mellon Curatorial Fellow reports to the Senior Curator of African Arts and Manager of Curatorial Affairs.

Salary & Compensation

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Qualifications

Education, Licenses, Certifications & Personal Affiliations

Special Conditions for Employment

Schedule

8 : 00am to 5 : 00pm

Union / Policy Covered

RX-Research Support Professionals

Complete Position Description

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