Position Announcement: Curatorial Research Intern, Aboriginal Curatorial Collective

Number of Positions: 12
Pay Period: 9 Weeks
Hours Per Week: 30
Hourly Wage: Minimum wage based on provincial standards.
Location: Various (Please Read)

For over 10 years, the Aboriginal Curatorial Collective / Collectif des commissaires autochtones (ACC-CCA) has been developing and disseminating curatorial practices, innovative research and critical discourses on Indigenous arts and culture throughout Canada. ACC-CCA is an Indigenous national arts service organization that supports, promotes and advocates on behalf of Canadian and international Indigenous curators, critics, artists and representatives of arts and cultural organizations. The ACC-CCA provides support to Indigenous curators and artists through mentorships, research, curatorial exhibitions, commissioned writings, disseminations and large-scale colloquia and gatherings. Through fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange, and embracing principles of Indigenous protocols, the ACC-CCA strives towards an equitable space for the Indigenous curatorial, artistic and intellectual communities.

Tasks and Responsibilities: These positions allow Indigenous interns to spend the summer researching Indigenous curatorial practices and engaging in regional arts actions including summer festivals, arts events, community celebrations, theatrical presentations and creation incubators. Interns engage in a variety of professional development activities working with an array of supervised interactions engaging regional not-for-profit groups, arts collectives, municipal partners and First Nations communities. Having Indigenous heritage is strongly encouraged. ACC-CCA is exploring the relationship between the current Indigenous curatorial sector and Canada’s 150th anniversary of Confederation as all major arts institutions are currently reflecting on this. Our evaluative look at the past 150 years connects Indigenous and settler methodologies to each other to form a better understanding of “our” Canada. Interns will be working along side of established curators to develop ideas, write reflection articles and publish their works professionally to be seen across the whole country.

Specific Tasks include:
• Research Indigenous curatorial trends and communicate with established Indigenous curators
• Assist in event coordination
• Engage in marketing and dissemination plans
• Contribute to arts action opportunities in development, implementation and documentation
• Write reflections on arts, culture and heritage in relation to art and action
• Promote all ACC-CCA events and programs through the various channels, online, website, social media

Supervision: ACC-CCA has 12 Indigenous mentors across Canada waiting to volunteer their time assisting in this process. Mentors typically hold positions as Canada Research Chairs, Department Heads or other major roles within Universities, Galleries and Arts Organizations. This team of mentors represents some of the most renowned Indigenous curators and academic minds in Canada, all eager to engage with emerging Indigenous artists, curators and writers.

Students: This Internship program has an Indigenous-specific focus and is best suited towards students that are currently pursuing fields of study relating to Indigenous Studies, Curatorial Practices, Arts Administration, Theatre, Performance, Fine Art, Craft, Writing, Storytelling or any study programs that have relevance to spending a summer researching and engaging in Indigenous specific actions. ACC-CCA is based within Ontario but research can take place wherever the Indigenous Intern resides as long as there is structure for their work placement and oversight with ACC-CCA representative mentors. Priority is given to students engaging with arts actions that bring multiple communities together and represent healthy Indigenous-controlled arts environments. With considerations being given to remote regions, language barriers and the importance of voices being represented that are currently absent, ACC-CCA is making every effort to increase this program to include more opportunities in the future.