M+ (Hong Kong) is looking for a new Conservator, Digital and Media Art

Posted on Fri, 11/01/2019 - 02:21

M+ is a museum dedicated to collecting, exhibiting, and interpreting visual art, design and architecture, moving image, and Hong Kong visual culture of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District, we are building one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary visual culture in the world, with a bold ambition to establish ourselves as one of the world’s leading cultural institutions. Our aim is to create a new kind of museum that reflects our unique time and place, a museum that builds on Hong Kong’s historic balance of the local and international to define a distinctive and innovative voice for Asia’s twenty-first century.M+ is a museum dedicated to collecting, exhibiting, and interpreting visual art, design and architecture, moving image, and Hong Kong visual culture of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District, we are building one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary visual culture in the world, with a bold ambition to establish ourselves as one of the world’s leading cultural institutions. Our aim is to create a new kind of museum that reflects our unique time and place, a museum that builds on Hong Kong’s historic balance of the local and international to define a distinctive and innovative voice for Asia’s twenty-first century.

Conservator, Digital and Media Art (Ref: 19218)

Reporting to the Senior Conservator, the position is an integral part of a growing conservation team to deal with the preventative and remedial conservation of the growing M+ Collection in Digital and Media Art area

You will be responsible for:

  • contributing to the preservation of the M+ collection by participating in a wide range of traditional conservation-related activities such as condition and quality assessment and reporting, treatment proposal and conservation intervention, cataloguing of active and obsolete equipment and creation of installation instructions and all associated interventions for long-term preservation of digital and media items of the collection;
  • providing with expert diagnostic on the condition, vulnerability, exhibitability for digital and media item candidate for acquisition and formulation of long-term preservation strategy along with recommendations associated to its maintenance, care and display;
  • recommending and preparing digital and media item of the collection planned for loans and exhibition for proper and safe display;
  • playing an integral role to the development of conservation/preservation policies, procedures, protocols and workflows within the museum related to the acquisition, display, care and maintenance of digital and media item of the collection through active participation in the M+ Time-Based Media Committee;
  • playing a leading role in advising and training staff in best practices for the care, handling, display, storage, packing and shipping of digital and media collection items;
  • conducting specialised research on the materials and techniques of artists represented in the collection and engaging as necessary in conservation and preservation-related special projects;
  • playing a fundamental role in supporting the planning for the digital and media art conservation & preservation lab of the Conservation and Storage Facility (CSF) of the future museum;
  • supervising conservation volunteers or interns as required and contributing to relevant outreach activities.

You should:

  • possess a master’s degree in Conservation from a recognised training programme specialized in time-based media or digital art. Individuals without such formal academic training but could prove equivalent skills and knowledge acquired through specialized professional experiences and trajectory will also be considered;
  • have at least 5 years of practical postgraduate experience working with digital and media collection items; Institutional / museum experience is preferred (Candidates with less experience may be considered for the position of Associate Conservator, Digital and Media Art.)
  • have proven experience documenting and treating a range of collection items to a high standard with full consideration of practical, technical and ethical issues;
  • be able to address preservation needs of items that include film, slide, video, audio, software-based, web-based, electronic, and other types of digital art including migration strategies; Experience with analogue collection item is a plus;
  • master proper diagnostic tools to examine the condition and document the construction of digital art items;
  • be able to contribute to preservation and access needs of complex artworks such as installation, performance and other types of time-based media art, working collaboratively with the rest of conservation team and any other relevant stakeholders;
  • be able to provide specialist advice for transport, installation and display of digital and media collection items;
  • be knowledgeable/interested in modern and contemporary art, architecture and design, photography and film preservation, including materials and techniques, and demonstrate expertise in diverse conservation techniques and theories; familiarity and experience with cultural materials in South East Asia would be advantageous;
  • be an innovative and enthusiastic team player with strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills;
  • be able to work in a fast-paced and continuously challenging environment;
  • be proficient in MS Windows and / or Apple OS platforms; and
  • have strong oral, written and interpersonal communication skills in English and preferably in Cantonese or Mandarin.

For interested parties, please submit your application with detailed CV on or before 17 November 2019.
Applicants are encouraged to submit their applications as soon as possible.  The review of applications will continue until the post is filled. Data collected will only be used for job application processing. Your data may be accessed by our appointed recruitment consultants who have agreed to keep confidence of all personal data in not less than the standards applicable to us. Applicants not being invited for interview within 4 weeks from the submission date may assume their applications unsuccessful.
All related information will be kept up to 24 months and all personal data will be destroyed afterwards.

For more information and the application form click here.