Past Curatorial Fellows

The Cubitt Curatorial Fellowship is a unique opportunity for research and curatorial experimentation in the field of visual arts, based on an 18-month residency, the only such scheme in the UK and one of very few in the world. Since its inception in 2000, it has pioneered an individual model and developed into a major platform for curatorial development, leading Cubitt’s reputation as an experimental, artist-led institution for nurturing, showcasing and reimagining emerging practice.

The Fellowship provides an opportunity for learning and for professional development; the Fellow crucially delivers an individual perspective through a curatorial programme that sits in-between the artist-led and the institutional. This includes an initial 3-month research and fundraising period, followed by 15 months of programming. Responding to the challenges and requirements of a small, independent organisation active on the London and international scene for the past 25 years, the Fellow significantly contributes to its growth and long-term vision while furthering its legacy and institutional mission. Along with artistic freedom, the Fellowship allows to practice all aspects of exhibition making, from fundraising to actual delivery, within the collaborative and hands-on approach of Cubitt as an artist-led cooperative.

The Cubitt Curatorial Fellowship has been supported by Outset Contemporary Art Fund  since 2010- providing a more accessible and substantial opportunity within the sector.

Past Curatorial Bursaries have been awarded to: Louise Shelley (Jul 2018- Dec 2019), freelance curator and educator, Helen Nisbet (Jan 2017 – Jun 2018), freelance curator; Morgan Quaintance (Jul 2015 – Dec 2016), freelance curator, critic and broadcaster; Fatima Hellberg (Jan 2014 – June 2015), Artistic Director, Künstlerhaus Stuttgart; Jamie Stevens (Jun 2012 – Dec 2013), Curator, Artists Space, New York; Fiona Parry (Dec 2010 – May 2012), Programme Curator, Turner Contemporary, Margate; Michelle Cotton (Apr 2009 – Nov 2010), Director, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn; Bart van der Heide (Oct 2007 – Mar 2009), Chief Curator, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Tom Morton (Apr 2006 – Aug 2007), freelance curator and writer, co-curator of The British Art Show 7; David Bussel (Sept 2004 – Feb 2006), freelance curator and writer; Emily Pethick (Mar 2003 – Aug 2004), Director, The Showroom, London; Polly Staple (Jul 2001 – Jan 2003), Director, Chisenhale Gallery, London.

Prior to 2000, exhibitions were curated on an ad hoc basis by a number of curators including: Penelope Curtis (Director, Calouste Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon and former Director, Tate Britain); Matthew Higgs (Director and Chief Curator, White Columns, New York); Gareth Jones (artist); Stefan Kalmár (Director, ICA, London and former Director, Artists Space, New York); Gregor Muir (Director of Collection, International Art, Tate and former Executive Director, ICA, London); Giorgio Sadotti (artist), Richard Wentworth (artist) and Anthony Wilkinson (Director, Wilkinson Gallery) among others.