Notice of vacancy director of the musée national d'art moderne
Notice of vacancy
Centre Pompidou, a leading multidisciplinary cultural institution dedicated to contemporary visual culture, is seeking applications for the position of Director of the Musée national d’art moderne.
The Musée national d’art moderne is a department of Centre Pompidou. It is responsible for providing inventories, curation and restoration work for all and any events designed to spread and deepen knowledge of art from the early XXth century onwards; expanding them and presenting them for public view in all and any places; encouraging all forms of contemporary creation; and enhancing the art collections held by Centre Pompidou.
The national collections kept at the Musée national d’art moderne include 99,000 works and items in the fields of visual arts, industrial creation, design and architecture since the early XXth century. These collections also include a library stock and archives relating to the above fields, kept at Bibliothèque Kandinsky. These form the foremost such stock in Europe and one of the leading ones worldwide.
Reporting directly to the President of Centre Pompidou and in accordance with the institution’s strategy, you will propose and implement the guiding principles of the scientific and cultural policy of the National Museum of Modern Art.
You will aim to define an acquisition policy in keeping with the universal vocation of the Musée national d’art moderne, taking full account of the globalisation of the art field, while also maintaining the collection’s benchmark status in the French and European scenes. This policy must reflect the collections’ strengths and weaknesses, reflect clearly-identified priorities and harness new sources of funding.
You will consolidate and expand the relationships with the societies and groups of friends, in France and abroad, which provide support for the development of the collection. Using your network of artists and collectors, you will encourage donations to enrich the collections. You will participate in fundraising to support acquisitions and the curation of the collection.
As the individual responsible for the management of the collection, you will define and implement a policy consistent with the institution’s strategy in connection with its relationship with institutional partners, such as Centre Pompidou-Metz and the Louvre Abu Dhabi, as well as temporary or long-term loans, verification operations, the preventive conservation policy and the management of the storage facilities.
You will examine the feasibility of wider dissemination of the collections in France and abroad, take care to offer new display media reflecting their multidisciplinary nature and allowing an expansion of its audiences and network of partner institutions.
You will contribute fresh ideas both to include the collections in the institution’s digital strategy and to define an innovative publishing policy with a view to widening and diversifying audiences.
You will consolidate the museum’s international standing through a policy of collaboration with major international institutions, around temporary exhibitions and projects encompassing the full spectrum of the permanent collections.
You will build on the research work conducted within the museum and monitor the projects carried out with partner institutions, both in France and abroad.
In addition to your scientific and cultural assignments, you will assume managerial responsibility for the Musée national d’art moderne, a department of the Centre Pompidou. You will be seconded by the museum’s administrator in heading a c. 150-strong team. You shall carry out the groundwork for reforming the museum as required to safeguard its future, and provide financial and administrative management for the department, in accordance with the framework set by the Board and President of Centre Pompidou.
Your scientific and cultural skills enjoy international recognition in the fields of modern and contemporary art, architecture and design and are matched by a solid international network in those fields. You are familiar with the intricacies of the curation and enhancement of museum collections as well as organising large exhibitions.
You have a proven track record in management generally, as well as project management, as well as the necessary relational and organisational skills, sense of responsibility and public service. You are perfectly fluent in French and English, both written and spoken. Knowledge of a third language would be a highly valued asset.
The position shall be vacant as of December 27, 2013. The successful candidate will be appointed by the Minister for Culture and Media on the nomination of the President of Centre Pompidou. The initial term of office is for a period of five years. This may be renewed indefinitely by successive three-year periods.
To apply for the position, please download the application file and return it duly completed in an envelope marked "Confidential" to:
Monsieur le Président du Centre Pompidou
(Sélection du directeur du MNAM-CCI)
75191 PARIS Cedex 04
Applications must be received before the strict deadline of Thursday, May 30th, 2013 at 6:00 p.m. (GMT).
Centre Pompidou will not disclose application details.
Note on the procedure
Pursuant to Article 9-2 of Decree N° 92-1351 of December 24, 1992 as amended, on the articles of association and organisation of Centre national d’art et de culture Georges-Pompidou, “department directors are appointed, on the nomination of the president, by order of the Minister for Culture. Acting under the authority of the President, they are responsible for the artistic and cultural policy of their department”.
In order to nominate to the Minister of Culture and Communication the best possible candidate for the management of the department of the Musée national d’art moderne-Centre de creation industrielle (MNAM-CCI), the President of the of Centre national d’art et de culture Georges-Pompidou has decided to implement a procedure to ensure the widest possible range of opportunity, as well as fair and professional treatment of the various applicants.
After publication of the public notice of call for applications, applications may be received until Thursday, May 30, 2013 at 6:00 p.m.(GMT).
Applications must be submitted within this timeframe and include the following documents in order to be admissible:
- A declaration of candidacy, drafted in letter form, addressed to the President of Centre national d’art et de culture Georges-Pompidou;
- A complete curriculum vitae, including:
o A list of the applicant’s university diplomas and copies thereof;
o A list of temporary exhibitions in which the applicant has participated as curator or co-curator, detailing in each case dates, the institution, and the full composition of the curatorial team;
o A complete list of publications produced by the applicant, including articles in magazines and participation in collective works;
o A copy of an official civil-status document mentioning the applicant’s date of birth and nationality.
- A statement of Intent, which must address all the points listed in the document attached to this note.
Documents may be drafted, at the choice of the applicant, in French or in English.
Applications will be examined by the President of the Centre Pompidou who will seek the advice of an international committee made up of recognised professionals. The committee may decide to interview certain applicants.
Neither the Centre Pompidou nor the members of the committee shall disclose the list of applicants.
APPENDIX 1: Presentation of the Statement of Intent to be attached to the application
• What are the major strategic issues facing the Musée national d’art moderne in 2014 and beyond?
• How should one assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Musée national d’art moderne compared with counterpart institutions in France and abroad?
• Musée national d’art moderne: an art museum or a civilization museum?
• Is Musée national d’art moderne a universal museum? Can it remain so or must it become so? What are the implications?
• What does "building a global museum" mean? How can this be achieved?
• What are the challenges of the temporary exhibition policy?
• How can we work differently with collections?
• How can we marry two models, within the same institution—Centre Pompidou—that of the museum and that of the art centre?
• How can we define or redefine the relationship between Musée national d’art moderne and living artists?
• What does multidisciplinarity mean? How can this concept be brought up to date?
• What place is there for a generalist museum when faced with the proliferation of specialised institutions?
• What place should research take at Musée national d’art moderne?
• Should a museum have a teaching dimension? If so, what audiences should be targeted?
• Should Musée national d’art moderne acknowledge any particular responsibility regarding the French art scene? If so, how should this be carried out?
• What should acquisition policy priorities be? How should they be funded?
• How can donations be stimulated? How should one (re)think and (re-)establish the relationship between museums and private collectors?
• What are the responsibilities of the museum towards other museums in France and abroad?
• What can Musée national d’art moderne do to better understand, develop and diversify its audiences?
• How would you define an mediation policy geared towards the different types of visitors—to the permanent collections, the temporary exhibitions and online?
• How should editorial policy be defined?
• How do you conceive the role of the director of Musée national d’art moderne as a manager of scientific and administrative teams?
• Musée national d’art moderne in the digital age: what are the challenges and opportunities ?
• What should Musée national d’art moderne avoid at all costs?.
APPENDIX 2: Documentation made available to applicants
- Articles of association of the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou: Law N° 75-1 of January 3, 1975 on the establishment of the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou; Decree No. 92-1351 of December 24, 1992 as amended, on the status and organisation of the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges Pompidou; decision of December 17, 2003 as amended on the organisation of the Centre Pompidou
- Nominative organisation chart of the national museum of modern art-centre of industrial creation
- Activity reports of the Centre Pompidou: 2009, 2010, 2011
- Standard programming schedule
- The collection of the national museum of modern art: status and perspectives; report by Mr. Alfred Pacquement, director of the national museum of modern art, to the president of the Centre Pompidou; November 2009
- Centre Pompidou: Strategic approaches; 2009
- Interview with Alain Seban: "I have imagined the Centre Pompidou in 2042 ", Fine Arts Magazine,February 2012
- Pompidou Plans to go Global: Focus is Brazil, India, China, The Art Newspaper , May 2012
- Alain Seban: "Our collection must become global", L’Oeil, September 2012
- The entire collection, including the recent acquisitions, is accessible at the virtual Centre Pompidou: www.centerpompidou.fr