Vontobel is a globally active investment company with headquarters on the Vontobel campus in Zurich and operating from a further 26 locations worldwide. As part of the company’s culture, Vontobel promotes the arts, culture, and education, and since the 1970s has gradually built up its own art collection. This commitment to the arts was professionalized and given a new direction in 2014, when the newly established Vontobel Art Commission set out to focus on contemporary photography by international artists. It is advised by Urs Stahel, the co-founder and long-time director of the Fotomuseum Winterthur who now acts as a freelance curator, lecturer, and author, and is managed by professionals in the field of the arts. Thematically, its orientation puts people and what they do in the spotlight, because we see art as a laboratory for reflecting on topical issues or ones that will be relevant in the future. We want to enable new approaches and perspectives, and encourage a dialogue with our clients, employees, and other people with an interest in art.
In spring 2022, we will put on our young contemporary photography prize “A New Gaze” for the third time. An initiative of ArtVontobel, this prize gives one young talent from a specifically designated region of the world an opportunity to implement a photography project from concept to exhibition, complete with published catalogue.
In the future, new projects will be launched under the aegis of ArtVontobel with the aim of mediating the collection and “A New Gaze”, as well as other initiatives, both digitally and physically.
We are looking for a candidate to start per 1st of December 2021.
Your opportunity
You will be responsible for:
- Managing ArtVontobel
- The photography collection currently comprises around 250 works, with more added every year. The database used to manage the collection is ArtPlus.
- The competition “A New Gaze” entails a new project to be implemented every two years, from the concept phase through exhibition and publication.
- Mediation activities (collection catalogue, corresponding art cards, guided tours, etc.)
- Preparing and conducting meetings of the Vontobel Art Commission
- Undertaking conceptual and strategic work with the Vontobel Art Commission and its technical advisors
- Managing the budget
- Planning and managing communication with internal and external partners
- Representing ArtVonotbel on tours and events
- Positioning the engagement vis-à-vis internal stakeholders
Important competencies you have are:
- Graduate (MA) in art history or the history of photography, cultural management, or a related academic area
- Solid knowledge of contemporary photography
- Proven experience in building and maintaining an art collection
- At least 5 years of experience managing high-profile international cultural events and curating exhibitions
- Interest in communicating with artists from all over the world and organizing events with them
- Ability to build a bridge between the art world and the corporate world
- Versatility and openness to a wide range of tasks
- Ability, at times, to cope with large workloads with a small team
- Creativity to generate new ideas for mediating the initiatives, and motivation for developing new formats
- A diverse network in the field of culture and the arts
- Excellent oral and written skills in German and English
Thank you for the time to consider Vontobel. We appreciate you taking the time to submit your application. Our Talent Acquisition team will carefully assess your application and will respond to you in a timely manner.
Please apply via our career portal. For this position, please note that we do not consider applications from recruitment agencies.
If you have any question you can contact us through ourcontact form.