After graduating in History of Art, I knew that I wanted to work in a museum or gallery and ideally one with an emphasis on contemporary art. 

It wasn’t easy to get a job in the arts then and it hasn’t become easier.There are more opportunities now, in London in particular because the sector has grown enormously with the addition of numerous commercial galleries and private foundations. Equally, however, there has been a parallel expansion of the number of curating courses available.

My first job in the arts was in a commercial gallery on Camberwell Church Street, just down the road from where I work now. Because it was a start-up I had a chance to try my hand at pretty much everything, from the administration, marketing and invigilation through to the more curatorial side of things.

I worked briefly as a secretary at Tate, in pre-Tate Modern times. If anything it made me all the more determined to get a job as a curator, and that’s when I started to look at opportunities outside London. I went on to work in curating and director roles at Southampton City Art Gallery, Anthony D’Offay Gallery, the Hayward Gallery and, currently, at the South London Gallery. 

All work experience, not only that gained in the art world, is helpful. Throughout university and while I was at school I had weekend jobs – in shops and later in offices. The skills and experience I gained equipped me with an understanding of what’s required in the workplace.

When you’re applying for entry-level posts, you need to stand out. One way to do this is by initiating a project on your own. But all sorts of things help – languages, for example. Curating courses can provide valuable access to people and places in the art world, which you may not otherwise get. 

Finding artists to work with is an ongoing process of keeping informed, going to see as much as you possibly can across London and regional galleries and keeping abreast of international events like the Venice Biennale, Documenta, the Berlin Biennale and Manifesta. You need to be aware of what’s going on and of course the internet has opened up access to information on international events. A sensitivity to timing is also important when programming contemporary art, and at the end of the day decisions have to be made about quality which inevitably involve a certain degree of intuition. 

We tend to show work by artists who are well established and highly acclaimed at an international level but we also show mid-career and emerging artists. We try to have a balance between artists at these different stages. We also offer solo shows to artists who, for whatever reasons, haven’t before had a major presentation of their work in London. 

Having a connection with artists is absolutely critical. This can lead in all sorts of directions, to self-generated projects or group shows. Establish a network of communication with your peers, be opportunistic, have ideas and follow them through. 

In Focus: Curating an exhibition for the SLG 

Every year or so, I curate a group show around a particular theme or idea. In 2012, I curated Pursuit of Perfection: The Politics of Sport, to coincide with the Olympics. It’s important to have ideas, but timing can also be significant, and in this case the opening of the show coincided with the Olympic torch passing the SLG. 

I was surprised at the time to find that there were very few exhibitions planned to explore the relationship between sport and art. The traditional divide between those two areas interested me. I was also inspired by a number of relevant works I thought were strong, even though in the end many of them weren’t in the show. There’s often a big difference between having an initial idea and how it works out in reality.

One of the great things about the SLG is the scale; it’s internationally recognised but small enough for us to be quite nimble and responsive. In the course of curating Pursuit of Perfection, I realised that Southwark Town Hall, down the road from the SLG, was vacant. I found the idea of showing work in the former council chamber so appealing in the light of some of the works I had in mind that I decided to try and make it happen, despite having little time to do so. 

We then had to deal with the logistics and legal issues of trying to use the building, the cost of borrowing equipment, staffing the building and installing the work. All sorts of things happen on a practical level, which you can’t necessarily foresee. That’s challenging but can also inspire new ways of thinking about things.

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Image: Margot Heller, Director, South London Gallery, © Sam Holden.