Research Associate, Michael C. Rockefeller Wing [End Dated]

About the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world for everyone to experience and enjoy. The Museum lives in two iconic sites in New York City—The Met Fifth Avenue and The Met Cloisters. Millions of people also take part in The Met experience online.

Since its founding in 1870, The Met has always aspired to be more than a treasury of rare and beautiful objects. We are committed to fostering a collaborative and respectful work environment with a staff as diverse as the audiences we engage. Our staff members are art lovers who are passionate about working toward a common goal: creating the most dynamic and inspiring art museum in the world.

At The Met, every staff member – from security officers to researchers to scientists and beyond – lives by our core values of respect, inclusivity, collaboration, excellence, and integrity. 

Respect: Engage one another with collegiality, empathy, and kindness, always.

Inclusivity: Ensure that all are and feel welcome and valued.

Collaboration: Reach across boundaries to exchange ideas and work together toward our shared mission.

Excellence: Lead the cultural world in quality and expertise—and inspire curiosity and creativity.

Integrity: Hold ourselves to the highest moral standards, admit when we fall short, and then evolve. 

About the Department

The renovation of the African galleries—the first since the inauguration of the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing in 1982—will significantly reframe this unique collection through a narrative path that is both chronological and geographical. Major landmarks positioned at key sightlines will lead visitors across times and places through four main spaces divided into smaller chapels. The display will evocatively draw upon specific architectural vernaculars, while architectural elements in the collection are positioned throughout the installation to anchor the visitor within specific geographies. Didactics will be rethought, with a strong emphasis on the works’ historical and interdisciplinary contexts. Giving voice and making visible the continent’s artistic dynamism through audio guides, contextual film footage, and prompts to additional online content will complete these galleries and contribute to a refreshed understanding of Africa’s artists’ cultural achievements.

The works that will be reintroduced from across the African subcontinent span fired clay figures shaped in present-day Nigeria as early as 500 B.C. to the fiber creation Bleu no. 1 (2014) by contemporary innovator Abdoulaye Konaté. Major forms of visual expression surveyed relate to traditions of portraiture, dynastic succession, generational rites of passage, ancestor veneration, healing and divination, and theatrical performance. Their authors have contributed to major social and cultural developments, including the flourishing of urban centers such as ancient Jenne, evident in devotional sculpture sponsored by its citizenry; the arrival of Islam through trans-Saharan trade reflected in decorative arts ranging from tunics to architectural design; the early embrace of Christianity by Ethiopian monarchs and their sponsorship of liturgical works; the dawn of coastal trade with Europe and the exchange of exotic presentation pieces wrought from locally sourced ivory for imported luxury materials; a transformation in representation and the development of modernism in the West; and dynamically resilient historical traditions that endure into the present day.

GENERAL STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES:

As the Research Associate, you will provide critical research support for exhibition, installation didactics, in-gallery video, and digital content for the re-envisioned Africa galleries. You will work directly with the curatorial team and colleagues in the Audience Engagement Departments to develop this new content. This position was conceived to help provide professional development for an African art specialist seeking a curatorial career. 

This is a position with an established end-date or time frame.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES & DUTIES:

• Research works of art in the collection that will be featured/update collections database
• Work with Africa curator on research of content concerning Africa historical narratives and interface of Africa and other Met curatorial departments
• Assist with periodical, image, and documentary film research for installation
• Assist with contextual image management for installation
• Provide support with drafting gallery