Alistair Hardaker | Image: Empowering Curators Residency at Ashorne Hill, January 2026 © Hydar Dewachi
Five-year programme addresses representation gap with multi-year roles and organisational change support for participating institutions.
Art Fund has announced the first ten appointments to Empowering Curators, a five-year programme of curatorial fellowships for senior to mid-career curators from Global Majority backgrounds. The national charity for museums and galleries will support 20 multi-year curatorial roles across UK museums and galleries.
The programme addresses a representation gap in the sector. Arts Council England NPO data from 2018-23 shows that 6% of those working in museums identify as Black, Asian, or ethnically diverse. The Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre’s State of the Nations 2024 report found this number reduces further in management and executive positions.
The first host organisations and Curatorial Fellows are Autograph, London (Neicia Marsh), Chapter, Cardiff (Sim Panaser), Culture Coventry (Taniah Simpson), Glasgow Life (Nelson Cummins), Manchester Museum (Nusrat Ahmed), National Museums Liverpool (Dr Jill Sutherland), Royal Museums Greenwich, London (Hannah Cusworth and Dr Nydia A Swaby), Tate Liverpool (Carine Harmand), and The Whitworth, Manchester (Dr Christo Kefalas).
Alongside hosting fellows, each organisation will undertake a programme of change to advance equity, diversity and inclusion, facilitated by external experts. The Curatorial Fellows will receive professional development delivered by Clore Leadership.
The programme was created in response to Art Fund’s 2022 report ‘It’s about handing over power’, and developed in consultation with Museum X, Culture&, and a steering group of arts leaders.
Funding comes from Art Fund alongside The Headley Trust, Arts Council England, Ford Foundation, Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, Rothschild Foundation, John Booth Charitable Foundation, Hollick Family Foundation and individual supporters.
Projects currently underway include Carine Harmand curating exhibitions and displays for the reopening of Tate Liverpool in 2027, as well as working with visual artist, poet and filmmaker Julianknxx on a new multidisciplinary installation co-commissioned with the International Slavery Museum.
Dr Jill Sutherland is developing interpretive approaches as part of the International Slavery Museum’s redevelopment. Dr Christo Kefalas is leading the Whitworth’s next collections rehang exploring transcultural perspectives and developing a new collaborative MA programme with the University of Manchester. Neicia Marsh will be researching and co-curating a major solo exhibition at Autograph’s London gallery in 2027. Nusrat Ahmed will lead work to embed anti-racism and social justice across Manchester Museum’s practice.
Jenny Waldman, director of Art Fund, said the programme “will bring some of the country’s top curatorial talent into museums across the UK”.
“Building on Art Fund’s long-standing commitment to strengthening the sector by investing in people, we hope Empowering Curators can serve as a blueprint for the industry, showing how supporting the storytellers of tomorrow ensures museums reflect and inspire the diverse communities they serve.”
Applications to participate in the second cohort of host museums and curators will open later this year.
