Curator of Global Sikh Art and Culture

ROM is Canada’s largest museum of Art, Culture and Nature. Situated in the most diverse major city in the world, Toronto, in the Province of Ontario, known for pluralism, openness and global perspectives, ROM is well positioned for the future and for an even greater role on the world stage. By leveraging ROM’s strengths and capabilities and applying them in fresh and far-reaching ways, and by investing to create greater engagement through inclusion, transdisciplinary thinking, digital practices, and innovation, ROM is charting a new and bold way forward as it pursues its goal of becoming one of the world’s foremost museums.

Learn more about ROM's Strategic Direction
.

ROM is uniquely positioned to become a vibrant hub for Sikh Art & Culture. The South Asian community is the largest visible minority in Canada, with the largest share being the Sikh/Punjabi community, numbering some 950,000 people, almost half of whom reside in Ontario. The achievements of the Sikh community are such that April has been established as Sikh Heritage Month in Ontario.

ROM seeks a thoughtful, strategic curator, gifted in communications and alliances, with a strong background in historical and contemporary art and diasporic arts from or relating to the mid-17th-century janamsakhi tradition, the former Sikh kingdoms, and the larger Punjab region. Reporting to the Co-Chief Curator of Art and Culture, the Curator of Global Sikh Art and Culture will lead the programming and presentation of Sikh art and culture through galleries, exhibitions, and other initiatives, in line with ROM’s Strategic Direction and in collaboration with local communities, artists, and scholars, both locally and globally.

Guided by ROM’s institutional vision for the broader South Asia galleries and collection, and in close collaboration with the Senior Curator of Global South Asian Art & Culture, the curator will develop and implement a strategy to build and interpret ROM’s Sikh art and culture collection. ROM offers a unique opportunity to substantially expand this collection’s holdings of historical and contemporary material, in line with museum best practices and an acquisition development plan to be developed by the curator.

The curator will expand the reach of ROM scholarship and museum initiatives through publications, lectures, and research. In the context of ROM’s strategic direction toward a more global, transdisciplinary storytelling model, the Curator of Global Sikh Art & Culture will be well-versed in the current conversations regarding the role of museums in society and in relation to indigenous cultures. This curator will champion cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary perspectives to highlight the relevance of ROM’s collection of art, culture, and nature in contemporary societies.

The Global Sikh Art & Culture program, itself housed within ROM’s South Asia Initiative, will explore the varied histories and artistic contributions of Sikh and Sikh diasporic communities through connections within South Asia and with various cultures and traditions across the globe.

ROM’s collection of Sikh art and culture is currently modest in size but of noteworthy quality. It ranges from historical paintings and other works on paper, arms and armour, and photographs to textiles and contemporary art. The curator will be a specialist in the field but also interested in broader issues and questions related to Sikh art and culture that are relevant to diasporic Canada and the contemporary world.

Curatorial knowledge should extend widely regarding historical periods and media, and emphasize ways in which Sikh arts have drawn from and transcended existing practices to develop unique forms of cultural expression

The primary activity for…