call for applications: curatorial fellowship
The Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation is a charitable organisation based in Frankfurt/Main, Germany dedicated to collecting, exhibiting and promoting contemporary photography. They hold several exhibitions a year and support artists, curators and writers internationally through awards, scholarships and other opportunities. They continuously develop and present their growing collection, which currently comprises over 2,400 photographic works by 170 artists, whose visual languages are as diverse as their backgrounds, age, or creative methodologies – moving fluidly between different genres and territories.
With this new programme they wish to further expand their portfolio by supporting curatorial practice more extensively while fostering a deeper dialogue with international curators about the medium, exchanging ideas and new perspectives.
The two-year Curatorial Fellowship is designed to support mid-career curators in advancing their research-led exhibition organising practice and professional growth. It not only offers the opportunity to co-curate and collaboratively realise an exhibition project in partnership with us but also to contribute actively to shaping the development of our collection.
The Position
The Curatorial Fellowship offers a two-year collaboration with the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation, inviting mid-career curators to develop a concept for a thematic exhibition based on works from the Art Collection Deutsche Börse as well as proposing relevant additional acquisitions.
The objective is to develop an exhibition project that includes both existing and the newly acquired artistic positions to shed new light on the collection; and to demonstrate how the collection addresses aesthetic, societal, social and political issues through the medium of photography.
Recommendations for new acquisitions shall enhance the continual development of the Foundation’s growing collection, introducing new perspectives and further developing diversity with regards to representation and scope while complementing, enriching and strengthening its existing holdings.
The thematic exhibition, jointly curated with the Foundation team, will be presented at the Foundation’s own public premises and one external exhibition venue in Europe. It may be supplemented with additional loans and site-specific projects, as appropriate.
The Fellowship may be undertaken remotely, with regular online exchange and occasional on-site visits to the Foundation in Eschborn, Germany. Stimulating and open exchange with the Foundation’s directorial and curatorial management team is expressly desired and crucial.
The position is designed to be flexible, allowing the Curatorial Fellow to integrate the work into their practice regardless of their location and to maintain their current professional position.
Benefits include direct access to institutional archives (digital and physical) of the collection; working closely with the Foundation’s curatorial team; gaining or building on curatorial expertise in collection development; opportunities for public engagement, dissemination and presentation of research through writing and exhibition-making.
The Fellowship will start in spring 2026 and run across two years until 2028.
Year 1: following initial curatorial research, exchange and consultation, specific themes are established, and a detailed exhibition concept & acquisition proposal is presented to the Foundation team.
Year 2: following purchase of new works and considerations regarding loans, an essay to accompany the exhibition (approx. 1,000 to 1,500 words) is written and curation, installation and opening of the exhibition in Eschborn and one other cultural institutions realised.