Curator career

Kaitiaki taonga

Curators select, organise and maintain collections of artwork or historical or valuable items for places like museums, galleries and universities.

Curators select, organise and maintain collections of artwork or historical or valuable items for places like museums, galleries and universities.

What would you do as a Curator?

Curators

  • usually work regular business hours but may work evenings and weekends
  • usually work in offices, art galleries and museums
  • need to be methodical, creative and communicate well

Tasks

  • create exhibitions of objects and artworks
  • evaluate artworks and historical objects
  • work with artists, dealers, museums and galleries
  • negotiate artwork buying, borrowing and lending
  • plan community programmes and activities
  • manage the preservation of artwork
  • manage budgets
  • write articles, papers and books
  • give talks and lectures

How can you become a Curator?

You usually need a qualification and experience to become a curator.

You may need

  • a New Zealand Certificate in Museum Practice (Level 4)
  • a bachelor's degree in visual arts, art history or similar area
  • a postgraduate certificate or diploma in curation or similar area
  • experience in similar work

If you're in school

You usually need NCEA Level 3 or University Entrance to do the study or training for this job.

Qualifications

View all qualifications

Study an Anthropology or History in our Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Social Sciences to build your knowledge of culture, material history and research methods, the foundations of caring for and interpreting collections. Like all our undergraduate degrees, both include work-integrated learning.

View all qualifications

Curator FAQs

Scholarships

A range of scholarships are available to help with the cost of studying at Waikato. Options are available across a wide range of subjects and study levels, including scholarships for new students, current students and specific areas of study.

Find a scholarship

QS rankings

QS World University Rankings 2027

Waikato is ranked equal 293rd globally, placing us in the top 1.5% of universities worldwide, and 2nd in New Zealand by citations per faculty.

QS Ranking - Social Sciences & Management

Waikato is ranked 287th in the world by QS for Social Sciences & Management in the QS World University Rankings.

Contact us

International Enquiries

Monday – Friday NZT 1pm – 2am

School of Social Sciences

School of Social Sciences, The University of Waikato, Ground Floor, J Block, Gate 1, Knighton Road, Hamilton