Emerging curators fellowship in partnership with MIMA to support new talent

Frieze and Deutsche Bank will partner this year on their 2025 Emerging Curators Fellowship with MIMA, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art.

MIMA will receive a £45,000 grant to cover the fellowship costs, inclusive of the fellow’s salary, expenses travel and research.

Recruitment for this year’s fellow will start in the summer, with the placement scheduled to start in November. The successful fellow will be announced during Frieze London 2025.

Launched in 2020, the Emerging Curators Fellowship reflects Frieze and Deutsche Bank’s wider commitment to amplify diverse and underrepresented voices in the art world.

Designed to address the lack of diversity in curatorial practice in the UK, the area of arts and heritage with the lowest proportion of Black and global majority professionals, the initiative supports emerging curators through 12-month, full-time, paid fellowships within leading arts organisations.

Laura Sillars, Director of MIMA and Dean of Culture and Creativity, said: “It is just brilliant to be this year’s chosen partner for the prestigious Frieze x Deutsche Bank Emerging Curators Fellowship, which has an excellent track record for nurturing talent.

“At MIMA we are deeply invested in developing and supporting new pathways into creative lives and careers and increasing equity in our sector. As part of Teesside University, we co-lead the UK’s first Higher Degree apprenticeship MA in curating and through the national Future Curators programme, led by DASH, we support D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent curators. We can’t wait to begin work with partners and appoint the 2025 Fellow.”

Previous iterations of the fellowship have been in partnership with Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead, Chisenhale Gallery in London, The Whitworth Gallery in Manchester, and V&A East in London.

MIMA were selected based on the strength of their submission to the open call for institutions in 2024, chosen by a panel including V&A East Director Gus Casely-Hayford, along with Mary Findlay, Senior Art Curator Deutsche Bank; Eva Langret Director, Frieze EMEA; and Kinnari Saraiya, 2021 Frieze x Deutsche Bank Emerging Curators Fellow, artist and Curator, Somerset House.

Eva Langret, Director, Frieze EMEA, said: “It is a pleasure to announce MIMA as our institutional partner for the Frieze x Deutsche Bank Emerging Curators Fellowship 2025. Now in its sixth year, this initiative demonstrates our active commitment to supporting the pipeline of diverse curatorial and artistic talent across the UK.”

Mary Findlay, Senior Art Curator, Deutsche Bank, added: “We are delighted to partner with MIMA for the Emerging Curators Fellowship this year, and in doing so, continue to build a community of talented up and coming curators across UK art institutions. The partnership underscores Deutsche Banks’ commitment to increasing accessibility, representation, and social mobility within the arts and in partnering together with Frieze, we create a powerful opportunity to grow a more diverse curatorial practice within our leading art establishments here in the UK.”

Applications for the 2025 Frieze x Deutsche Bank Emerging Curator Fellowship will open in July through MIMA.

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