Rachel Kent turned a passion for the past into an intense job that demands flexibility and multiple time zone juggling. In partnership with Hostplus, we find out how she went from art intern to influencer.
Like many of us, Rachel Kent has a long-held fascination with the past. But as Chief Curator of Sydney\u2019s Museum of Contemporary Art, Kent is one of the few who has been able to parlay her curiosity into a career.\r\n\r\nSince 2000, Kent has curated a series of high-profile exhibitions, including Grayson Perry, Mike Parr and Shahzia Sikander. She ranks the opportunity to curate \u201cextraordinary female artists\u201d such as Yoko Ono and Annette Messager, as well as the 2008 Yinka Shonibare retrospective, as some of her defining moments.\r\nHer path to becoming Chief Curator took time.\r\n\r\n\u201cAfter school I\u2019d enrolled in Art History and English Literature at university,\u201d says Kent. \u201cBut I took a gap year and during that time, I completed an internship in the UK at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. I absolutely loved it. You were dealing with Bronze Age material from Bethlehem and Ancient Egyptian scarabs. To hold those things in your hand is incredible.\u201d \r\n\r\nTravelling around Europe compounded Kent\u2019s love of ancient culture. \u201cI was backpacking around and visiting modern and contemporary art museums, which were a revelation,\u201d she says. \u201cI travelled with a friend from the UK to the Pompidou, and he showed me the work of Joseph Beuys and Anselm Kiefer. I was 17. I couldn\u2019t believe it. I instantly thought: this is what I want to do.\u201d \r\n\r\nKent returned to Australia to finish her degree and enrolled in a graduate program in curatorial studies at the University of Melbourne. She also volunteered at the campus\u2019 museum of art, where the then curator and registrar took her under their wing. Kent became the museum\u2019s curator in 1995.\r\n\r\nKent\u2019s studies at the time were complemented by independent projects: curating shows at [the former Gertrude Contemporary] 200 Gertrude, and the Next Wave Festival. She also wrote for magazines and art journals. In the late \u201990s the MCA approached her to curate Primavera, an annual show with a history of unearthing the country\u2019s future art stars (Mikala Dwyer, Jess Johnson and Shaun Gladwell are among its alumni). But the timing was wrong and she turned it down.\r\n \r\n\u201cI couldn\u2019t do it and begged them to keep me in mind for the following year,\u201d says Kent. \u201cThey did. So the next year I spent some time in Sydney, [working on it while staying] with my cousin in Newtown. It was the early days of the MCA and it was such a young, innovative institution. I had the most incredible experience.\u201d Soon after, in 2000, Kent was offered a curator role at the MCA. \u201cI knew it was where I wanted to be.\u201d \r\n\r\nKent says interning is critical to carving out a similar path to hers. She also says that emerging curators can\u2019t be content to sit behind their desks. Going to shows, talking to artists and travelling as much as you can is critical to understanding the art landscape and generating new ideas. \r\n\r\n\u201cVoluntary work is a really important way to meet people in the industry and to get a sense of how it all works,\u201d she says. \u201cYou also need to visit as many shows as you can \u2013 not just at the big museums but at the smaller, artist-run spaces. Talking to people and connecting on a basic human level really pays off. I love talking to artists. I love going to art events. Artists will tell you exactly what\u2019s going on and you get an unvarnished view. They can also put you onto interesting practices and spaces. You have to put yourself out there and you have to do your time.\u201d \r\n\r\nKent, who clears her emails by 7.30am and regularly works across time zones, says aspiring curators should accept their job won\u2019t ever be nine to five. \u201cIt\u2019s a very flexible approach to work,\u201d says Kent. \u201cYou can only do it if you\u2019re absolutely passionate about it. It\u2019s really a creative enterprise that shapes your wider life.\u201d \r\n\r\nThis article is presented in partnership with Hostplus, superannuation you can take with you throughout your career.\r\n\r\n
