Curator Ethnographic Collection 80%

04 October 2026
80%
Bern

About the job

The Bern Historical Museum is one of the most important cultural history museums in Switzerland. It is a growing repository of knowledge and experience for the culture and history of Bern and the world. The collections on history, archaeology, and ethnography comprise around 567,000 objects. They offer insights into living environments from different historical periods and cultural contexts. The integrated Einstein Museum places the life and work of the physicist in the context of world history.
The museum is facing major changes and exciting challenges with the planned renovation and comprehensive museal renewal. The goal is to reopen the museum in 2032 as a vibrant house of history with diverse mediation formats, new access to the Bern museum quarter, and a high quality of stay.

We are looking for a

Curator Ethnographic Collection 80%

with a focus on Africa and an additional emphasis on orientalist collections

As part of the team, you will manage the third largest ethnographic collection in Switzerland, which includes around 65,000 objects from Asia, Africa, America, Europe, and Oceania. You are a historian or cultural scientist with an interest in museological questions and possess proven expertise in Africa and/or Central Asia. Experience with provenance research is a welcome plus.

You will be responsible for the following tasks:

Contributing to the definition of collection policy
Accessing and researching the collection holdings
Maintaining the collection inventory and object documentation
Ensuring the proper storage of the collection holdings in collaboration with the conservation-restoration team
Content curation and collaboration in designing and implementing mediation offers, such as exhibitions, events, participatory offers, especially with regard to the exhibition/mediation programme for the museum's reopening in 2032
Cooperating with partner institutions and source communities regarding the BHM collection
Preparing and conducting tours through permanent and temporary exhibitions
Writing texts for a specialist audience and the general public
Managing objects in loan traffic, including courier services domestically and abroad

What you bring:

A completed university degree (at least Master’s level) in history, cultural and social sciences, or social anthropology, as well as a broad interest in the subject area and in-depth knowledge of Africa and/or Central Asia, are prerequisites for application. Thanks to your several years of professional experience in museums, you are well acquainted with curatorial practice and current discourses in the museum world. You maintain a global-historical approach to the collection, reflect on the function and significance of museal collection holdings, ideally already have a relevant network for the role, and are also willing to engage with new subject areas.

You also bring experience in project management and collaboration on exhibitions. As a communicative personality, you value continuous exchange both within the scientific team and interdisciplinarily with specialists from all other museum areas. You greatly enjoy sharing your knowledge vividly with professionals as well as our museum guests. Very good foreign language skills in French and English (additional collection-relevant languages are a plus), a structured working method, a high quality awareness, and a confident handling of museum databases complete your profile.

We look forward to receiving your complete application (cover letter, CV, certificates) by 25 October 2026. In the cover letter, please briefly describe your professional and personal competencies, your museum experience, as well as your expectations and goals for the advertised position.

For further information, please contact Saskia Klaassen, Head of Collections, at 031 350 77 54.

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Helvetiaplatz 5, P.O. Box 149, CH-3000 Bern 6, Telephone +41 31 350 77 11, www.bhm.ch

Curator Ethnographic Collection 80%

About the job