Collections Archivist

**Collections Archivist**

Thank you for your interest in the position of Collections Archivist at Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage.

Please find attached more detailed information for the post, which includes:

- About Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage and an introduction to Unearthed:
Forgotten Histories
- Job Description and Person Specification

To apply, please send us a CV outlining your skills and experience and a written supporting statement and/or an audio/video presentation stating how you meet the person specification for the position of

Collections Archivist.

July 2023.

Applications received after this time will not be accepted.

Interviews are expected to be held week commencing 14 August 2023.

Yours sincerely,

Pawlet Brookes MBE

CEO and Artistic Director

**About Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage**

Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage is an internationally connected arts and heritage organisation that actively changes the UK creative and cultural landscape with an innovative and inspiring high-quality programme that centres perspectives from the African and African Caribbean

Diaspora.

Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage’s programmes include Black History Month Leicester, the Annual Windrush Day Lecture and the flagship dance festival and Let’s Dance International

Frontiers. Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage has established a legacy; hosting a growing living archive documenting Black arts, heritage and culture, documenting the voices of Black practitioners and community activists, nurturing artists to create high quality new work and mentoring young people.

Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage fosters innovative new work from artists, both emerging and established, bringing diversity to the forefront of cultural experiences for all.

With a 12-year track record working locally, nationally and internationally and the success of past projects funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, _Lost Legends_ and _Archiving the Past: Reflecting_
- the Future, _this opportunity comes at an important point in the Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and

Heritage’s development with a three-year project that builds upon our heritage work thus far in the form of _Unearthed: Forgotten Histories_.

**About Unearthed: Forgotten Histories**
- Unearthed: Forgotten Histories_ is a forward-thinking initiative that seeks to make a structural difference to the recording, documentation and sharing of Black history and heritage in the UK. Serendipity

Institute for Black Arts and Heritage are building a digital living archive that encompasses the history of the African and African Caribbean Diaspora across the Midlands. By amplifying the historical picture and telling stories from a different perspective the archive aims to give back hidden histories for everyone to share. Educational resources, events and exhibitions are planned to give the opportunity of interaction, reinterpretation and the repositioning of the gaze of the heritage.

Alongside this, Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage is leading on the Young Archivists an accredited training programme inspiring a diverse range of future heritage experts, currently underrepresented in the sector, at different stages in their careers with training and mentoring.

Opportunities for volunteers are also available to develop high-quality skills that support the collection and preservation of oral histories and archival material.

The project seeks to highlight histories from communities across the Midlands that might have been lost, forgotten or ignored, using technology in innovative ways to tell and share stories, ultimately creating a legacy of engagement beyond the project and long into the future.

**Purpose of the Role**

The role of Collections Archivist has been made possible with funding from the National Lottery

Heritage Fund thanks to National Lottery Players. The Collections Archivist will be responsible for the day to day management of Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage’s growing archive overseeing the process of acquisition, management and maintenance of physical and digital materials that have historical and cultural significance and leading Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and

Heritage towards relevant industry accreditations.

Working closely with the CEO and Artistic Director, Heritage Manager and Digital Archivist, the post will be responsible for creating a strategy for the cataloguing of collections, key parts of the Serendipity

Institute for Black Arts and Heritage archive. This includes the ingesting of collections, documenting current heritage projects and co-ordinating the production of new digital content to widen our education, learning and engagement remit.

**Main Responsibilities and Duties**
- To oversee the collecting, cataloguing and digitisation of Serendipity Institute for Black