Well, well, well – it or something like it had to happen sooner or later. I’m talking about the latest scandal to hit the arts’ world, name, the advertising by Tate Gallery for a “coffee curator”, a position paying a salary of £40k. My first reaction upon seeing the bylines was – wow! At last, recognition, fame and a measure of fortune for conceptual artists with the bottle to create installations out of coffee. Damien, your day is done. But….
On further investigation, I found out that Tate are hiring a non-painting/drawing/sculpting manager, complete with talented nose, with the ability to suss out the finest brands of coffee with which to serve the myriad visitors to the Tate group of galleries, throughout the year. The controversy arises over, it seems, the stark fact that curators at the galleries only get paid, on average, a mere £37, 775 per year. Why should a mere “head of coffee” earn so much more?
It is a question that no one has provided an articulate answer for and quite frankly, I don’t see why so many people get heated up over learning what other subjects are earning. As an art history graduate, I do not lack empathy with museum and gallery curators. But everyone has to live, butchers, bakers and coffee curators, et al. Taking bread from the mouths of one of these isn’t going to make the other guv better off. If anything, this “controversy” should raise questions about the current uneven system of income distribution, about our attitudes towards entitlement, production and consumption. Next time I go to see an exhibition in Tate, I will simply say: “Mine’s a latte….”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-51310516
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