Lewisham Young Curator - Open House Festival
Open City
Open City is looking for a Lewisham Young Curator to join the team behind Open House Festival, an annual, London-wide built environment festival. Applicants should be aged 18-30, and must be able to demonstrate a connection to Lewisham.
Role Overview
The Lewisham Young Curator will join a small team that runs the Open House Festival, an annual, London-wide built environment festival, as part of the charity Open City. They will support the planning, marketing and delivery of the festival, with a particular focus on engaging a younger audience in the borough of Lewisham. Open House Festival 2026 will take place 12-20 September. Applicants should be aged between 18 and 30, and must be able to demonstrate a connection to Lewisham.
About Open City
Open City is a charity empowering communities to learn about, experience, and have a role in shaping places where they live. Our mission is to make the built environment more open, accessible, and equitable. We do this through:
- Our flagship event Open House Festival, opening up and celebrating London and its communities each September
- A year-round young people’s programme which includes city-making workshops at primary (Young City Makers), secondary (Accelerate Studios) and SEND schools (It’s My City Too!), as well as our pre-university mentorship programme Accelerate for young people traditionally excluded from architecture in London and now Birmingham
- A year-round programme of events, podcasts and tours to democratise public knowledge about cities and the way we live in them
- Supporting, growing and cultivating dialogue across a network of over 60 cities from Lagos to New York through Open House Worldwide
As Lewisham Young Curator, you will be responsible for:
- Working with the Open House Festival team and with Lewisham Council to build the Open House Festival 2026 programme in Lewisham, with an emphasis on encouraging buildings to run/host hands-on activities during the festival, including contacting and onboarding specific sites into the Lewisham Neighborhood
- Curating a collection of festival activities in Lewisham, including selecting images and writing an introduction
- Recording video reels of selected sites from the festival programme, for use on social media to promote individual activities in Lewisham, the collection and the Lewisham Neighbourhood
- Attending key Open House Festival 2026 events (launch in July, stakeholder event, Lewisham events during the festival in September)
Knowledge, skills and experience
Applicants should:
- Have an interest in festivals and/or event management and/or curation
- Be able to demonstrate strong organisational and communication skills
- Have an interest in and experience of using social media
- Have a passion for the built environment
- Be a Lewisham resident (desirable) or have a connection to Lewisham (essential)
Our commitment to diversity
As part of our ambitions to improve equality and diversity, we welcome applications for this role from those who identify under any of the protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010, which include race, age, disability, gender, religion or belief, and sexual orientation; and, from those who identify as working class.
How to Apply
How to Apply:
If you are inspired by the work of Open City and would like to be considered for the role of
Lewisham Young Curator, we would love to hear from you. The successful candidate must have permission to work in the UK by the start of their employment.
Applicants are asked to submit a CV and cover letter, saved as a single .pdf with the title
Lewisham Young Curator application_[your initials]
Your CV should be no more than 2 sides of A4, and the cover letter should be a maximum of 500 words. The cover letter should briefly describe how your experience and achievements to date would make you a suitable candidate for this role – aligning specifically with the organisation’s mission and the responsibilities of this role. Here are some further resources on writing a CV and cover letter: https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/careers-advice/cv-sections
https://www.arts-emergency.org/resources/21/05/cv
Applications should be submitted to [email protected].
The closing date for applications is 8 June 2026 at 10.00am.
Please note – we do not wish to receive any contact from recruitment agencies regarding this vacancy.
While we have publicised this opportunity, please note that: (i) the application and selection process is managed by the advertising company/organisation; and (ii) we rely on them to: provide accurate, up-to-date details about themselves and the opportunity; ensure that opportunities are ethical and paid fairly. To report a listing, please email [email protected].