Upė Foundation is a London-based platform that draws currents between global and Baltic art communities through curatorial support, research and commissioning, amplifying adventurous ideas, underexplored perspectives and long-term exchanges across geographies.
The Upė Foundation Curatorial Fellowship is a 12-18 month full-time paid position embedded within Gasworks’ curatorial team. Conceived as a professional development opportunity for an early-career curator with a connection to the Baltic region, the Fellowship offers sustained experience across Gasworks’ exhibitions, residencies, public programmes and wider artistic activity.
About Gasworks
Gasworks is a leading non-profit arts organisation based in south London. Working at the intersection of UK and international contemporary art, it has supported more than 750 artists from over 100 countries since its founding in 1994.
Gasworks commissions and produces exhibitions by emerging and underrepresented artists, and hosts residencies that enable artists from all over the world to research and develop new work. It also provides studios for London-based artists and develops participation projects for local children, young people and families together with community partners.
Above all, Gasworks is a home for artists. Gasworks is committed to building long-term relationships with all the artists they work with. Thanks to their award-winning history, Gasworks have developed an unparalleled reputation for cultivating new artistic talent.
Gasworks is a registered charity, the London hub of Triangle Network, and part of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio.
About the Fellowship Role
Working closely with Gasworks’ Curator and Assistant Curator, the Fellow will contribute to the coordination and delivery of Gasworks’ artistic programme and collaborate across the organisation with artists, partners, external contributors and freelancers. The role requires care, curiosity, strong organisational ability and administrative skills in an artist-focused, fast-paced environment. A particular focus of the Fellowship will be supporting the artist selected through the parallel Upė Foundation open call. The Fellow will work closely with the selected artist during their 2027 residency and contribute to the research, development, production and logistics of their subsequent solo exhibition at Gasworks in 2028.
This new role is part of a multi-year partnership between Gasworks and Upė Foundation supporting emerging artists and curators connected to the Baltic region (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) and their diasporas. The partnership also includes a fully funded artist residency in London, followed by a solo exhibition at Gasworks in 2028. Throughout the Fellowship, regular meetings with Upė will be held, and it is expected that the Fellow engages with research, travel and networking supported through Upė’s programme and with their wider fellow cohort.
Through the Fellowship, the successful candidate will benefit from:
- Structured professional development within Gasworks’ Programmes team
- Experience contributing to exhibitions, commissions, residencies, public programmes and events
- Opportunities to contribute Baltic and broader Central Eastern European research perspectives to Gasworks’ curatorial discussions
- Opportunities to build professional networks in London, the UK and internationally
- A dynamic working environment within a leading international contemporary arts organisation
How to apply
Please apply by reviewing the job description and filling out the application form, both available on the Gasworks website here.
Application deadline: Monday 9 November 2026, 13:00 UK time
If you have any questions about the opportunity please email rosaharvest@gasworks.org.uk
Martyna Ratnik is a Lithuanian cultural worker based between London and Vilnius. With a focus on moving image creation, curation and criticism, her practice searches for ways history can be embodied and transgressed. In addition to working as part of the London Short Film Festival’s curatorial team, Martyna has been developing her independent praxis. Among others, her artistic and curatorial projects have been previously presented at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), the Independent Vilnius Cinematheque “Meno Avilys”, Lithuania’s National Gallery of Art, European Media Art Festival, BFI London Film Festival, as well as LUX Moving Image. Martyna is the winner of Lithuania’s 2025 Visual Art Criticism Awards, and has been invited as a jury member the year after. She has recently graduated from RCA’s City Design course with a Master’s Thesis on open form institutional design, and is also an alumni of Rupert’s Alternative Education Programme.
As Upė Foundation Curatorial Fellow at Camden Art Centre, Martyna Ratnik joins the exhibitions team, bringing her specialist knowledge and research into the institution's curatorial work while contributing to exhibition-making, events and research. The Fellowship provides an environment for professional development, learning and first-hand experience within one of the UK's leading spaces for contemporary visual art.
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Diāna Mikāne is a curator and artist from Riga, Latvia. Through situated research and collaboration, her practice engages with parafiction as a mode of expression and the politics of space, often in relation to post-socialist conditions in the Baltic region and beyond. Recent work includes exhibitions and artistic projects such as High Beams in Timing Architecture at Part Time Gallery, Riga (2026), Forever Days in Invisible Labour at the National Gallery of Art, Vilnius (2026); Wish Upon a Shooting Star at Living Room, Athens (2024); I hope this email finds you well at InTheCloset, Vilnius (2024); Trembling Ground at VARES Architecture Residency, Valga (2024); as well as contributions to exhibition production at Nida Art Colony of the Vilnius Academy of Arts (2023–24). Mikāne holds an MA from the Art Academy of Latvia and received the ACADEMIA Award, which supported her curatorial fellowship at PUBLICS, Helsinki (2024–25).
In her role as Upė Foundation Curatorial Fellow at the Southbank Centre's Hayward Gallery, Diāna Mikāne undertakes research on artists from the Baltic region and beyond, supporting the development and delivery of major international exhibitions and programmes. The Fellowship is designed to broaden her skill set across the institution, from public engagement to the practical training involved in operations such as producing interpretation materials.
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Andrew Cummings is an art historian and curator from Wakefield, UK. Andrew studied for a PhD in Global Contemporary Art History at The Courtauld Institute of Art and Tate, and until 2025 was Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Decolonising Arts Institute, University of the Arts London. Previous exhibitions, programmes, and events include Dark Factory (MMCA Korea), A History of Future Contagion (Spike Island/The Courtauld) and Museum x Machine x Me (Tate). An alumnus of the Gwangju Biennale International Curators' Course, Andrew’s writing has been published by Tate Papers, Pilot Press, ArtReview, and the Burlington Contemporary.
Andrew Cummings joins Tallinn Art Hall at a pivotal moment in its history, as the institution's landmark site undergoes renovation ahead of reopening in November 2026. He will be responsible for curating the programme of a new black-box space within the historic building, developing exhibitions, screenings, performances, and other public formats in dialogue with Tallinn Art Hall’s wider programme. He will shape the programme in collaboration with the director and curatorial team, while working closely with artists and receiving production support from the institution’s in-house staff.
Upė Foundation is a London-based platform that draws currents between global and Baltic (Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian) art communities, setting new artistic, curatorial and research possibilities in motion. Upė focuses on horizontal, long-term exchange through a range of partnerships, fellowships and initiatives, amplifying new ideas, risk-taking work and underexplored perspectives. Upė is drawn to a field that is living, cross-disciplinary and imaginative, open to encounters between practices, contexts and communities.
Founding Patron
Justas Janauskas
Founding Director
Adomas Narkevičius
General enquiries
info@upefoundation.org
Press
isabel@sam-talbot.com
The Upė Foundation Curatorial Fellowship is a 12-18 month full-time paid position embedded within Gasworks’ curatorial team. Conceived as a professional development opportunity for an early-career curator with a connection to the Baltic region, the Fellowship offers sustained experience across Gasworks’ exhibitions, residencies, public programmes and wider artistic activity.
About Gasworks
Gasworks is a leading non-profit arts organisation based in south London. Working at the intersection of UK and international contemporary art, it has supported more than 750 artists from over 100 countries since its founding in 1994.
Gasworks commissions and produces exhibitions by emerging and underrepresented artists, and hosts residencies that enable artists from all over the world to research and develop new work. It also provides studios for London-based artists and develops participation projects for local children, young people and families together with community partners.
Above all, Gasworks is a home for artists. Gasworks is committed to building long-term relationships with all the artists they work with. Thanks to their award-winning history, Gasworks have developed an unparalleled reputation for cultivating new artistic talent.
Gasworks is a registered charity, the London hub of Triangle Network, and part of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio.
About the Fellowship Role
Working closely with Gasworks’ Curator and Assistant Curator, the Fellow will contribute to the coordination and delivery of Gasworks’ artistic programme and collaborate across the organisation with artists, partners, external contributors and freelancers. The role requires care, curiosity, strong organisational ability and administrative skills in an artist-focused, fast-paced environment. A particular focus of the Fellowship will be supporting the artist selected through the parallel Upė Foundation open call. The Fellow will work closely with the selected artist during their 2027 residency and contribute to the research, development, production and logistics of their subsequent solo exhibition at Gasworks in 2028.
This new role is part of a multi-year partnership between Gasworks and Upė Foundation supporting emerging artists and curators connected to the Baltic region (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) and their diasporas. The partnership also includes a fully funded artist residency in London, followed by a solo exhibition at Gasworks in 2028. Throughout the Fellowship, regular meetings with Upė will be held, and it is expected that the Fellow engages with research, travel and networking supported through Upė’s programme and with their wider fellow cohort.
Through the Fellowship, the successful candidate will benefit from:
- Structured professional development within Gasworks’ Programmes team
- Experience contributing to exhibitions, commissions, residencies, public programmes and events
- Opportunities to contribute Baltic and broader Central Eastern European research perspectives to Gasworks’ curatorial discussions
- Opportunities to build professional networks in London, the UK and internationally
- A dynamic working environment within a leading international contemporary arts organisation
How to apply
Please apply by reviewing the job description and filling out the application form, both available on the Gasworks website here.
Application deadline: Monday 9 November 2026, 13:00 UK time
If you have any questions about the opportunity please email rosaharvest@gasworks.org.uk