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.

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Upė Foundation is launching the Upė Foundation Curatorial Fellowship at Sapieha Palace, a branch of the Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania, as part of its Fall 2026 Curatorial Fellowship Programme. The opportunity invites early-career UK-based curators to apply for a full-time curatorial role at one of the foremost contemporary art institutions in the Baltic region, opening up new perspectives within the Baltic region while supporting professional exchange between the UK and Lithuania.
Upė Foundation Curatorial Fellowship at Sapieha Palace is a full-time, 12-month position for an early-career UK-based curator, due to start in Autumn 2026, with the possibility of a further 6-month extension, 18 months in total, upon review and mutual decision. Relocation to Vilnius, Lithuania, is required.
About Sapieha Palace
Sapieha Palace opened to the public in April 2024 in Antakalnis, a historic neighbourhood of Vilnius. Housed within a recently restored Baroque palace, it is a branch of the Contemporary Art Centre, one of the oldest and largest contemporary art institutions in the Baltic region.
Sapieha Palace’s programme aims to create a critical dialogue between contemporary art, history and tangible heritage, while reflecting the social and cultural processes relevant to the region. The annual programme comprises:
- Up to three solo exhibitions in the first-floor Northern Gallery;
- One thematic group exhibition spanning the second-floor spaces;
- An annual symposium;
- Educational initiatives and public engagement activities.
‘Contemporary art, being a universal and democratic language, also provides a means for different perspectives to spread, for diverse approaches to meet, and creates a space for dialogue, or at least an attempt to understand. At Sapieha Palace, in a unique space, we are developing a polylogue between the present and heritage, for which the experiences and voices of different countries are particularly valuable. We invite you to join the team and bring a new voice to it.’ – Gintautė Žemaitytė, Executive Director of Sapieha Palace
About the fellowship role
Embedded within the Art Programme Department of Sapieha Palace, the Upė Foundation Curatorial Fellow will contribute to the development, implementation and coordination of a section of the institution’s programme, working alongside Sapieha Palace’s curatorial team and external curators.
The Fellow will be responsible for:
- Curating one exhibition in the first-floor Northern Gallery, including the development and delivery of its accompanying public programme and related events;
- Supporting the development and production of Sapieha Palace’s main exhibitions and their associated public programmes and events;
- Supporting the development and coordination of the Sapieha Palace symposium.
The Fellow will be expected to:
- Align and agree the programme with the Director and in-house curators;
- Initiate and maintain relationships with artists and collaborators;
- Draft and oversee agreements with artists and partners;
- Lead on the curatorial, conceptual and structural aspects of their programme, working closely with the production team.
- The Fellow will receive day-to-day production support from two in-house project coordinators, as well as mentorship from Sapieha Palace curators and Director, as needed.
Each Fellowship provides the conditions for curators to develop their individual practice, embedded in institutional life, supported by mentorship, and encouraged to open new creative dialogues between London and the Baltic region.
Key eligibility criteria
Applicants should have:
- 1–5 years of relevant curatorial experience;
- A higher education qualification, BA, MA or equivalent, in curating, art history, visual culture, or related disciplines;
- UK citizenship, residency, or another demonstrable UK affiliation, such as settled or pre-settled status, long-term residency, or equivalent.
Strong preference will be given to emerging practitioners who have not held full-time roles in major institutions or museums, and who are able to demonstrate experience and initiative in running small-scale, self-directed projects, spaces, or frameworks.
Sapieha Palace and Upė Foundation will fully support the process of arranging the Lithuanian work and residence permit.
What the Fellowship offers:
- A monthly salary of €2,175 gross;
- Fully funded compulsory health insurance;
- Initial flights to Vilnius;
- A new work computer;
- Support in finding accommodation and settling in;
- Assistance in arranging residence and work permits;
- Flexible office hours;
- Access to CAC’s broader infrastructure to support research and project development;
- A dynamic, fast-paced work environment.
Salary & Job description
Please find a full job description here.
How to apply
We place great value on original, individual thinking and writing. We therefore strongly encourage applicants to prepare their materials in their own words and to avoid generic or artificially generated responses. Applications that are authentically the candidate's own will be prioritised in the selection process.
Please submit the following materials in English, compiled as a single PDF file, to sapiegurumai@cac.lt with the subject line “Upė Foundation Curatorial Fellow.”
- CV;
- Motivational letter, maximum 1 A4 page, outlining your interest in Sapieha Palace and this specific opportunity;
- Exhibition proposal for the first-floor Northern Gallery, maximum 1 A4 page.
If you have any questions before applying, you can contact Sapieha Palace at sapiegurumai@cac.lt.
Application deadline: 12:00 noon UK time, Monday 13 July 2026
Interviews: early August 2026
Final decision: mid-August 2026
Start date: Autumn 2026
Selection process
Applications will be reviewed jointly by Upė Foundation and Sapieha Palace. Following an initial assessment, a shortlist of candidates will be invited to a first-round online interview with representatives from both organisations. A smaller group of finalists will be invited to a second interview.
The selection panel will include members of Upė Foundation and Sapieha Palace. Decisions are made by consensus, with agreement required from the full panel at each stage.



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
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Upė Foundation is launching the Upė Foundation Curatorial Fellowship at Sapieha Palace, a branch of the Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania, as part of its Fall 2026 Curatorial Fellowship Programme. The opportunity invites early-career UK-based curators to apply for a full-time curatorial role at one of the foremost contemporary art institutions in the Baltic region, opening up new perspectives within the Baltic region while supporting professional exchange between the UK and Lithuania.
Upė Foundation Curatorial Fellowship at Sapieha Palace is a full-time, 12-month position for an early-career UK-based curator, due to start in Autumn 2026, with the possibility of a further 6-month extension, 18 months in total, upon review and mutual decision. Relocation to Vilnius, Lithuania, is required.
About Sapieha Palace
Sapieha Palace opened to the public in April 2024 in Antakalnis, a historic neighbourhood of Vilnius. Housed within a recently restored Baroque palace, it is a branch of the Contemporary Art Centre, one of the oldest and largest contemporary art institutions in the Baltic region.
Sapieha Palace’s programme aims to create a critical dialogue between contemporary art, history and tangible heritage, while reflecting the social and cultural processes relevant to the region. The annual programme comprises:
- Up to three solo exhibitions in the first-floor Northern Gallery;
- One thematic group exhibition spanning the second-floor spaces;
- An annual symposium;
- Educational initiatives and public engagement activities.
‘Contemporary art, being a universal and democratic language, also provides a means for different perspectives to spread, for diverse approaches to meet, and creates a space for dialogue, or at least an attempt to understand. At Sapieha Palace, in a unique space, we are developing a polylogue between the present and heritage, for which the experiences and voices of different countries are particularly valuable. We invite you to join the team and bring a new voice to it.’ – Gintautė Žemaitytė, Executive Director of Sapieha Palace
About the fellowship role
Embedded within the Art Programme Department of Sapieha Palace, the Upė Foundation Curatorial Fellow will contribute to the development, implementation and coordination of a section of the institution’s programme, working alongside Sapieha Palace’s curatorial team and external curators.
The Fellow will be responsible for:
- Curating one exhibition in the first-floor Northern Gallery, including the development and delivery of its accompanying public programme and related events;
- Supporting the development and production of Sapieha Palace’s main exhibitions and their associated public programmes and events;
- Supporting the development and coordination of the Sapieha Palace symposium.
The Fellow will be expected to:
- Align and agree the programme with the Director and in-house curators;
- Initiate and maintain relationships with artists and collaborators;
- Draft and oversee agreements with artists and partners;
- Lead on the curatorial, conceptual and structural aspects of their programme, working closely with the production team.
- The Fellow will receive day-to-day production support from two in-house project coordinators, as well as mentorship from Sapieha Palace curators and Director, as needed.
Each Fellowship provides the conditions for curators to develop their individual practice, embedded in institutional life, supported by mentorship, and encouraged to open new creative dialogues between London and the Baltic region.
Key eligibility criteria
Applicants should have:
- 1–5 years of relevant curatorial experience;
- A higher education qualification, BA, MA or equivalent, in curating, art history, visual culture, or related disciplines;
- UK citizenship, residency, or another demonstrable UK affiliation, such as settled or pre-settled status, long-term residency, or equivalent.
Strong preference will be given to emerging practitioners who have not held full-time roles in major institutions or museums, and who are able to demonstrate experience and initiative in running small-scale, self-directed projects, spaces, or frameworks.
Sapieha Palace and Upė Foundation will fully support the process of arranging the Lithuanian work and residence permit.
What the Fellowship offers:
- A monthly salary of €2,175 gross;
- Fully funded compulsory health insurance;
- Initial flights to Vilnius;
- A new work computer;
- Support in finding accommodation and settling in;
- Assistance in arranging residence and work permits;
- Flexible office hours;
- Access to CAC’s broader infrastructure to support research and project development;
- A dynamic, fast-paced work environment.
Salary & Job description
Please find a full job description here.
How to apply
We place great value on original, individual thinking and writing. We therefore strongly encourage applicants to prepare their materials in their own words and to avoid generic or artificially generated responses. Applications that are authentically the candidate's own will be prioritised in the selection process.
Please submit the following materials in English, compiled as a single PDF file, to sapiegurumai@cac.lt with the subject line “Upė Foundation Curatorial Fellow.”
- CV;
- Motivational letter, maximum 1 A4 page, outlining your interest in Sapieha Palace and this specific opportunity;
- Exhibition proposal for the first-floor Northern Gallery, maximum 1 A4 page.
If you have any questions before applying, you can contact Sapieha Palace at sapiegurumai@cac.lt.
Application deadline: 12:00 noon UK time, Monday 13 July 2026
Interviews: early August 2026
Final decision: mid-August 2026
Start date: Autumn 2026
Selection process
Applications will be reviewed jointly by Upė Foundation and Sapieha Palace. Following an initial assessment, a shortlist of candidates will be invited to a first-round online interview with representatives from both organisations. A smaller group of finalists will be invited to a second interview.
The selection panel will include members of Upė Foundation and Sapieha Palace. Decisions are made by consensus, with agreement required from the full panel at each stage.
