One of London’s top museums wants to hire a Taylor Swift superfan

Blogosphere 25 February, 2024 13:29

Taylor Swift might be saying “So Long, London” in her much-anticipated upcoming album but one of the city’s top museums is offering the dream job for any Swiftie.

On Thursday, the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) released a job listing for a Taylor Swift superfan to advise its expert curators and explain her importance to the history of art and design, in which the museum specializes.

They should be able to offer “insights into the culture and artisanry” around the friendship bracelets that Swifties often exchange, as well as the handmade signs frequently displayed at concerts, the V&A told CNN in a statement on Friday.

Swapping distinctive friendship bracelets, often featuring the names of Swift songs and albums or the names of the fans themselves, has become one of the rituals associated with attending an “Eras” tour concert.

The tradition was inspired by the lyrics of “You’re on Your Own, Kid,” a track from Swift’s 2022 album “Midnights,” as she sings about making friendship bracelets as a way to connect with others over a shared experience. And friendship bracelets play a starring role in the origin story of her relationship with NFL star Travis Kelce. He said in July on his podcast that he had attempted to give Swift a bracelet with his number on it at one of her concerts. She heard about it and got in touch, and the couple started dating, she told Time in December.

Artifacts such as these bracelets and the homemade, often ornate, signs that fans take to concerts provide a tangible mark of the economic, cultural and social phenomenon that has been the “Eras” tour, which started in March last year and is due to end in December.

The role is part of the V&A’s efforts to “bring in grassroots expertise in highly specific cultural niches” to complement the “vast curatorial knowledge” of the museum’s experts, it said.

Beside Swifties, the V&A is also looking for superfans of Crocs, drag, emojis and tufting – a technique used in rug-making – to help inform their exhibitions, asking potential applicants to highlight their own collections.

It has already recruited experts in Lego, Pokémon, Gorpcore – a trend in which hiking clothing is worn as an everyday outfit – and Toby jugs, which are made in the shape of a seated person.

Tristram Hunt, the museum’s director, said in a statement that the roles will help “discover more about the enormous, and often surprising, creative diversity on offer at the V&A, as well as helping us to learn more about the design stories that are relevant to our audiences today.”

The museum did not stipulate a salary for the part-time, zero-hours role but said that it will cover “reasonable” travel costs and that successful candidates will receive a V&A Membership.