Candlestar has been selected to curate this year’s SONY World Photography Awards. For the second year running, it will be held at Somerset House in London, this year from 27 April -20 May 2012. The World Photography Organisation (WPO) supports photography at all entry levels, and creates a global platform for the photographic industry to communicate and be inspired by one another. The judging completed on 17 January 2012 and we are looking forward to receiving photos and beginning the layout of the exhibition.

www.somersethouse.org.uk/visual-arts/world-photo-london

Prix Pictet’s third series Growth will continue its tour into Spring 2012. This March, Growth will be exhibited at the Beirut Ayyam Gallery for the first time visiting Lebanon. The exhibition will also travel to University of Technology Eindhoven in the Netherlands, where this is the third year running that Prix Pictet has been hosted.

Prix Pictet’s nominations for its fourth cycle of Power, are nearly complete, and we look forward to receiving the artist’s submissions for the theme. The panel of judges are internationally recognised experts in the arts and sustainability and is led by Professor Sir David King, the director at the Smith School of Enterprise and Environment at the University of Oxford. Prix Pictet will be announcing the shortlist in July 2012 during an evening screening Les Rencontres d’Arles. This is the fourth year that Prix Pictet has been hosted at Arles.  

Candlestar has been appointed to advise Condé Nast on the development of the Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design. We were selected for this assignment on the basis of our outstanding track record and extensive experience in arts and education. The Candlestar team, led by Directors Fariba Farshad and Michael Benson, will advise on the key educational aspects of the development of the new College which is due to open in September 2012.

Click here to download the press release.

Since 2008, Candlestar has been advising collectors, art institutions and museums on the acquisition of contemporary Iranian art. Most recently we worked with Brighton & Hove Museum to set up their collection of Iranian art. The Museum have chosen to invest in works by established photographer Sadegh Tirafkan, calligraphy artist Ebrahim Olfat, and photographer Nader Davoodi.

As part of the 25th Anniversary of Parisian based executive search firm Jouve & Associés, Candlestar worked with Jouve on an anniversary art installation in their offices. The installation included works by Lucy Orta, Lydia Venieri, and Nikolaj B. S. Larsen and coincided with an Anniversary celebration with Steven P. Murphy, Chief Executive Officer of Christie’s, as special guest speaker.