Candlestar is an innovative London based cultural consultancy dedicated to ensuring that we bring the very best people - communicators, producers, curators and marketeers - to work on behalf of our international clients in arts, education and business.

Sculpting Our History –
artists and Nobel laureates confront climate change
Candlestar are working with the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership (CPSL) to support Sculpting Our History - a unique event to be held at the Science Museum in London on 27 May 2009.
In the context of climate change, Sculpting our History seeks to explore how seeing as an ‘artist’ can change our perspective, and endeavours to examine the role of the arts and creativity in ‘sculpting’ our world in times of crisis, in the past and today.

The event forms part of the 2009 Nobel Laureates Symposium on Climate Change, hosted by the Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership (CPSL) with the patronage of HRH The Prince of Wales. It will bring together around 150 esteemed artists, business and public sector heads, civil society leaders, academics, scientists and 20 Nobel Prize winners to begin this dialogue. Alongside a panel discussion which will include contributions from Nobel Peace Prize-winner Wangari Maathai, Artistic Director of the South Bank Centre, Jude Kelly, Artist Heather Ackroyd, and Director of the Centre for Ecoliteracy, Fritjof Capra, there will be performances by leading artists from a range of mediums, including Max Eastley and Lemn Sissay. The event will also feature a presentation of the outstanding photography submitted for the inaugural Prix Pictet.

Artist in Residence Programme
Candlestar has been appointed by The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment (SSEE) at the University of  Oxford to develop its first Climate Change Artist in Residence Programme.  The Residency will take place over the next eighteen months during which a number of high level international meetings and conferences that will shape the world’s thinking on climate change will take place. The residency will constitute an efficient way to communicate effectively and convey important messages to business leaders, policy-makers, academics and the wider public about sustainability issues.  Over the next few months, Candlestar will work alongside The Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment to define aims, secure funding, promote and manage the residency programme.

MOPCAP Finalists

At Magic of Persia’s Dubai Gala on 11th April 2009, seven Finalists were announced for the Magic of Persia Contemporary Art Prize (MOPCAP) by the chair of the international Jury, Sheena Wagstaff, Chief Curator of Tate Modern in London.

The MOPCAP Finalists are: Farhad Ahrarnia, Mahmoud Bakhshi Moakhar, Vahid Chamani, Barbad Golshiri, Sahand Hesamiyan, Abbas Kowsari, Newsha Tavakolian

Sheena Wagstaff said:
"The Jury was impressed by the broad scope and sheer diversity of extraordinary new work being created by young Iranian artists. We are thrilled to know that this inaugural year of MOP CAP is the first of a long term commitment to giving prominence to the remarkable creative energy that infuses contemporary art by Iranian artists, seven of whom we have selected as Finalists."

For the 2009 Prize, over 500 images of artwork were submitted across four categories: painting, photography, sculpture and new media. Entry to the Prize is by nomination by a panel of 47 experts in contemporary Iranian art and culture from around the world.

Masques of Shahrazad
Candlestar will be presenting The Masques of Shahrazad, its latest show of Iranian Artists in London, from 9 to 14 March 2009, at the Mall Galleries, London. In collaboration with the Day Gallery, Tehran, The Masques of Shahrazad brings together 28 prominent Iranian women artists whose works span three critical generations in the history of Iran. Candlestar will be presenting a selection of works that trace the development of Iranian art and artists over the past four decades, when the national identity of Iran has been dramatically re-forged.
Listen to Candlestar Director Fariba Farshad on BBC Radio 4’s Midweek

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Prix Pictet

Munem Wasif at Mall Galleries
Photographs by Munem Wasif revealing the daily impact of the scarcity of clean, safe water on the people of south-west Bangladesh go on display for the first time from 9 March at the Mall Galleries, London. Wasif was one of eighteen leading international photographers shortlisted for the 2008 Prix Pictet. More …

Prix Pictet 2009
On 11 March there will be a reception at the Mall Galleries to launch the Prix Pictet 2009 with the announcement of this year’s judges. This is the second year of the world’s only annual photography award to focus on sustainability, supported by Pictet & Cie. More …

Volta NY
Iranian born artist Tahereh Samadi Tari will hold her first solo show at Volta NY Art Fair, from 5 to 8 March 2009. This year's show, entitled Age of Anxiety, focuses on areas currently underexposed by the art world (Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Latin America), while also identifying trends that point towards newly critical aspects of emerging art. The show’s title—taken from W.H. Auden’s 1948 poem of the same name—suggests reexamination as well as imaginative departures that herald new beginnings. More…

Abbas Kiarostami: Roads, Rain and Cossi fan Tutti
Candlestar will team up with leading London gallery PurdyHicks to present a short exhibition of photography and film by acclaimed Iranian film director Abbas Kiarostami. More...

Nothing
Candlestar has added Nothing to our portfolio of international arts projects. Parviz Tanavoli's wearable sculptures began with a series of tiny versions of his iconic Heech sculptures that are inspired by the Persian calligraphy for the word 'nothing'. More…

Magic of Persia - Dubai and London
For the second year, a spectacular fundraising Gala and Iranian Contemporary Art Auction, will be held in Dubai, hosted with the continued support of Christie’s Middle East and Europe, and the generous donation of works by renowned Iranian artists. More …

Personnel, Partnership and Rankings
Candlestar has been commissioned to assist the Universities Personnel Association as it changes its name to Universities HR. The UPA, the professional group for human resources staff in the universities, is adopting the new name from its conference in May to reflect changing terminology. More …

Water – The Book
Candlestar is delighted to present Water, a book length survey of the inaugural Prix Pictet, published by the renowned international publishing house teNeues. Water was introduced at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The book will be available for the public soon from all good booksellers; however copies can be pre-ordered from the Prix Pictet secretariat, Candlestar. More…

Magic of Persia Contemporary Art Prize (MOPCAP)
Candlestar is delighted to support for another year Magical Nights in Dubai, a charity fundraiser and auction of Iranian art organised by the charity Magic of Persia and taking place in Dubai from 9th – 12th April, 2009, in the presence of His Highness Sheikh Nahayan Bin Mubarak Al Nahayan. The event will again bring together the work of prominent Iranian artists to create a unique auction. Money raised will go towards the newly launched Magic of Persia Contemporary Art Prize (MOPCAP). More…

Kofi Annan awards
£50,000 Prix Pictet to Canadian Photographer Benoit Aquin
and £20,000 Water Aid Commission to Munem Wasif.
Candlestar acting as the Prix Pictet Secretariat is proud to announce the award of the Prix Pictet 2008 to Canadian Photographer Benoit Aquin. Bagladeshi photographer Munem Wasif was awarded CHF 40,000, this year’s commission to photograph WaterAid’s work. More…

Education Partners
David Jobbins, Head of Candlestar’s Education Unit, has been appointed
to the executive committee of the International Observatory on Academic Rankings and Excellence, set up to review league tables and academic excellence. Candlestar has been supporting the Equality Challenge Unit as it prepares for its conference in Manchester on November 4th-5th. We were instrumental in securing media partnership for the conference from the Times Higher Education (THE). On the first evening of the conference, as a direct result of Candlestar's assistance, the THE's editor, Ann Mroz, is chairing a debate on the theme ‘Equality in higher education: positive action or social engineering?’ and hosting a reception before the conference dinner.
David Jobbins is also co-author of an article on The Complete University Guide in the current issue of a refereed academic journal, Higher Education in Europe, the UNESCO-CEPES Quarterly Review.

Prix Pictet Shortlist Announced
The independent jury of the Prix Pictet has just announce the shortlist for the 2008. From an exceptional field of over 200 photographers from 43 countries, the judges have shortlisted 18 photographers who have produced works that are of outstanding artistic merit and communicate messages of urgent global significance. Each of the shortlisted photographers will now be invited to show their work at the Palais de Tokyo at the end of October. The winner of the first Prix Pictet will be announced on 30 October and will receive CHF100,000 (£50,000). At the same time one of the shortlisted artists will be offered a commission worth CHF40,000 (£20,000) to record a water-related project supported by Pictet & Cie.
The exhibition at Palais de Tokyo will run until 8 November.
Starting in Dubai in November an exhibition of work by artists shortlisted for Prix Pictet 2008 will tour the world. The aim of the tour is to use the power of photography to attract attention to, and stimulate debate about, the most pressing environmental issues of our time. more...

Global Media Attention for Prix Shortlist

Ever since the shortlist for the Prix Pictet was announced on 11 July, global media interest in the award has snowballed. Starting with an eight page feature in the Financial Times the quality and power of the Prix Pictet shortlist has been met with an enthusiastic response from media commentators everywhere from Iran to North America, and from Brazil to Belgium . In the UK and France in particular interest has been intense both from the traditional media and arts and environmental blogs.

Candlestar collaboration with Sotheby's
Candlestar's reputation for its work with artists from Iran is growing quickly and we are delighted to partner with Sotheby's and their auction of Modern and Contemporary Arab and Iranian Art. The auction will be held in London on 23 October 2008, and Sotheby's are now accepting consignments for this exciting sale – see the attachment for more information. This collaboration with Sotheby's deepens Candlestar's engagement with Iranian art. Earlier this year we developed 'Whispered Secrets Murmuring Dreams' which is now widely regarded as one of the most important exhibitions of work by emerging Iranian artists in the past three years. Later this year and early next we will show 'The Masques of Sherezade' - a survey exhibition of three generations of woman artists from Iran - in both Dubai and London. In addition to this we have been invited to develop an Iranian Contemporary Art Prize for the London-based charity Magic of Persia. We hope to see you at one of those events and at the Sotheby's auction in October.

Media Brokers
The Candlestar education team has been instrumental in the development of two significant media partnerships. In the first of these the team secured a special supplement in The Independent for the university league tables compiled for The Good University Guide by Mayfield University Consultants (April 24). more...

Dubai Auction of Iranian Contemporary Art raises
$1.2 Million for charity Magic of Persia
Dubai, Sunday 24 November 2007 - The London-based charity Magic of Persia exceeded all expectations with sales from their charity auction of contemporary iranian Art reaching $1.2 million on Saturday 24 November 2007. more..

Candlestar rise to equality challenge
The Candlestar Education team have been appointed by Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) to review internal and external communications and develop an ECU communications strategy. more ...