Arts & Design

British Fashion Council Foundation

Established in 2020, the British Fashion Council Foundation brings together all of the British Fashion Council’s charitable initiatives under one umbrella. The charity, of which Narmina Marandi is Co-Chair, supports the future growth and success of the British fashion industry through education, grant giving, industry workshops, business mentoring and the Institute of Positive Fashion, which aims to create a new bar of accountability within the industry. The world-leading foundation aims to improve equality and opportunity, helping designers at every stage of their career.

In her role as Co-Chair, Narmina is responsible for fundraising, building a global network to support British talent and developing the foundation’s Individual Patronage Programme and International Advisory Committee.

The Studio Voltaire Future Fund

Studio Voltaire was founded in 1994 by a group of London artists and creatives who set up studios in response to the lack of affordable provision in the area. Studio Voltaire’s idiosyncratic and lively artist and community programmes are enjoyed by a wide range of audiences and provide transformational support to emerging and underrepresented artists through subsidised studios, studio awards, professional development programmes and international residencies.

Collections have been presented at and collected by major international institutions, including Tage, The Whiney Museum of American Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The British Museum, National Portrait Gallery, Malmo Kunsthalle, British Council Collection, Museum Ludwig, Moderna Museet and Arts Council Collection. Commissioned artists have been awarded and nominated for prizes including Turner Prize, Carnegie Prize, Wolfgang Hahn Prize and MacArthur Genius Fellowship, as well as participating in major international arts festivals, including Venice Biennale, Skulptur Projekte Muster, Whitney Biennial and documenta.

The Marandi Foundation is contributing £30,000 to the Studio Voltaire Future Fund which aims to:

  • Work to combat the chronic lack of arts provision in schools and broaden access to arts and creativity by providing fee Learning Programmes for 3,500 local school children and young people, supporting 520 lcoal teachers and educators, and 280 local community members via skills-based workshops and alternative learning opportunities.
  • Support 12000 local people via deep-rooted and impactful Civic Programmes alongside national co-creation projects, harnessing the transformative power of creativity and targeting those currently most under-reached to create long-term personal and societal change.
  • Directly tackle city-wide loss of artists’ studios by providing 65 artists with subsidised and affordable onsite studios and bespoke professional development programmes.
  • Increase accessibility and opportunities, specifically for artists with limited financial means, by providing 21 artists with free studios and bursaries alongside bespoke professional development and mentoring.
  • Provide 35 international artists and curators with well-structured and fully supported residencies and vital space to develop their practice, hone new skills, take risks, produce new work and broaden their professional and creative networks.
  • Support 480 artists through new commissions and projects, including 80 significant new commissions, engaging and inspiring 150,000 onsite audiences, 250,000 people via touring and 10.5 million via world-class Public Projects.

The Conran Shop & Marandi Foundation Award for Designer of the Future

In 2021, the Marandi Foundation, in partnership with The Conran Shop, sponsored the inaugural ‘The Conran Shop & Marandi Foundation Award for Designer of the Future’ at the prestigious New Designers Awards. The New Designers Awards are the UK’s most important exhibition for emerging design talent in the UK. The award itself recognises exceptional potential, empowering the winner with tools needed to accelerate their route to success through a unique combination of financial support, professional industry expertise and business mentorship.

Narmina Marandi was a judge on the 2021 panel alongside senior members of The Conran Shop team and renowned guest judges from the design industry.

The Watercolour World

The Marandi Foundation wholly funds The Watercolour World, a charity which provides free online access to documentary watercolours painted before 1900. Over the centuries, painters – both professionals and amateur – created hundreds of thousands of images recording life as they witnessed it. Every one of these paintings has a story to tell, but many are hidden away in archives, albums and store rooms, too fragile to display. The Watercolour World exists to bring them back into view.

Javad Marandi is Chairman of the charity’s advisory board and Their Royal Highnesses, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, are patrons of The Watercolour World.

Serpentine Galleries

The Marandi Foundation provides core funding to the Serpentine Galleries to help ensure they remain free to the public. The Serpentine Galleries – in Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park – are among London’s most popular cultural destinations, championing new ideas in contemporary art. The Serpentine has been presenting pioneering exhibitions for half a century from a wide range of emerging practitioners to the most celebrated and internationally recognised artists of our time.

Narmina Marandi is a member of the Council of the Serpentine Galleries and Co-Head of the Cultural and Social Affairs Committee.