Celeste Network is an online social network for contemporary art, where artists, gallerists, curators and other arts professionals share work and thoughts in a participatory and dynamic manner.

Celeste Network organises annual awards and contemporary art events, offers communication services and advertising, helps artists get in touch with gallery owners and curators.
 Anyone can visit Celeste Network without having to sign up. Anyone interested in contemporary arts can sign up and have a free, personal page.


Once signed up, artists and arts professionals can create their personalised, online profile page to present themselves, to upload artwork and events, create portfolios of their artwork and communicate with other members in the network.

More info on Celeste's ethos of active redistribution


Sign-up now, and get your free page

Yes, whenever you wish you can change and/or add new user types to your profile. Loginto you admin page and find 'Change profile' under 'Profile' in the header bar of the page.

Celeste Network never publishes your email address, we need it to allow you to sign-up in your account every day.  When you communicate with other members in the network the notification services never include or reveal your email address to other members. When you upload your CV, if you do not wish personal information such as an email address or mobile phone number to appear, remember to delete this information before you upload your CV.

Newsletter is Celeste's periodic newsletter sent via email which informs members of what is going on in the network.
CMailings is an advertising service which informs other members via email of opportunities and activities in the artworld. We never reveal members' email addresses to third parties who ask us to send messages on their behalf. 
Celeste Network is not responsible for, nor necessarily supports, the content of CMailings you receive from third parties. If you wish to unsubscribe from either of these two mailings services, simply loginto your account, click on 'Change profile' and un-tick either one or the other, or both.

Once logged in you can manage your Personal Page in Celeste Network from your Admin.

Your Admin is divided into thre parts

• Use links in the header bar to manage the account information in your 'Personal Page', which includes upload of works, events, projects, create portfolios, and other operations listed.

• A central part with a box dedicated to 'Staff news' and below a box 'Enter the prizes'. From the latter you can enter the calls and prizes organised by Celeste Network.

• Right hand-side coloumn, from which you can administer the status of your Premium membership and and manage your advertising.

Loginto your Admin Page, click on 'Manage' in the header bar, find 'Artworks' and open this link, then follow the steps. You can upload images of works, add text, statements, and description of the works. You can choose to publish your work either in high resolution or in low resolution by checking the appropriate box. When you are uploading the image file of your work, we strongly recommend you use the tagging service in which you can insert an unlimited number of words related to your work, by doing so you help promote your work in the network and enable other members to find your work more easily.

Once you have uploaded your work, click on your 'Personal Page' link above the header bar, in order to see your work published online.

You can delete your work at any time by simply returning to your Admin and clicking on the 'cancel' button related to the work you intend to cancel. All works can be deleted except finalists' works.

In your personal admin page, in the section 'Artworks' you will find beside each artwork a green button 'Submit to Prize' which allows you to rapidly submit a work to a prize which you've uploaded in the past.

Login to your account to create a Portfolio. You can group your artwork in a Portfolio in whichever way you wish, for example by theme or by year.

You must first add the artworks in your section 'Artworks', then click on 'Portfolio' in the header bar of your Admin page, then click 'Add Portfolio', fill in title and description of the Portfolio, continue and select the Artwork you wish to include in the Portfolio.

You can choose which Portfolio to view on your Personal Page by simply clicking on 'Show in Personal Homepage'.

Once logged into the site you will be able to interact dynamically with the other members by using the available network functions:

All members who have purchased Premium membership, as well as all newly signed-up members on a free, 15-day trial, receive a Premium membership badge.
Read about the advantages of becoming a Premium member

To delete your account in Celeste Network, login, click in the header bar on 'Profile', click on 'Change profile' and after on 'Delete Profile' in the right column.

By doing so, you support yourself and the collective effort of a network. Your work is reviewed by a top, jury of international art curators and by creative talent-hunters from around the world, which include gallerists, collectors, curators, critics, the art press and artists. By publishing an image of your work in Celeste, it is instantly viewed in priority placing, in one of the largest, online arts networks worldwide. This brings visibility, promotion and sharing of your work to arts professionals - not only in the community - but outside as well, in the press and social media worldwide. Celeste Network exists thanks to the contribution made by your prize entry fee.

Money from prize entries is immediately redistributed to pay for programming and administering the network, as well as paying for awards and logistics associated with organizing the prize. In recognition of this crucial role and the need to maintain its circularity, as organizers, we work to make the network as inclusive, as open, and as functional as possible for all members.
 

We believe our ethos of active redistribution of entry fees to the network, is not only the most advanced way of carrying forward a self-sustainable cultural project today, but as we move forward, it brings new and unforeseen benefits to members. We have achieved all this to date without a major economic sponsor. Instead, we continue to rely on subscription fees from artists and the technical sponsorships which partners are willing to offer.

The Celeste Prize is an international contemporary arts award organised by Celeste Network in which artists from all over the world can participate. 
To enter the prize you must be a member of Celeste Network.
The Terms & Conditions of the 8th edition, Celeste Prize 2016 were published on 4 February. In the Terms & Conditions you will find all the information required to enter the prize, selection panel members, the name of the curator, prize voting by finalist artists, the prizes, and details about the final exhibition.

In 2015 Celeste Network decided to fuse together the two prizes it organises, Premio Celeste (Italy) and Celeste Prize (International) into one single prize, called Celeste Prize.

Premio Celeste, 11th edition 2014 - 1st edition 2004

Celeste Prize is constantly seeking to improve ways in which shortlisted artists are selected - not only to guarantee the quality of finalist works but also to ensure maximum openess and accountability in the process. To reach this goal, we create within the jury specialist panels in which curators with a track record in a particular media make selections for finalist works in that particular media.

Selection of finalist works
Each selector, in his or her prize category, chooses and publishes10 works for the finalist shortlist. The 10 works which receive a majority of preferences in each prize category will go through to the final exhibition. There will be 10 finalist works in each prize category, except in the Project Prize category in which there will be 3 projects chosen by the prize's chief-curator. In the event of there being an equal number of preferences for works in any prize category the chief-curator will decide which works will go forward to the final exhibition. If more than one work by the same artist is chosen as finalist by the selection panel, the chief-curator will decide if both or just one will go to the final exhibition. Selected works will be announced online by 1 September 2016.

PRIZES ARE VOTED BY THE FINALISTS
There are six prize categories in which the 53 finalist artists express their preferences during the final exhibition. Only works present at the final exhibition can be voted for prizes. Each finalist will exercise one vote of preference in each of the prize categories. The voting will be confidential. No one may vote for themselves or in agreement with other finalists, to do so will result in disqualification. Voting slips will be named and checked by Celeste. Winners will be those artists who receive the highest number of preferences in their prize category. In the event of a tie during voting in any prize section, the curator will decide which artist shall be the winner. Finalists unable to be present at the voting will be able to cast their vote in advance via email.

'Visible White Photo Prize' is a photography prize founded in 2012 by Celeste Network and Fondazione Studio Marangoni to support international photographers and artists who engage, creatively, with what is moving personal, social and political issues today.

Jurors are looking for photographs and projects which:
-  Deliver new angles of vision and understanding to the chosen theme
-  Reflect contemporary ways in which images of people, ideas and places are created
-  Show discipline and personal style
-  Contain strong reference systems
-  Use conceptual or descriptive interpretations to shed new light on the chosen theme
-  Push the boundaries of the media

Past editions
    2015 - 4rd edition 'familydom'
    2014 - 3rd edition 'You See Me'
    2013 - 2nd edition, 'Lapsus'
    2012 - 1st edition, 'beyondmemory'

To participate in the prizes and calls you must be a registered user in Celeste Network.
 Once logged in, at the center of your personal admin page click on the box corresponding to the prize or call you want to join. Choose whether you want to 'Enter a Work' or 'Enter a Project'. Then follow the steps, which include payment online and upload of images and texts relating to your work. Entry fees allow Celeste Network to pay prizes, cover all exhibition, curatorial, catalogue and administrative costs. 


Once your payment has been confirmed you will find in the call box the button 'Enter a Work'. If you pay by bank transfer it normally takes three working days for us to verify your payment, after which the 'Enter' button will be substituted by the 'Upload' button.

CELESTE PRIZE: At this point you can submit your work online. You can submit more works for an additional fee. If you submit your work by mail Celeste staff will upload your work and text on the site for an additional fee.


CALLS like VISIBLE WHITE PHOTO PRIZE: Calls are either free or have an entry fee. You can submit one work or up to ten works in a project. If you wish to submit more works there is an additional fee. If you submit your work by mail Celeste staff will upload your work and text on the site for an additional fee.

There are two ways to submit your work:

• Online via your personal admin page in Celeste Network, which is the cheapest and fastest method.

• By mail at an additional cost for each work. If you submit your work by mail Celeste staff will upload your work and text on the site for an additional fee (see terms and conditions).

There are two methods of payment:

• ONLINE WITH CREDIT CARD via PayPal - Login to www.celesteprize.com , enter your personal admin page and click on the box ‘Celeste Prize’ or for calls click on the graphic box with the calls' name, pay for your entry with credit card via PayPal before you begin to upload artwork. Choosing this method of payment you can submit your prize/call entry immediately.

• ELECTRONIC BANK TRANSFER - For bank transfers we need three working days to verify your payment before activating your prize or call entry.  Send your entry fee in € Euro currency, net, without transfer fees or commissions payable by Celeste on receipt. For bank transfers coming from outside-Europe you must ADD 10 € Euro to the entry fee.
You must state the following details when bank transfers are made:
a) Participating artist’s full first and family names.
b) Celeste Prize / or name of the call you are entering.
See terms and conditions for bank details.

There are two ways to enter your work, the fastest and cheapest way is online:

• DIRECT UPLOAD ON WEBSITE 
 To submit: sign-up or login to your personal admin page in Celeste, click on 'Enter a Work' or 'Enter a Project’ in the 'Celeste Prize’ or Call box at the centre of the Admin page. Pay your entry fee (either online by credit card, or via bank transfer), and immediately begin to upload your artwork, description and statement. You can always return to finish upload, when you have completed all uploads click on 'confirm' to ensure your work is visible and among candidate works to the prize.

• BY POST/MAIL 
Send your images, text and entry fee or receipt of electronic bank transfer to: Celeste Network, Via Sangallo 23, 53036 Poggibonsi (Siena), Italy.
Include the following:
1. A complete and signed copy of the Application Form.
2. On CD/DVD (or as positive photographs and text): Curriculum Vitae or a short biography, preferably written in English, but other languages are also accepted; An image file of the work you wish to submit, including title and description. For entries sent via post/mail we refer to the postal stamp date with reference to the deadline.

WORKS
Once your payment is confirmed you can proceed with submission of your work.
 Login, at the centre of the Admin page click on the prize or call box you wish to enter. Click on 'Upload your work' and follow upload steps. If you still find the button 'Enter' you have to wait, it means that we haven't yet verified your electronic bank transfer payment.

When you have completed upload of images and text, and saved your work, in order to publish your submission online confirm.

PROJECTS
Once your payment is confirmed you can proceed with submission of your project.
 Login, at the centre of the Admin page click on the prize or call box you wish to enter. Click on 'Upload your project' and follow upload steps. If you still find the button 'Enter' you have to wait, it means that we haven't yet verified your electronic bank transfer payment.
1.  Select the graphics box ‘Celeste Prize’ in the area ‘Enter the prizes’.
2.  Select ‘Upload your project’.
3.  Insert details of your project.
4.  Select ‘Next page’ and upload the first work which will be the one which presents your project.
5.  Select ‘Next page’ and upload one by one all other works in the project using the button ‘Add work’ or ‘Add video’. If you have already uploaded the works in ‘Artworks’ (‘Manage’ > ‘Artworks’) and wish to carry them over into the project select the button  ‘Add from Artwork’.
6.  Select ‘Complete upload’, check the preview and if all is correct then select ‘Confirm’.

To enter a video you need to first upload the video file on Vimeo https://vimeo.com/ (you will need to create a free account in Vimeo).
 Once your upload in Vimeo is completed you need to copy the URL of the link of the video and return to the page in Celeste in which you are uploading your video, and paste it in the space provided.


CELESTE PRIZE
There are six sections in the Prize:
Project; Painting & Drawing; Photography & Digital Graphics; Video & Animation; Installation, Sculpture & Performance; Super-Young.

See Art. 3 of the Terms and Conditions for a listing of accepted media in each prize section. 


Here are three common areas of confusion: 

• Non-photographic collages should be entered in the Painting & Drawing section.

• Mosaics should be entered in Installation, Sculpture & Performance section.

• Works with a photographic base to which other techniques such as painting, drawing, collage, etc. have been added, should be included in Photography & Digital Graphics section.


No specified dimensions are requested, but we recommend a minimum size of 2500 px on the longest side in 300 dpi. When you upload your file image you can choose whether you wish to show it also in high resolution.  We ask for good quality images to do justice to your work and also to allow us to have the file on hand in case your work is selected for reproduction in one of Celeste's catalogues.


You can enter as many works or projects as you wish to CELESTE PRIZE, VISIBLE WHITE PHOTO PRIZE and to the other CALLS.

CELESTE PRIZE: Each paid entry is valid for one work entered in any one of the four prize sections: Painting & Drawing; Photography & Digital Graphics; Video & Animation; Installation, Sculpture & Performance. There is a fifth prize category 'Project Prize' in which you can submit upto 10 works/videos; and a sixth prize category 'Super-young Prize' where it is possible to submit one or more single works (only for artists under 26).

€ 50 / single work (€ 40 for each additional entry) in any of the following prize categories: Painting & Drawing; Photography & Digital Graphics; Video & Animation; Installation, Sculpture & Performance.
€ 90 / project (upto 10 works/videos) in the prize category: Project.
€ 30 / single work in Super-Young Prize (€ 25 for each additional entry)

If you purchase two single work entries you can choose to enter the works in any of the four prize sections, either both works in the same section or in different sections. For entry fees and discounts for multiple entries see Article 5 of the Terms & Conditions.

PROJECTS
You can submit a project which includes up to 10 images of works or videos in the Project Prize section of Celeste Prize or of Visible White Photo Prize. Projects submitted to Celeste Prize can be in any media or technique, and don't have to follow any particular theme. The Project Prize section of Visible White Photo Prize is for works in photography and digital graphics and should be inspired by the theme.

DIPTYCH / TRIPTICH
can be submitted as a single work.
Each prize entry fee for a single work allows you to submit one image of one work in any of the prize categories except the Project Prize – if this work is a diptych, triptych, you can create a Portfolio in your personal page (it is free) with details of your work, then copy the link of the Portfolio into the statement which accompanies the work you wish to submit to the prize. In this way selectors will be able to view all images of your work.

Remember, the image of the work or project you submit, if chosen by the Selection Panel, is the work which will go to the final exhibition - not necessarily all works which make up a final work or project will be invited to the final exhibition as installation and hanging of works for the exhibition will be decided by the curator and the organiser on the basis of available exhibition space.

The deadline hour and date is the last moment in which entry fees can be paid (the deadline is not referred to the upload of artwork). The date which appears by the artwork is the moment in which it has been confirmed and published online. Participants who have paid before the deadline but have not completed their submission, have a further 7 days in which to upload their works. The above rules apply even when deadlines are extended.

Bank transfer payments usually take three working days to clear. Once we have verified payments we activate your account and the possibility to upload your work. For payments made directly online via PayPal, the activation is immediate.

Yes, for both prizes and calls there are exhibitions for the selected works in real locations. In addition to this, Celeste Network's web platform hosts online exhibitions of all works submitted to prizes and calls. 

Yes, every year we publish catalogues for Celeste Prize and Visible White Photo Prize, which are distributed freely to whoever is present at the finalist exhibitions. Each of the two catalogues includes reproduction of the finalists' works, text and statements, critical texts, and a special mention for other shortlisted works not in the final exhibition. 
It is also our policy to reproduce the previous year's winning works in the catalogue as a record of what happened. The reason for this is that the catalogue is published for the final exhibition, but winners are voted during the course of the exhibition, after publication of the catalogue. Visit the page Catalogues to view all catalogues produced by Celeste Network.