Draft:JC Candanedo
Catalan-Panamanian multi-disciplinary artist
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Juan Carlos Candanedo Sáez (born 1975 in Panama City, Republic of Panama), professionally known as JC Candanedo, is a London-based, queer multi-disciplinary artist and humanist activist. Candanedo is primarily a photographer, using his camera as a tool for activism and social justice, but his practice spans textile work, installation, performance and community-engaged art. His work explores identity, migration, humanism, social justice, and representation.[1][2]
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- Multi-disciplinary artist
JC Candanedo | |
|---|---|
 Candanedo in 2025 | |
| Born | Juan Carlos Candanedo Sáez |
| Other names | JC Candanedo |
| Occupation |
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| Website | jccandanedo |
Early Life and Background
JC Candanedo was born in Panama to a Catalan-Panamanian family. He was raised in Panama City, where he attended Colegio San Agustín, a private Catholic institution known for its rigorous academic curriculum. He later went on to train in Computer Science at Universidad Católica Santa María La Antigua (USMA), one of Panama’s most respected private universities.
After his university years, Candanedo moved to Barcelona where he spent nearly two decades[3] working in project management and telecommunications. He then relocated to New York City, where he retrained in photography at the New York Institute of Photography, and later lived in Sydney before settling in London, where he currently lives.[1][4]
Artistic Practice
Candanedo’s work engages with themes of belonging, identity, self-representation, human rights, and the experiences of diasporic communities. His practice uses photography, analogue processes, performance, plant-based pigments, and textile experimentation to explore cultural memory and social history.[5] His projects often involve long-term collaborations with communities and advocacy groups, centring underrepresented voices.[6][7][3][8]
His work has been featured in exhibitions, public art commissions, and international publications.[9][10]
Notable works include:
- Aberfeldy Stories (2022): public space exhibition featuring photographic portraits and oral histories of residents in East London’s Aberfeldy Estate undergoing regeneration. The project, in collaboration with local arts collective The People Speak, was exhibited at East India Green.[11]
- Decolonising Fashion and Textiles (2023): A research project developed with the London College of Fashion and the Centre for Sustainable Fashion, exploring ethics, sustainability, and postcolonial perspectives in textile and fashion design. The work engaged communities with refugee and asylum-seeking backgrounds.[12][13]
- Your order is on its way (2025): street-based exhibition celebrating Brazilian modernism and the cultural contributions of migrant communities in London, produced in partnership with theatre director Gustavo Dias-Vallejo and curated by the Royal Academy of Arts.[14][15]
Music
Candanedo is credited as the writer of Has Estado en Panamá[16], an early musical work that helped launch the career of Panamanian, two-time Grammy Award-winning artist Erika Ender. The song has been referenced in Spanish, Brazilian, and international media in connection with Ender's formative career trajectory [17][18][19][20]. Erika Ender is better known as the co-writer of Despacito, the biggest hit of 2017 according to Billboard, which spent 16 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100.[21]
Publications
Seeing Changes (2024)
Seeing Changes is JC Candanedo’s debut photo essay[22][23][24] and a tribute to the resilience of young people navigating hardship. Developed over 18 months with students from the King's Trust (formerly the Prince's Trust) “Team” programme at Waltham Forest College, the project combines analogue photography with handwritten annotations.[25]
Photographs were created using a vintage Ensign Ranger II camera, linking the project to East London’s historic photography industry.
In his introductory essay, Candanedo writes:
“We are all living in someone else's Utopia. No matter how bad our current situation seems, our life right now is what another person might be wishing for the future. When we feel like life has dealt us the wrong cards, it is easy to lose sight of how fortunate we are. But, in the end, what makes you a winner is not the cards you are dealt. It all comes down to how you play them.”
Advocacy
Humanism
A lifelong secularist and advocate for human rights, JC Candanedo is the former chairperson of Central London Humanists[26], a supporter of Humanists International and a member of Humanists UK. He regularly speaks and writes about the intersection of the Arts and activism.
In his published essay for Humanists International, My Humanism is a Work in Progress, he stated:
“My Humanism is my personal philosophy of life. I strive to be an ethical, compassionate and responsible person every single day.”[27]
Candanedo was also featured in the Humanism Now podcast (Episode 36), where he discussed how the Arts can be a vehicle for solidarity and representation.[26]
Noria Collective
Candanedo is the co-founder of Noria Collective alongside Sandy Abdelrahman[2], a non-profit creative organisation aimed at using the Arts to amplify the voices of people from the Global Majority living in the diaspora in the UK, particularly those from Latin American and North African/Arab backgrounds, through community-engagement and the Arts.[28]
Recognitions and Roles
- Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).[29]
- Co-founder and Director of Noria Collective.[2][28]
- Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees at Axis (Axisweb).[2][30][31]
- Member of the Association of Photographers (AOP) Sustainability Working Group.[32]
- Fellow of the UK Creative Community Fellowship (2021). Derby Museums, National Arts Service and the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Social Impact Strategy.[33][34]
- Resident Artist at Orleans House Gallery.[35] [36]
External Links
- Official Website: https://www.jccandanedo.com
- Noria Collective Website: https://www.wearenoria.com