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Ben Evans (director)

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Benedict Blackstone Evans CBE (born September 1963) is a British designer, currently the director of the London Design Festival,[1] and Executive Director of London Design Biennale,[2] which he co-founded with Sir John Sorrell in 2003 and 2016 consecutively.[3] He is an advocate and campaigner for the creative industries.[4][5]

Career

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The son of Tom Evans and Tessa Blackstone, Baroness Blackstone, Ben Evans is director of the London Design Festival,[6][7][8] which he co-founded in 2003, and co-produces with Sir John Sorrell.[7] The Festival is an annual event involving 300 partner organisations and attracts over 900,000 individual visits. As well as managing the Festival, Evans initiates, commissions and curates projects[9] for the event including an annual residency in the V&A museum;[10] along with directing Global Design Forum.[11]

In 2016 he added a new activity — London Design Biennale[12] — with the third edition taking place in September 2020. This biannual exhibition, staged at Somerset House, invited participating countries and cities to exhibit original design installations in response to a theme. Installations were curated by museums and design organisations. Evans is the Executive Director of the Biennale.

Evans has been a governor of the University of the Arts London,[13] a board member of the Roundhouse,[citation needed] and a trustee of Artangel.[14] Since 2017 Evans has become Chairman of the Mayor's Cultural Leaders Board[15]—a statutory advisory group to the London Mayor.

Honours and awards

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In 2010 Evans was awarded an honorary degree from the Royal College of Art,[16] having lectured there for a number of years, and graduated from in 1989 with a MA in History Of Design.[citation needed]

In the 2019 Queen's Birthday Honours, Evans was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the creative industries.[17]

Personal life

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Evans was born in London.[18] He married architect Amanda Levete in 2007 and has 3 children from his previous marriage. He is the son of Tom Evans and Tessa Blackstone.[19] Evan is an Arsenal F.C. fan. He developed a keen interest in architecture and design upon attending a lecture delivered by Richard Rogers at the age of 15.[20]

References

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  1. ^ "The Progress 1000: London's most influential people 2018 - Visualisers: Design". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  2. ^ "London's first Design Biennale reveals details of its "utopian" debut". It's Nice That. 2016-03-22. Retrieved 2019-02-14.
  3. ^ "In search of Utopia: London Design Biennale. Co-Founders explain why they favour ideas over products". Financial Times. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  4. ^ "Brexit's impact on education is a disaster for design says Ben Evans". Dezeen. 2016-10-06. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  5. ^ "How the creative sector was invented". www.artsindustry.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  6. ^ Mariani, Di Valentina (2017-09-08). "Design will prove stronger than Brexit, says Ben Evans". ELLE Decor (in Italian). Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  7. ^ a b "The inside scoop on the London Design Festival". The Week UK. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  8. ^ "Interview: Ben Evans - DesignCurial". www.designcurial.com. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  9. ^ "Ben Evans, Director of London Design Festival and Executive Director of the London Design Biennale". www.britishland.com. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  10. ^ Magazine, Wallpaper* (2014-11-07). "The V&A announces new acquisitions at its annual Design Fund dinner". Wallpaper*. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  11. ^ "Global Design Forum ... one day to set the global agenda for design | Desire". Retrieved 2019-02-14.
  12. ^ "The brainchild of London Design Festival founders Sir John Sorrell and Ben Evans, the London Design Biennale was brought to life in 2016". Creative Review. 2018-08-29. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  13. ^ Evans, Ben (27 September 2018). "Art and design courses are in crisis and Brexit won't help". British GQ. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  14. ^ "Artangel". www.artangel.org.uk. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  15. ^ "Mayor announces new Ambassadors for Culture". London City Hall. 2017-06-12. Retrieved 2018-11-29.
  16. ^ "Honorary Fellows". Royal College of Art. Archived from the original on 2018-09-03. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  17. ^ "Order of the Bath - Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath" (PDF). Government of the United Kingdom.
  18. ^ Sharma, Atish (February 9, 2024). "Ben Evans: The Man Who Gave London its Moment in Design". Homecrux. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
  19. ^ "How We Met: Ben Evans & Peter Mandelson". The Independent. 2008-09-14. Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  20. ^ Sharma, Atish (February 9, 2024). "Ben Evans: The Man Who Gave London its Moment in Design". Homecrux. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
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