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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, and Executive Director of London Design Biennale, which he co-founded with Sir John Sorrell in 2003 and 2016 consecutively. He is an advocate and campaigner for the creative industries.

Career

The son of Tom Evans and Tessa Blackstone, Baroness Blackstone, Ben Evans is director of the London Design Festival, which he co-founded in 2003, and co-produces with Sir John Sorrell. 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 for the event including an annual residency in the V&A museum; along with directing Global Design Forum.

In 2016 he added a new activity — London Design Biennale — 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, a board member of the Roundhouse, and a trustee of Artangel. Since 2017 Evans has become Chairman of the Mayor's Cultural Leaders Board—a statutory advisory group to the London Mayor.

Honours and awards

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

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.

Personal life

Evans was born in London. 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. 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.

References

  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. ^ "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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