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]

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.

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]

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]