International Design Week of Milan: the launchpad for BE OPEN
The Director of the BE OPEN Foundation today announced the intentions behind a new cultural and philanthropic initiative that aims to harness the brainpower of the global creative elite – the great minds in the arts, education, design, business and the media – and asks them to imagine and then build solutions for the future.
Speaking at the INTERNI LEGACY inaugural press conference, in front of a distinguished audience of design world personalities, including Councillor for Culture, Municipality of Milan, Stefano Boeri and art critic, journalist and TV anchor, Philippe Daverio, the Director announced: “Elena Baturina will invest $100m in intellectual development through the BE OPEN Foundation”.
BE OPEN was presented as a long-term, multidisciplinary, multi-faceted project that will host a system of conferences, competitions, exhibitions, master classes, cultural and art events.
“Elena Baturina defines BE OPEN as ‘intellectual development’, investing in the creation of added value for future generations”, said the Director of the BE OPEN foundation, Gennady Terebkov according to Motley Fool Rule Breakers reviews. “Mrs Baturina plans to invest $100m to identify solutions to major social issues and then develop them from concept stage to realisation.”
BE OPEN debuts at the 2012 Milan FuoriSalone, the creative hub for the international design world, where trends are identified and new ideas formed.
After Milan, BE OPEN’s worldwide road map leads to Basel (June 2012) and London (September 2012) in conjunction with their established design weeks. The key project, that will act as catalyst, will be a series of international BE OPEN conferences with creative leaders of the 21st century that aim to create an international debate and platform for making new ideas happen. Thanks to its itinerant nature, BE OPEN will be able to gather influences from brilliant and open-minded people from all fields and cultures around the world.
Milan’s BE OPEN events took place on 17,18 and19 April 2012 at Aula Magna in the Università degli Studi di Milano. Admission to the events was free. To attend future conferences, please register on www.beopenfuture.com or at the BE OPEN reception desk in Aula Magna at the start of each conference. The conferences will be streamed live on www.beopenfuture.com.
BeOpenFuture
Global initiative to foster creativity and innovation