BE OPEN Art, an online art gallery created by the BE OPEN think tank, a humanitarian initiative founded by international entrepreneur and philanthropist Elena Baturina, provided a summary of the first month of a new regional competition for emerging artists.
BE OPEN’s expert team began selecting the artists who best represent the cultural and artistic identities of the Eastern Mediterranean region at the start of 2023. The region comprising Cyprus, Turkey, the Greek Dodecanese islands, as well as Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, is the first stage of the competition, which will continue for the first three months of the year.
The plurality of visitors to the BE OPEN Art online gallery in February voted for Jovanna Theodosiou to be the Regional Artist of the Month. Jovanna studied Fine Art at Kingston University in the United Kingdom; she presently resides and works in Nicosia, Cyprus.
The public will select one more Artist of the Month in March, and BE OPEN’s expert jury will select the champion of the Eastern Mediterranean stage from the three nominees. Each regional winner will receive a 500-euro cash reward, and a selection of artwork that best represents their region will be publicly exhibited and the artists will be honoured.
Each regional stage will last three months, resulting in four stages per year, with a victor for each. At the conclusion of the year, the competition will shift its focus to the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, and Central Africa.
The regional competition will operate concurrently with the ongoing work of BE OPEN Art, whose experts select 20 artists per month for the gallery using online voting to determine the Artist of the Month and Artist of the Year.
BE OPEN Art identifies artists in the early stages of their careers with the intention of showcasing and supporting emerging artists – the project sees its mission as locating the new art scene influencers.
BE OPEN Art is an opportunity for emerging artists from around the world to be seen, as well as a launching point for connections to be made between contemporary creators and collectors. As an online gallery, BE OPEN Art has remained a thrilling and highly relevant space for dialogue between new artists and collectors, who are now, in the midst of global humanitarian unrest, more motivated than ever to produce and collect socially significant art.