Ben Evans (director)

Evans is Director of London Design Festival,[6][7][8] which he co-founded in 2003, and co-produces with Sir John Sorrell.[9] 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[10] for the event including an annual residency in the V&A museum;[11] along with directing Global Design Forum.[12]

In 2016 he added a new activity—London Design Biennale[13]—with the forthcoming third edition taking place in September 2020. This biannual exhibition, staged at Somerset House, invites participating countries and cities to exhibit original design installations in response to a theme. Installations are 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,[14] a board member of the Roundhouse, and a trustee of Artangel.[15] Since 2017 Evans has become Chairman of the Mayor's Cultural Leaders Board[16]—a statutory advisory group to the London Mayor.

In 2010 Evans was awarded an honorary degree from the Royal College of Art,[17] 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.[18]

Evans was born in London in 1963. 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]