New Tour of BE OPEN Young Talent Award: Winners Defined

The main winner and the Founder's choice winner will be announced at an awards ceremony in Nottingham, on April 28th, at the annual Cumulus conference. The online voting for the web choice winner will continue till May 15th.

Earlier the candidates presented their works to the judgment of the international jury, consisting of Luisa Collina, Professor of Design, Head of the Master of Science program at Milano Politechnico; President of the Cumulus Association; Annabel Pretty; Senior Lecturer at the Department of Architecture, Unitec Institute of Technology, New Zealand; Umberto Tolino, Professor of Communication Design at Milano Politecnico; José Allard, associate Professor and researcher at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Fred Murrell, Professor Emeritus at the Department of Graphic Design, Rocky Mountain College of Art.

According to the rules of YTA, the jury first selected the long-list of 30, and then shortened it to ten finalists: Sofia Drum Bento (USA), Jacque Kemp (USA), Natalie Mcqueen (USA), Catalina Perez (Chile), The Clocksmiths (Italy), Jenifer Wisler (USA), Pablo Gonzalez (Chile), Caroline Konarkowska (New Zealand), Passport Design Bureau (UK) and QQO (Italy).

Out of the finalists three winners will be named:

Yelena Baturina: "We believe that incubating talent is vital in the design sphere, helping new designers get a firmer foothold on the career ladder through contacts made within our professional networks, and also through giving them the time they need to develop their thinking without financial pressure - or, in fact, to have the luxury of 'being open' to new ideas.  That is the founding principle behind everything BE OPEN does - taking the risk of supporting great ideas that have the potential to change the way we live."

The new tour of the YTA is implemented in partnership with Cumulus International Association of Universities and Colleges of Art, Design and Media, and curated by Luisa Collina. Cumulus is the only global association to serve art and design education and research.