BE OPEN Art, an online art gallery established by the BE OPEN think tank, a humanitarian effort formed by worldwide entrepreneur and philanthropist Elena Baturina, summarised the first month of a new nationwide competition for upcoming artists.
Beginning in the year 2023, the BE OPEN expert team began selecting artists who best represent the cultural and creative identities of the Eastern Mediterranean region. The first part of the competition, which will last three months, will take place in Cyprus, Turkey, the Greek Dodecanese islands, and the countries of Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt.
The title of Regional Artist of the Month belongs to Jovanna Theodosiou, who received the most votes from visitors to the BE OPEN Art online gallery in February. Jovanna studied Fine Art at Kingston University in the United Kingdom and now lives and works in Nicosia, Cyprus.
In March, the audience will choose one more Artist of the Month, and the winner of the Eastern Mediterranean stage will be picked from among the three by BE OPEN’s expert jury. Each regional winner will get a cash prise of 500 euros, and a selection of artwork best representing the region will be publicly shown, with the artists being recognised.
Because each regional stage lasts three months, four stages will be held each year, with a winner declared for each. At the conclusion of the year, the competition’s focus will shift to the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, and Central Africa.
The regional competition will run alongside BE OPEN Art’s regular continuing work, in which experts pick 20 artists for the gallery each month, with online voting used to determine the Artist of the Month and the Artist of the Year.
BE OPEN Art picks artists at an early point of their career in order to highlight and nurture rising talents – the project views its role as finding new art scene influences.
Being featured in BE OPEN Art is an opportunity for rising artists all over the world to be noticed, as well as a beginning point for building relationships between today’s creators and collectors. BE OPEN work has remained an exciting and extremely relevant arena for interaction between emerging artists and collectors, who are now even more encouraged to develop and purchase socially significant work in the face of global humanitarian upheaval.