LONDON, July 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — BE OPEN Art, an online art gallery set up by BE OPEN think tank, a humanitarian initiative founded by international businessperson and philanthropist Elena Baturina, is running a new competition for emerging artists, aimed to support those whose art best represents their regional, cultural and ethnic identities – BE OPEN Regional Art.

With the beginning of year 2023, BE OPEN expert community team started selecting those of the artists who best represent the artistic tradition of a certain region to feature in the BE OPEN Art gallery and offer them greater visibility.

The third stage of the programme covers the countries of Southeast Asia over July – September 2023: Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Each regional stage lasts three months, therefore four stages are run a year, with a winner named for each of them. Works by 20 emerging artists are posted at the online gallery every month, and a public vote selects the Regional Artist of the Month. At the end of each stage, one of the monthly winners becomes the Artist of the Region, based on the amount of votes by the public and the BE OPEN art community members.

The regional winners get the money prize of EUR500, while a selection of artwork best representing the region form an exhibition, in order to share the art with the wide public and celebrate the artists involved.

The first stage of BE OPEN Regional Art was dedicated to the art of the Eastern Mediterranean. A selection of works formed an exhibition that was held in June 2023 in Nicosia, Cyprus. The second stage just ended for the artists of the Caribbean, and the winners will be announced shortly.

The focus of the competition will move to Central Africa at the end of the year. The regional competition runs alongside the regular ongoing work of BE OPEN Art, whose experts every month select 20 new artists for the gallery, using online voting to name the Artist of the Month and the Artist of the Year.