V&A\RCA Alumni in Conversation

Tune in to the latest Alumni in Conversation event run by the V&A\RCA History of Design Alumni Network. We will welcome Ben Evans (MA 1989) and William Seung (MA 2023), two champions of contemporary design. Ben directs the London Design Festival, centred at the V&A every September since 2008. William has stayed close to the V&A too, managing the Digital Art Season there last Autumn as part of his curatorial role. Join us as we hear about their exciting careers in curating world-class showcases of design, and how their experiences on the course shaped their impressive trajectories.

Ben Evans is the Director of the London Design Festival, which he co-founded in 2003. The Festival celebrates London as a global design capital, involving 350 partner organisations and attracting 1.5 million individual visits. As well as managing it, Ben curates projects for the Festival, including an annual residency in the V&A museum. In 2016, he added a new activity – The London Design Biennale – where countries present design installations on a theme. Over 80 have now participated in the four editions to date. He is the Executive Director of the Biennale. Between 2017 and 2021, Ben was Chair of the Mayor’s Cultural Leaders Board - a statutory advisory group to the London Mayor. In 2019, he received a CBE for services to the Creative Industries.

William Seung is Assistant Curator, Design and Digital at the V&A, looking after the Design 1900–Now gallery and Digital Art Season. Before that, he was Assistant Curator at Somerset House for the exhibition ‘CUTE’ (2024). Prior to his relocation to London, he worked as Assistant Curator / Curatorial Assistant, Design and Architecture at M+ in Hong Kong, where he was heavily involved in a variety of exhibitions, including the museum’s inaugural collection showcase ‘Things, Spaces, Interactions’ (2021). His research interests include video games and East Asian visual culture.

The event will be hosted by Cas Bradbeer and Charles Samaurez Smith. Cas (MA 2023) is Heritage Officer at the London Borough of Newham. Charles was one of the first course tutors in 1982, later taking on leadership roles at the National Portrait Gallery, the National Gallery and the Royal Academy.