Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, Italian opera singer Andrea Bocelli and Beninois-French singer Angelique Kidjo have been selected for the 'Crystal Award' at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting for helping improve the state of the world through their art.
The Crystal Awards Ceremony marks the opening of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, which focuses increasingly on culture as a means to promote inclusion and equality, a WEF statement said.
Ban uses paper and cardboard tubes to build low-cost, scalable, durable and dignified shelters for disaster survivors around the world. His works include the Temporary Elementary School (Chengdu, China) and the Container Temporary Housing (Onagawa, Japan).
Bocelli's Foundation works to help people in need due to illness, poverty and social exclusion.
Kidjo, a Grammy Award winning Musician, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and Co-founder of the Batonga Foundation has long used her voice to speak up for the world's most vulnerable children and their families, the statement added.
"We are very happy to distinguish these three outstanding personalities who not only are world famous artists but who also are concerned about humanitarian issues and committed to using their time and energy to make a difference," Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship Chairperson and Co-Founder Hilde Schwab said.
In addition to the Crystal Awards, the Forum is organizing a series of cultural events in Davos, to highlight the importance of culture in achieving inclusion and equality across the world.
Introduced in 1995, the 21st Crystal Awards recognize personalities in the arts who are true global citizens, and help improve the state of the world through their art.
