Supporting Creativity and Culture

 

Our puma.creative initiatives aim to bring together individual artists and organizations, and provide them with a platform for creative exchange and international exposure. The first puma.creative project was the support of the exhibition “30 Americans” at the Rubell Family Collection in Miami, Florida, during Art Basel Miami Beach 2008. Both Art Basel Miami Beach and the important “30 Americans” exhibition challenged our understanding of the synergy between art and design, music, style, and fashion, and was a perfect fit for the expression of PUMAVision’s creative initiative. The sponsorship of Hussein Chalayan’s retrospective at the Design Museum in London further grounded puma.creative’s serious commitment to supporting art and culture. In London we also sponsored the Central Saint Martins graduate fashion show and subsequent auction benefiting the PUMA Central Saint Martins Bursary Award. puma.creative collaborated with Africa Express hosting a free public music concert in Paris showcasing over 125 artists to an audience of over 16,000 people–also featured on an “Africa Express presents…” CD/DVD. We established and continue to develop the Creative Africa Network (CAN), an online social networking website and cultural directory that enhances, celebrates and honors existing African and Africa-related cultural networks within and beyond the continent. This has expanded to include the CAN Ambassador awards, awarded to 20 individuals in 2009 for dedicated service to the arts, as well as Mobility Grants providing 40 artists with travel opportunities to participate in important cultural activities. As part of our commitment to a more creative world, PUMA will continue to support artists, art projects, and exhibitions globally through puma.creative.