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MINI is celebrating its 60th birthday this year and, as part of the celebrations, MINI Ireland is taking a stand at the Body and Soul Festival 2019. The festival, which takes place on 21st to 23rd June at Ballinlough Castle, Co. Westmeath and celebrates 10 years this year, is renowned for its nurturing ethos towards designers and creatives that represent a fresh new generation of break-through and emerging Irish talent and has worked with Christie Collard, Felix Power, Aoife Banville and acclaimed architect Rae Moore.
So, if you're a budding designer, get scribbling, because MINI is offering a €10,000 bursary to the person who can design a stand that best reflects both the history of MINI and the spirit of the festival.
MINI will be showing off three new sub-brands at the show. A/D/O is named after the secret design office in which Sir Alec Issigonis worked to design the original Mini in 1959 - the Amalgamated Drawing Office at the British Motor Corporation. The modern-day A/D/O has been established as "a meeting place for pioneers from diverse backgrounds." Basically, it's a MINI-backed think tank, where creative types can come together and help work out solutions to future challenges, both inside and outside motoring.
Meanwhile, MINI Urban-X is a start-up funder, which every six months selects as many as ten new start-up firms and invests in them, in order to help new ideas and innovation get off to a flying start.
Finally, there's MINI Living, which is another design and innovation think-tank, but this time with the specific intention of creating better urban living spaces. The original Mini was revolutionary in how it used its interior space, and the idea is that legacy can be built upon to help the cities of the future.
Anything else?
Austin Behan, General Manager for MINI Ireland, said: "The space should blend in harmoniously with the Body & Soul Festival theme, Rituals, and take design cues from MINI's brand history and heritage. By collaborating with Body & Soul Festival we have an opportunity to showcase in Ireland how MINI is more than just a car brand but a leader in creating solutions for future urban living spaces, through MINI Living, Urban-X and A/D/O."