illy, the well-known Italian coffee brand, dedicated to visual arts, has launched a revised platform of its digital network, illysustainArt.org, which is dedicated to artists and curators, who live and work in emerging and developing economies. The online program, which was first presented in 2008, offers representatives of the modern art scene from the countries, which provide little opportunities for those who want to share their creativity with the world, to join the global community for better communication and getting a feedback on their works.

Launched on February 9, 2011, the updated platform encourages talents to submit their new creations to be reviewed by a panel of the critics, who belong to the network. In other words, illy creates a digital exhibition space, which has no borders.

Now, the website also encourages artists and curators to participate in the first edition of illysustainArt.org Prize 2011 for a chance to win €10,000, with the winners to be announced by November 10, and welcomes curator Carlos Basualdo to illysustainArt.org’s panel team. So far, the panel of art critics includes 8 experts including Meskerem Assegued, Michelangelo Pistoletto and Angela Vettese to name a few.

The updated version of the network was first presented on Wednesday at the ARS in ARA event, which took place at the Social Media Week festival (Rome, February 7-11), where the participant of the meeting were talking about the state of the art of virtual dimension. It will be also presented at ARCOmadrid_2011 (February 16-20).The illy SustainArt Prize of €15,000, dedicated to young visual artists under the age of 35 coming from coffee-producing countries, was first awarded in 2008 and 2009 to artists from Brazil and India respectively.