Art
Africa’s NFT Scene Is Booming – International Attention Could Take it to the Next Level – ARTnews
Last November, Art X Lagos, West Africa’s biggest art fair, partnered with leading NFT platform SuperRare to host Reloading…, one of the first NFT exhibitions for African artists. Featuring artists from Nigeria, Morocco, South Africa, Senegal, and elsewhere, the show has been described by those in West Africa’s scene as a major milestone drawing international attention to what African digital artists are doing.
The show “brings so much liberty and independence to the artists, and really just opens up their options,” Tokini Peterside, founder of Art X Lagos, told Reuters at the time.
Meanwhile, in March, the Centre for Contemporary Art Lagos held an introductory digital workshop on NFTs, moderated by Tomiwa Lasebikan, co-founder of Buycoins Africa. A month later, the African Digital Art Network launched the NFT marketplace Nandi to, as co-founder Chinedu Enekwe told Decrypt, “build an ecosystem” that can “help brands and creators to get paid.”
The buzz around Reloading … and these other initiatives is reflective of the fact that cryptocurrencies and digital art already have a major presence in Nigeria and across Africa. And it is only getting bigger.
Between July 2020 and June 2021, Africa saw $105.6 billion in cryptocurrency payments, a roughly 1200 percent increase over the previous year, according to a March report by blockchain data platform Chainalysis. Meanwhile, Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa were all ranked in the top ten countries for crypto use.
But despite this seemingly wide crypto adoption, African digital art still has challenges to overcome.
Early last year, the Nigerian government banned banks and financial institutions from using cryptocurrencies, causing many Nigerians to empty their crypto wallets in a wave of panic. While Nigeria announced new rules earlier this month to ease the restrictions, over a dozen African countries still have full bans – including Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia.
The bans have handicapped the digital art ecosystems in those countries. While more tech-savvy Nigerians were able to get around the ban, Victor Ekwealor, a Nigerian tech journalist, told me, it prevented most from investing in crypto art in the months after.
“Many African artists market to me directly because there are not enough collectors to buy their art,” Daliso Ngoma, a South African NFT collector and founder of African Technopreneurs, told me.
Similarly, Rodney Asikhia, the owner of Tribes Art Africa, a contemporary art gallery in Lagos, observed,“The rate of patronage of NFTs by African artists is relatively low when compared to the patronage of works by artists from elsewhere.”
This problem arises because most collectors of digital art by African artists are Africans. And Africa simply does not have enough high net-worth investors to collect NFTs at competitive international prices that could sustain the larger ecosystem. More global acceptance and patronage of the works of these artists by international collectors would lead to the greater growth of digital art on the continent.
Another obstacle to the ecosystem is the weak economies of African countries. Minting an NFT could cost anywhere from a few dollars up to several hundred, depending on gas fees – the fluctuating processing fee for crypto transactions – and the platform on which the digital work is minted. However, even just initializing your account will cost approximately $60-70 on most platforms, according to The Verge. In countries such as Nigeria or Kenya, where the minimum wage is approximately $100 – 130 per month, many artists struggle to earn enough to mint their works.
Artists like Osinachi, Young Kev, Kevin Kamau, and others agree that providing artists funds to mint their first NFTs would boost participation in the crypto space. Some artists have even taken it upon themselves to do so on an informal person-to-person basis, playing their part in making this field of blockchain assets expansive and inclusive.
But while artists have provided support to each other, Africa’s NFT sector needs infrastructure comparable to the traditional art world. In that self-sustaining ecosystem, artists make work, gallerists and art dealers market and promote it, and collectors buy it. Meanwhile, art institutions exist to support, develop, and sustain artists as well as facilitate the growth and promotion of art. Introducing this high level of organization and functioning to the digital art space would help onboard more interested people, along with the experienced players, to grow and promote digital art across Africa.
Towards this end, Charles Mbata, a digital art collector and curator, and Chuma Anagbado, an artist and entrepreneur, are bringing together artists, enthusiasts, and cultural figures to build a crypto art community in Nigeria.
One of their initiatives is the Nigeria NFT Community, which organizes programs and fosters collaborations between artists in the space to get recognition by a wider, more global audience. Through a collection like Ape of Lagos, the community aimed to spotlight African artists creating NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain. They also organized 3rd Dimension, a virtual reality exhibition for Nigerian digital creators. A similar forthcoming exhibition is Metanoia, which will be held in New York, Nairobi, and Lagos. Other communities like Africa NFT Community, Black NFT Art, and Network of African NFT artists have filled similar roles, helping artists garner more sales, exhibitions and critical engagement. These communities have also facilitated training and information dissemination to artists and other creatives interested in NFTs.
People have often talked about how the NFT craze is driven by money and not the quality of the art. There is some validity to that opinion. It is undeniable that Beeple’s $69.3 million NFT sale at Christie’s and Osinachi’s NFTs achieving prices of $80,000 have created investment interest for collectors and hopes of a goldrush for artists.
But there are African creatives who are interested in doing serious work with NFTs. Nigerian graphic designer Mayowa Alabi, also known as Shutabug, said in an interview earlier this year that he wants his digital art to tell a larger story. Johannesburg-based art director Fahtuwani Mukheli, believes NFTs level the international playing field and give African artists access to audiences they may otherwise not have had access to. In an interview with TRT World, he said that NFTs “make us [African artists] compete completely with everyone at the same time in the world.”
This expanded access and reach have convinced many African artists and art world professionals that it is therefore important to pay attention to the kinds of art they put out in the world – art that seriously engages with African reality and identity.
The digital art ecosystem in Africa can yet experience more growth if more is done to overcome the challenges it currently faces.
While there may not be immediate solutions to difficult home economies or unfavorable crypto laws, we can provide education to expand understanding of the space, develop infrastructure to onboard and diversify collectors, and to provide artists training on how to position their work for the ever-evolving market, while improving their artistic vision.
Art
Random: We're In Awe of Metaphor: ReFantazio's Box Art – Push Square
There’s nothing quite like video game box art that makes you stop and say “wow”. Admittedly, it’s been a while since such a cover caught our eye, but we simply can’t gawk at the newly revealed box art for Metaphor: ReFantazio and not write an article about it.
The upcoming RPG looks to be a stunner in terms of art direction, and the cover gives you a taste of that before you even get started. It features gorgeous character-focused art, and although we still think the name ‘Metaphor: ReFantazio’ is a bit… overwrought, we can’t argue with the logo, which is striking.
NieR: Automata’s Kazuma Koda is credited as Metaphor’s concept artist, so we’re assuming it’s his work that’s decorating this box, but it’s also worth noting that longtime Persona character designer Shigenori Soejima is running the show.
Are you as taken with Metaphor’s box art as we are? Have a quick say in our poll and then make some room on your shelf in the comments section below.
Art
Hajime Sorayama on the erotic aesthetics of his sexy robot art
|
We speak to the controversial Japanese artist about fetishism, his never-before displayed ‘hardcore’ paintings and Desire Machines – one of the inaugural exhibitions at the Museum of Sex opening soon in Miami
©Hajime Sorayama Courtesy of NANZUKA
©Hajime Sorayama Courtesy of NANZUKA
,
“articleBody”: “Shoyer adds: “I appreciate how Sorayama’s work engenders discussions about the real and the fantastic, the erotic appeal of the inorganic, and the porous boundaries between being human, machine, and animal, especially in relation to subjectivity or myths of consent.” She says there’s one particular piece she wants to highlight – and one that ties the Museum of Sex Miami’s inaugural programme together nicely. “The painting [an untitled work painted by Sorayama in 2022] features a fembot using a vibrator,” she explains. “Gold halos hover over the robot’s head and the head of the vibrator, sanctifying both machines. The vibrator features a hand crank, referencing the early history of vibrators – a history that’s also on view in Modern Sex. Hand-cranked vibrating stimulatory machines were first invented during the industrial revolution. An object like the Vee Dee vibrator (1900-1915) features a similar hand-crank to the vibrator on view in Sorayama’s painting. As such, in this work, Sorayama seems to combine the early history of mechanical stimulators with a futuristic look at self-stimulation. Here, the past, present, and our visions for the future compound. The painting seems to ask, ‘How has erotic desire, self-stimulation, and the subjectivity of other-than-human figures manifested, and how will it play out going forward?’.”
By referencing the past in this way (see also his Marilyn Monroe android pin-up), Sorayama imbues his ‘sexy robots’ – who he refers to as his wives and daughters – with a past. They’re simultaneously human, with realistic, supple flesh and familiar histories, and yet disorientingly non-human, futuristic, and fantastical. At a time when we have more tools than ever than envision a different kind of eroticism – and yet people use AI to reinforce the same Western ideals of sexiness – Sorayama remains one of the few still really pushing the boundaries of what eroticism can look like. “I’m excited and very proud of how [Desire Machines] came together,” he concludes. “I can’t wait to see the viewers’ reaction. I just need to keep behaving myself so I won’t get arrested before the show starts.”
Visit the gallery above for a closer look at some of the artwork going on display at the Musuem of Sex in Miami.
Museum of Sex Miami opens in 2024. Follow their Instagram for updates.”,
“mainEntityOfPage”: “https://www.dazeddigital.com/art-photography/article/62457/1/hajime-sorayama-museum-sex-miami-erotic-sex-robots-exhibition-xxx-hardcore”,
Art
Fragility on display at new Kelowna Art Gallery exhibition – Kelowna News – Castanet.net
Two Master of Fine Arts candidates at UBC Okanagan explore fragility in a new exhibition at the Kelowna Art Gallery.
Kelowna-based Victoria Verge and Salmon-Arm based zev tiefenbach are featured in the presentation titled “What is Fragile?” that runs until July 12, 2024. An opening reception is scheduled for Friday, April 26, from 6 pm. to 8 p.m. at the Kelowna Art Gallery, and admission is free.
Verge’s works, titled Chasing the Echoes of Home, include interactive sculptures and a large installation featuring wallpaper and vintage furniture. Teifenbach’s collection includes photographs and videos called these are fragile days.
“Through their unique artistic explorations, Verge and tiefenbach shed light on how fragile the human spirit can be,” says curator Christine May. “Visitors to the exhibition are encouraged to think deeply about how art can transform us, and the important role that artists play in shaping today’s social and cultural stories.”
A pair of fellow MFA student from UBC Okanagan, Jessie Emilie and Troy Teichrib will also be showcasing their work at the Lake Country Art Gallery from May 18 to July 14.
“Through a range of mediums, these students are offering visitors the opportunity to explore the next generation of contemporary art across a variety of styles,” says Wanda Lock, curator at the Lake Country Art Gallery.
The Kelowna Art Gallery is located at 1315 Water Street. The Lake Country Art Gallery is at 10356A Bottom Wood Lake Road.
-
Health4 hours ago
Remnants of bird flu virus found in pasteurized milk, FDA says
-
Art10 hours ago
Mayor's youth advisory council seeks submissions for art gala – SooToday
-
News16 hours ago
Some Canadians will be digging out of 25+ cm of snow by Friday – The Weather Network
-
Science18 hours ago
"Hi, It's Me": NASA's Voyager 1 Phones Home From 15 Billion Miles Away – NDTV
-
Media15 hours ago
Jon Stewart Slams the Media for Coverage of Trump Trial – The New York Times
-
Art22 hours ago
Made Right Here: Woodworking art – CTV News Kitchener
-
Investment9 hours ago
Taxes should not wag the tail of the investment dog, but that’s what Trudeau wants
-
Sports19 hours ago
Auston Matthews turns it up with three-point night as Maple Leafs slay Bruins in Game 2 – Toronto Sun