Cover Feature
THE ART REVOLUTION Changing our perceptions of the art world forever.
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n an exclusive interview, Gulf Insider and Shaikh Rashid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Chairman of the National Council for Arts, look back at the recent NFT MENA Exhibit and where it is headed, and talk about the significant advances in the world of art.
How did the recent NFT MENA Exhibit event contribute to pushing forward Bahrain’s crypto and art industries? This was the first event in Bahrain for crypto and the first exhibition dedicated for NFTs in the region. We have focused on showcasing the utalisation of this technology in the art industry. Bahrain is known to be a regional leader in many aspects, including in the crypto and art industries. We had many international 6
Gulf Insider June 2022
companies from the crypto and traditional media world participating in the event, giving workshops, panel discussions and helping in bridging the knowledge gap to attract more users of this technology - be it cryptocurrency or NFTs. We had companies like Binance and MBC Group as sponsors, alongside some local partners like Tamkeen, Radio Bahrain, Benefit, EDB and many more which contributed to introducing and thus, expanding the crypto space to more people within the Kingdom.
What do you think is the superiority of NFTs to traditional experience in the field of art? Beauty of the art is always in the eye of the beholder. I would not use the
word superiority. Every new medium or technology that can demonstrate artistic talents adds to the field. Each and every one of them has its pros and cons, and NFTs are no different. NFT is a new technology that will provide many solutions in many industries, not only art. Currently, they provide two immediate benefits to existing artist. First, the digital artists can finally protect their ownership and have a proper way to monetise and sell their art. Second, the artists can add royalty to their work, whereby anytime and everytime that artwork gets sold, it automatically sends the royalty back to the artists without human interference through something called smartcontracts attached to the NFT, and that is in perpetuity.
