Enter the Digital Era, How NFTs are Impacting Art, Creativity and Beyond
In 2021, Collins Dictionary announced that NFT was word of the year, which was a rather curious situation for a word that isn’t even a word. NFT is an acronym that stands for non-fungible token. Collins defines it as “a unique digital certificate, registered in a blockchain, that is used to record ownership of an asset such as an artwork or a collectible.” The rise of NFTs in popular discourse over the course of the past 12 months has been meteoric and frankly unprecedented especially given that the vast percentage of people had never heard of one before March 2021. This month two things happened to catapult them into the headlines. First was Twitter’s co-founder Jack Dorsey selling the first ever tweet as an NFT for USD 2.9 million and the second was the sale of an artwork by a previously unknown artist called Beeple whose digital collage sold at Christie’s for USD 69 million. Of course, this was not the birth of NFTs. Actually, the first ever piece of art minted [this is the term for making an NFT] on a blockchain was in 2014 but March 2021 will go down in history as a watershed moment.
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Write from the Heart: Seddiqi Holding's mentorship programme for young writers
In March 2022, when the 14th edition of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature got underway, so did the first year-long edition of First Chapter, the ELF Seddiqi Writers’ Fellowship. The programme, the first of its kind in the region, is a platform for aspiring writers from the UAE aiming to identify and nurture emerging writing talent, elevating it to an international standard and bringing it to global attention.
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The Return of Sharjah Biennial
After a three-year hiatus, Sharjah Biennial will return next March. It is a landmark moment also for the event, as SB15 will realise the dreams of its curator, who died in 2019. Here, Anna Seaman gives a short preview ahead of the 2023 event.
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A Porous Practice: Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim
One of the most prolific artists in the UAE, Mohamed Ahmed Ibrahim crafts his work in the mountains of Sharjah’s Khorfakkan and represents his nation at the 2022 Venice Biennale.
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A Lasting Impression: Ismail Khayat
This story is tinged with sadness as the artist Ismail Khayat is in a coma since having an accident in 2019. Sharjah Art Museum will celebrate his practice with a landmark show.
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In The Absence Of Colour
Patricia Millns is an artistic institution in the UAE. At Maraya Art Centre, in October 2022, she will have her her first solo exhibition in a decade.
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2013-2014: The Art of the Emirates, published by Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation. Co-author
Featuring the UAE’s contemporary artists, galleries, foundations and educators who have contributed to the development and growth of the national arts sector.
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2015: Arabic Hurufiyya: Art and Identity, Primary English Editor
An exploration into this unique form of art using Arabic lettering. Edited by Charbel Dagher, Translated by Samir Mahmoud, Published by Skira.
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2018: Paul Guiragossian: Testimonies of Existence. Co-editor.
Managing and editing exhibition catalogue published for the Barjeel Art Foundation.
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2018: English Editor, Perception.
This narrative style book charts eL Seed’s most ambitious artistic mural that was installed over 50 buildings in the Manshiyat Nasr neighbourhood of Cairo in 2016. Written and published by eL Seed.
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2018: Editor, AbdulQader Al Rais: A Retrospective.
The accompanying publication for an exhibition of the same name at L’Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris. Published by Dubai Culture
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2021: Contributor, Building Sharjah.
Co-edited by Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi and Todd Reisz and published by Birkhäuser this book charts the architectural and vernacular history of the emirate of Sharjah.
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2021: Ghost writer, Don’t Look Down: Fatima Daoui
The autobiography of Fatima Daoui, a Moroccan TV anchor at Al Arabiya news station. Published by Dreamworks Collective
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2022: Co-editor, 50U
50U a book about the United Arab Emirates. It was published on the occasion of the UAE’s Golden Jubilee, celebrating December 2, 1971, when the confederation of seven Gulf states was officially declared. Featuring 50 portraits to encapsulate the nation. Published by Archis, designed by Irma Boom. Commissioned by Yasser Bin Khediya
https://www.instagram.com/50u_book/
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The Artist Who Inspired Picasso
THE ARTIST WHO INSPIRED PICASSO By Anna Seaman This year marks the tenth anniversary of Lasting Impressions, an annual event...
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Material Man
ART MATERIAL MAN Taking a measured approach to reconstructing the past and presentingit as contemporary art, Khalid Al Banna straddles...
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Between Memory And Reality
BETWEEN MEMORY AND REALITY Hrair Sarkissian: The Other Side of Silence explores the myriad ways in which contested histories are...
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Narratives From The Past
NARRATIVES FROM THE PAST Thirty new acquisitions go on show at Barjeel Art Foundation’s rotating five-year exhibition. By Anna Seaman...
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