NFTs: the future of African art
Are NFTs and blockchain solutions truly the future of African arts?
African arts and culture date back to prehistoric times, way before the precolonial era.
Wall paintings and stone culture played a key role in the industrialization and civilization of Africa. Ancient Africans kept records via drawings and inscriptions.
Up till this present age, symbols, runes and insignias still hold a special place in the lives of Africans.
With the world going digital via the proliferation of the internet and, subsequently, blockchain technology, African artists and creators must adopt a new approach to see our art and heritage thrive in the new world of digital arts.
Thanks to NFTs, African artists looking to immortalise their creations can now bring them onto the blockchain.
The blockchain is filled with lots of opportunities and promises that could take African arts to a whole new front.
Through NFTs, creators can mint rare digital artworks on a timeless and immutable ecosystem creating a new history for native African arts and culture.
Because arts and artefacts minted on the blockchain are unique, and in high demand, creators can leverage new ways to showcase their work in a friendly and inclusive environment.
WHAT ARE NFTs?
An NFT is, in essence, a collectible digital asset, which holds value as a form of cryptocurrency and as a form of art or culture.
NFT stands for a non-fungible token – a digital token that’s a type of cryptocurrency, much like Bitcoin or Ethereum.
But unlike a standard coin in the Bitcoin blockchain, an NFT is unique and can’t be exchanged like-for-like (hence, non-fungible).
This unique trait of non-fungibility has made NFTs more valuable as there is an unspoken demand for unique and scarce assets.
SO WHY ARE NFTS SO EXPENSIVE?
Beeple, a popular 3d art creator and NFT collector, sold an NFT for $69M.
You’re probably already wondering why simple digital art would be so expensive and why so many people are jumping into this market.
Because NFTs come in limited editions of unique mints, each nft holds a special connection with its original creator.
Like any real-world collectible, NFTs draw great attention at auctions and marketplaces. Nft lovers and collectors of unique and rare arts bid for ownership of these assets.
Investing in NFTs can be equalled to investing in the growth and success of the creative artists, creators or projects behind it. Deman for an NFT grow over time drastically increasing their value.
HOW NFTS CAN HELP NATIVE AFRICAN ARTISTS
Since the explosion of NFTs in the crypto and art world, many artists and art collectors worldwide have undoubtedly made huge fortunes investing in digital arts.
Although African arts and creators have not seen much success so far, there is a limitless opportunity for native creators to grow.
Africa, as the home of black art and culture, has a lot of advantages when it comes to NFTs. Artists, both digital and traditional, now have a level of playing grown to showcase their artworks and generate huge revenue from their collections.
To achieve full adoption of NFTs in Africa, our team of NFT enthusiasts at blocverse is focused on enlightening and educating African creators on how best to utilize the new market for digital arts.
GET YOUR ART ON THE BLOCKCHAIN AS NFTs
Getting your artwork onto the blockchain is not as complicated as you may imagine. Basically, anybody with a smartphone or pc can assess the blockchain and by extension, the NFT market.
In the very early days of NFTs, only blockchain developers could mint NFTs. Now, just any random dude can mint their art, thanks to NFT marketplaces.
NFT marketplaces are platforms that allow the creation, auction, bid and exchange of NFTs between peer-to-peer networks. Most NFT marketplaces run on Ethereum, BSC, POLYGON AND SOLANA. These marketplaces are built with user-friendly interfaces that let you mint and deploy your NFT for sale without as much as writing a single line of code. Popular NFT marketplaces are opeansea.io and rarible.com.
You must connect your wallet and pay transaction fees in Eth to mint and deploy your NFT for sale.