Bahrain: The Art Revolution
Changing our perceptions of the art world forever.
In 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 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 smart-contracts attached to the NFT, and that is in perpetuity.
NFTs could be considered a late-capitalist tool to sell immateriality as if it was an object. In your opinion, does this distort the work of art or enhance it?
Majority of the people from the earlier generations link ownership to physical items. It is only natural as this was how we were brought up and how we have always done things. But the world is changing. All you need to do is look at the youth of today. They buy virtual items in video games, and the idea of a virtual ownership has become natural to them.
Things are gradually changing – just look at money for example. We hardly use any cash anymore, which was not always the case. The same thing happened when credit cards were introduced, it was very new and people were skeptical about it. Now, it’s very natural.
The human being evolves and will keep evolving.
The hype for NFT technology is overwhelming: you see immense enthusiasm and investment by collectors, curators, artists, and professionals. Given your experience, are there any elements of the new field that concern you, or do you fully share in this enthusiasm?
I do appreciate the emergence of many new types and styles of art that this technology has allowed the artists to explore and produce. As an artist, of course I am very enthusiastic about it. From an investment point of view, I would say it is still early and chaotic at this point, but the potential is definitely there especially with the cross-utalisation between the NFT technology and traditional art.
As you look at the NFT space, what genres of work or which artists are you most excited about?
All types of art can capitalise on the NFT technology. Digital art now became more ogranised and is treated like artwork, which opened a huge opportunity for millions of artists to showcase their talent. This wasn’t doable before.
Where is NFT MENA Exhibit headed? How do you see this event evolving in the region?
The success of the event was overwhelming. It gave the opportunity for local artists and businesses to learn and network with industry leaders. We are aiming to have the event on an annual basis in the region.
