wizara
Performance Studies Ph.D. Candidate Adham Hafez, co-founder and creative director of the first block-chain based platform for artists by artists, has curated a new exhibition that takes place on the blockchain.
Wizara announces the opening of ARQAAM, a landmark exhibition showcasing cutting-edge works by digital artists making their debut on the blockchain. Wizara is the first regional platform dedicated to NFTs and blockchain based artworks, from Arab, African and Asian artists. With more than twenty artists hailing from countries as diverse as Egypt, Sri Lanka, Syria, Kenya, Palestine, South Korea, and Armenia, this multimedia NFT collection exhibited at ARQAAM is a unique glimpse into the practices and forms being explored by African, Arab and Asian artists in 2021. The exhibition is curated by Adham Hafez, and produced by Mona Gamil and Adam Kucharski. Running from 14th November to 14th January 2022, ARQAAM marks the first and largest regional NFT exhibition, timed with the launch of the region’s first symposium on cryptoart, the metaverse, and the blockchain. ARQAAM - meaning “digits” in Arabic - evokes forgotten histories of shared knowledge practices, accumulated through migration and cohabitation. While Arabic numerals continue to underpin everyday life, whether paying bills or building blockchains, the history of knowledge sharing and coexistence remains largely undiscussed today. ARQAAM situates non-fungible tokens within the broader arc of contemporary art, with its myriad languages, histories, etymologies, and ontologies. A moment of entering into conversations, naming and renaming definitions, and working collaboratively, ARQAAM reclaims the blockchain, the metaverse, and NFTs for people of color, giving priority to female identifying artists in a male dominated space.
Powered by Polygon, an environmentally friendly blockchain protocol, ARQAAM is a fully digital experience that exhibits over 150 artworks, performances, videos and sound pieces.
In addition to an online gallery at www.arqaam.xyz, the collection can be explored in a 3D metaverse (coming soon) at https://newart.city/show/arqaam
Featured artists include Omar Houssein, Amie Sultan, Ibrahim Quraishi, Ansh Kumar, Ahmed Naji, Yaloo Ji Yeon Lim, Shayma Aziz, Dina Jereidini, Zeina Raafat, Mey Seifan, Nvard Yerkanian, kiara kalinda, Fahad Salim, Mohammed Tayeb, Layal Srouji, Mohamed Gaber, Melinda Mouzannar, Harshini Karunaratne, Mona Gamil, HaRaKa Platform, Monzlapur, Ahmed Mhennaoui, Ahmed El Shaer, and Lamia Gouda.