This growing interest in NFTs also means new demands on the creators, according to creator and festival director Fredrik Ekström.
— It’s clear that the creative community needs a better understanding of the possibilities with blockchain technology and NFTs. That said, one of our main purposes is to be a platform and community for creators and innovators, to share knowledge and inspiration, and to trigger collaboration within the community, he says.
A first of its kind, the month-long OtherLands is being arranged by Samsung together with local partners and creators in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland at the same time, inviting to various activities in each country. These include a series of physical events, such as an educational and inspirational NFT Master Class later in March where performances and presentations of NFT projects in art, fashion, music, design, and interior design are highlighted. After the master class, people will be invited to join a community co-creation NFT project to learn more about the creative process. To finish up, NFT Exhibition Parties will take place throughout the four countries, showing Nordic-made NFT art.
— NFT technology rewrites the rules for how the creative economy work, Oscar Nöjd, Head of Group IM Innovation at Samsung Electronics Nordic, states. It is probably the biggest technological transformation we are seeing right now and it is happening right before our eyes. This type of paradigm shift in technology always creates new behaviours, in this case regarding the rules for creative creation in, for instance, art, fashion and music. Our purpose is to create an inspiring forum where art and technology can meet and develop together.
— We want it to function as a decentralized ecosystem of artists, creators, thinkers, and technological innovators. By supporting the creative grassroots community with innovative technology and NFT networks, we hope to support and change the foundations and definition of creative expression through technology, Fredrik Ekström adds.
In Denmark, the initiators have joined forces with Spaceseven, Beatoken, and MojoMoto, which are all leaders in visual art, music, and fashion. In Finland, the focus is on photography and design together with lifestyle concept stores. For Sweden, OtherLands works with retailer Aplace, focusing on the intersection of art and technology through, music, fashion, visual art, and interior design. The Verse Gallery, Scandinavia’s first physical NFT art gallery specialized in contemporary NFT-art, is the Norwegian partner.
The creators include hyped upcycling fashion label Rave Review’s first step into NFTs, launching special ”Crypto panties”. Duo Ryan Koopman and Alice Wexell’s Wild Within project explores abandoned Soviet-era houses in Georgia and Scandinavian MIND cover person Jacob Felländer challenges the norm of creative expressions and definitions of art within photography VR, AR, and NFTs.
Kristian Rajnai, founder of Aplace, why are you joining the initiative?
— I’d say that something magical happens when artistic expressions meet technology in the way we see now with blockchain technology and NFTs. Supporting creative people has always been essential for us and OtherLands puts the spotlight on this changing digital art scene that goes in the spirit of timeless aesthetic yet contemporary absurdism. Also, it’s important to understand the space, in what way it’s possible to use it for retail, and how NFTs transform the experience of fashion, he says.
OtherLands kicks off next Tuesday, March 8. Transparency: Fredrik Ekström is Editor-at-large at Scandinavian MIND.
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