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exhibitions
TO AI?OR NOT TO AI? : collection
NFT drop on Nifty Gateway
To AI? Or Not to AI? That is the question - With quest curator Shurooq Amin
With the controversy surrounding AI generated art, from winning competitions to copying work of other artists, there are many polemics on this topic. Ethical or not, AI art is here to stay. However, one thing remains jarring as one more facet for dispute and scrutiny: AI art portraits tend to be soul-less.
In this Drop, entitled To AI Or Not To AI, That Is The Question, there is an exploration and interpretation of the concept of what gives life to art, what puts soul in the eyes, what it means to be a human being creating art versus an AI generated machine run by a human to create art.
Featuring: Rimi Alkoutoubi, Rosso Emerald Crimson, Cedric Fangeat, Nanda Khiara, Ahmed Taher
NEON EQUILIBRIUM : collection
NFT drop on Nifty Gateway
That sweet spot, when everything is perfectly aligned and balance is achieved, is a moment of brightness. In our all-too-chaotic lives, we are continually searching for balance; an equilibrium that brings about a sense of calm. And, when we do touch upon that elusive goal, we shine, shine bright like a neon star. For Neon Equilibrium, artists express that clarity through works that dazzle with the joy of peaceful stability.
Featured artists:
1800.Weirdo
Estrujamentes
Halim Al Karim
Huma Shoaib
Mariah Vestica
Momo
Rank SSS
Udit
Zam
RHIZOMATIC : collection
18 . 11 . 22 - Venue: The Museum of the Future
In partnership with UAE Embassy in Washington DC. Sponsored by Blackdove and LG Electronics.
Featured artists: Abdulla Albedwawi x Salem Al Zaabi, Fabin Rasheed, Kristel Bechara, Magda Malkoun, Mattar Bin Lahej, Nujoom Alghanem, Orkhan Mammadow, Sacha Jafri and Vesa.
Exhibition summary: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is not defined by a singular identity but rather exists as a network of multiplicities; a latticed web of cultures, languages, backgrounds and imagined futures. Much like the internet itself, the UAE’s community is rhizomatic in structure, comprising different nodes with shoots and connections to a seemingly infinite number of others.
The artworks in this exhibition are created by artists residing in the UAE who have engaged with the philosophy underpinning Web 3.0, where decentralisation is returning autonomy to individuals and hierarchies are questioned. In Rhizomatic, you will discover narratives, which remain individual and distinct whilst simultaneously connected.
All the artworks were up on Nifty Gateway and were available for purchase for 48 hours only. It included open editions, auctions, and limited editions.
Abu Dhabi Art
Students NFT art : collection
16-20 . 11 . 22 - Venue: Abu Dhabi Art Fair
Showcasing student artwork from the Art and Technology Virtual Workshop we ran with Abu Dhabi Art earlier this year, in parallel with some of our favourite NFT artists.
The students were put into small teams and given the curatorial title WE ARE MICROCOSM, and just a few days to create these excellent results. All the student NFTs are available to buy on the platform nftone.me.
Featured artists:
1800.Weirdo
Hamza Kirbas
Bakhodir Jalal
Tayseer Barakat
Momo
Amr Adel
Gabriella Anouk: collection
15-18 . 09 . 22 - Venue: Camden Image Gallery, London
Showcasing from 27 . 09 . 22 - 25 .10 . 22 Venue: The May Fair Hotel, London
Gabriella’s Slime Series was inspired by the fruit and vegetables she had at home during the 2021 Covid-19 Lockdowns. However, she didn’t just want to draw realistic still life, she wanted to explore ways to enhance, disrupt and uncover the sensuality in everyday objects. She tried dipping a leaf in paint but this wasn’t flexible enough as once dipped there was no way of changing or manipulating it. She remembered her younger sister playing with slime and thought that could be the flexible medium she was seeking. She experimented by creating her own slime and found it to be perfect for her process.
In November 2021, Gabriella chose to draw a pomegranate as her final piece. She wanted a reference that would be challenging and a fitting end to the Slime Series, and this proved to be the case on many different levels. During this time Gabriella had Covid-19 and quarantined in her studio for 10 days. She worked for over 200 hours drawing Pomegranate Amour. She chose a clear slime to add a beautiful dimension of transparency to this jewel in the crown of the Slime Series.
MORROW collective supports Gabriella Anouk as NFT partner.
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Generative Human with Alserkal Avenue: collection
27 . 08 . 22 - Venue: Sima Dance Company
Part of More Than Human Summer by Alserkal Avenue.
This performance demonstrated how the body responds to and transcends encounters with digital art/NFTs. This newer form of art is itself a manifestation and product of the world we have created off ground – the metaverse. The improvisatory dance contrasted the carefully curated selection of artworks chosen to evoke emotional richness. The accompanying discussion enabled audiences to see what bodily responses to NFTs can look and feel like.
Meta Moina Launch : collection
28 . 07 . 22 - Venue: Art In Space
Meta Moina is a Bangladeshi decentralised fashion and art NFT digital gallery. Meta Moina represents designers and artists including jewellery Designer Niharika Momtaz, and artists Fareha Zeba, Harun Ar Rashid Tutul, Habiba Nowrose, Mahmuda Siddiqi & Afroza Hossain Sara. This is helping a future, where designers and digital artists have more ways to connect with a new generation of collectors.
MORROW collective is proud to support Meta Moina as a gallery partner.
Featured artists:
Habiba Nowrose
Fareha Zeba
Harun Ar Rashid Tutul
Mahmuda Siddika
Niharika Momtaz
Afroza Hossain Sara
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613 : collection
14 . 07 . 22 - 14 . 08 . 22 - Venue: Art In Space
Group Exhibition featuring artists: Petra Kaltenbach, Gabriella Anouk, Fareha Zeba
Exhibition Summary: The pomegranate is an ancient and mythical fruit that carries with it legend and power. In many traditions, the fruit is said to have properties that boost fertility and are sometimes smashed in bridal chambers to encourage the birth of many children. Across scripture, the fruits are presumed to have 613 jewel-like seeds, one for each of the commandments in both the Torah and the Bible and in Islamic literature, legend holds that each pomegranate contains one seed that has come down from paradise. Perhaps because of this mysterious allure, the pomegranate is also known as the forbidden fruit – the one that lured Adam and Eve to fall from the Garden of Eden and which, when eaten by Persephone, the Greek goddess of spring, brought about winter. This exhibition explored that significance as well as celebrates the beauty of the pomegranate.
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Art Dubai : collection
11 . 03 . 22 - 13 . 03 . 22
MORROW collective were part of inaugural Digital Section. Reflecting Dubai's position as a global centre of the blockchain world, this section focused on art in the digital and NFT realms and featured several international platforms working with NFTs; contemporary galleries with projects devoted to new media and digital art; galleries that have been working with digital art since the 1980s; and NFT e-commerce sites and organisations that are turning existing physical art into NFTs.
Art Dubai is the Middle East’s leading international art fair. Over the past 15 years, Art Dubai has cemented its role as a major catalyst in the local, regional and international conversations on art from the Middle East and surrounding region (MENASA – Middle East, North Africa & South Asia), and putting art from these territories onto the global map.
Featured artists:
Larry Otoo
Deryk Owusu Temp Bempah
Chris McNeil
Bakhodir Jalal
Chittrovanu Mazumdar
Magda Malkoun
Aisha Juma
Meriem Bourdebala
Siddiqa Juma
Betty Acquah
Kourosh Salehi
Gateway to the Metaverse: A Global NFT Art Exhibition
01 . 03 . 22 - 15 . 04 . 22 Venue: House of Wisdom, Sharjah
This exhibition was a partnership between MORROW collective and Global Art Exhibition, a group of international artists practicing across blockchains. The show presented a collection of digital art, crypto art, and traditional art with an aim to bridge the gap between the metaverse and the real world by opening a gateway on ground to virtual exhibitions and introduce traditional artists, collectors, and visitors to the metaverse. Together, we wanted to explore new ways to support contemporary art and artists with the technology of NFT and blockchain and expand on the concept of decentralisation to make art accessible to all.
50 | 50 : collection
in collaboration with Dubai Culture
15 . 01 . 22 - 15 . 02 . 22 Venue: Al Safa Art & Design Library, Dubai
To celebrate the golden jubilee of the foundation of the United Arab Emirates. we invited viewers to explore 50 NFTs made by UAE-based artists in collaboration with Dubai Culture and Arts Authority
The works varied from 3D images to animations, from digital drawings to traditional paintings, and from collages to photography. Some of them are powerful portraits of humanity or abstract musings on the human condition, while some others are fun and light-hearted, dramatic and strong, convey powerful messages, or are there for pure visual enjoyment. The NFTs are as diverse as the artists who made them and are a true reflection of the UAE's multicultural society.
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Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival
22 . 11 . 21 - 23 . 11 . 21 Venue: Sharjah Expo Centre
MORROW collective participated in the fifth Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival with a selected NFT collection from our 50 | 50 exhibition. Anna Seaman moderated a panel discussion titled 'Reality Bites: Going Meta about the Metaverse’, which attempted to demystify the metaverse and highlight the boundless possibilities that emerge when the virtual and real worlds come together.
MORROW also hosted a workshop for participants explaining the ins and outs of getting started with an NFT practice as an artist.
Into the Revolution : collection
20 . 09 . 21 - 20 . 11 . 21 Venue: Foundry Downtown Dubai
This exhibition presented physical artworks by eight artists alongside NFTs derived from those pieces.
Artists: Hazem Harb, Huma Shoaib, Bashar Alhroub, Abdullah Dhiaa Al-Deen. Fethi Sahraoui, Saule Suleimenova
The dominant form was the shape of a circle - a revolutionary shape, one that signifies movement and speed. It was used as a metaphor for the rapid pace of the emerging crypto art scene. Other motifs included, geometric patterns, borders and impermanence, & revolution and rebellion.
The exhibition was a marriage of high level curation and NFT technology amid a rapidly changing art landscape that warranted documentation.
Welcome to the revolution.
NFT | IRL : collection
10 . 08 . 21 - 15 . 09 . 21 Venue: Firetti Contemporary, Al Serkal Avenue, Dubai
With NFT artworks and their physical counterparts exhibited side by side, this hybrid exhibition was the first of its kind in the region, bridging NFT art and traditional or IRL (in real life) art.
Artists: Ahmed Emad, Kadara Enyeasi, Irvin Pascal, Josh Rowell, Jacques Vartabedian, Helidon Xhixha and Fatiha Zemmouri
Exhibition Statement:
We live a world that demands ever-increasing efficiency. We are all time-poor and therefore, speed is the most sought-after commodity. Hence acronyms, abbreviations, coding shortcuts and innovation. The crypto sphere meets this demand, connecting people all over the world with decentralised systems that break down physical boundaries. For art, this is revolutionising and exciting and, with the birth of NFTs, we are seeing quantum shifts in the way art is produced, disseminated and traded. Now, NFTs (non-fungible tokens) have entered the main stream. This exhibition places them IRL (in real life) so that viewers can appreciate not only the digital possibilities but the tangible potential of both physical and digital art. Here, the original artwork – be it a painting, drawing, collage or sculpture – hangs side by side with the NFT. It is a marriage of mediums that helps to bridge the gap between tradition and tomorrow.
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Genesis : collection
28 . 05 . 21 - 20 . 06 .21 Venue: Origin Art Museum / MORROW Voxels gallery
MORROW's first (genesis) exhibition, exhibited solely in the metaverse. This show presented 60 works of art by 37 artists from 12 gallery partners and was curated across five curated sections. All artists in the show presented Genesis NFTs.
Exhibition Statement:
There is always a beginning. For these artists, Genesis marks the beginning of their journey into crypto art. It is also the Genesis of MORROW collective. MORROW prides itself on substance and narrative, bringing compelling stories from around the world into one space. In this, our inaugural exhibition, you will find intimate portraits, national pride, nostalgic yearnings, myths, traditions and futuristic projections. You will find emotions such as anger, joy and humour as well as serenity, peace and abstract wanderings of the creative mind. The show is divided into five sections, which take the viewer on a journey of possibilities. Art is not only about beautiful aesthetics; art can also change lives offering new perspectives for each and every viewer. Come on our Genesis journey with us and experience something that you didn’t even know that you were missing.
Abu Dhabi Art
17 . 11 . 21 - 21 . 11 .21 Manarat Al Saadiyat
The Fair's 13th edition featured 50 local, regional and international galleries. Our booth was in collaboration with FBMI. UAE gifted Pontifex carpet to Pope Frances in 2016 which was immortalized by being made into NFT and sold for charity. The only existing 272x183cm physical version of the carpet remains with Pope Francis, however, Zuleya (Fatima Bint Mohamed Bin Zayed Initiative’s carpet retail arm) created a replica and was gifted to the buyer of the NFT.