PETALING JAYA: More than 100 artists, half of them Malaysian, will soon see their works receiving greater global exposure through a collaboration between Free Malaysia Today (FMT) and Mart Expo Globe Sdn Bhd.
Under the collaboration, the artists will showcase more than 500 paintings, calligraphy and other forms of artwork online and offline. It will also involve the artists’ works being minted into non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and made available to the global digital market.
The collaboration was launched by tourism, arts and culture minister Nancy Shukri. Also present were the ministry’s new secretary-general, Saraya Arbi, and ambassadors and diplomats from Argentina, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Croatia, Cuba, the Netherlands, Namibia, Senegal, Kuwait, Iran, Ghana and Tajikistan.
The event also saw the launch of the FMT Accelerator programme which seeks to invest in startups and artists in the region with great potential.
Mart Expo founder Mohsen Golshiri described the FMT Accelerator as an exciting opportunity.
“Artists have a significant role in our society and that’s why we always measure the success of a civilisation by how well they treat its artists.
“At Mart Expo, we identify and promote selected artists of diverse cultural backgrounds. We make art accessible to everyone by having thousands of artists on our platforms with various types of artworks and prices,” he said.
Nancy lauded the initiative as a means of promoting tourism through art.
“The pandemic has left artists without an audience or platform to continue their work,” she said, adding that the collaboration would provide an important platform for artists.
“We welcome initiatives to promote tourism using art so that we can monetise art in a bigger and better way, even to the extent of promoting art globally as an export market,” she said.
“We are also keen to see how new technologies like non-fungible tokens or NFTs can be used to unlock the potential of the art industry.”
FMT managing director Azeem Abu Bakar expressed excitement at the prospect of collaborating with Mart Expo and artists around the world through this venture, which will also allow artists to mint their works as NFTs.
He said giving these artists the opportunity to connect to markets hitherto unreachable, and pioneering the creation of NFT projects, was something the company had always wanted to do.
“For FMT, as a web-native business, we recognise the ongoing integration of blockchain technology, especially the emergence of art-based NFTs.
“And as the largest English news portal in Malaysia, we are committed to bringing added value to this amazing community.
“We are cognisant of the fact that many tech-related markets are currently experiencing some volatility, and we firmly believe that the underlying technology and fundamentals of NFTs will continue to offer a net positive impact to artists worldwide,” he said.
FMT and Mart Expo invite you to join them on this adventure to meet their artists, enjoy their work, and learn more about the world of art and NFTs.
Just head over to the Mart Expo Globe’s Instagram and drop a comment on the “Art & Society Campaign” post to connect with artists and art enthusiasts from around the world.
For more information about the FMT Accelerator programme, visit freemalaysiatoday.com/accelerator.