Unfinished works of the late national artists Abdulmari Imao and Jose Joya are set to launch as NFT collections on the newly established ScarletBox.io. True to the collection’s title—2 Legends x 2 Generation—their younger, second-generation’s counterpart will take part in the collaboration. The upcoming NFTs are set to drop this March 2022.
“We aim to bring honored world class artists to be appreciated with a more dynamic experience by a wider audience. And with it, we add transparency and preservation to the mix through non-fungible tokens (NFTs).”
ScarletBox.io
Imao was a sculptor and painter who fused traditional Islamic design with Modernist patterns and the first Muslim to receive the Philippine National Artist Award. The collaboration will feature his son, Abdulmari Toym De Leon Imao (Toym Imao), who is also a sculptor and painter. Toym is responsible for completing his father’s unfinished artwork through incorporating his own colorful style and interpretation.
According to ScarletBox, the Imao x Imao NFTs will show “the colorful nature of Southern Philippines (Mindanao) where National Artist Abdulmari Imao was born.”
In an interview with CNN Philippines, Toym shared his thoughts about the collaboration of two generations for the NFT project; for him, “this is an extension of that experimentation and exploration on other platforms to exhibit art.”
“I am certain to this kind of platform. One duty of art is to explore other avenues to put art out there… We should be open in trying out these new ways of expressing art.”
Toym Imao on the upcoming NFT Collection
On the other hand, Jose Joya—an abstract artist and National Artist of the Philippines awardee during his time—was joined by his grand nephew, Andre Baldovino, who practices abstract expressionism. The Joya x Baldovino NFTs will feature 40-50 works of Joya selected by Baldovino which are layered with his own digital animated interpretation to create a beautiful piece.
ScarletBox emphasizes that all of the artworks from 2 Legends x 2 Generations collection are One-of-Ones; and each NFT purchase will come with a live digital frame and an exclusive collectible token box.
Accordingly, the official twitter account of 9-year old Filipino NFT artist Sevi welcomed and introduced the national artists in the NFT space in a series of tweets.
Consequently, there are already several Filipino personalities and entities that ventured in the NFT space as early as last year such as Nadine Lustre, Heart Evangelista, Pia Wurtzbach, Miss Universe Philippines, National Book Development Board (NBDB), Team Manila, La Union Surf Club (LUSC), Mask on Buttons, Titik Poetry, Shelly Soneja, Marv del Mundo, and graphics novel Trese.
Recently, R&B singer Kris Lawrence was added to the list as he released his new single titled “Future Girl” as an NFT with only 250 copies in the new NFT market called SongRise. (Read more: Kris Lawrence Releases a Song as His First NFT)
Verlin Santos, Founder of Art collective Titik Poetry, also launched his first spoken word EP entitled “Galing sa Pinilas na Papel” last February 13 on an Ethereum-based NFT marketplace called Foundation. (Read more: Titik Poetry Founder Releases NFT Spoken Word EP on Foundation)
UnionDigital Bank also plans to venture into the NFT space this year. (Read more: UnionDigital Bank Eyes Venturing Into NFT)
On March 5th, Scarletbox’s founder Sheree Gotuaco will host a Twitter Spaces to discuss NFTs in Asia together with Toym Imao, Andre Baldovino, Yield Guild Games’ Founder Gabby Dizon, Coins.ph Founder Ron Hose, 8Sian NFT Founder Nicole Yap, Lifestyle Celebrity Tim Yap and BitPinas’ senior editor Michael Mislos.
This article is published on BitPinas: Artworks of Two National Artists Become NFTs, Collections to Drop Next Month
