Asia’s largest festival of digital arts, scheduled for March in Bangkok, will showcase over 1,300 art works by 130 Thai artists, a first for the country and the continent.
At the Thailand Digital Art Festival 2022 (TDAF 2022), Thai works of art will be available for display and sale in the digital form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). This is a complete marketplace for creators and collectors of NFTs.
The event is scheduled to be held from March 5 to 20, from 10 am to 9 am, at Icon Siam’s Charoen Nakhon Hall and Icon Art & Culture Space, covering an area of 1,200 square metres.
This is a collaboration between Siam Piwat Co Ltd, ICONSIAM Co Ltd, Baan Dam Museum of National Artist Dr Thawan Duchanee, Kasikorn X Co Ltd, creator of the online NFT marketplace Coral, and Plan B Media PLC.
Poramet Ngampichet, the vice minister of culture, pointed out that today technology is changing the world of art. “We see connections between art and technology, and arts have become digital assets with increased value,” he said.
TDAF 2022 marks the global debut of digital art works by Thai National Artists, well-known artists, up-and-coming talents, as well as celebrities and influencers.
Among the 1,300-plus pieces of art showcased at the event are paintings, sculptures, prints, photographs, digital art, animation, graphic design, street art, art toys, fashion, music, and performance arts — in short, almost every possible art discipline.
Baan Dam Museum director Dr Doytibet Duchanee, who serves as the TDAF’s art curator and creative director, said the 130 artists participating in the event range from celebrated veterans to young newcomers covering all branches of arts and all types of art works.
“At this festival, we present the diversity of arts and uniqueness of each participating artist,” he said.
Doytibet disclosed that TDAF 2022 originated from a recent “crisis” in which more than 50 fake paintings of his father Thawan’s works were sold illegally through an overseas platform. Some buyers asked him if the works were original.
“I told them they are not genuine. When the platform was aware, they burnt all the paintings. Later, people asked for Ajahn Thawan’s works to be turned into NFTs,” Doytibet recounted.
He then got the idea that it would be better to turn the works of other artists into NFTs as well.
Super simple NFT marketplace
Thanamet Ariyawat, head of venture builder at Kasikorn X, said the Coral platform is able to unleash the “massive potential” in the world of online arts while creating new opportunities for artists.
This innovation helps tackle the problem of illegal sale of stolen or forged art works, he said.
Coral differs from other platforms with three special features — the ability to verify the identity of artists before their works are displayed on the platform, a Super Simple Payment method, and the Ethereum ERC-1155 world-class standard for masterpiece NFTs.
“The collectors can rest assured that the works they purchase are truly genuine,” Thanamet said.
On the Coral platform, payments can be made with the Thai baht through normal transfer methods, including mobile banking, QR code, Prompt Pay, or debit/credit card.
With Coral, the trade of artwork NFTs has become as easy as online shopping, with no need to exchange fiat money to cryptocurrency, Thanamet said.
“Artists can access a massive number of prospective art buyers. Art collectors and admirers also can enjoy works they like. Foreigners can now buy the works of Thai artists with Coral’s Super Simple Payment,” he said.
For the first time in the world, TDAF 2022 makes available for purchase works of art in both the physical and digital forms.
Panthep Nilasinthop, chief customer officer of Siam Piwat, said that the company views art as something to provide extra experience and inspiration for its customers.
“We place much importance in working with Thai and world-class artists, by serving as the stage for them to display their works. We have created value for artists and customers visiting our shopping malls,” he said.
As the art world has expanded into digital, Siam Piwat is working with Kasikorn X in offering a platform for Thai artists to go global.
“The collaboration, starting late last year, combines online and offline platforms — Coral and One Siam Super App on the online side and shopping malls as the offline platform,” Panthep said.
“This event offers a special opportunity for our customers and allows Thai artists access to a global audience.”
Supoj Chaiwatsirikul, managing director of ICONSIAM, said that the shopping mall is proud to be part of the effort to bring Thai arts to the world.
“The goal is to make Thailand the first centre of digital art in the region, promote Thai artists in the international forum, as well as raising awareness about digital art and NFTs, creating an easy and convenient NFT marketplace on the Coral platform for artists, art collectors and art enthusiasts,” he said.
For him, this event is another channel to create a showcase and new opportunities for the Thai art industry to show their potential and creative power to international stage.
“This is in line with Icon Siam’s vision to showcase innovations and new experiences beyond borders, create a new phenomenon never before seen in Thailand, reinterpret our cultural heritage to the modern times, and present the Thai identity to the international audiences.”
Doytibet, the TDAF’s art curator and creative director, said that the event combines the parallel worlds of offline and online platforms, as well as physical and digital arts.
He also said that some artists participating in TDAF 2022 would offer personalized NFTs of their works. For instance, your photos or images of your loved ones could be added to create unique NFTs.
“At this event, certainly both NFT creators and collectors will be satisfied,” Doytibet said.
National Artist Prof Emeritus Preecha Thaotong said thataesthetics of the Thai art was an indicator for the country’s soft power. “Digital art is another important channel in the modern world for consuming the aesthetics of the multimedia arts,” he said.
Thongchai Srisukprasert, a veteran painter of Thai fine arts, said that unlike other art objects, digital NFTs cannot be actually touched although they actually exist, and their beauty can be felt.
A former lecturer at Silpakorn University, Thongchai encouraged artists to adopt modern-time media like NFT that they may not know well. He estimated that only about 20 per cent of Thai artists have complete knowledge about NFT.
Painter and designer Jitsing Somboon said that there are always “new doors” for artists to explore the trends of the times and adapt their works accordingly.
“Let’s enjoy every new door that comes our way,” he quipped.
Artists enter NFT sphere
Famous fashion designer Prapakas Angsusingha said thatDoytibet introduced him to the world of NFT arts. “This is new to me. I feel that it’s a new world that I should get to know — something good I must try,” he said.
For him, the adaption skill is required to survive the modern world, regardless of the profession or business you are.
Illustrator Chalermpol Janrayab said that he knew about NFT for many years before entering the NFT art circles around mid-2021. He was convinced that in the next year or two, Metaverse and NFT would serve as a doorway to connect the old and new worlds while possibly creating new jobs, such as virtual-reality artist.
Independent cartoonist Tripuck Supawattana said that when he first learned about NFT, he wondered why people wanted to buy digital files. Later, he realised that the value of NFTs increased greatly.
“My interest in NFT grew after I started learning about it. Then I created my first NFT and more projects kept coming,” he said.
