The buzzword in the art world today is ‘NFTs' — the new way of buying, selling and gifting digital artworks.

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, are digital assets, stored on the blockchain, that cannot be duplicated. This emerging technology has been met with both enthusiasm and trepidation as many traditional art buyers are wary of investing in intangible assets.

In order to make the most of this nascent technology, India's first NFT Gallery has launched in Bengaluru at New BEL Road SOCIAL restaurant and bar.

Making NFTs Accessible To Traditional Art Buyer’s Market

The gallery, curated by Angad B. Sodhi, an artist himself, promises to bring the world of NFTs to life on large screens. Sodhi believes that this could help demystify this novel technology to the more traditional art buyer's market. He also thinks that by increasing the exposure of NFT artists and through educational means, the gallery could open up a range of opportunities for the growth of the field.

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"Displayed on large screens, these digital artworks promise to bring the world of NFTs to life and demystify what’s currently an opaque phenomenon to a more traditional art buying market. By increasing the exposure of NFT artists and educating the public about this new form of digital art, NFT galleries could create a range of opportunities and developments in this space," believes Sodhi.

Challenges And The Way Forward

He expounds on the immense challenges faced by Indian NFT artists. “Despite spending countless hours on Twitter Spaces, [artists] struggle to sell even a single piece of their artwork. Their work sadly fails to get the required viewership and cannot create the required threshold for selling their artwork."

Sodhi points out several obstacles, "Trying to sell work is quite frustrating when the Indian NFT market is not that great and ‘average prices’ on major marketplaces tend to be around $5. Contrast this with artists in western countries: a doodle on a napkin can fetch at least 1 Ethereum ETH/USD.”

This is where NFT Galleries come to the rescue. By making their art available on larger and more accessible platforms, NFT galleries can offer artists a much broader audience and potentially fetch them higher rates.

The gallery features digital artwork consisting of JPEG, MP4s, vector images and displays with QR codes, allowing for direct purchases without the need for a middleman.

It is lit with a combination of 15 LED and 4 projectors to further enhance the experience.

"Our staff is trained to provide secure access to the gallery and help show visitors how to acquire an NFT through MetaMask. For those wishing additional assistance, we have an Information Desk open on weekends with knowledgeable staff to guide customers. Our first curation of artwork was by Bengaluru-based artists, and we have since extended an open call out to any NFT artist and collector," explains Sodhi.

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