Global Pillars #2
5 of 5 Editions Available
In celebration of the 50th year anniversary of UAE’s National Day (marked on 29th November 2021), the contemporary British artist; Sacha Jafri, will be launching a historic NFT drop titled Blank Canvas. Inspired by the Ten Pillars (Climate & Biodiversity, Travel & Connectivity, Urban & Rural Development, Knowledge & Learning, Tolerance & Inclusivity, Space, Health & Wellness, Global Goals, Water, and Food, Agriculture & Livelihoods) from Expo 2020 Dubai, which was layered out by the leaders of UAE as a reflection to the achievements of the nation following its unification and seen as a gesture of hope and prosperity, through the nation's present, past, and a hopeful future.
For Blank Canvas Jafri will create 10 paintings reflecting on each of the Ten Pillar subjects, totaling to 100 oil paintings (each numbered). The works will be released as NFTs, each painting as an edition of 5, totaling to 500 works. Jafri described the series as a lottery project due to its unique characteristic that the buyer's acquisition will not be immediately revealed and be in fact, a blank canvas at the time of the purchase.
"Over time, I will reveal little sections of the painting, then a word that will give a clue of what the painting will become and eventually by the end, the full painting will appear and that will be yours. A little hidden surprise behind only a few NFTs you will get the original painting, a little bit of lottery thrown in the air, but a little bit fun." said Jafri about the concept of the NFT release.
An intriguing NFT project that will also offer a physical component—the original painting which will be randomly allocated to one of the five NFT edition holders per series (for each of the Ten Pillars). With this, the physical painting adds an additional rarity property to the NFT project, as only 50 paintings will be made available in the edition of 500 NFTs.
The subjects of the Ten Pillars may vary, but all ten topics function as a homage to UAE and also globally to humanity. For Jafri Space was one of the Ten Pillars that offered excitement and inspiration as it represents the fragility of our world and Water—as the artist describes it “the essence of life, it is everything that makes us survive. A 70% of our world has water shortage - that is something I want to focus on in my humanitarian goals with the charity and foundations I work around the world and it is something I am very passionate about.”
Sacha Jafri (1977) is a contemporary British artist who lives and works in Dubai. Known for his work "The Journey of Humanity", a 17,000 square feet painting, equivalent of four NBA basketball courts. The painting has claimed the Guinness World Record for the largest work and sold for $62 million to benefit children worldwide affected by COVID-19.
Jafri grew up in the U.K. and attended Eton College, in 2000 he completed his MA degree in Fine Art at Oxford University. An artist that works between abstraction and figuration, Jafri often collaborates with charitable projects to raise funds for heartfelt concerns.
As part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, Jafri's work "We Rise Together - with the Light of the Moon" will be transported to space later this year (2022). Recent commissions include EXPO 2020, and 90yrs of The Oscars. His work is included in private and public collections, notably the UAE Ruling Family, President Barack Obama, and Sir Richard Branson.
