UAE-based platform MORROW collective launches virtual reality gallery

The art of NFTs…

By now, you must have heard about NFTs but to make it simple, we can describe an NFT as a digital code that makes something unique. It sits on the blockchain meaning that code cannot be changed or forged and, because of that, it is changing the way creative products are changing hands.

Musicians and artists can now protect their copyright and make an income by selling their works as NFTs and collectors are going crazy over owning these new digital assets.

But how do you go about getting into it? Enter MORROW collective.

They are a new UAE-based platform, working with artists and galleries to turn traditional pieces of art into NFTs. Once those digital artworks are created, the team at MORROW have a massive, and pretty cool, virtual reality gallery where they display the pieces in curated exhibitions so that it looks and feels like you are standing in a real-life art museum (well, almost).

The software used for this gallery is gaming software and the technical term for where it sits online is the ‘metaverse’.

For those into gaming, this won’t sound weird but for everyone else let us explain. The metaverse is a universe of interconnected virtual worlds where you move around as an avatar and interact with other avatars around the world.

So, when you walk into the art gallery, you may see people from all over the world in the same space.

What’s cool about the MORROW gallery is that next to every artwork there is text that explains the story behind it and then, if you want to know more or even buy the work, there are click-through buttons.

MORROW launched in May with its inaugural exhibition Genesis.

This month, some pieces from that show will be on display in Firetti Contemporary, a new gallery in Alserkal Avenue. The exhibition will display NFTs on screens side-by-side with the real-life artworks, in collaboration with Techgnosis. It is a meeting of the digital and the physical worlds, which makes it truly unique.

Check it out yourself here: morrow-collective.com

WHAT’S ON TOP PICKS FROM NFT/IRL

Jacques Vartabedian: Human Pattern

This series of paintings shows faceless, marching people who are stuck in the system, blindly following orders and losing their integrity.

Kadara Enyeasi: Obliteration/Kusama’s Dream

This work is influenced by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama who uses the polka dot to explore obliteration.

Fatiha Zemmouri: Breathing

Fatiha Zemmouri sculpts with shadow and light. The interaction of the dark and the light are a metaphor for the complexity of life and contemplation on unity.

NFT/IRL, Firetti Contemporary Gallery, Unit 29, Al Quoz, Alserkal Avenue, Dubai. Sat to Thurs 11am to 7pm (until September 15). Tel: (0)45462276.

Images: Supplied