As the art world begins to open up and go digital at the same time, art-tech organisation Jumbish has announced the launch of an exclusively art-based NFT (non-fungible token) marketplace that platforms both upcoming and established artists and creators, and connects them with collectors in an online blockchain-powered marketplace, it said.

NFTs are digital assets that have existed for years, but the last few months have given a fresh lease of life to cryptocurrency and crypto-art. Artists conversant with technology have been able to drive the NFT surge through digital art, however, it is a misconception that NFT marketplaces are only for digital art.

Combined with Jumbish’s JDAT technology that authenticates provenance for physical artworks, the NFT marketplace will allow stakeholders to buy and sell art with a unique identity, said Jumbish in a statement. Moreover, the Jumbish NFT Marketplace will enable sale and purchases of NFTs in all currencies.

“While all the existing NFT platforms charge exorbitant gas fees, creators will spend only $1 (Rs 70) per artwork on the Jumbish NFT platform. The new platform is built using a layer-two blockchain architecture, and will go a step ahead of competition with their low energy impact and considerably low gas fee to support the upcoming artists in the arts ecosystem in the country.”

“The currently available NFT platform works on an architecture which demands a heavy consumption of energy to mint a NFT and so the gas fees are high too. Newer blockchain solutions are making the gas fees significantly lower and will make it easier for the artists to reach out to the art connoisseurs of the world,” says Shankar Mridha, CEO, Jumbish.

According to visual artist Madhuri Badhuri, whose works will be sold on the NFT Marketplace, we have been practicing the conventional and successful approaches in fine arts which have “their own benefits and challenges”.

“However, the pandemic has altogether changed the way artworks are showcased. With the advent of NFT in the art world it has introduced better and safer ways to connect with art connoisseurs globally. Issues which were beyond human abilities like differentiating an original artwork with its duplicate counterpart, maintenance of record over generations and even ensuring royalties for Artists, seems to have been getting some real solutions,” she says.

“For the serious art collectors, a short-term trading approach will not be so lucrative. For the short term, it only remains as a trading instrument and the true aesthetics, thought behind a painting, is lost in this process. At Jumbish, we will encourage both serious art collection as well as briefly holding and selling an artwork if it’s getting popular,” says Mridha.

The platform says that it is directly approaching senior Indian and South Asian artists — “something that will also set the Jumbish NFT Marketplace apart”. It is currently open for pre-registration.