Auronda Scalera + Alfredo Cramerotti / @xxnftwomen
Auronda Scalera and Alfredo Cramerotti are a curatorial duo for arts and advanced technolgies. They are curating Alhalimon Cultural Incubator for digital arts in Jeddah, Art Dubai Digital, the BA and MA courses in digital arts at IESA Paris and Web to Verse, a series of ever-evolving exhibition on the development of digital arts, taking place in the UK, UAE, and US. They are advisors for the KSA Visual Art Commission and the Maxxi-Bvlgari Prize for Digital Art.
Auronda and Alfredo also co-direct Multiplicity XXnft, an online platform that curates, publishes and promotes art with a focus on diversity and inclusion.
Auronda Scalera
Auronda is a curator and public figure featured in the NYC Journal as one of the Top 20 inspiring women in 2023. She lives between London, Dubai and the metaverse. She regularly appears on the art and technology conference and summit circuit and is a lecturer at several university courses, as well as working as a curator, advisor, and global ambassador for art and culture. The House of Lords wanted her as expert witness on art, culture and new technologies at the UK Parliament, part of the first evidence session for a Commission on Web3 and the metaverse; SkyTV / ClassCNBC interviewed her among academics, artists and researchers on AI, art and museums; the PlusTate UK institutional network of museums invited her to organise webinars on art and new technologies; She delivered a lecture-performance at the House of Beautiful Business conference in Lisbon in front of 700+ world leaders. During the latest World Economic Forum on Web3 and Metaverse for 100woman x Davos had her as discussant about equity and diversity.
Instagram/ Twitter / LinkedIn: @aurondascalera
Alfredo Cramerotti
Alfredo is the director of Media Majlis museum of art, media and technology at Northwestern University, Qatar. He is president of IKT–International Association Curators of Contemporary Art, chair of the Digital Strategies Committee of AICA–Int’l Association of Art Critics, and advises the KSA Visual Art Commission, UK Government Art Collection, British Council Visual Arts, and the Italian Ministry of Culture. He is a renowned for his work in contemporary art and media, often exploring the intersections of art, technology, and society. He has curated exhibitions and projects worldwide, such as four national pavilions and collateral events at the Venice Art Biennale; Hong Kong Arts Centre; EXPO Chicago, and the biennials Sequences VII in Reykjavik, Iceland and Manifesta 8, Region of Murcia, Spain.
Instagram/ Twitter / LinkedIn / Telegram: @curatorview
What is your motivation behind the creation of such a specific community?
The realisation that the world of digital arts was bound to repeat the same pattern present in modern and contemporary art: celebrating male geniuses while amazing female artists were completely ignored by the market and cultural institutions. Museums worldwide took over 50 years to recognise some trailblazing and pioneering work by women who were very active in the 1950s and 60s but passed under the radar for decades We wanted to change the stats, basically.
What are the core values that guide the Multiplicity-XXnft community, and what are its primary objectives?
Identifying, nurturing and promoting the work of female-identifying artists working today in the digital space are our objectives with this platform: as curators in art and advanced technologies, we work globally and with different partners – museums, institutions, art fairs, publications, universities, cultural incubators and so on, and we have the opportunity to meet many artists, visiting their studios and experiencing in person their work (physical or digital), and therefore our core value is to elevate the work of artists and putting them in context to have a bigger impact – on human culture, on the market, on historical legacy, and perspective on the future.
“... female artists
were completely ignored by
the market and cultural institutions”
What were the main sources of inspiration that led you to choose the realm of NFTs and digital art in your artistic outreach journey?
Both of us come from contemporary art but with an original twist: Auronda studied and graduated in digital art and then went on to work with contemporary photography, and Alfredo worked in design and then media such as TV, radio and early web projects. So, in a way, we were already embedded in the digital art world from the beginning, though we built our respective careers through the contemporary art world.
Faced with challenges related to diversity within the community, considering the current imbalance in crypto and NFT art sales, how is Multiplicity-XXnft actively contributing to redefining this landscape and promoting gender equality?
We interview artists and publish their portfolio, both on our website (still as beta version as we haven’t got the time to finish – too busy!) and on social media; we organise curated exhibitions and drops on certain narratives and ideas featuring those artists; we bring their work to a broader attention worldwide by including it in our lectures, talks, panels, presentations and university courses; and finally, we support them with advise and introductions to colleague curators, collectors and dealers.
Could you share some artists and activities that have particularly captured your attention?
The work of Katie McIntyre struck as a visionary in a profound way, re-thinking the way society’s features and objects are designed with a female body in mind; both Ana Maria Caballero and Sasha Style are such wonderful poets and artists combining and elevating both art forms to unexpected and exciting degree; Genesis Kai, a digital alter ego of an artist, is proposing a critical look a the way humans are born, nurtured, and developed; Auriea Harvey conceive abd combine seamlessly sculptural and digital work in a totally new manner, These of course are just a few examples off the top of our minds, but that serves to give you a flavour of the work we do.
What is your vision regarding the social impact that emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, can have in the realm of digital art?
It’s exciting by far and large; of course, there are certain concerns on IP, copyright and legal framework about synthetic identities, but these things happen with every new technology and at very progress turn. Just think about the disruptions that photography, video, relational art or even performance and conceptual art have brought to the table, and how these in times have been addressed, regulated and smoothed. AI art will be no different.
Are there new projects that Multiplicity-XXnft is currently developing or planning for the near future that you would like to share?
We are currently seeking seed funding as a start-up to complete the platform and bring in tech and market expertise so it can grow tenfold and provide more support for women-identifying artists and their work. We currently don’t have capacity to do it ourselves because of concurrent curatorial projects and we believe that expanding the business with the input of investors, marketers, editors and techs will provide the scale to have even a bigger impact on the art market in general and artists’ lifehood in specific.