Opera Sneaker Collective
Welcome to the Opera Sneaker artist collective. Opera Sneaker is home to the Opera Sneaker Art Fund and the first decentralized Art and NFT advisory agency. As a Web3 collective, Opera Sneaker is a learning community that is fluent in research and development in the arts and Web3 technology. Opera Sneaker aka OS emerged from a grassroots family of Atlanta artists and designers in early 2021. The art tribe galvanized to create artists learning and research tribe. OS art fund and one-stop creative agency support artists, designers, and scholars whose work serves a greater humanitarian purpose. Opera Sneaker was created to empower deep curiosity for the human relationship with arts and humanities. As a decentralized intelligent Web3 arts organization, OS believes technology innovation can protect The Arts’ vulnerability to politics and for-profit influences. Opera Sneaker’s core mission is to empower individuals and organizations in The Arts and Humanities with curated resources and Ethereum based grants.
The Opera Sneaker Collective is committed to pursuing and mastering the highest forms of communication using our natural human faculties, in addition to the bleeding edge of Web3 technology. We hold art as the highest form of human communication. Communication is the social formation that bonds all great communities.
The word “communicate” mimics the word “community”. Community shares 7 of the 11 letters of ‘communicate’. In retrospect, a community is only as elevated as its highest level of communication.
Opera Sneaker Collective is more than just another NFT (nonfungible token) art community birth during the global pandemic. Opera Sneaker is a grassroots collective inspired by the art of higher communication. OS borrows its artist spirit from the spiritual and historical origins of the djembe drum of West Africa.
The Bamana people of Mali are believed to have named the djembe. The djembe drum was invented in the 12th century by the Mandinke of West Africa. The djembe is a goblet-shaped drum traditionally carved from a single piece of African hardwood and topped with an animal skin as a drumhead.
Bamanakans’ mythology tells of the original djembe, which was made of the hide of a giraffe-zebra hybrid called the ‘gebraffe.’ According to the Bamana people in Mali, the name of the djembe comes from the saying “Anke djé, anke bé” which translates to “everyone gather together in peace.” This defines the core purpose of the rhythmic communication enjoyed by the djembe drum. The drum is believed to be the first instrument to communicate a message to a village. It was the first long-distance communication technology. The drum is the oldest form of communication after art.
Sneaker of the Opera
Opera Sneaker artist collective is home to the Opera Sneaker Art Fund and NFT Art Agency. Opera Sneaker’s core mission is to empower individuals and organizations in the Arts and Humanities with Web3 digital asset grants and resources.
Opera Sneaker kicked off its first historical year early as the grassroots art tribe grew over the spring of 2021. In May, Opera Sneaker’s founding artist members were selected for the Kernel Web 3 Fellowship. They joined KB3 as Web3 founders building the Web3 startup and NFT storytelling platform Dakar Gallery. The Kernel community is a leading global fellowship for Web3 research and development that is supported directly by the Ethereum ecosystem.
In June, the Opera Sneaker collective held a lite brunch event, Baobab Flower, at Bartaco in Atlanta, GA. The arts brunch on the Atlanta Beltline brought artists and designers of all types, friends, and loved ones out of the house to see art on the Atlanta Beltline and enjoy the face-to-face social engagement. A few months later, the tribe’s energy enabled the founding artist of the community to forge the beginning of Opera Sneaker’s journey as a Web3 learning community for artists leveraging Web3 technology.
Opera Sneaker was the artist agency behind #63A4P, the first collaborative art NFT for Palestinian medical aid. The effort from 63 global artists was led by Lebanese illustration artist, Hussien El Kebbi, who brings texture to his work with the stippling technique. Opera Sneaker curated the NFT’s official press release. Demand quickly arose from the OS community for an in-house art agency that services the Opera Sneaker Collective. The creation and auctioning off the historical humanitarian NFT #63A4P was both a milestone for Opera Sneaker’s growing community and its NFT technology partner Dakar Gallery
Pamplumus(PM), was the first NFT artist to support Opera Sneakers' mission to support emerging crypto artists. PM submitted the first NFT artwork as a submission to the Opera Sneaker collective art gallery. Pape is an internet artist and designer from Dakar, Senegal. Pape has quickly become a leading NFT artist and thought leader in the NFT space. PM is a burgeoning NFT artist and founding member of Umazing, a design studio in Dakar, Senegal. Umazing studios will focus on Web3 art and design projects. Umazing design studio was featured at the Tokyo Digital art fair Asia.
PM’s art style is a flood of color and accents that highlight the timeless beauty of Senegalese culture. His ongoing collection Dacar, brings the love and personality of Senegal to the NFT art world. The Dacar collection was featured in Cyber Baat, the 1st physical exhibition of NFTs in Africa. The opening was held on September 16 in Les Mamelles, a beachside neighborhood, in the city of Dakar, Senegal. The historic NFT art exhibition was curated by Linda Dounia. PM’s outstanding contributions to the NFT arts culture have resulted in a multitude of NFT art that is proudly owned by a growing list of collectors around the world.
In August, our founding member Tagan Horton broke the NFT social network with the first-ever NFT birthday party. To commemorate her 24th birthday, she minted and gave away 24 NFTs to friends and family in the honor of her mother, a Georgia family law attorney. The collection is entitled “Black August’’. Black August is known as “Black History Month” for revolutionaries. The NFT birthday collection documented her artistic journey as a daughter, granddaughter, artist, and emerging Web3 entrepreneur in the NFT space. Each NFT is a moment from Tagan’s life as a 23-year-old artist and entrepreneur. In addition, the NFT birthday collection highlighted Tagan’s deep passion for humanitarian issues.
In September, OS founding member Tagan Horton kicked OS art fund by purchasing the first NFT art piece via an online auction house. Tagan purchased the art piece while the team attended MCON, a DAO conference by Metacartel in Denver. Through the auction house AGAH, OS acquired its first piece that was both an organization milestone and a symbolic gesture to the spirit of the art collective. We are ecstatic that the first NFT art piece in the OS Art Fund, was the work of Bilal Arman, an Opera Sneaker member.
OS is all about building hyper-intelligent communities. Special thanks to the amazing human beings who contributed to creating the unique artistic energy and spirit of Opera Sneaker. A lot has taken place in our lives in the last 24 months. Friends can make the most amazing things happen. Special thanks and VIP Opera Sneaker love to our Atlanta squad Rahmeek, Charissa, and Sandeep for their unwavering love and support.
Special thanks to Kernel.Community and GitcoinDAO
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The Djembe has been played by West Africans for generations forming an integral part of ritualistic life in Mali, Guinea, Senegal, and other neighboring West African countries. The Djembe belongs to the membranophone class of instruments in the percussion family.
Muhammad (Rumi) Hameed is an Opera Sneaker staff writer, Web3 researcher, and founding member of Opera Sneaker & Dakar Gallery.
Operasneaker@gmail.com
