The preservation of cultural and traditional heritages is a fundamental issue in the Pacific.
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A question which has always been accompanied by real problems, in particular as regards to their appropriation by international Museums for a long time. Over the past few decades, many works have been gradually returned to their communities of origin. These communities, each in their own way, then decided on the best way to preserve and honor this heritage while making it accessible to younger generations and to those who, whatever their origin, wished to discover its beauty, its symbolism, story…
But beyond this important question, and the related traumas, many, in the world of culture, have wondered how to guarantee the preservation of the new, recent heritage, of all those works and creations, material or immaterial, which prove every day the liveliness with which the cultures of the Pacific, whatever the challenges, continue to live, flourish and, through art, think about the present world, the world before, the world after and their relation to life.
Of course, internally, the region has always known how to animate, coordinate and ensure exchanges between the creators of our islands. But many also wanted to make culture known beyond our borders. If, for a long time, foreign cultures spread locally thanks in particular to the Internet boom, it was a question of restoring the balance and showing to the world the richness of the cultures of the Pacific and their historical capacity to face major challenges such as those we live in today.
Remoteness from major cultural exchange centers has long been a problem that technology is helping to solve today. And on this, the Pacific was able to take the turn on time and not just a little!
Since the end of the 2020s, contemporary artists from the Pacific have seized on the techniques of NFT (Non Fongible Tokens) to authenticate their art in the digital world. From cultural GIFs to sound and visual creations posted on numerous social networks (worthy heirs to the first TikTok choreographies), the Pacific has led the revolution in digital art and the remuneration of online artists.
What are NFTs you will tell me? These are unique digital tokens encrypted with the artist's signature and individually identified on a blockchain, effectively verifying the rightful owner and authenticity of the creation. The advantage of these NFTs, as it has been discovered with the evolution of technology, is that NFTs can now be multi-attribution, making it possible to remunerate not an artist but, in some cases, the entire community of artists. where the work originates. A more traditional way of approaching the ownership of these works.
As if distance had been the trigger for this movement. A movement that today results in regular sales on new online art sales platforms. In fact, management agencies for these NFTs have been created in various islands in the region to manage these important tools that have given Pacific art its place on the international scene.