UNFOLD as a name is inspired by the ideas conveyed in the evocative words 'Emerge' and 'Reveal'. Our ambition is to offer unprecedented access to a larger, diverse and inclusive market that draws its inspiration from fast developing areas of the world outside the hegemonic centres.
'Emerge' refers to the association of five major emerging national economies expressed by the acronym BRICS: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
'Reveal' reflects the idea of Art as a tool that allows humans to experience new ways of seeing the world, and its ability to create new synergies and enable a fruitful dialogue with other areas of human activity in an exciting manner.
Following the successful inaugural edition that took place from the 19-22 March 2018 at the prestigious Five Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), the 2nd Annual UNFOLD Art XChange was hosted as part of the fourth edition of ArtBAB. Under the patronage of Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka Bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa, Wife of His Majesty The King of Bahrain, President of The Supreme Council for Women in collaboration with Tamkeen, the launch of the world's first Art + FinTech summit was held at Bahrain International Convention & Exhibition Centre from the 7-9 March 2019.
In response to the recent COVID-19 situation, UNFOLD Art XChange launched its Art + FinTech 2.0 webinar series from 1-29 June, 2020.
UNFOLD Art XChange aspires to become a platform that transcends cultural boundaries, connecting art market professionals across the globe both physically and virtually.
UNFOLD Art XChange examines the new forces at play in the global art market and explores emerging art scenes across and beyond the BRICS; and its neighboring countries in Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Asia.
Our logomark is the representation of connections between the five locations of the BRICS countries; Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa as folded lines on a piece of rectangular paper which is then unfolded to reveal the locations.
Art Talks I: Art, Real Estate and the Built Environment that was part of our inaugural edition was created to establish meaningful connections between art and architecture and served as a multicultural educational platform for government authorities, public art agencies, real estate developers, hoteliers, spatial designers and art market professionals.
Art Talks II: Evolving Cultures, Developing Collections that was also part of our inaugural edition was created with the aim to bring together corporate and private collectors as well as private and public museums and institutions to foster greater knowledge-sharing and to identify future partnerships.
The world premier of the Art + FinTech summit that took place from the 7-9 March 2019 in Bahrain brought together cultural and technology leaders to explore the evolution of art in the digital age, uncovering the basics around Blockchain, Big Data and Analytics, Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality.
The recent launch of Art + FinTech 2.0 webinar series uncovered how the coronavirus pandemic is pushing the complex art and culture community into an era of digitization and online and further explored new age digital technologies like Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Extended Reality that are set to transform the art market.
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