Connecting communities through digital art

Undoubtedly, digital art is becoming increasingly popular, in part due to the popularity of NFTs. As a result, studios like Braw Haus strive to push boundaries and connect digital art to community building.

NFTevening caught up with Justine Vilgrain and Patricia Gloum to discuss how the groundbreaking creative studio is elevating the status of digital art and taking NFTs to every corner of the world.

What is Braw Haus?

Basically, House Braw is a creative studio specializing in developing video content and showcasing digital art by working with the most innovative digital artists. Led by Justine Vilgrain and Patricia Gloum, who founded the studio in 2018, it seeks to redefine what digital art is and can be.

Justine and Patricia’s initial vision was simple: elevate digital art and create experimental advertisements. However, when the two were introduced to blockchain in 2019, their work took a Web3 twist. In early 2020, artists started asking them for advice on how they should work in the upcoming Web3. It was then that Justine and Patricia realized that Braw Haus could become a truly innovative Web3-focused studio.

Braw Haus’ current work is twofold. On the one hand, Justine and Patricia help artists to make themselves known and to participate in Web3. On the other hand, they conceptualize brand advertising spots and support them in their Web3 strategy.

“The idea is to implement the art as much as possible in advertising and commerce, thus elevating this medium; and for brands to be more creative, more exciting and more inspired; rather than just having a work of art,” explains Patricia. This work stems from their belief that digital art was not generally recognized as art until a few years ago.

Digital art as ART

“We felt that digital was not accepted as an artistic movement. It was very underrated,” says Patricia. Justine continues: “And on the other side too, on the commercial side, everything is so flat, and it’s very boring. It lacked finesse, colors and more mixed techniques.

All of that has changed with the NFT boom and an increasingly digitized world. According to Patricia, brands and artists now recognize that there is a whole new world they can explore. What Braw Haus is doing now is pushing both brands, as well as artists, to be unconventional and redefine what “unconventional” is.

Artists in the Metaverse

As a creative studio working closely with artists, Justine and Patricia of Braw Haus realize that there are many hurdles artists must overcome to fully immerse themselves in the metaverse. In addition to the obvious technological obstacles, many of them are worried about the environmental impact of NFTs and, in turn, the bad press.

As a result, they both recognized that artists needed more help than suggestions from the market. This is where Braw Haus comes in. “What we do is different from other digital galleries in that each artist has their own marketplace that they want to use, we contract with them for specific artworks, and then we do the installation,” explains Justine. “We don’t just use Twitter or Discord. We’re really going to create a really immersive exhibit.

A clear example of how digital media translates into real life is the installation of Braw Haus in Iraq to promote Polyone. However, this was no ordinary installation, as the UNESCO World Heritage Site Erbil Iraq was used. In addition to featuring 30 digital artists, the installation was pivotal in bringing NFTs to a new demographic and community. Additionally, the Braw Haus has taken the time to educate the Kurdish-Iraqi community about NFTs, Web3 and Metaverse.

As Justine puts it, this “traditional monument known around the world has been joined and merged with this new medium, digital art, and has shown how our digital art can truly be placed anywhere”. As divisive as the world is, this installation shines a light on how Web3 and the Metaverse can bring people together and focus on community.

Building bridges… and communities

In fact, community is key to the brands Braw Haus works with. Justine and Patricia agree that community is what sets Web3 apart from the Web2 way of working. “I think brands right now are like, everybody’s doing this, I want to do this. And that’s where we come in and guide them,” Justine explains. “I think whether it’s for brands or for individual hazards, really being part of communities and creating those communities to involve new kinds of social environments, and a new kind of decision-making is crucial.”

Community development and education are central to Braw Haus’ vision for the future. “We plan to do a lot more exhibitions like we did in Iraq, Paris and New York,” explains Justine. “If we do something that no one understands, let’s educate those people to understand and grow the community. So really, it’s about teaching that vision that we have to other communities.