Nearly 8,000 non-fungible token artworks have hit the market to celebrate the Mexican tradition of Dia de los Muertos.
The recent boom in cryptocurrency and NFTs presented an opportunity to inject the market with meaningful art inspired by Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead in English, David Dalan, crypto investor and co-founder of the Day of the Dead NFT project, told NBC News.
“The reason we choose the Day of the Dead is that it means something to all of us,” Galan, whose father died at 50 when Galan was 21, said. “What it means to be Mexican American was always very important for my father.”
Those who celebrate Dia de los Muertos believe the souls of deceased children come down from heaven to reunite with their families at just after midnight on Nov. 1 and the souls of adults visit on Nov. 2.
NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, provide verifiable ownership of digital assets like videos, image, and music and are powered by blockchain technology, which records data in a way that makes it difficult to be altered.
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The Day of the Dead NFT project’s collection of of 7,777 “Dead Head Chicks” ties projects together on both the Ethereum and Solana blockchains, according to its website. Digital artworks are mostly inspired by La Catrina, an elegant Aztec skeleton woman that’s become a festive symbol of Dia de los Muertos.
Day of the Dead NFT co-founder Armando Parrilla, 42, is a graphic designer whose artwork has been heavily influenced by Southern California street culture. He told NBC he was drawn to the project because it gave him an opportunity to bring his Mexican heritage to a new space occupied by few minorities.
“To see people with our culture in this NFT space … it’s like, it’s a chance. Is it breaking a barrier? Is it going to open doors for other artists from within our culture?” he said.
While minority artists in the space may be few and far between, minority investors in NFTs and cryptocurrency aren’t, and roughly 23 percent of Black Americans and 17 percent of Hispanic Americans own cryptocurrency compared to 11 percent of whites, according to two Harris Poll-USA Today surveys published last month.
Galan and Parrilla say this project is just the start for them, and plan to ultimately create virtual, customizable cemeteries where users can honor loved ones who have passed.
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