In connection with the "White Canvas" Project supported by our foundation, a sustainable system for supporting artists in developing countries finally realized! A high-profile art & NFT (non-fungible token — a unique and non-interchangeable unit of data stored on a blockchain) will be utilized. Artists to receive a fixed percentage of compensation for every work they buy and sell.
White Canvas 2nd 2020 VR Exhibition to be held on September 2nd.
Please click here for the article:
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000001.000085826.html?fbclid=IwAR0bWZehMnWKHuaT1ugzFkG_lp1U5jHNRchH3kNPyYYs9HgfmOV2Att7ooM
White Canvas is a project that supports the development of artists in Southeast Asia. It utilizes blockchain technology to create a system that returns a portion of sales to the artist not only when the work is first sold, but also when it is sold a second time, a third time, and so on. Our goal is to create a new system that will allow artists to gain recognition for their work — regardless of nationality or race — and to receive sufficient compensation to allow them to continue to work as artists. The first sale of artworks has been concluded and sustainable support for artists in developing countries is now in full swing. In commemoration of this new development, a VR (virtual reality) exhibition will be held from September 2nd, featuring works by artists from Cambodia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and three other countries. The exhibition will be handled by Social Compass and its representative Mr. Hidetaka Nakamura in Cambodia — they will serve as the secretariat for the executive organizations of the three countries.

▽The Reality of the Art Market in Southeast Asia
The art market in Southeast Asia has been gaining attention in recent years. However, in countries with small economies, artists generally do not receive fair compensation for their excellent work; consequently, works created by Southeast Asian artists are currently often being sold in developed countries at prices several times or even tens of times higher than the initial price. Thus it is often the case that even the most talented artists cannot attain financial independence through their work: Southeast Asian artists are at an unfair disadvantage and the entire art world suffers a loss when talent is unable to flourish.

▽White Canvas Starting a “Revolution”: SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) & Art

The art competition "White Canvas" — based on the concept of "SDGs & Art" — will start in 2020 in Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Thailand with the support of the Eastern Culture Foundation. One of our goals is to solve the problem of evaluation and unfair compensation for artists; in order to realize this goal we have utilized blockchain to monitor the works. All of the prize-winning works in White Canvas have a special IC tag attached to the back; the IC tag/blockchain contains information on the history of the artist and owner, as well as a rule stating that the artist will be paid a "return fee" equivalent to 20% of the price whenever the work is sold or resold. By holding a smartphone over the tag, the user can read not only the history of the work, but can also see at a glance whether payment has been received by the artists. Buyers and sellers are thus encouraged to pay the "redemption fee” and artistic talent in Southeast Asia can flourish. Incidentally, the blockchain technology used by White Canvas has all been developed by Startbahn, Inc.

▽The first recipient of the redemption was Cambodian artist Mr. Chheav Hea.

Among the winners last fall, the Cambodian artist Mr. Chheav Hea's work was sold at the auction event "START" organized by TRiCERA Corporation in February this year for approximately 61,000 JPN. In August, a new form of artist support finally began to bear fruit as the first redemption payment was made for the second sale of White Canvas's award-winning work.

Here is a comment from Mr. Hea:
I would like to offer my humble gratitude for creating this effective system to support artists. I will continue to draw on the themes of peace and love in my creative endeavors.

Here is the comment from Mr. Hea in the original Japanese:

Profile of Cambodian Artist, Mr. Chheav Hea
Born on May 30, 1987

He was the fifth of nine children of a farming family living near the ruins of Beng Mealea in Siem Reap Province, Cambodia. Due to his family’s dire financial situation, he was sent to a temple when he was five years old. While helping with the daily work of maintaining the temple, he attended a school in Siem Reap which was run by Japanese. There he learned the Japanese language. In 2010, at the age of 22, he began working as a Japanese interpreter and teacher at a small Japanese-run art school. While working as an interpreter for an art class, he found joy in the free expression of the children, and began taking painting seriously at the age of 26. The main themes of his work — “world peace” and “familial love” — are derived from his memories of the Cambodian Civil War (1970-1993), which he lived through as a small child, and from his experience of growing up in a temple after being separated from his family at a young age.
Awards:
・Winner of the Japanese Speech Contest, 2006
・Winner of the Southeast Asian Prize at the White Canvas Competition, 2020

▽COVID-19 Pandemic Support! VR (Virtual Reality) Cambodian Art Exhibition from to be Held from Thursday, September 2
To commemorate the realization of one of the major goals of White Canvas, we will be holding a White Canvas exhibition 2020 utilizing the VR platform COMONY. Upon entering the VR space, you will feel as if you are right there viewing the works up close. (https://comony.net/downloads)
*Feel free to enter using your smartphone or computer.

Click here to see the artworks, comments, and awards of the artists who entered the WhiteCanvas 2020 competition.
https://whitecanvas.pro/

White Canvas 2021 (Call for Entries)
In addition to Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand, this year artists from Laos, Bhutan, and Maldives will also participate.

Eastern Culture Foundation
The Eastern Culture Foundation (Representative Director: Yoshihisa Nakano) was established with the aim of contributing to the development of culture and art in the Eastern cultural sphere, transcending regional and national borders. The organization is engaged in the following six activities: (1) holding culturally-themed international conferences; (2) establishing awards and holding awards ceremonies to express gratitude to those who support culture yet rarely get the accolades they deserve; (3) organize activities aimed at increasing regional revitalization; (4) conduct activities to enhance the preservation and storage functions of art through industry-academia cooperation; (5) organize activities aimed at shining a spotlight on young artists and creating value and opportunities for emerging talent; and (6) offering support for cultural projects in the Eastern cultural sphere.
(https://www.m-ecf.com)

Startbahn, Inc.
Startbahn is a company that aims to create a more affluent society by providing the technology needed by artists and people involved in the arts all around the world. ECF is promoting the construction of "Startrail", an infrastructure developed by Startbahn which expedites reliable art distribution and evaluation. “Startrail” utilizes blockchain technology and the service can be accessed online.
“Startbahn Cert.", and blockchain joint projects with corporations and organizations are currently being developed and expanded.
When the beta version of “Startbahn Cert.” was launched in March 2020, the ECF purchased 3,000 IC-tagged blockchain certificates.
(https://startbahn.jp)