Cyber Baat is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), consisting of artists from Senegal, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Africa, and the diaspora. Just like every DAO, the organization is controlled by a collection of members, and decisions are made by the collective. Cyber Baat aims to empower her members, foster collaboration among artists, preserve and promote African culture. Members are selected to join Cyber Baat based on the quality of their work and their efforts to promote African heritage.
Linda Dounia is the brain behind Cyber Baat, a collection of inspiring African artists determined to change the narrative and misrepresentation of the African continent in the digital art space. According to Dounia, Baat means wolf, which refers to African voices.
Dounia is a Senegalese artist and curator based in Dakar. She is also an Experience designer at Real, an organization remodelling digital and in-person mental health care in New York. Her work centers around utilizing speculative design and science fiction to imagine the African future. At the time of writing, some of Linda’s highest-priced works selling on foundation, “No-content error” and “Trust”, both depicting human figures, were last sold for 2.50 ETH and 1.11 ETH respectively.
The Cyber Baat exhibition was held in Dakar, September 2021; an event organized by Linda and her team which brought together about 23 emerging African artists. She believes that African artists are undervalued, hence Cyber Baat wants to change the narrative and increase the representation of Africans in the global art and blockchain space.
Dounia and her team also organized a fundraising ceremony in February 2022 to galvanize support and raise funds for some Cyber Baat Initiatives. The fundraiser featured works of art from 11 African artists including Linda Dounia, Arclight, Ava Silvery, Afroscope, Brook G, HVR memoirs, Serge Agnide Dade, MDD, Vintage Mozart, and Brook.
The objective was to raise about 57.5 ETH from the sale of NFT art which was themed “Africa is not a country”. Participants in the fundraiser would also benefit from membership access to the collectors club, Airdrops, free passes to Cyber Baat Zine among other perks
The most expensive artwork at the exhibition, “New Wave” by Moonsun Diamond, was listed for 3 ETH while “I am the Sun” by Linda Dounia was listed for 0.15 ETH; “Standing together” by Arclight, which depicts two Africans holding hands, was sold for 2.50 ETH. The participating artists received 50% of the sale proceeds, and they may choose to donate their earnings to the Cyber Baat treasury.
Some upcoming Cyber Baat projects include Art Dubai, Non-fungible Conference in Lisbon, Cyber Baat Zine as well as the addition of new artists. Cyber Baat is on a mission to empower African artists through the blockchain and address the problem of underrepresentation of artists of African descent in the digital space using the power of web3 and the blockchain.
