Tarina Patel is the first South African actress to delve into the NFT world

Source: IOL / Yasmine Jacobs

It’s all about leaving a legacy.

This is what actress and film producer Tarina Patel said about making her mark in the NFT space.

Patel is the first South African actress to enter the non-fungible tokens (NFT) industry. It is worth noting that the NFT is not just a random photograph or GIF. It is a magnificent sculpture of her face.

In conjunction with being the first actress to be involved in NFTs, she is also using the power of NFTs to help a good cause in this year’s Momint NFT auction.

This auction is the largest NFT auction in Africa and one of the largest in the world. It takes place on 26 March 18:00 at The Grand Beach in Cape Town, South Africa

Patel told IOL about the importance of making her mark as an actress in the exciting world of NFTs.

“I was racing against time to be the first South African actress to be involved in NFTs. I didn’t want it to just be anything – like a photo, because that can be made in five minutes. I wanted it to be really remarkable and iconic.”

And remarkable it is. Marco Olivier created the sculpture and according to Patel, he went “all-out” as he spent months on the sculpture. The sculpture is expected to last approximately 800 years.

So why her face?

“As a person, my self-expression is storytelling and leaving behind a legacy. This face has been through so much and I have done so much.”

Patel acted in several movies in South Africa and abroad as well as produced films. She is also involved in humanitarian work as she is the founder and director of the Dr Ramanbhai Patel Foundation.

Patel said helping others also forms part of leaving a legacy as the legacy lives on through what he did for disadvantaged people.

Think NFTs are not something for an actress to be part of? Think again.

“NFTs are not typically in this space but it kind of is because it is art and it will be around for hundreds of years.

Commenting on the NFT industry, Patel hailed it as the future.

“I think NFT is the future. It is moving away from traditional banking and the NFT industry has really exploded.”

But what is the big fuss about NFTs and more specifically NFTs in the art world?

Because the art world is rampant with forgery, art needs to have some sort of documentation that details the ownership history of a piece.

“Verifying an artwork is a long and expensive process – so why is it done? The answer seems obvious – because art buyers want to know they’re getting the real deal. Buyers pay for more than just the artwork – they’re paying for a spot in the chain of ownership of the piece,” said Momint on their website.

This is where the art industry’s love for NFT comes in. NFT technology essentially gives a file an irrefutable ownership history, so you can’t just screenshot the image and call it a day.

“Further to that, because NFTs aren’t fungible (are unique and cannot be replaced), the buyer has proof that they are the sole owner of an art piece, issued by the artist. That means that NFT technology could place digital artworks in the same spot of cultural significance as real-world art: many people can see and enjoy them and they can even get hold of free copies of them, but we know that the original copy linked to the artist is owned by an individual,” said Momint.