Objkt initially emerged as a way for artists to sell their wares on the environmentally friendly blockchain Tezos. Its high-quality artist roster and art curation quickly made it stand out from the crowd.
NFTevening caught up with Objkt’s Ombeline Rosset over coffee in Lisbon. What followed was an interesting conversation about her role as an art NFT curator and the artist-centric ethos of the marketplace.
Quotes are condensed and edited for clarity.
Who is Ombeline Rosset?
Ombeline Rosset, also known as Cabline1 on Twitter and in the NFT community, is Objkt‘s leading art curator. For those who have lived under a rock for the past year or so, Objkt is currently the largest NFT marketplace on Tezos. Ombeline’s path to becoming Objkt’s lead art curator is nothing short of interesting. She was working as a lawyer when she discovered NFTs and began collecting them.
“I was buying some crypto at the time and wanted to know more. I discovered NFTs on Twitter. And I just learned that you can buy art that way,” recalls Ombeline. She quickly became an art collector and became deeply involved in the NFT art scene by sharing recommendations on Twitter. Soon enough, artists began to message her to thank her, and her online presence began to grow.
After she was done with law, Ombeline decided she needed a career change. She asked NFT Twitter if there were any jobs in the NFT space. “I thought, well, I don’t have any chance to get hired. But still I want to try. And so I posted on Twitter. Then several people from the community recommended me to Objkt; which is a marketplace which I had been using almost since the beginning.” Thanks to her early interest in art NFTs, she landed a role as Objkt’s lead curator.
What does an art NFT curator do?
Since Ombeline became involved, Objkt has grown a lot – but thankfully, the core values of the community remain the same. The artistic community, in particular, has become even more engaged and active as the volume has increased.
“Objkt also introduced the possibility to mint an objkt or to create your own collection on your own contract,” says Ombeline. “And this is something that the artists had been asking a lot, which is a quite an important feature.”
In addition to in-platform changes, there are trends in terms of what collectors buy at different times. However, according to Ombeline, “the good thing is, as a curator I get to highlight some artists.” This is crucial for emerging artists whose work is innovative but not associated with a trending style.
Moreover, Ombeline, as a curator, ensures that she amplifies various artists so that collectors can discover them and buy their NFTs. “So we have the front page where you have an artist who is featured on the homepage, you can see the pieces. And then people can buy. We have a section which is called hidden gems, where we highlight some pieces by artists that people don’t know,” explains Ombeline.
In addition to curating the actual platform, Ombeline is very active on social media, especially Twitter. She mentions that she spends hours on Twitter and Instagram. This is because she uses social media to filter through DMs and hashtags to discover new artists who might be flying under the radar. Although time-consuming, Ombeline explains that this is crucial to promote Objkt’s artists and discover new ones who might be perfect for the platform.
Objkt and emerging artists
So what are the main obstacles for artists trying to sell art NFTs? “It is mostly understanding that it is different from the traditional art,” replies Ombeline. “And that it involves crypto, too, which is quite complicated.”
Moreover, many artists struggle to promote their work and build a community on Twitter that would be ready to buy their NFTs and artworks. Ombeline explains that there are different communities for each artist that they can tap into according to their niche.
For example, photographers can tap into Twitter communities like @photezNFTs. However, artists who are still getting used to the space need to know who to contact. Fortunately, people like Ombeline and platforms like Objkt are more than happy to steer promising artists in the right direction.
In addition to welcoming artists new to the space, being on Tezos, a proof-of-stake blockchain, helped Objkt attract more artists. Additionally, its strong artistic and collector community as well as lower gas fees, attract artists who live in developing nations. This is because, if they use other platforms, the gas fees would probably be higher than their living costs.
All in all, as Ombeline puts it, “Objkt has always been very interested in highlighting the artist’s work and focusing on art.” Due to its strong, artist-centric ethos, Objkt will undoubtedly continue to go from strength to strength.
All investment/financial opinions expressed by NFTevening.com are not recommendations.
This article is educational material.
As always, make your own research prior to making any kind of investment.
