Opening my email, I read: “We regret to inform you that the Rotterdam Photo 2021 is canceled due to the current epidemiological situation in Rotterdam related to coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Despite all our attempts, we can’t make it this year.”

Rotterdam Photo 2021 is canceled. This was tough to read. When treatments and life-saving vaccines are being administered worldwide, the variants still rampage through, knocking down every physical event in its collective path. It’s no wonder this event was taken off the schedule. 

Current State of Exhibitions 

I look forward to Rotterdam Photofest and its unique experience. My work selected for the 2021 Plant Human show is my best, but Covid-19 variants are many and full of tricks. Rotterdam is located south of Amersterdam and near the Hauge. I want to visit the Van Gough Museum in Amsterdam badly, and this show is the perfect solution. It was not meant to be this year, perhaps 2022?

The positive part of the 2020 pandemic and the current state of gallery exhibitions in 2021 is the rise of virtual and online shows. As a result, the world is becoming more “Phygital,” blending the physical and the digital together. This gives way to new forms of virtual artworks like NFTs.

NFTs in Art Practice

For some creating NFTs is essential in a post-Covid-19 environment, but what does this really mean? Distance in connecting with art, glass barriers in the form of screens, and at times spotty wifi or network connections, but I think it means our world is changing. Time will tell if this is good, bad, or indifferent. I’m holding out hope for good, and a phygital transition is highly beneficial for all of us. I create NFTs. They are very helpful to my art practice. 

Can an NFT replace the in-person experience of visiting Amsterdam and Rotterdam? Standing face to face with a Van Gough painting? I don’t think so, but it might be the best we can currently accomplish.

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