Cuban NFT artists say they face censorship in the crypto market
Cuba’s art market completely shut down during the pandemic, causing the community to turn to digital markets for survival. However, artists say they are still censored due to US sanctions against Cuba, with US-based platforms such as Open Sea going to the extreme of deleting content and accounts linked to the country itself.
The censorship began in January with the sudden closure of the account of the Fabrica de Arte Cubano – an art gallery that gave exposure to emerging artists.
As Cuban visual artist and founder of the project CryptoCubans, Gabriel Bianchini, explains: “The sanctions of the embargo are so vague that platforms just prefer not to take the risk and close our accounts.”
This type of censorship is a common occurrence for Cuban artists who expose their work on the Internet. Ernesto Cisneros, a musician and NFT artist, recounted his own tragic experience after losing all income on Patreon due to the embargo during the pandemic. This experience brought him to web3, unaware that the same story would repeat itself again. He told:
“I helped bring many artists to web3. But then OpenSea started blocking Cuban artists one after another. I stopped using that marketplace completely when I found out they were censoring because of the embargo.”
In addition to the consequences of censorship, they believe that Cuban artists have increased susceptibility to becoming victims of hacks. Such is the case for Avinro, an NFT artist from Havana. “There are anti-virus programs that don’t work properly because I’m in Cuba,” he says, claiming that the lack of proper digital protection allowed an attacker – posing as an interested buyer – to send him a virus via Zoom link that should otherwise has been detected by the software. Avinro claimed that this oversight allowed the attacker to take over his Metamask wallet, resulting in the theft of his earnings and the loss of his user profiles on various NFT marketplaces.
However, there are obvious advances on the technological side that are being made through official channels. Cuba’s government recently announced that it is open to the use of cryptocurrencies, fueling hopes of rapid adoption. Even if this were to happen, it would still be heavily regulated for the citizens. Now, the arrival of blockchain smart contracts is a game changer for Cubans who want to send their messages back to the world. Bianchini said:
“There is nothing more independent than a smart contract. Once you know how to program them, there’s no stopping you. What happened to the Fábrica de Arte was an alarm to show society in a new direction. I think we will build our independence, because now we have that chance.”
