Djimon Hounsou and LÁOLÚ launch first joint African artist NFT – Black Girl Nerds

Two-time Oscar-nominated actor and humanitarian Djimon Hounsou from Benin, West Africa, has formed a collaboration with acclaimed performance and visual artist from Brooklyn. Láolú Senbanjo from Nigeria to create the “TIME TO HEAL” digital artist series. This series consists of five unique portraits featuring Djimon Hounsou as a canvas on which LÁOLÚ has applied his famous body art known as “Sacred Art of the Ori ”.

The exclusive “TIME TO HEAL” art series will be sold in a premium auction on the Binance NFT marketplace between November 10 and 15, 2021. A percentage of the proceeds will be donated to the Djimon Hounsou Foundation, a non-profit organization that aims to reconnect the African diaspora with the homeland and fight against modern slavery and human trafficking. This is the most recent collaboration for Binance charity NFT For Good Campaign, which enables creators to convert their art and creativity into meaningful global action targeting social and humanitarian issues.

Binance NFT selected “Time To Heal” as a significant event in the contemporary art space. The series follows the success of the Binance NFT Premium Collection, featuring digital artwork from icons such as Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali.

In the collaboration between these two West African artists, LÁOLÚ painted Yoruba motifs and symbols related to vigilance, compassion and the quest for freedom on Djimon’s head, right hand and left shoulder. The result is an outward reflection of Djimon’s inner essence as an African warrior of light. As the actor – who starred in Steven Spielberg’s Slave Revolt Amistad – describes it: “I feel this compelling need, this inherent obligation to give back to my continent, to my people, and to champion the idea of ​​reconciliation and reconnection.”

Says LÁOLÚ, whose body ritual Sacred Art of the Ori was also featured on Beyoncé’s Grammy-winning album “Lemonade”: “There is so much we can do when we get together. Through my work, I have always sought to connect the world to my Yoruba roots. With this project, we are doing it on a large scale by sharing not only our own stories, but also that of the diaspora in the digital landscape.

In June 2021, Binance launched the Binance NFT Marketplace, which supports and promotes an open marketplace for artists, creators, crypto enthusiasts, NFT collectors, and creative fans around the world. According to Exchange Data, NFTs have a market capitalization of nearly $ 28 billion to date, and between January and April 2021, the NFT art market has grown by over 800%.

To participate in this charity auction in support of the Djimon Hounsou Foundation, traders must open a cryptocurrency account on binance.com and bid for the artwork on https://www.binance.com/fr/nft between November 10 (12:00 p.m. EST) and ends November 15 (midnight EST). Transactions will be accepted in BNB, the cryptocurrency coin that powers the Binance ecosystem.

On November 9, 2021, Djimon and LÁOLÚ will also join Binance for an “Ask Me Anything” live chat on Binance YouTube, discussing NFTs, their entry into the crypto and blockchain space, and how NFTs can impact. on African artists.