Frida Kahlo Burning Event Draws the Beady Eye of the Mexican Authorities

Art collector, Martin Mobarak, has found himself in hot water this week after he seemingly didn’t read the T&Cs of his rare art purchase. He drew the interest of the Mexican authorities after destroying a genuine Frida Kahlo work to fuel an NFT project.

Back at the end of July, Martin held a lavish ceremony featuring fire dancers, a mariachi band and scantily clad models, during which he made a spectacle out of destroying a $10m, 1944 drawing by Mexican national treasure, Frida Kahlo. Essentially, planning to somehow fractionalize the disintegrated asset into 10k non-fungible tokens, then turning the work into a collection of images and short animated videos.

Now however, Martin has found himself on the wrong side of the Mexican authorities who have taken offence at his actions, citing that he may have violated federal laws by not seeking permission to destroy the artwork. In a nutshell, Mexico designated Frida Kahlo’s works a national treasure back in 1984, meaning that the wanton destruction of her drawings represents a criminal action while any reproduction rights remain firmly in the possession of the Bank of Mexico.

A fierce debate now rages as to whether the NFTs represent anything of value without the original drawing to back them up.

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