A Handful of NFT-related Projects in Paris Last Week Proves the Digital Medium is Pushing Through its Art Journey in the Background, albeit Timidly
Dancing with NFTs. The seventh edition of African-focused art fair AKAA (Also Known As Africa) presented its first NFT-based project with French-Ivorian visual artist, dancer and photographer Willow Evann. In collaboration with Neuvième Toit, a multidisciplinary artist collective, and gallery 31 Project Paris, the artist used various technologies (NFT, VR, AR) to build up on previous physical works, aiming at offering a sensorial experience where what is real merges with what is not.
Corporate Blockchain Curation. The blockchain Tezos had its own booth at Paris+ by Art Basel for the fair's first edition (following Art Basel’s ousting of FIAC). Tezos presented a series of digital generative artworks as well as minting stations. They also organized a series of talks connecting artists, curators, art advisors, gallerists, tech-founders, and institutions–42 speakers in total, and you can watch all of them here.
Art NFT Meetings in Art Historical Parisian Gallery. The interdisciplinary online crypto art platform TAEX hosted a NFT-focused event at Parisian Galerie Templon (founded in 1966) with speakers such as former French minister of culture Jacques Toubon, TAEX Curator Margarita Kuleva, and artist Lev Manovich (represented by TAEX).
Virtual Worlds in Asian Markets. The Asian art fair Asia NOW hosted the highest variety of NFT-based projects last week in Paris, showing several NFT-based artworks, such as by Cai Guo-Qiang, Yang Jiechang, and Yoko Grandsagne, as wells as immersive incursions into the online chapter of the DSLcollection. Alongside works, the talk program included a NFT focus, curated by Jiayin Cheng and Oliva Sartogo, with varied speakers, including artists, curators, tech-founders, and institutions interested in programming NFT-based exhibitions, and tackling themes such as cultural and esthetic authenticity, calligraphy, and the development of virtual worlds in Asian markets.
