Tezos to Present NFT Exhibition at Influential Art Basel Miami Beach Show

Tezos will be presenting a multi-faceted non-fungible token (NFT) exhibition at Art Basel Miami Beach 2021.

The two projects said Thursday the show, in a 2,500-square-foot exhibition space carved out for NFTs, will feature artworks, some interactive, from artists using the Tezos platform. It will also include speakers and panel discussions discussing issues related to NFTs’ expanding presence in the art world.

Tezos has also signed on as an Art Basel Miami Beach 2021 partner. This year’s event takes place Dec. 2-4 at Florida’s Miami Beach Convention Center.

“We’re in a new frontier of art,” Mark Soares, CMO and founder of Blokhaus, a spin-off of TQ Tezos and marketing and communications hub for the Tezos network, told CoinDesk. “This experience can bridge two worlds and spotlight great artists sprouted in the blockchain category and bring them to new audiences.”

With its low transaction fees and higher energy efficiency than Ethereum, Tezos has become a popular option for artists and major brands to build their NFT projects. In June, the automotive racing powerhouse McLaren said it would build an NFT platform on the Tezos blockchain. The rapper and singer Doja Cat has been using the music-focused NFT platform OneOf to mint, host and trade NFTs on Tezos.

Art Basel Miami Beach, a nearly two-decades-old offshoot of the original Art Basel in Switzerland, ranks among the world’s most important art events, regularly showcasing new artists and trends. The 2019 event, the last held before the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of 2020’s show, drew over 80,000 people and collectors from 70 countries.

Read more: Art Collectors Swoon Over NFTs at Elite Basel Gathering

Last month, Art Basel itself welcomed NFTs in a big way with crypto artist Olive Allen selling one of her works during the event’s opening day for about US$29,000. Allen called the exhibition of NFTs at the Swiss show “a huge milestone towards their acceptance as an art medium on par with painting and sculpture.”

Soares said Tezos would settle on a roster of artists for Art Basel Miami Beach by the end of October. The speakers and panel discussions, which will address such topics as NFT ownership and the development of artistic communities, will be live-streamed.

“This is our way of saying crypto art is here, it’s the real deal, let’s talk about it,” he said.

UPDATE (Oct. 7, 16:30 UTC): Corrects description of Blokhaus.