David Cash’s Guide to NFT BASEL

I’m writing this roundup while in the air heading from my home base of Toronto, where it just started snowing, to sunny Miami, Florida. I’m one of the thousands of people descending upon South Beach for a very special edition of Art Basel Miami. This event is well known for being one of the most prominent fairs within the traditional art world. And being the first Art Basel Miami since the global pandemic started, this year’s event will be particularly historic as it will be the first major art world event since the 2021 NFT boom.

For me and many others, this year will be more of an “NFT Basel” than an “Art Basel,” With NFT and Metaverse installations being at the absolute forefront of this year’s art offerings. While there are plenty of NFTs at the recurring art fairs, such as Art Basel itself and Scope, there will also be three dedicated NFT conventions taking place at various venues across the city of Miami during this next week. 

Given the last-minute nature of many of these events, I thought it wise to compile a short-list or guide, if you will, to Art Basel Miami 2021 From an NFT community perspective. So without further ado, here’s a list of some of the hottest NFT-centric events happening over the next week in Miami: 

NFT BZL

• November 30th at the FTX Arena in Downtown Miami 
• According to their site, ”NFT BZL is the only exhibition that lets you cruise a roomful of NFTs, then pay with crypto or your credit card.” This assembly of panels and booths highlights some of the top voices in the NFT space and will surely bring out a bevy of well-known artists, collectors, and whales. 

DCentral Miami 

• November 30th + December 1st at the Miami Airport Convention Centre
• Deeming themselves the “Largest Conference Dedicated To NFTs & DeFi,” and taking place in the Miami Airport Convention Centre, “The Venue will have three dedicated stages running concurrently throughout the two days with Keynotes, Panels, Workshops, & Talks dedicated to Decentralized Finance & NFTs.” Hundreds of Web3 companies and DeFi organizations are participating in this event, including Decentraland, several virtual fashion houses, and most NFT marketplaces. 
• We (WTF) will be doing a booth in collaboration with Rarible near the main stage. So come by and have a chat, take a photo at our photo booth, and grab some free merch! We have some of our favourite artists coming by for live demos and some of your favourite writers and personalities coming by for meet-and-greets. We hope to see you there!
• Another highlight worth mentioning comes from the Fabricant. This leading virtual fashion house will be set up in the “Metaverse dome” and will have a gamified POAP scavenger hunt for attendees featuring free wearables as prizes! This is just an example of the level of innovation to expect from exhibitors at these NFTfi conventions. 

NFTS.tips x Sidus Heroes AR Yacht Cruise 

• December 1st – Tickets available here
• Come join other tastemakers, collectors, VCs and influencers in the NFT space in gamifying Art Basel Miami on the water.
• A curated selection of AR sculptures and artworks designed by blue-chip NFT artists to be geo-location tagged for a special gamified collector’s experience. Each artwork within the spectacle will be available for collectors to bid on. 

Oneof World 

• December 1st + December 2nd
• Oneof NFTs is following up on their successful NFT.NYC event with a two-day invite-only event. Their programming will include “immersive art experiences and panels led by an amazing lineup of speakers.” To request an RSVP, click here. 

Art Basel Convention 

• December 2nd through December 4th at the Miami Convention Center 
• This year, Art Basel itself is highlighting NTFS more than ever before! With several NFT artists popping up and a title sponsorship from Tezos, this event will feature several NFT projects, including: 
  • • One of the most beloved yet controversial figures in the Art world, Kenny Schachter, who will be continuing his NFTism world tour with a booth created in collaboration with the Nagel Draxler art Galerie which will grace booth G21
    • In collaboration with DRIFT, Don Diablo will be exhibiting a mixed reality NFT at Pace Gallery’s booth. This is a historic project with the intention of battling any environmental impact NFTs may have had by regreening at least 60 acres of land in Subsaharan Africa. Check out their microsite for more info. 
    • SuperRare is collaborating with AR pioneer Superworld to bring a historic installation to the Miami Convention centre, which, while still top secret, was shouted out in this Basel precursor article in the New York Times: 
      • • “What has trickled down from the tech industry is the love of all things NFT. Art Week hosts a bewildering array of NFT-themed gatherings, including the daylong NFT.BZL conference, featuring a bulging roster of NFT artists, tech figures, and both the city and county mayors. One of the many new NFT marketplaces, SuperRare, has even enlisted the engineers at SuperWorld to install 20 3-D sculptures throughout Art Basel’s Convention Center, viewable there only on their app — a novel way to get in front of influential eyeballs while sidestepping the fair’s curatorial committees and the roughly $60,000 (and up) booth fee.
    • More information coming soon but, in the meantime, tickets are only $65, so grab some on their website before they sell out! 

Scope Art Fair 

• December 2nd through December 4th
• Superrare will be one of the Sponsors of this year’s Scope. In a booth they created in collaboration with Samsung Next, they are featuring a bevy of Blue Chip NFT artists in their programming over the course of the week. From David Bianchi to John Fauves, this will be one of the most heightened collections of NFTs at Art Basel this year, so you should book tickets on their website ASAP and try to make it out if you can!

Nov 30th – Dec 5th @SCOPEArtShow @SuperRare

An epic collection of #nfts and #NFTartists are taking over @ArtBasel #ArtBasel

As a community, we are changing EVERYTHING.
Art will never be the same! The Revolution is NOW!https://t.co/O0skdRTA4a pic.twitter.com/LwB9yeawSG

— DAVID BIANCHI (@davidbianchi) November 28, 2021

Satellite Art Fair 

• December 1st through December 4th 
• NY FEM FACTORY will be popping up an NFT-centric show at one of the hottest fairs of Miami art week. Showcasing some amazing women and LGBTQ+ artists in the NFT space, including Unskilled Worker, Foodmasku, & Gretchen Andrews, this show curated by Jessica Yatrofsky and myself is built in a metaverse space and displayed via VR headsets. We’re looking forwards to introducing a number of first-timers to the metaverse while showcasing some incredible female and queer artists! 

Bit Basel:

• November 29th – December 5th at the Sagamore Hotel 
• BitBasel returns to Miami, Florida, a premier NFT hotspot for a week-long VIP event series hosted at the Sagamore Hotel. The Sagamore oceanfront hotel serves as a cultural platform for curated and immersive art experiences generating international attention & acclaim since the days of Art Deco. It’s a one-of-a-kind destination for Artists and Collectors from all over the world to meet and collaborate.
• On December 3rd, Deadmau5’s NFT team will be taking over the lobby for a “Day of the Deadmau5” activation featuring live artists creating NFTs that you can buy IRL! So make sure to check out this exciting activation if you make it to Bit Basel. 

Bored Ape Basel: 

• While public details are scarce, if you’re a Bored Ape holder, it might be worth checking out the Twitter of Bored Ape Basel for more information on where the other Apes will be. 

Time Out x Blackdove NFT Market @ Time Out Market South Beach

• December 1st through December 5th 
• In partnership with Blackdove, Time Out will be highlighting NFT artists, with a focus on creative coders, at their week-long pop-up activation. 

Soho House: 

• If you happen to be a Soho House member, there are a number of activations you’ll have first-come-first-serve access to throughout the week. Also, check the Soho house app for special activations and to RSVP for talks and events. 
• Soho House will exhibit a large-scale installation of Krista’s Kim’s Continuum, continuing her world tour with the project, from Thursday, Dec 2nd through Sunday, Dec 5th from 8:00 am – 10:00 pm. Head to the Continuum website for more information. 
• On November 30th, from 11 am-12 pm, there will be a panel at the beach house around the topic: “NFTs and the art world: a short fling or the long game?” The event is currently booked up, but there is room on the waitlist for members. Very cool to see this kind of programming taking place at Soho house!

These are far from all of the events happening over the next week, but hopefully, this gives you a bit of an idea of how many NFT-specific events are popping up this year! As mentioned, I think this will be looked back to as a historic event: When NFTs took over one of the largest art fairs in the world. Keep an eye out on the WTF Twitter for live updates, and, as always, we’ll keep you posted on the most exciting happenings taking place over the course of the week.