– A fair faire for and from the community
While NFTs have been around for a while, we acknowledge that the traffic on NEAR until now has been not comparable (yet) to other chains such as the OG Ethereum for example.
Nevertheless, they revolutionise the artworld, especially due to the continuos royalty splits that Mintbase allows the minter to add, and the infinite use cases that open up through it.
Until NFTs as tools are implemented fully on a global level and in all areas, it will still take some time.
But bear market is time to build, and we decided to be proactive. We are working with creatives and aim to empower them, show them what the future might look like and also support them during their creative process.
How to do that?
This year ,we (a collective of creative DAOs within the NEAR ecosystem, namely Cudo, Demonstra, Garden Collective, Incubadora, 55SP and muti) have decided to use our funds wisely and to experiment with tech while supporting the community directly. So we started to organize a digital NFT fair, called NFTropolis. The idea was simple: each DAO/ their artists mints NFTs on Mintbase and Paras and will buy NFTs from each other, initially with a budget of 200 USD per DAO.
The Benefits
Besides supporting the NFT sales, this project brings several other perks, for artists, the ecosystem and its platforms.
NFTropolis has led to
-
- more tracktion on Mintbase
-
- more visibility for the artists and DAOs as well as NEAR Protocol, through promotion on Twitter and web2 social media
-
- the attempt to create a sustainable funding mechanism (NFT revenue of DAOs will be used for next editions)
-
- a direct support for creators as their NFTs will been bought and an incentive to mint more NFTs
-
- the usage of several platforms such as Mintbase, Astro DAO and 3xr to showcase the curated purchases after the events
-
- usage of the features on Astro DAO, such as buying the NFTs through the DAO UI directly
-
- more DAO to DAO collaborations within the ecosystem which will also run NFT fairs
-
- more partnerships/connection within the ecosystem
Until today we have run 3 successful editions and have acquired NFTs with a total value of almost 4000 USD in N.
Most of the NFTs have been bought through the DAOs directly (rather than through singular wallets), which initiates community engagement in the process and offers a new level of transparency, as all NFTs can be seen in the DAO treasury. Each DAO created their own digital gallery with the curated and bought pieces afterwards on 3xr, which can be bought again as an NFT to support all creators whose works have been chosen.
What’s next ?
As we believe that this is the way forward both to promote the technology as well as supporting the artists, we have invited another DAO to participate (and will continue to do so in the future). We will also work with a curator for each of the next editions in and are in the conversation with Gorillashops, to create more visibility and curatorship as well as a dedicated Gorillashops store with all purchased NFTs.
We are planning to eventually not only organize the fair digitally but in the physical realm, in Portugal and Brazil. muti has already organised an IRL exhibition with physical NFTs, to give a twist to the NFT world and to create an immersive and more tangible experience, which has been appreciated by the visitors.
Creating a phyical version of this project with a different focus than purely the web3 audience will not only allow us to create an immersive experience but also to create and strengthen bonds between DAOs, artists, curators, collectors and galleries as well as showcasing the technology on the NEAR blockchain to visitors who have not been exposed to it yet.
Keep your eyes open for the next NFTropolis event and happy minting!