Narra Gallery
A Metaverse Space for Crypto Art in Decentraland's New 💯xArt District
A brief interruption from my currently ongoing Notes on Collecting Crypto Art series in order to share some news…
Last weekend Gabby Dizon and I announced the launch of Narra, a joint venture of sorts between friends for various cultural pursuits we may have in the broader Cryto-Metaverse.
Our first project is the Narra Gallery, an open gallery space in Decentraland to showcase collections of Crypto Art, Crypto Collectibles, NFTs, and other VR and Metaverse projects.
Sharing some of the basic details below 👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼
Who?
Gabby Dizon (Narra Co-Owner), Co-Founder of Yield Guild Games and Altitude Games, well-respected NFT Collector and Metaverse-Native
Shelly Soneja (Narra Concept Artist & Art Director), created the concept for Narra and made it absolutely beautiful, did a ton of the heavy lifting from concept to implementation - also was one of the premier crypto artists that auctioned work in Narra on the opening night
Van Halen Cunanan (Narra 3D Artist), took Shelly’s concept and built the damn thing (despite Decentraland’s often frustrating creation tools!)
Colin Goltra (Narra Co-Owner), me, crypto-human, speculator, etc.
What?
A space, a gallery, a home - for Crypto Art and other NFT projects that inspire us.
Named after the National Tree of the Philippines, Narra is a giant golden tree with 5 floors of exhibit space built on 9 plots of Decentraland LAND tokens.
Right now Gabby and I alternate floors to showcase our different Crypto Art collections, but the space itself can be used for other purposes and occasions as we see fit.
Where?
The development/launch of the Narra Gallery was done in conjunction with the development/launch of the new 💯xArt District, a new neighborhood in the crypto-world Decentraland dedicated entirely to Crypto Art.
Several other top Crypto Art collectors have also launched incredible galleries and virtual spaces in the new district and together we manage the neighborhood, events, and public spaces of 💯x via a collective DAO (think of it kind of like a “homeowners association” for our little corner of the Metaverse.)
Click this buttom to jump to Narra’s exact location in Decentraland:
When?
The entire 100xArt District launched last weekend (Jan 31/Feb 1, 2021) to a huge turnout!
At Narra, we held crypto art auctions for both Shelly Soneja and Daniella Attfield to conclude the ceremonies - and both pieces sold!
Narra Gallery is now open for visitors to go explore at their convenience.
Why?
Because we fucking can and we fucking wanted to.
Gabby and I have both been working hard in the industry for several years now and it’s fun to be able to continually participate in it in new ways.
We were in the right place at the right time to participate in the formation of the 100xArt district and really wanted to contribute back to the crypto art scene with a grand project like Narra.
It might seem silly to think about crypto art patronage in this way, but the people who think like that also thought/think cryptocurrency is a silly idea, so it’s best we ignore them anyway.
Also, it’s not a coincidence that we named the Gallery after the National Tree of the Philippines. Narra is a Filipino team working in the Philippine Crypto Industry and felt that it was critical for Filipinos to occupy a premier space as these sorts of new cultural institutions are built and established. This isn’t exclusively a national-pride play (we’ll also do other cool stuff), but we will definitely involve the broader #CryptoPH and Philippine Art communities in future projects at Narra.
Overall, our artists love it and we love interacting in this way.
What Else?
We’re starting with a Gallery space… for now.
Perhaps that’s all we’ll decide to do, but as the Crypto-Metaverse continues to rapidly expand, I would be surprised if this is all we end up doing.
We see Narra as a sort of “Cultural Capital Fund” (shoutout Mench!) for ourselves and for Filipinos in these new digital realms - this is our vehicle to actively write the narrative (or, Narra-tive 🤪) just as the blank pages become available.
Until then though, let’s just celebrate the launch of the Narra Gallery!
Huge thank you to everyone who visited on opening weekend, please visit us again soon 🤩
Wish I could include all the Tweets and pics in this post, but follow @NarraGallery on Twitter for more 💯
