The 1st ever NFT exhibition at Venice Biennale is carbon neutral, thanks to ImpactScope

In July 2021 ImpactScope offset the carbon emissions of the first ever NFT minted in Switzerland under the country’s new Distributed Ledger Technology Law. Four months later in Dubai, ImpactScope was the partner of choice to offset the emissions of the world’s premier hybrid NFT art auction.

In another first for the international art world, ImpactScope is the offsetting partner for 1st ever NFT art show at the Venice Biennale. La Biennale di Venezia is an international cultural and art exhibition hosted bi-annually in Venice, Italy. It features art, music, theatre, architecture, cinema and dance. The event consists of a central exhibition, national pavilions; organized by numerous nations each showcasing artworks from one or more artists and independently organized exhibitions tagged as side events. It is truly a sight to behold.

Venice Biennale 2022 dubbed “The Milk of Dreams” happens to be the 59th edition of the epic art festival. It began on Saturday, April 23rd and will end on Sunday, November 27, 2022. This year’s edition features 213 artists from 58 countries, 1433 works and objects on display and 80 new projects! 

The Cameroon Pavilion brought the 1st ever NFT art show to the Venice Biennale entitled ‘The Time of the Chimeras’ and ImpactScope helped make the entire event carbon neutral. The NFT section was organized by the Global Crypto Art DAOArtnet, Matrix Labs, Bitkeep amongst others. ‘Time of the Chimeras’ featured NFT artworks of several international names from the United States, China and Germany. It also showcased physical art by four Cameroonian artists.

Venice Biennale unveiled a strategy in 2021 to reevaluate all of its activities in light of environmental sustainability principles. As the Biennale took place before Ethereum’s move to Proof of Stake, the NFTs on display had immense carbon footprints. It is estimated that an average NFT mint generates 211kg of carbon dioxide, which is similar to a ticket on a return flight from London to Paris. 

ImpactScope supported the Cameroon Pavilion by handling the carbon offsetting of the NFT art exhibition which included all carbon footprints associated with holding the event such as NFT minting, travel to and from the event, electric power consumption, marketing, staffing and catering as well. This is part of our goal to help mitigate the unintended environmental consequences of these digital assets. This compensated for the potential long-term effects that the NFT exhibition might have had on the environment.

Head of Research, Mehul visits Venice Biennale – “It was a pleasure seeing NFT based digital art displayed at such a prestigious event in the global art calendar and for ImpactScope to bring awareness to the CO2 emissions and support in the offset.”