Move over crypto-bros, the CNE is launching an NFT | News

The Canadian National Exhibition Association (CNEA) has unveiled its first collectible non-fungible token (NFT), billing itself as the first major fair in Canada to take a sojourn into the metaverse art scene.

Titled “Finding the Balance,” it was created in collaboration with Canadian-Polish artist Voitek Pendrak.

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The work itself is created from a digital CNE image of a tightrope walker from 1965, with Pendrak layering in the global symbol of the coronavirus and the COVID-19 vaccine, all with an animated Canadian flag in the backdrop.

“Finding the Balance” is now available for sale on Rarible. CNE fans can also bid on a limited edition NFT (release of 100) from the CNEA archives of Freddy Mercury in concert at the Bandshell in 1980.

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“The CNE has been sharing fine art with Canadians since its inception in 1879; and to be able to engage in a form of shareable art in the twenty-first century metaverse is a pioneering step for the CNE as we celebrate our storied past and readily embrace the future,” CNE CEO Darrell Brown said in an Aug. 30 news release.

“Having broken ground with the soft launch of our first NFT in 2021, the release of ‘Finding the Balance’ is a way for the CNE to re-connect back to its roots in the arts and simultaneously embrace creative innovation. This is only the beginning as we intend to pursue multiple forms of virtual entertainment as part of our overall programming and product offerings.”

An NFT is essentially like a physical asset, like art or music, except digital. To maintain their value, NFT’s are generally sold as one of a kind or in limited runs with unique identifying codes that create a sense of scarcity and rarity. Much like any financial asset, they have value because the market and society say it does.