22 women digital artists get together to create the world’s first functional Tarot NFT and launch it on programmable NFT art platform ASYNC, where it is currently available to view and open for bids until the 1st May 2021. 

Francesca Miller  |  Ed Juliet Rennie | 28 April 2021

  • The Arcana Crypto Tarot by WOCA artists 2 - Agora Digital Art
  • The Arcana Crypto Tarot by WOCA artists 3 - Agora Digital Art
WOCA Artists, The Arcana Crypto Tarot (2021) © Courtesy of the artists.

WOCA is a community of women digital artists that came to be through chatting to each other on Twitter. They then decided over time to create this community with a strong sense of purpose to amplify the visibility and works of women in the crypto space by promoting, collaborating and supporting each other. It is a non-exclusive group, that is open to any digital artist who identifies as a woman in the crypto art space or any artist that may feel invisible.

The Arcana Crypto Tarot is its first collaboration of artwork of this group and on ASYNC. Each of the 22 contributing digital artists, some founders of the WOCA, on this amazing project is at a different stage of their own journey in the crypto art space.

“I had recently became active in the crypto art space and this collaboration, while being an amazing project artistically and conceptually, also allowed me and other woman crypto artists to get to know each other, connect, share resources – while grounding WOCA in the spirit of collaboration and empowerment. It’s a fantastic feeling knowing that this collaboration will have an impact way beyond our individual contributions,” says Portugal based contributing digital artist Inês Merino.

  • The Arcana Crypto Tarot by WOCA artists 4 - Agora Digital Art
  • The Arcana Crypto Tarot by WOCA artists 5 - Agora Digital Art
  • The Arcana Crypto Tarot by WOCA artists 6 - Agora Digital Art
WOCA Artists, The Arcana Crypto Tarot (2021) © Courtesy of the artists.

The Arcana Crypto Tarot is WOCA’s artists’ reinterpretation of the traditional Major Arcana. The  Tarot NFT tells 22 stories since each digital artist creates their own version and rendition of the Tarot archetype using their own unique art styles and technology as they reinterpret the old wisdom. This NFT deck encompasses works across a range of digital art-making processes — from digital illustration to VR painting to GAN-based images, photography, AI-enabled style transfer, collage and beyond. 

“Each artist’s work is distinct and recognisable, yet the cards form a perfectly integrated set — a magical feat,” says contributing UK based digital artist Stina Jones.

The tarot NFT itself is a fully functional tarot deck, freely available to consult on the ASYNC platform. Anyone can access this working oracle anytime, submit a question or a concern and see what insights emerge from contemplating the cards. Karen Frances Eng tweets: “We’ve pushed the limits of what can be created with Async Art’s technology, merging a 15th-century tradition with 21st-century art-making tools — weaving the kind of magic that can only be conjured when a group of likeminded women comes together with intention.” 

  • The Arcana Crypto Tarot by WOCA artists 7 - Agora Digital Art
  • The Arcana Crypto Tarot by WOCA artists 8 - Agora Digital Art
WOCA Artists, The Arcana Crypto Tarot (2021) © Courtesy of the artists.

From reinterpreting the old physical to digital, WOCA is also taking the digital and making it physical. WOCA is producing a numbered, limited-edition run of 50 physical printed decks, wrapped in a hand-sewn, black silk crepe reading cloth and tied with a gold satin ribbon. The proceeds of this particular sale will be donated to WOCA’s community funds as a foundation to further its support of women crypto artists.

What are your thoughts on how NFT platforms and communities enable women to make their work for sale more visible?

WOCA Artists, The Arcana Crypto Tarot  (2021) © Courtesy of the artists
  • Exhibition: The Arcana Crypto Tarot by WOCA artists

  • Date: ending 1 May at 8 pm BST

  • Location: ASYNC

  • Media: Crypto Art

  • Curator: Gisele X

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