Now that was her ...
The first art fair in Hamburg after or during Corona.
From August 26th to August 29th, 2021, artists, collectors, gallery owners and interested parties met in the Stockmeyerhallen in Hamburg to look at, buy and sell, for exchange, for inspiration or simply out of curiosity.
"The Elephant in the room"
It was clear to everyone: Corona made compromises necessary for this event.
A completely carefree meeting like in the past was not (yet) possible. Limitations and guidelines had to be observed.
And so a review cannot begin without thanking Raiko Schwalbe's team for the organization under such adverse - and changeful - circumstances:
- The law enforcement officers, who always made sure that the event would have passed an inspection by the health department
- The catering, which in addition to the physical well-being of the visitors, always had hygiene and distance rules in mind
- And the core team around Raiko Schwalbe, which actually always seemed to be everywhere at the same time and always gave the impression of having "the thing under control"
- and all those who still belong, so that such an event can be carried out successfully in such times.
Of course, there were complaints about restrictions - also among the exhibitors. But there was always an intense appreciation for the organizers.
On our part, special thanks go to the team at NovaIdea who took on the impressive design of the project with proven professionalism.
General
2 halls full of art of various types and styles - some visitors found it challenging to be able to look at everything in the booked time slots.
We ourselves were in Hall 2 with our VR project “Mission to Mars” and it quickly resulted in a friendly neighborhood with the other artists in the catchment area of the nearby Campari bar.
For us, of course - in addition to the presentation of our project - it was exciting to talk to artists and gallery owners about the digital topics that move us.
Our own project contribution is an impetus for discussion, a mind game and we had nothing to sell - so there was time for many exciting conversations.
The following are our impressions: disordered, not representative - only our very subjective impressions on topics on which we have discussed.
Virtual reality
Our “Mission to Mars” project is a VR project. So we were of course able to experience again what fascination the medium VR unfolds.
We expected that. We know that from our previous projects.
However, we were even more pleased that the story on which the project was based also met with a very positive response.
In addition to the positive feedback, visitors gave us hints and tips on possible partners and collaborations, on conceivable further developments and, and, and.
In addition to all of this, there were always opportunities to let children and young people simply play around in VR, which always ensured bright eyes.
3D
One of our core themes is the creation of 3D digital twins.
And so we spoke to sculptors and asked whether the three-dimensional representation of your art on the web and in social media would represent added value for them.
The answer was unison: "yes - definitely".
Every sculptor saw an added value in this. The answers only varied between “yes - thank God my son will take care of it”, “yes, I would like to have it but I have no idea how”, “yes - I would like to have it - but I lack the digital affinity and I want to be completely around take care of my art "
Two gallery owners we spoke to were less convinced. The answers here were more in the direction of “we don't need - we sell like that”.
A gallery owner told us that she was specifically looking for digital expertise and support.
Anyway: an interesting opinion piece.
NFT
Unplanned and unintentional discussions on the subject of NFT arose on the first day of the event. From the 2nd day we began to actively seek discussions with artists on this topic.
Now the goal cannot be to dive into the technical depths of tokens, crypto and blockchains with an artist - after all, the artist wants to create art and spend his time on it.
But the awareness that a market is also developing in the digital world. was present with many.
And that this digital market - even after Corona with the closed galleries and the canceled trade fairs - could be a promising additional marketing channel ... that was obvious to everyone we spoke to.
And it went even further: in many of the conversations, the artists suggested that they “try it out together”.
We did not notice any reservations or reservations in our conversations. The conversations radiated a willingness to experiment and a spirit of optimism.
Conclusion
Everywhere you could feel the joy of being able to meet again in this form.
For us, the impression remained that there is a perceptible need among artists to get more involved digitally - if it doesn't demand too much of them in terms of time.
We would like to thank everyone who shared their impressions, wishes, reservations and experiences with us in conversations - and we look forward to continuing these conversations.
And above all: (I can say that by now) to see you again at the next event.
English 
German