REFUGE metaverse exhibition raises $28000 for Ukraine (2022)

In March 2022, Bay produced REFUGE, the metaverse art event for Ukraine in Orica Gallery. The show raised $28000 in the BNB cryptocurrency, which was transparently donated via blockchain philanthropy platform The Giving Block’s Ukraine Emergency Response Fund.

Bay’s first step in producing the charity show was gaining the support and curation of three of the top NFT collectors in ETH – Gabriel Santos of GBLST Colektivo; OMZ; and founder of The Crypt Gallery in NYC and Hollywood, The King of Midtown,

She then approached some of the biggest influencers in the BNB twitter space, including MrBanks (200k), CryptoKojima (50k) and CGAA (192k), to pledge their support in sharing the event. The combined social reach of REFUGE’s supporters topped 900k followers.

Bay worked with designer Adrián Martínez on the concept for a new Decentraland gallery for REFUGE – a concept which Adrián designed and deployed with Orica’s Head of Technology, Pouriya H.

Visitors at the REFUGE opening event, 31st March 2022

Bay approached 31 leading NFT artists in the ETH and Tezos ecosystems to donate artworks for the exhibition. For many, this was their first contact with Decentraland and metaverse environments. REFUGE’s curators then selected 20 of the submissions for the metaverse gallery.

The twenty exhibited artists were:

Ragzy
Lauren Moffatt
Katerina Marchenko
Elypse
Rukmunal Hakim
Mical Noelson
Josh White
The Nomadic Kenyan
crashblossom
Nino Arteiro
Alex Baker
Carl Yonder
David López Garcia
Mangoscam
Aline Brant
Tina McCallan
quirze
Mellowmann
Aqueous
Aiira Mérida

“It’s such a terrifying and stressful time,” said Moscow artist Katerina Marchenko about her involvement in REFUGE.
“I think we all must find the strength to create something kind and beautiful.”

The first floor of REFUGE, showing works by Crashblossom, Mellowmann, Lauren Moffatt, Mangoscam, Elypse and Nino Arteiro

Gallery visitors on the REFUGE metaverse art tour

“This is a humanitarian crisis that needs everyone’s support,” explains community-builder Dehuffski, a co-founder of the BNB Chain Growth Alliance. “I chose to back REFUGE because through it artists can express the topic of this war while raising important funds.”

REFUGE opened in Orica Gallery, Decentraland on Thursday 31st March, with a special opening event which saw peak users of 80. The show ran until 30th April 2022 with average weekly gallery visitors of 150+. The event was covered extensively by BSC News.