a museum acquisition of an artwork is a BIG deal. as digital artist Connie Bakshi eloquently put it in our recent X Space celebrating US National Poetry Month, “a museum acquisition is a commitment to steward both the materiality and immateriality of art.” but when was the last time you saw a museum acquire poetry?

we’re thrilled to announce that Mad Arts - an immersive art + tech museum in South Florida - has acquired 22 digital poems from theVERSEverse, making it the largest digital poetry acquisition by a museum to date. read the full announcement here.  

in this edition of conVERSEverse, we’re covering:

• “poem = acquired” by lorepunk + Shannon Chen See

• from the gallery: VERSA by theVERSEverse x Ross Goodwin

• poetry in the wild: NFC Lisbon, exciting wins for Christian Bök, ++

written by Shannon // edited by Elisabeth

“poem = acquired”

by lorepunk + Shannon Chen See

poetry has always been a form of art, yet when we walk into most museums, poetry is infrequently exhibited and rarely acquired. using the Mad Arts’ acquisition of digital poetry as a lens, this article co-written by lorepunk and Shannon Chen See makes the case for why museums need more poetry as now more than ever, poem = work of art.

from the gallery: VERSA

by theVERSEverse x Ross Goodwin

VERSA is an emergent AI poet developed by theVERSEverse x Ross Goodwin, trained on the collective and ever-expanding poetry of the writers of theVERSEverse. VERSA reflects the evolution of language as a technology.

thanks to our friends at fx(hash) & Tezos, you can collect VERSA poems directly on our site. oh, to sync 🖤

poetry in the wild

✨ Digital Art Week London was a dream. poetry and visuals by Sasha Stiles, Ana María Caballero, Marcos de la Fuente, Caridad Moro-Gronlier, and Ellie Pritts took over massive, immersive screens at Charing Cross. 

🇵🇹 theVERSEverse will take the stage at the Non-Fungible Conference this month in Lisbon! our co-founder Ana María Caballero will present on theVERSEverse and show the curated works of Tina Chang x Emily Edelman, Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello x Gretta Louw, Nathaniel Stern x Anne Spalter, and Legna Rodriguez x Veštica.

📝 Virginia Valenzuela (@vinnythesnail) is curating the “words beyond words” exhibition of text-based art for Mint Gold Dust, and she’s seeking poetry submissions. apply to the open call by May 27 to be considered! 

👏 congrats to Christian Bök, whose iconic work of poetry EUNOIA has been adapted for the stage by Denise Fujiwara. if you’re in Vancouver this weekend, don’t miss the Fujiwara Dance performance of EUNOIA at the Firehall Art Centre, running May 8-11. in other exciting news, all 425 numbered “effects” from Christian’s THE KAZIMIR EFFECT sold out! 

that’s a wrap on conVERSEverse edition #3! If you enjoyed reading, please forward the newsletter to a friend, or take a few moments to give your (anonymous) feedback below:

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