Shoreditch has never played by the rules, and neither does ArtSect DAO. Born out of lockdown-era warehouse culture, ArtSect merges the digital frontier with raw, real-world creativity. Led by Miki Maharishi, the decentralised collective is rewriting the way we think about curation, ownership, and cultural power—spanning from Hackney to Dubai, with a dash of metaverse mysticism. We caught up with Miki to talk smoke-filled performances, token-gated dreams, and the art of disrupting the old world order.
You launched ArtSect as a decentralised arts organisation rooted in both physical spaces and the metaverse. What was the initial spark behind combining IRL exhibitions with Web3 infrastructure?
For us it was always a natural conclusion to make the technology relevant, accessible and fun. I’d already set up my first web3 organisation Regen Collective in 2020, bringing web3 paradigms into CoLiving and creative studios management; so the whole team always had a collective asset management approach while also being creative technologists. It was very important to us at the emergence of all this metaversey business that we brought our culture to the real world and touch people directly.
East London has long been a hub for subculture and experimentation—how has Hackney’s creative energy shaped ArtSect’s evolution?
Being born under such legendary influence, our own collective stemmed from the warehouse communities studying together during lockdown. Our first exhibition in Shoreditch was for graduating CSM students who had been stripped of their degree show by the powers that be.
One students burning oil painting had plumes of black smoke coming from our original Tram Depot location and we had to cut the performance short with a fire extinguisher.
Having our time to platform this generations incarnation of the legacy’s that ran before us while incorporating the digital layer that now augments our lives.
ArtSect operates as a DAO. How do you balance decentralised governance with creative curation, and what have you learned from giving power back to your community?
We have always adopted natural systems principles and ecological flows of energy. So by empowering representation, trust and nurturing in our community we have really seen the ecosystem expand naturally like a forest.
From London to Dubai to China, ArtSect is building a global footprint. How do you localise the experience in each city while maintaining a unified ethos across borders?
Learning from building our incubator ecosystem in London, feeding from those localised arts communities we find it important to celebrate the niche subcultures we find in other great cities around the world. Moda in Istanbul and Xarchia in Athens are key hubs for us in Europe.
We’re also building bases in Dubai and Chengdu, China.
The ArtSectDAO supports artists, curators, and patrons equally. How does this shared-ownership model shift the power dynamics of the traditional gallery world?
In a crypto anarchist view, the old system is a financier lead, institutionally supported, imperial legacy we have collectively inherited. This only stifles development and supports homogeneous thinking.
We aim to reclaim our ‘collective cultural commons’, our representations, interpretations and meanings; giving power back to marginalised communities by using web3 technology.
As immersive exhibitions and token-gated experiences become more common, what role does narrative and storytelling play in curating both virtual and physical works?
We have always focused on interactive, experiential and even participatory interpretations of new media and digtal arts. Using it as a way for audiences to get deeper into the artist and curators meaning and the culture the represent. It’s very important to us to highlight what’s important in our hearts and dreams using this technology. Not to render everything so distantly perfect that is becomes unattainable.
You’ve spoken about trustless ownership and open decision-making. In an industry built on curation and taste, how do you preserve quality while staying democratic?
Our first inspiration for the Decentralised Arts Organisation came from the MolochDAO Whitepaper and secondly from the Cyberwitch manifesto. We took social and energetic principles from these and applied them in the formation of our governance and council.
In practicality this means we have a really strong council of alt fem curators, artists and crypto economic business thinkers, who not only initiated the community but continue to nurture its development within web3 paradigms.
Congratulations on being on the map for the first edition of foldthe.word how did all come together?
Our advisor Eulan at To&Partners helped secure us a spot in the new street art map for Shoreditch. Legend in the scene🫡
What does foldthe.world mean to you?
Fold the world is looking to the future of digital and new media arts in Shoreditch, while firmly rooted in its street art and evolutionary cultural history.
Looking forward, what’s next for ArtSect? Are there any upcoming partnerships, metaverse activations, or global takeovers we should have on our radar?
We have the green grammar immersive dining experience from 26th-29th June curated by Momo Yang. Then launching our online community arts shop, to enable collectors access to rare items from our community.
xxx
This interview is part of Foldthe.world series. Foldthe.world is a collectable art poster distributed around Shoreditch, combined with curated insiders map helping you to shorten distance and time made by TOANDPARTNERS productions and supported by Made in Shoreditch Magazine.
Follow @foldthe.world on Instagram for the latest updates, interviews, and new additions to the creative map of East London.
