HomeBase Project, the non-for-profit, artist-run cultural initiative, presents the U.S. launch of its artistic craft Ignatz Bier, brewed at the HomeBase LAB in Berlin. HomeBase Project holds a talk and auction of their products on Saturday at the fair. NURTUREart Non-Profit Inc., which provides exhibition opportunities and resources for emerging artists, curators, and local public school students, shows photography from New York City artist David Schoerner, featured in NURTUREart's 2011 Open Call. The contemporary art online marketplace Artspace.com presents a sensory immersion space by assum e vivid astro focus, plus works by artists in partnership with leading cultural institutions worldwide. VOLTA NY's official sponsor Gallerist hosts an online version of the fair, extending its duration and reach to global collectors via a high-resolution, dynamic display.

  The fair's opening day features a live taping of cable TV series Art/Trek NYC, a five-borough quest showcasing emerging artistic talent. The winner enjoys their debut solo gallery show underwritten by Art/Trek NYC's sponsor, WelcometoCOMPANY. In addition, Art/Trek NYC's five finalists will be featured in a dedicated booth for the duration of the fair: Edoheart (Brooklyn), Allison Kaufm an (Manhattan), Christopher Smith (The Bronx), PEACOCK (Queens), and Nicholas Fevelo (Staten Island).

CULTURE SHOCK presents BOOM!, a visitor-interactive celebration of technology, creativity, physicality and art, featuring boomboxes from Lyle Owerko; generative animation iPad apps from Glenn M arshall; audio interfaces curated by Dave Hodge; and dance performances by Victor "Kid Glyde" Alicea and M elanie Aguirre. Additionally, a series of related video animations will screen in the fair elevators.

Performances at VOLTA NY add further dimension to exhibiting artists' methodology and disciplines. W ilm er W ilson IV (USA), member of Conner Contemporary's *gogo emerging art projects and participant in the upcoming DC Commission on Arts and Humanities 5x5 Public Art Project, will perform three different durational works from Thursday through Saturday at the fair. Pristine Galerie presents a participatory performance created by Oreet Ashery (UK), featuring a delegated artist painting performers as both an allusion to Yves Klein and a meditation on body politics. ...

The 2012 edition of Open Forum , hosted in conjunction with The Armory Show and organized by curator Amanda Parmer, highlights the fairs' Nordic Focus with thought-provoking conversations featuring artists, curators and critical minds from New York and Scandinavia. Included at VOLTA NY are journalist and Osloo project contributor Maria Kjæ r Themsen with curators Birta Gudjonsdottir (Berlin/Reykjavik) and Aura Seikkula (Helsinki), plus Bombblog editor Legacy Russell; a journalism panel moderated by M argaret Liu Clinton, Blind Spot's Contributing Editor-At-large, with writer Magnus Bons (Norway), Kunstforum editor André Gali and curator and writer Stam atina Gregory (Brooklyn); artists Anna Lundh (Stockholm/New York) and Bryan Zanisnik (Brooklyn), on their respective temporal projects; and DIY public access collective Paper Tiger Television co-founder M aria Byck with Norwegian artist Sara Eliassen on her “anti-commercials” Not Worth It (No: Handlefri).

A full artists and gallery list, plus visiting hours and access information, can be found by visiting our website: voltashow.com.

VOLTA was founded in Basel in 2005 by dealers Kavi Gupta (Chicago), Ulrich Voges (Frankfurt) and Friedrich Loock (Berlin). The eighth edition in Basel, VOLTA8, will coincide with Basel Art Week and will be held from June 11–16, 2012.