UAE Photographer Waleed Shah has launched an NFT project called Mowjood built on Solana Blockchain. Mowjood in arabic means (exist). The Mowjood NFT ( Non Fungible Token) is an extension of a previous project that was launched during Covid pandemic that aimed to allow Arab artists to tell their stories through pieces of art that resemble magazine front covers.
Shah says on his website,” Mowjood NFT project rewards its participants with royalties for life. With this new phase of the project, I aim to educate and onboard the community onto the crypto space so we’re all ready for the future. If you’ve shot with me before you’ll know it’s not just about the image. It’s about the conversations we have and the connections we build. Moving forward I’d love to talk to you about the crypto and NFT world during our shoot. So we can exchange ideas and be ready to help each other navigate these uncharted waters.”
Mawjood owners own royalties because to book a Mowjood shoot with Shah, users first have to purchase two existing Mowjood NFTs, once they shoot is done the image is then minted as an NFT and the process continues. Each time someone purchases an NFT owned by the user they get 5 percent royalty fees.
Users will be able to find pictures of Mowjood in Solsea,, which is the NFT Market in Solana.
Shah has photographed more than 400 people since the beginning of the project. The project also sold 27 NFTs in its first month of launch.
In a recent post on Instagram Shah announced that he and Raz Moussa, the master show producer and moderator put together an event called UndergroundNFT on March 18th at the Radisson RED Dubai Silicon Oasis. He also discusses Web3 which he believes is all about sense of community. He states, “With Underground NFT we’re bringing this attitude to the physical world where every participant volunteers their time to educate and be educated. From the organizers to the speakers and performers, we’re all in it for the community.”
The line up of speakers at the event included well known blockchain names like Crypto Falcon Club (UAE-based NFT project), Vesa (digital art pioneer), Michaela Lallouz (Web3 strategist and mental health NFT artist), Rahim Mahtab (NFT artist and collector building the Arts DAO), Pekka Kelkka (Papa Blockain), Steve Bambury (Metaverse, NFT and Web3 consultant), Christopher Hunt (Distressed Design and The Artheds), LLoyed Flanagan (artist), Musfir Khawaja (NFTone), Velntyn Panchyn (NFT artist), Jorge Sebastiao (cofounder ECOX, CBO SIMBA storage), Khalil Kassam (FOMO Lab), Simon McNally (artist), and Anita (Crypto Granny). We’ll also be partying to music by Dj Sara G, Shebani, Paul McGhee, and TIGXA.
Across the UAE and MENA region many are launching innovative NFT projects, examples include crypto Camels NFT collection.