AUSTRALIAN PAVILION VISITORS GIFTED WITH NFT ARTWORKS AT EXPO 2020 DUBAI

To highlight Australian ingenuity, Australian Pavilion visitors will be gifted with a non-Fungible Token (NFT) artwork by the MORROW Collective in collaboration with Terra Virtua. The initiative showcases Australia’s innovative approach to both culture and trade through the use of a relatively new investment vehicle – NFTs.

A new NFT will be available to pavilion visitors each month, allowing them to download an exclusive digital artwork by scanning an onsite QR code. The NFTs available for download will change each month of Expo 2020 Dubai, from October 2021 until March 2022, consisting of art created by both established and emerging Australian and Indigenous artists.

The process was trialled during the month of October 2021, where visitors were able to download and own the NFT artwork ‘Australian Floral Emblem,’ designed by Jacinta Weyer. Featured in the Australian Pavilion’s Welcome Tunnel, the piece brings together each flower representing Australia’s six states and two territories.

In November, the NFT will be a digitised version of the 22-metre long artwork displayed on the Australian Pavilion’s VIP Majlis Veranda, created by Australian artist Tyrown Waigana and UAE artist Khalid Mezaina.

The NFTs are designed using artworks and features in the pavilion, animated to make them truly unique. For first time users, this represents a seamless entry into the NFT market while providing both new and seasoned crypto users a wonderful opportunity to collect an Australian souvenir they can cherish or later trade.

Justin McGowan, Commissioner General of Australia at Expo 2020 Dubai, says: “We champion innovation and technology and are proud to be the platform for such an innovative demonstration of what the coming together of technology and art can accomplish.

“Not only does it entertain and educate, but also creates long term value. We are delighted that MORROW collective is creating NFT artworks and videos central to the Australian Pavilion narrative and we offer them all our support as they take the lead in the exciting world of NFTs.

“By providing every visitor to the pavilion a chance to own an NFT, we are also encouraging them to take part in the unmissable opportunity to connect with Australia and experience its ingenuity and vast potential first-hand.”

Jennifer Stelco, Artist Relations, MORROW collective, says: “Collaborating with the Australian Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai is a wonderful opportunity to introduce large audiences to NFTs.

“Expo is a platform for innovation and technological advances and we at MORROW truly believe in the power of technology to spread art around the world. Powered by Terra Virtua, we have made NFTs in collaboration with Australian artists, some indigenous, and we are bringing them to viewers from all over the world.

“This is empowering for the artists and means that they will benefit from any secondary sales. I am Australian and have been living in Dubai for more than a decade. This collaborative venture makes me very proud of my nation and my home.”

Founded in 2017, Terra Virtua is the world’s first fully immersive social/ digital collectibles platform that allows collectors to experience digital art in new and exciting ways such as VR, AR, and their very own Terra Art Gallery. Terra Virtua’s mission is to make NFTs understandable and accessible to everyone by offering an easy-to-use, sustainable solutions for purchasing, trading, and investing in them. More recently, Terra Virtua switched from Ethereum to the Polygon blockchain, reducing the energy used to create a single NFT by 99.9%. The move to the greener and scaled blockchain solution marks a major step towards creating a more sustainable Non Fungible Tokens (NFT) ecosystem, laying the foundations for future growth.

Terra Virtua CTO and co-founder, Jawad Ashraf, commented, “We’re tremendously proud to be working with Morrow collective and the Australian Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai on this exciting project. It is our belief that NFTs should be accessible for the many and not just the few. So, working on initiatives that allow audiences to easily engage with art that they are truly passionate about, demonstrates everything that we stand for as a business.”

MORROW Collective is a curatorial NFT platform that enables artists, galleries, and museums to bridge the gap between traditional art and the ‘art of (to)morrow’.