F2o Designs Shop and F2o Studio founded by Kuwaiti national Fatima Fawzi Alothman launches the idea of bringing the GCC Arab cultural element of Dewaniya to the NFT (Non Fungible Token) Web3 world
Fatima, who currently resides in UAE, is a freelance illustrator specializing in character design, children’s books illustration editorial and advertisement illustrations. She also offers traditional animation services. She holds bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from the American University of Sharjah and a Master’s degree in fine arts from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, USA.
For those unfamiliar with both the Arabic term and the cultural social aspect of Dewaniya here is a small explanation. A Dewaniya is a place where friends and people from the community gather to discusses ideas and spread messages related to both local and international issues, and even circulate jokes. It’s where voices are heard, echoed, and taken to further places. It is the weight of the people in the Dewaniya that makes the difference in spreading news to the community.
The Dewaniya served an important purpose in the development of Kuwait over the last 250 years by facilitating quick communication and consensus building among other things. There are many type of Dewaniyas that have evolved from the original archetype and they differ only in terms of the groups they serve and the level of formality.
The Dewaniyas are the core of Kuwait’s social, business and political life, the places where topics of interest are discussed, associates introduced, alliances formed, and similar networking activities undertaken.
Fatima along with Hamad AlSarraf creative Director, and Hala AlAsfour, Marketing and PR strategist have curated a collection of 3000 NFTs called The Dewaniya Dudes. These NFTs will be part of a Dewaniya platform which will mirror the model of the Real Dewaniya utilizing web 3.0.
To join the Dewaniya platform a user has to have a Dewaniya dude NFT. This will offer access to exclusive content and privileges. As per the website the Alpha mint is coming up soon, and is reserved for the whitelisted only.
Increasingly the Arab world is witnessing innovative ways of how artists and youth in the region are utilizing NFTs and Web3 to bring together the traditional social values and community beliefs with digital future. This is yet another example of how NFTs can be utilized while keeping traditions alive.
