Mila Smart Semeshkina Reflects on the Success of the WE Convention

Mila Smart Semeshkina, Founder of the Women’s Empowerment Council and a keynote speaker at the WE Convention, shares her insights from the event: ‘We aimed for the WE Convention to stand out from other events. Our goal was to create a valuable platform for learning, finding your path, and gaining inspiration—and we succeeded. I look forward to seeing all the participants return next year to share the amazing results they have achieved. I would also be delighted to welcome some of you to the stage. Because we are women, and we can achieve anything!’

Exploring Diverse Perspectives and Empowering Discussions

Over the course of two days, a total of 23 sessions took place on the main stage, addressing a broad spectrum of topics from female leadership to artificial intelligence, and from financial independence to the metaverse. The sessions also explored career advice, personal branding, and style. The WE Convention lineup included members of the MENA region royal families HH Sheikha Mozah bint Marwan Al Maktoum, HH Sheikha Dr. Shamma bint Mohammed bin Khalid Al Nahyan, HH Sayyida Basma Al Said, HH Sheikha Jawaher Bint Khalifa Al Khalifa, tennis champion and entrepreneur Maria Sharapova, singer, supermodel and the former first lady of France Carla Bruni, digital entrepreneur Karen Wazen, actress Meryem Uzerli, CEO of Maison Schiaparelli Delphine Bellini, psychologists Louise Lambert and Elina Landman, and high-ranking executives from KraftHeinz, TikTok, Microsoft, Visa, Mastercard, and Duolingo, among others.

Empowering Engagement at the WE Convention: Roundtables, Workshops, and Personalized Coaching

Participants had the opportunity to engage in 12 roundtable discussions, each lasting 50 minutes, with industry leaders. These sessions provided a platform to address pressing business and societal issues. Furthermore, five workshops provided attendees with opportunities to delve deeper into areas of interest, perfect their skills, explore new developmental avenues, and express their creativity. Topics covered ranged from negotiation techniques to social media engagement.

A total of 42 one-on-one coaching sessions were conducted by industry professionals in the Mentoring Zone, powered by the Female Factor, a global community for future female leaders. Participants had the opportunity to elevate their careers by securing a 15-minute meeting with the right mentor. These sessions featured industry leaders from fields such as tech, design, health, neuroscience, and the creative minds behind your favorite brands.

Cultivating Wellness and Support: The Serenity Corner and Partnerships at the WE Convention

Over two days at the WE Convention, the unique ‘Serenity Corner’ by Whispers of Serenity Clinic of Oman provided a wellbeing pit stop, offering a space to pause, recharge, and prepare for new opportunities. In addition to helping over 150 women take a much-needed mental break and reflect on personal matters, the corner also offered positive affirmations to take home, a mental health check-in, and a quiz to assess self-confidence levels impacting their career growth.

The Women’s Empowerment Convention is possible due to the invaluable support of our partners: international educational platform Lectera.com, TikTok, jewelry house EIRINE, KraftHeinz and wardrobe & style consultancy Better Ask Anna.

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When asked about her sources of inspiration, Neda explained that her artistry draws from a multitude of elements and is not limited to any single source. While elements like Mashrabiya, a prominent feature in Middle Eastern architecture, have inspired some of her work, her creative process is more comprehensive. Neda’s approach involves deconstructing and reconstructing various elements, such as patterns, textures, and material processes. She combines these elements in novel ways to create artwork that is not only aesthetically pleasing but also responsive to contemporary sensibilities.

Neda’s artistic journey has been a lifelong pursuit, with her curiosity driving her to explore different creative realms. As someone drawn to both art and science, she found a perfect intersection in architecture, which allowed her to blend aesthetic and technical aspects. In recent years, Neda has expanded her artistic horizons by delving further into fine arts and visual arts, all the while maintaining a strong connection to fabrication techniques.

Reflecting on her creative process, Neda emphasized the importance of curiosity and self-awareness. She believes in pushing the boundaries of her art, exploring new materials, and continually challenging herself to create meaningful and authentic work. Her artistic journey is marked by growth, not just in the final results, but in how the process of creation evolves over time.

In the context of the metaverse, Neda recognized its potential as a platform for artists. The metaverse offers artists the opportunity to showcase their work to a global audience, transcending geographical boundaries. Neda sees the metaverse as a catalyst for human exploration and self-discovery, allowing individuals to experience different environments and perspectives. While the tangible essence of artwork may differ between the physical and digital realms, she believes that each platform offers its unique advantages.

As her interview came to a close, Neda offered valuable advice to young artists embarking on their creative journeys. She encouraged them to create freely and authentically, emphasizing the importance of self-awareness and self-criticism. For Neda, the process of creation is a continuous learning experience driven by curiosity and a desire to make meaningful art.

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So far, Sotheby’s has generated over $100 million in NFT sales. It has hosted landmark NFT sales of solo artists, curated group shows, and flogged collections. The latest move is a play to compete with other secondary marketplaces and gain further Web3 credit with collectors and artists alike.

The fully on-chain sales system allows users to buy instantly in Ethereum or Polygon Matic with infrastructure powered by Mojito, a Web3 platform that Sotheby’s backed in 2021. The platform is artist-centric, with Sotheby’s rotating in a crop of artists every few months. Users will have access to the full portfolio of works made by an artist across other NFT marketplaces. It’s peer-to-peer, but with Sotheby’s setting the topics of conversation. The auction house will charge a 2.5 percent seller fee.

The Sotheby’s marketplace is also notable for its stance on royalties. Sotheby’s pledge to automatically pay artists according to their on-chain royalty rate will make it an attractive platform for artists. This is in contrast to other NFT marketplaces that have moved to royalty-optional models or removed them entirely.

Sotheby’s has launched its secondary marketplace with 13 of the highest-profile creators in the digital art space. This includes A.I. art stars Claire Silver, Sofia Crespo, and Refik Anadol, generative artists Tyler Hobbs and Pindar van Arman, and leading digital creators Hackatao, IX Shells, and XCOPY.

Michael Bouhanna, Sotheby’s Head of NFTs, said in a statement, “A fully on-chain peer-to-peer market is an important step forward in our evolution within the digital art and collectible space. To commemorate this event by opening our secondary market to a carefully selected group of artists, many of whom have been at the forefront of the movement and brought digital art to worldwide attention, further emphasizes Sotheby’s commitment to the NFT community.”

The next step for Sotheby’s Metaverse will come in June when it creates a digital gallery of works on the secondary market alongside digital art collector Cozomo De’ Medici. Sotheby’s Metaverse is positioning itself as the go-to place to sell and collect blue-chip digital work. With its secondary marketplace, it’s clear that it’s taking that position seriously. With its focus on artists, Sotheby’s is likely to continue to generate significant sales and gain further traction in the NFT space.

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Robert Triefus, Gucci’s senior executive vice president, corporate and brand strategy, and chief executive of Gucci Vault & Metaverse Ventures, said the partnership with Yuga Labs would give Gucci an active role in Otherside and 10KTF’s continuing narrative, unfolding in multiple forms. Gucci has previously worked with Yuga Labs and the 10KTF collection.

Yuga Labs recently released an NFT collection on the Bitcoin blockchain and helped organize an exhibition at a shopping center near the Louvre. However, one of Yuga Labs’s founders, Wylie Aronow, recently announced that he is stepping back from some responsibilities at the company due to a severe heart condition. Aronow addressed a theory popularized by artist Ryder Ripps that the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) collection is threaded with alt-right imagery in a letter published on CoinDesk. He denied the allegations and emphasized his commitment to left-leaning politics and his longtime interest in Hinduism and Buddhism.

The BAYC collection, which consists of 10,000 unique digital apes, has been a significant success, with individual apes selling for millions of dollars. It has also sparked interest in NFTs and the metaverse. Yuga Labs has become a leader in web3, and the partnership with Gucci is expected to strengthen its position.

The metaverse is a virtual world where people can interact with each other in real-time through avatars. It is seen as the next frontier in the digital world, and many companies are exploring its potential. Gucci and Yuga Labs are the latest companies to enter the metaverse, and their partnership is expected to create new opportunities for both companies.

In conclusion, the collaboration between Gucci and Yuga Labs is expected to create a new narrative that blurs the boundaries between the physical and digital worlds. Gucci will create clothing for Yuga Labs’s metaverse project, the Otherside, and the 10KTF NFT collection. The partnership is expected to be a multi-year agreement and will give Gucci an active role in Otherside and 10KTF’s continuing narrative. The BAYC collection has been a significant success, and Yuga Labs has become a leader in web3.

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Numerous creatives and platforms continue to investigate methods to use the technology, with uses ranging from practical to abstract, social to commercial, even if the medium is still vulnerable to the same issues as the crypto market.

As long as meme art tokens continue to oversaturate online marketplaces, some will continue to question the viability of NFTs as a creative medium. After the excitement subsided, concerns have been expressed regarding the supposed “worth” of NFT art, which consists of conceptual pieces that are simple to produce repeatedly as opposed to actual works by contemporary artists.

In other places, advocates of blockchain continue to hold fast to the utopian vision that the technology is helping to build — whether it be as a way to confirm provenance and authenticity or as a promised land of opportunity for up-and-coming artists.

The year of artificial intelligence was 2022, not 2021, which was the year of NFTs. The rise and publication of AI image generators over the past 12 months, like Dall-E and Midjourney, has provided an unmatched window into exactly how potent these algorithms have become.

By entering “Arab man drinking coffee in the style of Van Gogh” and witnessing it produce a precise representation in under a minute, there is no easier or more concrete way to experience the power of a contemporary AI system.

Since  this power, many people in the arts and cultural fields are debating where the boundary should be drawn. When do we cease appreciating the distance between the artist and the brush as well as the distance between the brush and the canvas? When is the physical media no longer necessary? Where does it all end, exactly? The modern question is, “What is creativity?,” as Murakami noted.

Automation has long been a problem in many other industries. The argument regarding the upcoming waves of automation, particularly in the creative realms, may be led by AI art as the Fourth Industrial Revolution progresses.

Perhaps there will be a larger push from artists toward the decentralising forces of NFTs if monopolies like Meta attempt to enforce control over these digital spaces, lest the constraints of algorithms created to further commercial interests stifle their creativity. What function does art perform in this result, and what can creators do to safeguard virtual cultural spaces in a society where the attention span of consumers is a commodity to be sold to advertisers?

The topic will undoubtedly change, and given the speed at which technology is evolving, it is hard to accurately forecast how events will turn out. But one thing is certain: the union of art and technology will undoubtedly continue to be a balancing act of promise and issues for some.

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This year, as Louvre Abu Dhabi celebrates its fifth anniversary, coming at the event in the center of Saadiyat Cultural District is a poignant experience with views overlooking the Zayed National Museum, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, and Natural History Museum, which are all starting to take shape.

The area demonstrates Abu Dhabi’s dedication to developing thought-provoking intellectual and cultural platforms, according to Rita Aoun, Executive Director of Culture at the Department of Culture and Tourism — Abu Dhabi.

“Abu Dhabi Art has been a major initiative of the Department of Culture and Tourism for the past 14 years. It has substantially contributed to the growth of Abu Dhabi’s creative industries. How did it succeed? By acting as a magnet to draw and support creators, cultural practitioners, and artists,” Aoun claims.

Bouchra Boudoua, a Moroccan artist, and the UAE social enterprise 81 Designs presents a collection of embroidered ceramics in the theater. The artist and local potters in Morocco created the earthy ceramic collection Autumn Harvest before shipping it to the Ain Al Hilweh refugee camp in Lebanon, where Palestinian refugees added embroidery made of raffia fiber.

Jade Yesim Turanli, another of this year’s guest curators, has developed a gallery area highlighting Turkish art. Turanli explains her strategy as follows, “I specifically selected the galleries that support the careers of their artists and provide a clear path for the future.”

It is telling that there is such a large collection of modern and contemporary art from Iran, the Arab world, and North Africa. Christie’s reported earlier this month that it had made $3 million from the sale of modern and contemporary art from the Middle East. “There is a considerably higher volume of people that are interested in art for the Middle East, internationally,” Christie’s associate specialist of Middle Eastern art, Suzy Sikorski, told The National at the time.

According to Moore, there is an overall tendency in the art world where international museum directors attempt to include more artists of regional significance, particularly in the setting of the global mid-20th century.

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With Dubai’s vision of becoming the world’s Metaverse Hub and the announcement of their Metaverse strategy this July, various entities from a wide range of industries, including ministries, have announced their intentions to join the novel virtual world. In line with this, Medcare Women & Children Hospital has partnered with BIOMETAVERSE and will go live on October 11, 2022.

The Metaverse healthcare facility, which is hosted on a public cloud within the geographical boundaries of the UAE, aims to provide a glimpse of the real-life experience at Medcare Women & Children Hospital and will be used in their medical tourism initiatives, giving potential patients a chance to have an Immersive visual experience of the hospital facility, allowing for trust and transparency.

“We are delighted to unveil UAE’s first hospital in the Metaverse today. Medcare Women & Children Hospital will set the benchmark for immersive virtual patient experience – an element that we will bring to life across Medcare Hospitals and Medical Centres network through further introductions. At Aster DM Healthcare, we constantly strive to advance the health services that we provide by embracing advanced technologies, developing treatment protocols, and abiding by the highest standards of medical services, in line with the UAE’s leading position on the global health map. Medcare’s introduction in the Metaverse is a stepping stone in this direction.”  Alisha Moopen, Deputy Managing Director, Aster DM Healthcare,”

Medcare plans to roll out Metaverse to Medcare Hospital Al Safa and Medcare Orthopedics & Spine Hospital in the coming months, enhancing the functionality of their current Metaverse facility to elevate virtual patient experiences.

The Metaverse Medcare Women & Children Hospital will be initially on an “By Invite Only” basis

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The visitors can purchase non-fungible token (NFT) outfits for the virtual avatars that will be modeled for themselves with traditional Saudi attire from various regions.

People taking part can also collect a ‘Proof of Attendance Protocol’ (POAP) which is a digital badge that verifies that they were a part of the online event and attended it successfully.

The Saudi National Day falls on September 23rd, owing to which virtual celebration will be held on the Decentraland Metaverse platform from September 22 to 24.

Organizers of this event are the well-known marketing agency The Bold Group and it is organized in partnership with the King Abdulaziz Foundation for Research and Partnership (Darah).

“Disruptive technologies like the metaverse are the future, and we at The Bold Group aim to be a key player in that evolution,” said Ziad AbuRjaily, Creative Technology Director at the Bold Experience Unit, in a statement.

“The idea to usher the Saudi National Day, a historically traditional celebration, into the new era of technology was inspired by the challenge of convening people across the Kingdom’s 13 different regions to celebrate Saudi Arabia in one virtual space.”

Decentraland is a Metaverse platform built on Ethereum blockchain technology. This platform allows users to purchase virtual plots of land and exchange virtual currency while playing games.

Ownership of land and other NFTs is tracked on the public Ethereum ledger.

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The crypto and blockchain markets have matured and evolved greatly over the last few years. With the rise of Web3, businesses taking on Metaverse facilities with open arms have increased its popularity amongst providers and consumers. The UAE is no exception in realizing the potential of the Metaverse and is living up to its reputation of being one of the earliest adopters of this technology and its complementary fields as well. 

Chainanalysis State of Web3 reports that collectors have sent over $37 billion to NFT marketplaces between January and May this year. This indicates that the NFT marketplace is poised to break the limit set by 2021’s total of $40 billion. Generally, the NFT market has its peak and troughs, they are often due to global trends and user demand. Taking that into account, there has been an increase every quarter from 2020 before the dip in the 2nd quarter in 2022. 

NFTs allow people to own digital assets. Images, audio, and video can be sold and bought or even transferred between NFT owners. This generates interest and the demand to own an NFT due to the digital nature and the unique token identifier of your asset. That is not all, within the Metaverse one can even own their very own virtual real estate. 

Have you ever seen the movie by Steven Speilberg – Ready Player One? We can draw interesting parallels between the Oasis (the universe in the movie in which players can interact using their avatars) and the Metaverse. 

The interest reaches new highs, due to the simple fact of enabling people to express themselves in different ways. Many brands, gaming communities, and individuals have already begun treating the Metaverse as a living reality that is actively influencing the virtual experience. Blockchain-based virtual real estate prices grew by 879% from September 2019 to March 2022. Compare this to a 39% growth in real estate prices during the same time, showing a growing disparity between the consumer’s interests. 

Brands in the UAE have been quick to embrace the Metaverse. Backed by the government’s initiatives such as the Dubai Metaverse Strategy, which aims to increase the Metaver sector’s contribution to the nation’s economy to 1% of the total GDP. 

Etihad Airways, have minted their NFTs. The collection of 2,003 limited edition collectibles offers travel and lifestyle benefits to its owners. Dubai’s Museum of the Future in collaboration with Binance NFT has developed a range of virtual assets that are ready to go public in the coming weeks. These initiatives are steps in ushering the Metaverse into the daily lives of the people to bolster and augment communities and events alike. 

Technologies like the Metaverse and blockchain operate seamlessly to introduce a better quality of life for its user. Say, let’s take the gaming industry for example. An industry that is set to value at $321 billion by 2026, stands to benefit through such technologies. Easier ways to animate and create games and more immersive mediums through which one can experience the stories created by the developers. In a few years, an avid role-playing gamer can experience the feeling of being part of the Animus (the fictional engine that helps the player tap into the lives of their ancestors in the Assassins Creed franchise developed by Ubisoft), and that will change gaming forever. 

When we talk about day-to-day operations of the world. The nature of interoperability is being toyed with, with super fast connectivity and security to encourage long-range interactions through virtual reality. A technology that allows the metaverse to become a living, breathing space for industries to conduct their business daily. 

Several brands in the MENA region are already incorporating VR as we speak. This stands to invite visitors into this space of technology and encourage them to join in this journey of adopting new technologies to improve the general quality of life. 

Rest assured, it is an interesting and exciting time to be alive. It is safe to say that, whatever may come tomorrow, this is just the beginning of how the Metaverse and NFTs stand to change how we live our lives. 

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Serving groundbreaking IIFA experiences, all IIFA events will be covered on Bollyverse, including IIFA Backstage, IIFA Green Carpet, Avatar Club, Talent Quest, VR Bar, After Party, Stage rehearsals, and Touchdown, as well as the much-awaited Awards Ceremony. IIFA Backstage gives you a sneak peek at the behind-the-scenes and all that it takes to bring this glamour-studded entertainment to the world. It will feature the stars getting ready, the make-up; the line-up; and all the buzz behind the scenes. Then we take you to the action outside, where the sound of excited fans, mesmerizing stars, and the shimmer of gorgeous regalia take the Green Carpet at this year’s celebration to a whole new level!

Commenting on the occasion, Noreen Khan, Vice President, IIFA, says, “Over the past 22 years, IIFA has entertained and offered the most unforgettable experiences for audiences around the world.” This year marks the 22nd edition of IIFA Weekend & Awards in Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, and IIFA is excited that, as an extension of the brand, we will be the first International Indian Film Award Show to go into The Metaverse. As always, IIFA will be bringing together the very best in Bollywood talent for the metaverse, where even millions of fans can enjoy the experience. We look forward to working with Bollyverse and this new innovative realm for IIFA with the latest technology. ”

Bollyverse is an entity on Metaverse where everything in Bollywood happens. From award ceremonies to gaming with your favorite stars, to brand endorsements and meta shopping, this is the place to be for anyone passionate about Bollywood.

Bollyverse is on board this IIFA, bringing you the best in technology to transport the show and the entire experience into the Metaverse. From the Avatar studio, where you can create your digital double in a matter of seconds, to the Xsens experience, where one can teleport their dance moves to the Metaverse. Adding to the mix is a Showbolt, the fastest camera robotic arm in the world, which can capture, edit, and share cinematic quality video in seconds!

Kishore Samtani, Bollyverse’s Founder said “We are thrilled to collaborate with IIFA to bring you the biggest celebration of Indian cinema in the world to the Metaverse. Our technology and management teams are on the ground in Abu Dhabi working tirelessly in readiness to capture all the IIFA experiences.”

Bollyverse Technology is bringing together from across the world, state-of-the-art digital technology and hardware equipment as well a large top tech team to the venue to make this all a reality for the world!

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