Meet the NFTYScene & Creative Industry Summit Web3 Track Speakers

With the unprecedented surge in digital art, the resulting renaissance has enabled the creative industry and its innovators to meld their real lives, and ours, with that of the digital realm. In the thick of the ongoing changes, the region’s most prominent artists rise to the occasion, opening up a whirlwind of discussions in the process. 

Much like the real world has tangible ways in which to trade, invest, and allocate funds to various assets like real estate and gold, the digital world has intangible ways in which to do the same things. Web3 is, essentially, the evolution of the internet. With Web1, we could simply view things on the internet, and Web2 allowed us to upload things to the internet, but with Web3, we can more directly own things on the internet, adding a more realistic element to our existence alongside (and within) the digital realm. 

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are digital assets that can be bought, traded, and sold, much like anything you own. What makes NFTs interesting is that they’re tokenized, meaning that each is unique, including other versions of this asset that the NFT is based on. Much like gold and real estate, NFTs come with an attached digital certificate of ownership that proves this ‘item’ is the one you own. Better yet, being non-fungible means that these digital assets aren’t equal in value, like, say, bitcoin is. Rather, each NFT has a set price that is based on its value. 

The main reason why NFTs are a currently hot trend, especially in the creative industry, is because they decentralized the market. Right now, individuals can own and sell their own work. Because our real and virtual lives have become so intertwined with sensitive and personal data being hosted online, digital ownership is evermore important. It might seem like it’s a normal thing, but in the digital realm, it’s revolutionary. 

NFTYScene is a sister site to CairoScene, one dedicated to sharing international news and engaging in global discussions about Web3, NFTs, and AI. Since its inception in 2021, NFTYScene has sought to inform and uplift the MENA region and beyond about the cutting-edge technologies shaping the future of the digital world. Similarly, bringing together some of Egypt’s most artistic, innovative, inspiring, and forward-thinking individuals since inaugurating in 2014, the Creative Industry Summit has been at the forefront of the movement, consistently re-invigorating the art scene. 

The Creative Industry Summit and NFTYScene have collaborated to welcome some of the largest local and worldwide figures in the fields of Web3, NFTs, and AI Art for the first time in Egypt. The event will be held between September 27th and September 29th, at Cairo Business Park in the Fifth Settlement.

The talks will bear witness to in-depth conversations with nationwide experts on the Web 3 track; simultaneously leading introspective discussions on their own personal journeys into the world of NFTs, as well as highlighting the opportunities that lie within the disruption to the creative economy, and the challenges the industry faces today. 

As everyone is being inducted on the ins and outs of the industry, the NFTYScene booth will be leading workshops on how to set up their first digital wallet and in turn receive a customized pixel portrait NFT. Happening in tandem is a VR metaverse gallery viewing, featuring works from a huge line-up of regional digital artists.

KEYNOTE SPEECH: MATTY MO, FOUNDER "THE MOST FAMOUS ARTIST" 

Matty Monohan, also known as Matty Mo, is an American multidisciplinary artist and entrepreneur who gained global attention due to his creation of conceptual art group, 'The Most Famous Artist'. Mo founded the art group in 2013 to make social media-themed installations, exhibitions, and performances with the driving desire to make people think critically about the collision of technology and art, fueling conversations around the internet’s impact on society.

PANEL ONE: A WHOLE NEW WORLD: WHAT THE METAVERSE MEANS FOR CREATIVES

PANELISTS:

Dinis Guarda, Founder & CEO of techabc, Open Business Council and Ztudium Group

Dinis Guarda is an author, academic, influencer, serial entrepreneur, and leader in 4IR, AI, Fintech, metaverse, digital transformation and the blockchain. Guarda has had a prolific career in leading and advising big businesses and corporations; some of the companies Guarda created or has been involved in have reached over USD 1 billion valuation.

Guarda’s research and work in AI, blockchain, and Web3 focuses on shaping the future of digital interaction. He aims to add real world cases to these technologies through immersive metaverse experiences. He will be providing a jargon-free introduction to Web3, NFTs and blockchain, and how they will forever impact everyone working in the creative economy.

Amrita Sethi, Dubai’s First NFT Artist & Founder of Art by Amrita

Amrita Sethi is an award winning Golden Visa holder, and the creator of unique AR and NFT fueled-collections SoundBYTes and The AlphaBYTEs. An ex-banker turned artist, Sethi uses technology with augmented and virtual reality to create new ways to experience art and fashion, and tell stories through sound.

Omar Samra, Founder & CEO of Wild Guanabana

Omar Samra is an English-Egyptian prolific adventurer, speaker, and founder & CEO of Wild Guanabana, an Egyptian eco-conscious travel agency focused on helping individuals embark on ‘transformational journeys.’ Samra was the first Egyptian to successfully climb the Seven Summits, the tallest mountain on each of the seven continents, including Mount Everest, and skiing to the Geographic North and South Poles.

PANEL MODERATOR: Amy Mowafi, Co-founder & CEO of MO4 Network

Amy Mowafi is the co-founder and CEO of the MO4 Network, one of the Middle East’s leading media companies and digital creative agencies, with a staggeringly diverse media portfolio. MO4 Network has 11 bi-lingual digital publications, namely: CairoScene, ElFasla, CairoZoom, StartupScene, SceneEats, SceneNoise, SceneTraveller, SceneHome, NFTY Scene, NFTY Arabia, and SceneNow, a content app.

With over 20 years of experience in media, and over 12 in digital media specifically, Mowafi has succeeded in creating comprehensive and expansive publications and digital platforms with hundreds of millions in reach on a monthly basis.

PANEL TWO: WEB 3, NFTs & THE NEW CREATIVE ECONOMY

PANELISTS: 

Amrita Sethi, Dubai’s First NFT Artist & Founder of Art by Amrita

Amrita Sethi is an award winning Golden Visa holder, and the creator of unique AR and NFT fueled-collections SoundBYTes and The AlphaBYTEs. An ex-banker turned artist, Sethi uses technology with augmented and virtual reality to create new ways to experience art and fashion, and tell stories through sound.  

Aya Tarek, Multi-Disciplinary Artist

Aya Tarek is a painter, street artist, and illustrator with a thrilling portfolio filled with diverse art projects, feature films, and art collaborations. Tarek seeks to use her experience as an artist to revisit her roots in classical training and push herself in new, unexplored directions. Her work has been showcased in various exhibitions and galleries around the world.

Youssef Gamal, 3D Specialist

Youssef Gamal is an Egyptian 3D specialist with over 10 years of experience in the entertainment and advertising industry. In the last decade, Gamal worked with global brands such as Hardwell, Labrinth, Nestle, HBO and Netflix whilst becoming an accomplished artist in the NFT and Web3 space.

PANEL MODERATOR: Timmy Mowafi, Co-Founder of MO4 Network

Timmy Mowafi is a British-born Egyptian entrepreneur, writer, creative director, co-founder of MO4 Network, and 11 leading regional digital publications. In 2021 Mowafi founded NFTY Arabia, an NFT marketplace and launchpad dedicated to empowering creatives across the region as well as NFTYScene, a digital platform focused on Web3.

PANEL THREE: HOW REPLACEABLE ARE YOU? THE RISE OF AI ART

PANELISTS:

Mohamed Hazem, Animator and 3D & AI Artist

Digital Artist Mohamed Hazem, also known as Dixon, has been working on creating artworks and animations for the past four years as a freelancer, two years of which he spent as a 3D and AI artist in the Web3 and NFT space.

Henar Sherif, Co-Founder of O Art Studio

Henar Sherif is the Co-Founder of O Art studio, a media production house based in Egypt focusing on commercial, fashion and editorial shoots for campaigns across the Middle East and USA, and has recently been exploring the world of AI generated art.

PANEL MODERATOR: Mark Hanna, Director

Cairo-based Canadian-Egyptian director Mark Hanna has a diverse portfolio of work ranging from documentaries to commercials, short films, and entertainment shows. His body of work crosses paths with some of the biggest brands in the region, including Netflix, Red Bull, the United Nations, and countless others.

TALK: WTF IS AN NFT AND WHY YOU SHOULD CARE

SPEAKER: Timmy Mowafi, Co-Founder of MO4 Network

Timmy Mowafi is a British-born Egyptian entrepreneur, writer, creative director, co-founder of MO4 Network, and 11 leading regional digital publications. Over the past decade he has developed marketing strategies and content for some of the world's leading brands. 

Fascinated with the technologies shaping the future of the creative economy, Mowafi founded NFTY Arabia, an NFT marketplace and launchpad dedicated to empowering creatives across the region as well as NFTYScene, a digital platform focused on Web3 in 2021.