Rabat – Moroccan artist, entrepreneur, and activist, Chama Mechtaly chose to celebrate international women’s day with an NFT, digital art stored in the blockchain, dedicated to women.
Launched at the Israeli Pavilion at the Dubai Expo 2020, the NFT is a celebration of women, and of the newfound positive relations between Arab countries and Israel through the Abraham accords, a press release indicates.
A long advocate for pluralism, inclusion, and minorities, the UAE-based artist represented Morocco at the Israeli Pavilion.
The Israeli Pavilion is part of the Dubai Expo 2020, an event meant to showcase what “the future looks like.”
“Art has always been a catalyst for change and a constructive approach to peace-building so when coupled with technology, change, and social impact can be accelerated,” Mechtaly said when presenting her art at the Expo.
Holding a strong diplomatic undertone, the event is sponsored by the Gulf-Israel Businesses Council and the Israeli Ministry of Regional Cooperation
The event was attended by Moroccan-born former Ambassador Yitzhak Eldan, Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem Fleur Hassan Nachum, Senior Rabbi of the United Arab Emirates Rabbi Elie Abadie, Israeli Ambassador to the UAE Amir Hayek.
In 2021, the Moroccan artist co-curated a calligraphy art exhibition in Jerusalem celebrating Arabic, Tifinagh (Amazigh system of writing), and Hebrew calligraphy.
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The event comes one year after Morocco signed the US-brokered agreement with Israel to re-establish diplomatic relations, aiming to foster regional cooperation and settle the long-standing Arab-Israeli dispute.
Morocco is home to North Africa’s largest Jewish community, and the country officially takes pride in its ancient Jewish heritage. Morocco’s 2011 constitution recognizes Hebrew as a national language and underscores the country’s Hebrew identity.
In recent months Morocco has done much to preserve and promote its Jewish heritage by encouraging scholarship focusing on Jewish heritage, as well as directly funding the restoration of several Jewish cemeteries, and Jewish historical sites across the North African country.
