HIre ArtSuite Coordinator in Africa

[IMPACT] Please describe your proposed solution.

Our proposed solution:

The Art Suite (former NFThubs) concept of artist agent already exists. Currently our first agent is operational in Catalunya and is successfully onboarding artists. 

Other agents are on standby in countries such as Argentina and Chile but also the UK, Canada, Jordan, Japan and the USA. 

The concept is commission based and can easily be exported everywhere. Agents are entitled to a percentage of the revenue each artist they onboard will produce.

Our proposal seeks to have Catalyst support to build, expand and hire our Africa based team members of The Art Suite, to join our global team and help expand our network of on the ground agents.

The agent network will help unlock opportunities, create digital economy networks, offering livelihoods via artists, agents and NFTs in Africa and the diaspora.

The job description of the Africa Artist Agent Coordinator team member that we will hire:

• Locate and educate any suitable artist agents in Africa that recognise themselves in the Cardano spirit.
• Creating educational material the African artist agents can use in any meetings or workshops they might organize
• Coaching agents in online meetings

We are aiming to find artist agents in a minimum of 10 African countries to begin with.

Why is it important?

The level of disparity and inequity, in terms of education and exposure to technology, is often higher in parts of Africa than in other regions of the world. 

We feel it is therefore important to have a help desk in Africa, specifically for the artist agents in Africa, to give all the support possible and teach them how to successfully onboard new artists to The Art Suite platform. 

We are closely collaborating with two other Cardano digital art projects called The Art Bank and Monet Society, who are based in South Africa and will be able to facilitate needed connections.

Some statistics for context:

According to online resource Statista : “Africa contributed a sum of 13 billion U.S. dollars to the global art market in 2018. According to the source, this figure is predicted to rise to 15 billion U.S. dollars by the year 2023.”

(https://www.statista.com/statistics/1063130/africa-art-market-contribution)

Then according to Technext:

“Africans are now dancing harder in the NFT party. A survey by Finder ranks Nigeria as the 6th largest adopter of NFTs and South Africa as 12th. The survey also hints that NFT adoption will more than double in these countries due to the high interest among respondents.”

(https://technext.ng/2022/02/15/there-is-a-growing-market-of-nfts-in-africa-but-there-are-challenges/)

How big is the potential market?

If we are talking about Africa as a continent there is simply no limit to the possible growth. After all, the strategy of Cardano is to go to Africa, where economic growth is expected to be explosive , business regulations friendly and the majority of certain populations very young on average and with a burning desire to catch up technology-wise with more advanced countries.

Take for example Ethiopia with a population of more than 120 million souls and an average age of 17.9 years old, and economical powerhouse Nigeria with a population of some 206 million people, with an average age of 18.4 years old.

What we have already accomplished and how much has been spent out of pocket for example prior to the proposal?

What we have accomplished is to create a commercial model that works. Artist agents receive 20 percent of revenue originating from the sales of the artists in their stable. Therefore the more artists the agent is able to onboard to the platform, the more they can and will earn, thereby also creating instant wealth for themselves. It is also the job of the artist agents to educate the artists they wish to help onboard about blockchain technology in general, and Cardano in particular.

Opportunity:

Why is the problem solvable?

The problem is solvable because the artist agent model that we have invented is proven to work and can be duplicated in any city in the world that has internet access. 

We are enjoying a collaboration with South Africa based digital art projects on Cardano; The Art Bank and Monet Society, to provide us with the necessary know-how and contacts to identify the right people for the job on the ground.

What would the world look like if our team solved it?

Artists in Africa will discover a way to digitize their art and access a global audience. This is of course true for any artists that decide to also offer their art in the form of NFTs, be it on The Art Suite or other platforms. 

But the impact on Africa will be all the more noticeable since artists are currently often very much restricted to their local economies.

NFT by Kenya artist David Mwangi on “The Art Suite”

[IMPACT] Please describe how your proposed solution will address the Challenge that you have submitted it in.

Our proposal addresses the Challenge as follows:

The challenge is to create more awareness about Cardano in Africa. This is automatically the case as all artists that will be introduced to The Art Suite platform, will first and foremost be introduced to the Cardano vision and receive education about the Cardano ecosystem and all the possibilities Cardano's technology opens up for them.

Why is it important?

It is important to not only provide people with the technology that Cardano provides to be able to change their lives for the better, but also help them understand the guiding principles, so that one day they in turn can help other people change their lives with the tools the Cardano ecosystem provides. This is a sustainable multiplier of positive ripple effects.

What does success look like?

Success will be easy to measure in the form of the number of new NFT artists in Africa and the diaspora that are being onboarded to The Art Suite platform with the help of new The Art Suite artist agents.

[IMPACT] What are the main risks that could prevent you from delivering the project successfully and please explain how you will mitigate each risk?

The main risk in not being able to deliver this project successfully likely lies in the initial difficulty to identify the suitable people to become artist agents. 

Fortunately we can count on our existing collaboration with the Cardano inspired project and Africa based The Art Bankers and Monet Society, who are based in South Africa, in addition to our network connections in the Cardano community and other ecosystems.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed plan, including timeline and key milestones for delivering your proposal.

Phase 1 (one month): Advertising the new job opportunity and setting up job interviews to find the right candidate.

Phase 2 (2 weeks): Provide training to the selected candidate

Phase 3: The new employee will start their job of looking for and training artist agents

The deliverable/s and KPIs will be:

To have created employment for at least one person in Africa as Coordinator for Africa Artist Agents for The Art Suite.

Artist Agents in 10 African countries to begin with.

Managing workload:

This Fund 9 will be the first time for our Hotel Ginebra and The Art Suite team to propose in Catalyst. We will have multiple proposals submitted this Fund, across categories. We are also receiving support from Sustainable ADA.

Our team are submitting five proposals this Fund 9, as part of a comprehensive approach of not only further developing the technical side of The Art Suite platform, but also to immediately start up our social impact projects which are designed to help further grow the platform by creating interaction with other blockchain ecosystems and employment with The Art Suite in Africa and Bangladesh.

It is therefor important to realise that our five proposals are stand-alone proposals in different categories.  

We feel we can submit these 5 proposals because The Art Suite is fully operational (!). 

(*A big automation and branding update is schedule around July 15).

Each individual proposal is aimed at fortifying and scaling already existing separate initiatives and activities employed by the platform.

Here are links to the other 4 proposals.  

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/417400

Scaling ArtSuite NFT4Good Platform 

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/417329

The ArtSuite Multi-Chain NFT Events

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/417628

ArtSuite Cardano Course Bangladesh

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/417615

ETH NFT Artists->Cardano workshops

As we have a globally decentralised, experienced, multiskilled and diverse team, working across timezones, and connected to various networks and communities, we can tap into our multiple connections and resources, to ensure we have a sustainable approach to managing our workload if we are to receive funding from Catalyst.

Here is a link explaining how Razali and Sustainable ADA, who are actively working on previously funded proposals and supporting this proposal, shall manage their workload:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SdUYlUODbPxgipIHgZ5uQDO3MoksnIqdONU1MGm5Uvw/edit?usp=sharing

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide a detailed budget breakdown.

According to https://businesstech.co.za/news/finance/, the average salary currently in South Africa is R23,982 per month, which at the time of writing equals roughly 1500 US$

Proposed salary for Artist Agent Coordinator Africa per month = 1000 US$

Operational costs per month = 250 US$

TOTAL COST per month = 1250 US$

TOTAL COST for one year = 15.000 US$

Incentives: We will study a bonus system based on NFT sales by artists recruited by the agents

No costs have been incurred out of pocket that are directly relatable to the new position of Africa Artist Agent Coordinator.

Currently no other sources of financing are being targeted but we will look for sponsors in Africa in collaboration with Monet Society and The Art Bank.

Once an Africa Artist Agent Coordinator will have been employed, this will be published on The Art Suite portal in the appropriate section, and we will have a story spotlighting this by Sustainable ADA.

[FEASIBILITY] Please provide details of the people who will work on the project.

https://theartsuite.io/pages/team

Oyindamola Oyekemi Oyewumi is a Nigerian ballpoint artist and currently The Art Suite's first artist in Africa to also take on the role of Artist Agent.

The Project Team

The Team that will set up and coordinate the search for Africa Artist Agent Coordinator is in the process of completion but will likely have as its virtual headquarters Cardano Hotel Ginebra Barcelona.

Alfred Moesker - Co-Founder & CEO

One of Cardano's renowned OGs is Alfred Moesker. In 2017 his Hotel Ginebra in Barcelona was the first business in the world to accept ADA as payment. www.hotelginebra.com.es

Stakepool operator of ‘HOTEL’, 25 years experience in the tourist business, managing and network skills. Since then he has contributed to the ecosystem with the Cardano Hotel Podcast and the Cardano Artist Corner, created the The Art Suite and recently partnered with Nazmul Biplop to set up charity food programme Thought For Food in Bangladesh. In September 2021 the "Cardano Hotel '' was sponsored by the Cardano Foundation and World Mobile as a venue for Goguen Summit.

https://twitter.com/bigezdaddy2017

https://twitter.com/thecardanohotel

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alfred-moesker-71159320/

Nazmul Islam Biplob - Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer

Graduated from Daffodil International University. Enthusiastic about history, finance, sociology & technology. Worked on various startup. In 2020 I met Alfred Moesker. I was introduced to Cardano and I was totally overwhelmed by the philosophy behind the project and the welcoming community. It was through collaborating and the meeting of minds with Alfred which led to the development of the Thought 4 Food Project in Bangladesh. The aim is to create a sustainable Thought 4 Food Project initially in Bangladesh and eventually globally.

https://twitter.com/DeveloperNaz

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mnazmulislambiplob/

Tom Wilkinson Co-Founder Innovation Director

Tom is in charge of minting technology and new technologies. Tom is a creative soul who in his ten-year career has worked tirelessly on a myriad of projects. These include designing, promoting and setting a variety of products. With a few years of experience under his belt Tom proceeded to set up several successful companies. Tom is originally a graphic designer but when he found his passion in blockchain technology, Tom was able to combine all the numerous skills he has gathered in different fields and apply them to the development of The Art Suite

https://twitter.com/timonies

Anthony Roberts- Communications Director

"You give a man a fish, he can eat for a day, you teach a man to fish and he can not only feed himself and his family, but he can now teach others to do the same!" I am passionate about being a vehicle to share knowledge, understanding, and engagement that can help to inspire, excite and educate others to live life on their own terms. The world needs more passion!! My vision is using blockchain technology to enable others (that may be mad talented, but not able to live off of their passion) to build, and monetise their passion by making it simple for them to leverage blockchain technology. I am excited to have joined the team at The Art Suite as we all share this vision, and have the passion, integrity and skills to manifest it!

https://twitter.com/gtcryptoant

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-roberts-491037155/

Natalie Attieh - Artist Coordinator

Hello, my name is Natalie Attieh. I was born in Jordan and moved to Canada at the age of 15. I am currently pursuing a degree in Leadership and Organizational Management with a minor in Psychology. During my spare time, I’m an artist dabbling with multiple mediums to express my passion about the art world. The NFT space is one I’m especially enthusiastic about, because of the endless opportunities it has unlocked for creatives and artists around the world. You can also find me on the agent page for both English language as well as Arabic speaking artists. At the same time I am also one of the presenters of the NFThubs Podcast on YouTube.

https://twitter.com/AttiehNatalie

https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalieattieh/

Razali Samsudin - Social and Environmental Impact Projects Director

14 years of experience as an interdisciplinary Educator from early years settings to postgraduate level, with a background in social sciences, humanities, and sustainability. Freelance Writer, Editor, Digital Economy, Blockchain, Sustainability and Impact Measurements Researcher (#Blockchain4Good, #Cardano4Good, #NFT4Good), Social Entrepreneur, Catalyst Proposal Mentor. 

Wada UN SDG and Education Coordinator, Co-Founder of Sustainable ADA, Contributor at Cardano AIM, PositiveBlockchain, Cardano4Climate, Catalyst School and Adatruth.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/razali-samsudin

https://twitter.com/SustainableADA

https://twitter.com/Razlosophy

Elisa Farre - Artist Agent Coordinator

University degree in labor sciences and labor relations, with several master's degrees in business environment, with more than 15 years of experience. Blockchain enthusiast, she entered the Cardano and NFT world with Alfred Moesker. She is an art lover who has found a new way to enjoy this passion in the digital environment, accompanying artists on her digital adventure.

Contributions from stage 0 of the project with the CEO to detect needs to improve the portal, creation of documentation for operation (contracts with artists and agents, questionnaires to resolve doubts). External view of the portal, external point of view as artist/agent/visitor, provide improvements to the structure of the portal. Recruitment, including face-to-face, of artists from the non-digital world (painting, sculpture), answer questions from artists about the blockchain, NFT and Cardano. Wallet advice. Representation of artists physical work and agent in NFT.

https://twitter.com/elisafarre

https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisafarre/

[FEASIBILITY] If you are funded, will you return to Catalyst in a later round for further funding? Please explain why / why not.

Whether or not The Art Suite will submit a follow up proposal to this particular proposal depends largely on the growth of the platform. We would hope to sustain our operations, expand our team of Artist Agents and onboard more Artists and users into the Cardano ecosystem via The Art Suite, with an increase in sales volume.

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or any member of your team working on any other proposals in this Fund9?

[FEASIBILITY] Are you or your team working on any other proposals from previous Funds?

[AUDITABILITY] Please describe what you will measure to track your project's progress, and how will you measure these?

The process will be easily audited by describing the progress we will be make in connecting in Africa with the help of Monet Society, The Art Bank, and our other Cardano ecosystem connections based in Africa, then searching and finding candidates to interview, and finally employing one such candidate.

Once the new team member is trained, they will begin the journey of Coordinating Artist Agents, and training them with the view of sourcing them from 10 African countries to begin with.

[AUDITABILITY] What does success for this project look like?

The project will be considered a success once we will have employed an African Artist Agent Coordinator on location in Africa, who will be actively recruiting and training Artist Agents, educating artists on Cardano, onboarding them onto The Art Suite and into the Cardano ecosystem.

[AUDITABILITY] Please provide information on whether this proposal is a continuation of a previously funded project in Catalyst or an entirely new one.

This is a first time proposal.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Rating

SDG goals:

Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

SDG subgoals:

4.7 By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development

9.1 Develop quality, reliable, sustainable and resilient infrastructure, including regional and transborder infrastructure, to support economic development and human well-being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all

9.a Facilitate sustainable and resilient infrastructure development in developing countries through enhanced financial, technological and technical support to African countries, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States

9.c Significantly increase access to information and communications technology and strive to provide universal and affordable access to the Internet in least developed countries by 2020

11.4 Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage

#proposertoolsdg