Sarawak social enterprise to release NFTs linked to traditional crafts

KUCHING: Social enterprise Tanoti Sdn Bhd plans to release non-fungible tokens (NFTs) next month to generate awareness and appreciation of Sarawak's traditional crafts in a global audience.

Tanoti director and co-founder Jacqueline Fong said the company, which houses a broad community of traditional craft artisans in Sarawak, sought to keep traditional handicrafts relevant and ensure a sustainable livelihood for its artisans.

"Tanoti's NFT project is designed as a global outreach exercise to educate the world about Sarawak's ancestral crafts.

“The NFTs will support our mission of keeping traditional crafts alive," she said in a statement on Thursday (June 9).

Fong said 40% of proceeds from the NFT royalties would go towards customised handwoven pieces for winners of quarterly raffles, 30% towards awareness and capacity building programmes for Sarawakian artisans, 20% towards Tanoti's administration costs and 10% to support Tanoti's community charity projects.

She said holders of Tanoti's NFTs would be regarded as custodians of Sarawak's ancestral crafts, as they would be interacting with and supporting a real-world business.

"While NFTs are deemed to exist only in the digital space, Tanoti’s NFTs will create a bridge to connect real-world business with the digital world.

“Hence, the appreciation of crafts will be expanded to more parties, including investors of Tanoti’s NFTs," she added.

Tanoti plans to release four NFT series in the next 12 months, with each series representing songket weaving, rattan basketry, pua kumbu (Iban ceremonial textile) weaving and beading respectively.

The inaugural songket series is scheduled to be minted in mid-July with 200 NFTs at a price of 0.1 ETH (equivalent to RM800) each on the Ethereum blockchain.

Holders of the songket NFTs will be offered various privileges, including a 20% discount on items in Tanoti's online store, a free tour of Tanoti's songket workshop and priority pre-sale announcements of the company's subsequent NFT series.