The Prayer Flag Project — META Foundation
The META Foundation, in collaboration with VAST Bhutan, the Rubin Museum of Art, and Polygon Studios, pioneers virtual travel with ‘The Prayer Flag Project’, a collection of 1080 impactful NFTs spreading good wishes and positive messages from Bhutan — a small Buddhist kingdom in the Himalayas that measures happiness instead of gross domestic product — while supporting educational programs, and the cleaning of Bhutan’s mountains. As a country that has always had a sustainable approach to tourism, Bhutan offers a unique case study for pioneering a purpose-driven prototype for virtual travel. This project explores how virtual experiences can connect visitors to real communities to support and fuel local economies, while fulfilling and inspiring travel dreams from afar.
Prayer flags promote peace, compassion, strength and wisdom to benefit all beings across the universe. They are typically hoisted on the high points of mountains where the wind is strong to carry their invocations further. From handwritten pieces of silk, to woodblock printed cloths, to mass produced prints on polyester fabrics, they have always been produced through purposeful use of available technologies and materials. Though the intentions behind their contemporary production is to make the flags and their prayers longer-lasting, their synthetic material impedes their assimilation into the ecosystem.
Today, prayer flags embrace their digital future as impactful NFTs supporting educational programs, and the cleaning of the mountains surrounding Thimphu, Bhutan’s capital-city, of their accumulating fallen, faded, and entangled polyester prayer flags, breathing new life into the prayers of those who put them there, and sustaining this cultural tradition in the age of commodification and mass consumption. A significant part of the proceeds from the NFT sales will be donated to VAST Bhutan, a contemporary art collective and NGO co-founded in 1998 by Bhutan's leading contemporary artist, Asha Kama. Promoting art and community service among youth, these funds will contribute to their educational programs teaching art students about web3 technologies, opening up a whole new world of possibilities for global exposure and community engagement.
Designed from original paintings by Asha Kama, a leading Bhutanese artist and co-founder of VAST Bhutan, each NFT features a unique combination of a background painting, a traditional prayer stamp, and wind conditions. Additionally, acknowledging the importance of prayer flags’ natural decay within virtual space, the NTFs will interpret their impermanence by fading over the course of several months, reverting to their original state with each transaction. While the NFT market has, for the most part, accelerated the commodification of art and greedy speculation, the distribution and cyclical renewal of these prayer flags calls attention to a different and relevant approach to collective thinking that encourages forwarding goodwill, positive intentions, and care along the blockchain, from owner to owner.
“The Prayer Flag Project” will launch during Decentraland Art Week, with pre-sales beginning on August 24th, 2022 on https://www.meta.ngo at a cost of 200 MATIC (approximately $200). Mindful of blockchain’s own sustainability concerns, these virtual flags are minted on Polygon’s (MATIC) proof of stake network, the leading blockchain development platform offering sustainable blockchains for Web3, with each transaction producing less than 5g CO2 - all of which is accounted for and offset by Polygon themselves.
Founded in 2021, The META Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization promoting cultural, social and environmental sustainability through the metaverse. For more information, please visit https://www.meta.ngo
