Look: UAE-based company to carry first artwork to the moon in official mission

Sacha Jafri’s original work will be placed on the surface of the moon, initiating the release of a five-series NFT Charitable Collection.

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Nandini Sircar

Published: Tue 15 Feb 2022, 1:20 PM

Last updated: Fri 17 Jun 2022, 6:35 PM

A painting created by Dubai-based artist Sacha Jafri is headed for the Moon this year — in a first mission of its kind.

Titled ‘We Rise Together, By Moonlight’, the artwork will not only land on the lunar surface, but it will also stay there forever.

Jafri, a British artist, used an aerospace-grade aluminium gold plate as his canvas for the artwork, making it fully resilient to lunar conditions and allowing it to last an eternity on the Moon.

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“Our future is not technology, our future is human; with expression and embrace comes our new world, aided by technology but driven by humanity. The placement of my moon-landed artwork aims to reconnect humanity to ourselves, each other, our creator and ultimately to ‘The Soul of the Earth’,” said Jafri, who recently created the world’s largest painting on canvas, which became the second most expensive painting ever sold at an auction by a living artist.

The painting will be placed on the Moon with the help of Selenian, a pioneering UAE company that specialises in the curation of art in space, in collaboration with Spacebit, Astrobotic, and Nasa, through its commercial lunar payload services (CLPS) initiative.

Five NFTs will be launched to commemorate each stage of the mission — from the rocket entering the stratosphere, the Earth circumnavigation, the moon slingshot, the landing, and the legacy of the permanent artwork on the lunar surface.

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The ‘We Rise Together – with the Light of the Moon’ artwork will be placed alongside Nasa scientific payloads, along with other instruments and technologies.

“Just as Armstrong left the first footprint on the surface of the Moon, Selenian is now set to leave the legacy of the Moon’s first official artwork by Sacha Jafri on the lunar surface. Our ultimate goal is to be the gateway portal to space and the Moon for physical and digital art assets, through artworks, NFTs, tokenisation and the metaverse, in turn giving back to the humanity community with purpose and utility here on Earth,” said James Khazaei, co-founder of Selenian.

The mission will also see the launch of Jafri’s Cryptonaut Series— 10,000 Cryptonauts derived from Sacha Jafri’s original drawings to be announced before the liftoff.

A percentage of the funds raised from the Moon mission will go to charities that focus on equality, sustainability, education and health.

Nandini Sircar

Published: Tue 15 Feb 2022, 1:20 PM

Last updated: Fri 17 Jun 2022, 6:35 PM

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