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Teia Newsletter #15 - March 26th 2023

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Spring fever for Teia!

March is almost over, and with the seasonal changes come a lot of changes and updates to Teia! Read what's new with the big UI update, events coming up, and last but not least, the big news: Teia is now officially incorporated, but what does that mean?

Unfortunately, not everything is good news: Since the last newsletter, we had news of massive earthquakes that devastated parts of Turkey and Syria. Read up on the subsequent Tezos-wide fundraiser #TezQuakeAid and how you can keep on helping while building your collection of Tezos art.

Table of Contents

TezQuakeAid: Numbers So Far and Call for Participation

TezQuakeAid is a community-organised fundraiser initiative that aims to collect donations for earthquake relief in Syria and Turkey. The event is still ongoing and open to new participants. Whether you are an artist or collector, you can help by promoting event pieces, recommending wonderful artists you know to participate, collecting TezQuakeAid art, or minting your own fundraiser pieces!

To date, 110,000 Tez have been collected! These funds have thus far been directed towards organisations such as AHBAP from Turkey, as well as SAMF, Save the Children, and IRC for Syria.

Tezquakeaid Banner

The organisers of TezQuakeAid call upon everyone to continue to participate in this important cause and contribute generously to the fundraiser. Additional contributions are still needed to achieve the goal of providing much-needed support to those affected by the earthquakes and the aftermath. The focus of the donation fund has shifted over time with the needs on the ground. While in the first weeks after the catastrophe medical aid was at the top of the list of priorities, now shelter, food, and sanitary infrastructure are in focus. We are also currently looking into diversifying the organisations that benefit from the fund, for example, by adding orgs that support the LGBTQIA+ community in the affected area.

If you want to find hidden gems for the fundraiser, be sure to check out the DNS.xyz blog that has been featuring artist profiles and spotlights for fundraiser pieces, follow the Twitter handle @TezQuakeAid, and the hashtag #TezQuakeAid, and check out the event website on Joyn for helpful guides on how to participate as well as links to all the donation receipts that disclose the flow of the donated money!

Fundraiser Event Galleries - call for applications

To celebrate and to keep momentum going with the fundraising initiatives, several Oncyber galleries will be created to showcase the fundraising artworks and the artists from the affected communities!

There will be galleries for TezQuakeAid, Ukraine, SavePakistan, Tezos4Iran, and TezosPride initiatives - and many more to come!

We will be inviting artists to speak about their work during virtual openings!

If you have minted artworks for any of these events or are an artist from the affected communities, please submit your artwork for consideration through these forms and spread the word!

Here are the Gallery application Forms:

Teia is now incorporated!

After nearly a year of work, Teia DAO is now finally a registered non-profit DAO LLC, making it the first non-profit, community-owned marketplace on Tezos. This means that Teia can now act as a legal entity, generate income, and pay for services and servers while ownership is put into a legal framework. Initially, the core team multisig consisting of around 20 signers from the Teia team will define the membership of the DAO and legally own Teia.

However, this will be a temporary setup as Teia moves towards the second phase of the DAO: to make Teia truly community-owned, governance tokens will be distributed based on activity on hicetnunc and/or Teia's smart contracts, hDAO ownership, and contribution to the project. Once the tokens are distributed and the DAO contracts have been tested in action, ownership will be fully transferred to the DAO contracts, at which point every governance token holder will be a member and partial owner of the Teia DAO.

The next steps are:

  • Activate the marketplace fee of 2.5% on Teia's marketplace contracts. This means that 2.5% of trades from a swap done on Teia's UI will go towards the Teia treasury (the core team multisig), allowing Teia to be self-sustaining. We will activate the fees within the next 7 days.
  • Set up a community vote to pick one of three token distribution models. This will determine the total supply of governance tokens and how the different distribution parameters are weighted.
  • Distribute the governance tokens. Once the token distribution model has been decided, Teia will set up a token claim page where Teians can sync their wallet and claim their eligible amount of tokens.
  • Test the DAO contracts by doing proposals and voting with the contracts.
  • Final stage: Transfer ownership to the DAO contracts.

For more information, check out our Incorporation announcement on our blog that also has a more detailed outline of the next steps towards our DAO, the article "Governance on Teia" on our wiki, and the blog article about the DAO development.

So if you would like to support Teia, consider swapping on teia.art and join us in celebrating this wonderful milestone! Just share your art with the tag #SwapOnTeia.

Mint on Teia, Swap on Teia

Now we have incorporated and can again invoke the marketplace fees, it becomes important to be clear about where fees go. No fees are generated when minting an objkt. Fees are charged by most marketplaces when the objkts are put up for sale ie Swapped. Each marketplace uses its own Swap contract to do this, which means, the marketplace you swap on is the marketplace that receives all the fees. We’d strongly suggest that if you mint works on Teia, that you also Swap those works on Teia, because only Swaps will help support our platform. [Note that we’re only referring to works that are minted with the v2 contract, which creates Objkts. Works minted on Versum are called Items, and its a similar story - if you swap those Items on Versum thats the only time fees go to Versum.]

The New Teia UI: A Closer Look

UI screenshot with annotations on what is new

Since the Teztok integration that changed Teia's backend went live at the beginning of March 2023, Teia has received a major update to its User Interface (UI). We would like to highlight the biggest improvements made to the UI:

  • Feed Layout Choose between grid or list view for Teia feeds and profile pages by hitting "v" or using the buttons on top of the page.
  • UI Themes Select from a variety of visual themes to customise the interface. Find the list on the menu or Config page.
  • Mint files up to 2GB
  • Versum Swap Integration With the Teia update, Versum now allows swaps of Hicetnunc/Teia tokens on their marketplace.
  • Event Widget Click the button above the filter for details about fundraising events on Teia. Explore and support fundraising initiatives!
  • Token Details Mouse over any objkt to see title and description on any page.
  • Filters Filter feeds by a range of options, including html + svg, past events, and PDF formats like zines and magazines.
  • Accessibility Features Added accessibility filtering for both NSFW pieces and Photosensitive content. The filters can be turned on and off by the user if needed. This will help with accessibility for users that need to avoid trauma triggers as well as people with photosensitivity related conditions.
  • User Configuration Select ‘Config’ in the top right corner of the menu to customise your Teia experience. You can choose to hide NSFW or Photosensitive content, as well as select different RPC nodes to help with transaction issues.

For a more detailed overview of these updates, take a look at the article "A Closer Look at Teia's UI Upgrade" on our blog.

Collab Pieces Now Properly Shown on Objkt and Available in Oncyber Galleries!

Objkt.com has resolved the issue of collab contract pieces minted on Teia not being linked to the creators' profiles: now, collab and fundraiser and other collab pieces are displayed under the artists' profiles on Objkt.com. This update on Objkt.com will help promote fundraiser and collaboration pieces and give them the visibility they deserve.

Moreover, these pieces are now available on OnCyber galleries, making them more accessible to a wider audience. This development is a great improvement for Teians and their collaborators, who can now confidently showcase their work on these platforms.

A big thank you to the Objkt team!

Let's fundraise and collaborate!

screenshot showcasing how collab pieces from teia get displayed on objktcom now

Scam Warning: DM Imposters!

screenshot of discord dms with a scammer that impersonates wise from the objktcom team

PSA: We want to warn everyone that there have been many instances where scammers try to impersonate admins and send DMs to people who require support. These imposters use tactics to make themselves appear legitimate, such as adopting the target’s username and PFPs. We want to stress once more that neither Teia’s nor Objkt.com’s support teams will approach you via DM. All questions and inquiries will be handled in the help and support channels on the Discord servers of the platforms!

We urge you to refrain from engaging in direct messages (DMs) with anyone who is not a verified admin, and only after confirming in public channels on Discord.

If you have received a DM from someone who is claiming to be part of Teia’s Team, please let us know in the #scam-discussion channel, if possible, before blocking or deleting the DM. We are constantly monitoring our channels and are committed to ensuring that our platform and community are safe and secure for all users.

We keep documenting scam tactics and how to spot them on our "User Safety Guide" on our wiki.

Upcoming Tezos Art Events

Lao New Queer

LAO new queer announcent tweet

Lao New Queer (LNQ) is a metaverse arts celebration for LGBTQIA+ Southeast Asians and allies! It is are currently looking for art and performances from trans and queer Southeast Asians. Artists may remain anonymous. For more Info and questions, check out the announcement tweet for the event

To apply, please fill out the form linked here by Mon 3/27.

Lao New Queer will take place in the Hmong Museum, located in @simulacra_io, and will include an exhibition and showcase. The exhibition will feature 2D and 3D art within the museum, while the showcase will screen performances and music in the museum auditorium.

TezTowns Spring Fever

There is a new event in (Tez)Town: Spring fever! Check out this tweet and the twitter thread thread for various translations.

announcement graphic for the spring fever event

Lily white from TezTown is looking for art that is playing with the topics of excitement, rebirth and hope or nature to represent spring!

This Event will involve a burn token system that is gamified: Participants will purchase a special token, burn it, and then receive a random token from the event. Additionally, Naan and Plenty will be offering bonuses with some purchases.

For artists: Mint 1-5 different NFTs with exactly 50 editions and send ALL the editions to the event wallet tz1cvuNBRRC8ayBWixqW2eTKF68RUGGmq7KC. Use the hashtag #SpringFever IN THE MINT TAGS and on social media. The minting period is between March 25th and April 6th, 2023. TezTown will then resize the editions according to the artist's current collector base (see tweet thread).

For collectors: Sales of the TezTown Burn token will begin on or before April 8, 2023, and will cost 2.5 Tez each. There will be special incentives if the token is purchased using Naan Wallet. Instructions for when and how to burn the token will be provided at the time of sale.

“To the Moon”

Announcement tweet for the "to the moon" event

This Event is organized by Pneuma96. if you have further question, feel free to comment on the tweet above. These are the rules to participate:

  • To participate in the art category, your art must include the moon in any form you choose.
  • When marketing, use the hashtag #TTMTEZ to make your art easily discoverable.
  • When minting, please mint your own art, and the event name does not need to be mentioned in your description.
  • Your art should go on sale on April 17th, and there is no time limit for when you want to burn unsold art, it is up to you.
  • Your art can be open edition, limited edition, or whatever you prefer.

Call for submissions: WOMAN.LIFE.FREEDOM.

womanlifefreedom event banner

Submission Deadline: Sunday, April 2nd, 2023 by 5pm Pacific Time

Submit your art here

In January 2023, MOZAIK Philanthropy launched WOMAN. LIFE. FREEDOM.— a virtual exhibition and art-based expression of global solidarity with the revolution for freedom in Iran. Featuring 50 contemporary artists from Iran and beyond, the group exhibition sheds light on the first 90 days of the revolution through the power of art.

In the spirit of renewal and hope, and in cross-cultural celebration of Norooz 1402, MOZAIK Philanthropy has opened its second international open call for art. We invite artists of all ages and creative practices from around the world to submit works that represent the future of Iran in this year of hope.

Persian New Year brings a time for reflection, intention, and vision for a better future to come.

As generations of women, men, and youth throughout Iran rise up in defiance of a brutal regime, the demands for a humane revolution for a free Iran resonate true—for regime change from below, for the people and by the people—and for the complete emancipation from all forms of oppression, discrimination, exploitation, and dictatorship. These universal ideals reverberate throughout peaceful protests in cities across the world, in solidarity with the Iranian people, and as aspirational human rights for all people, in all places.

NFT Minting 101 - Step by step guide to minting on Tezos [Article]

NFT Minting 101 workshop in Berlin (photo: despace)J NFT Minting 101 workshop in Berlin (photo: despace)

Crcdng has written a guide titled "NFT Minting 101" which is a brief step-by-step tutorial for beginners and a write-up of workshops at Despace in Berlin where he guided artists through their first mint on Teia. With questions / discussion the workshop took around 2 hours. You can check it out here on medium

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