Fahmi Reza’s Decision to Sell His ‘Monyet Istana’ Artwork as NFT to Raise Legal Aid Divides M’sians

Political graphic artist Fahmi Reza is no stranger to facing the authorites and getting into trouble for his satirical cartoons which often call out the government, politicians and even the royalty.

Recently, he was arrested once again by the police after uploading an artwork showing Powerpuff Girls’ Mojo Jojo in clothes resembling royal garments which was believed to be a satirical response to the news of the Sultan of Selangor purchasing a painting that depicts MPs as monkeys, apes and frogs.

Following his arrest, he revealed that he has since been blacklisted and banned from travelling abroad as his name is on the immigration department’s blacklist.

He has since decided to sell his artwork as an NFT to raise funds to help others get legal aid. In a Twitter post, Fahmi stated that the NFT artwork titled ‘Monyet Istana’ (Palace Monkey) will be sold for 0.05 BNB (around RM86), with all the proceeds going to the Freedom of Expression Legal Defence Fund.

pic.twitter.com/bXcIvGrL80

— Fahmi Reza (@kuasasiswa) April 24, 2022

Fahmi said that he would not take a single cent from the NFT sale and that the legal fund will help support fellow Malaysians who are investigated and prosecuted for exercising their right to freedom of expression.

The sale of Monyet Istana will be launched on 26 April.

Fake NFTs

His announcement garnered plenty of attention. In a post today (25 April), Fahmi said that although he had only announced the project, people have already started selling fake ‘Money Istana’ NFTs on trading platform OpenSea.

Baru semalam aku announce, hari ni dah ada orang jual fake Monyet Istana NFT dekat OpenSea. Cepat betul mereka buat kerja! ? pic.twitter.com/ooOSwpUzhV

— Fahmi Reza (@kuasasiswa) April 25, 2022

Netizens were confused

Although the general public were in favour of the project, some Malaysians were confused with his sudden decision to start selling his works as NFTs.

Users pointed out that Fahmi had previously refused to sell his artworks as NFTs as he said that he wasn’t doing it for profit and that it was aimed to raise political consciousness for free.

Back in January of this year, Fahmi asked his followers, “A lot of people have asked me to make or join NFTs. But why? Why do you want to own them as NFTs?”

Ramai orang minta aku buat atau join NFT. But why? I'm not doing this for profit. Semua political graphics yang aku hasilkan tujuannya untuk dikongsi & disebarkan, for free, untuk semua. Fungsinya untuk raise political consciousness. Why do you want to own them as NFTs?

— Fahmi Reza (@kuasasiswa) January 29, 2022

Meanwhile, back in February, he informed his followers to stop asking him to sell his political graphics as NFTs.

Please stop asking me to sell my political graphics as NFTs. If you seriously want to support my work, and want me to continue creating satirical graphics on Malaysian politics for EVERYONE, you can support me at Patreon or Buy Me A Coffee.

? https://t.co/FEdAQzroXu pic.twitter.com/U8rAusIGvm

— Fahmi Reza (@kuasasiswa) February 19, 2022

What do you think of his decision? Let us know in the comments.

Also read: Fahmi Reza Banned From Visiting Other Countries By Immigration Department