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Over the last year, various NFT communities have garnered huge followings, building global communities of people. However, an NFT community does not always need to be a hyped movement of thousands of Bored Apes. NFTs can also be used to bring together people who share a common purpose beyond their affection for the collection of JPEGs. NFTs can be used as a tool to facilitate the bringing together of people sharing culture and values beyond the realms of web3.

When Hamisha Mehta, Nirali Patel and Rakhee Shah discovered NFTs, they saw the technology as an opportunity to create a community for South Asian women that would foster curiosity in tech, onboarding of women into web3 and preservation of South Asian culture through this new technology.

There are a lot of barriers that women face in tech, however, what may not be instantly obvious are the cultural barriers that often exist for women. One of the reasons Gold Bangle Club was created was to help South Asian women to overcome those barriers and connect with like-minded women. Founded by three British South Asian women who are passionate advocates of and builders in the NFT space, Gold Bangle Club straddles the worlds of Web2 and Web3 and aims to educate and bring more South Asian representation into the space.

Hamisha, Rakhee and Nirali saw the lack of representation in the space as an opportunity to break the barriers and establish a space for women from similar backgrounds to connect, share knowledge and support each other in their journeys. For them, it was not a barrier but a call to action to step into the niche and create something special.

We sat down with Rakhee to discuss how Gold Bangle Club is working to create a community at the intersection of technology, art, culture and community.

How did you first get into the web3 space?

In our web2 lives, Hamisha was in management consulting and finance, I worked in PR and Nirali used to be a lawyer before diving into web3 and art full-time.

Hamisha and I were both on maternity leave around the same time and got interested in NFTs –myself having seen a few videos of Gary Vee and Hamisha through her techie husband. But the deeper we dove into the space, the more it became obvious that there wasn’t something that resonated with us as South Asian women. There didn’t seem to be much representation. Through our personal experiences, we were also aware that there are some cultural barriers that women in our culture might face, so we decided to create a community for women like us. It was around the same time that we discovered Nirali’s beautiful art that really spoke to us. So, the three of us got together and got building Gold Bangle Club (GBC).

Where did the name come from and what is its significance?

In South Asian culture, the gold bangle is a symbol of cultural significance that goes back thousands of years. The gold bangle often gets passed down from generation to generation – it signifies coming of age and security. It is something that South Asian women can really identify with, regardless of where they are in the world. Gold Bangle Club stands for these attributes, providing an anchor of safety for the women wanting to navigate Web3 to empower themselves and future generations.

Tell us more about the cultural barriers that you are helping South Asian women to overcome.

For many South Asian women, perhaps like in many other Asian cultures, there are family expectations of doing well at school and eventually ending up in a secure profession, like a doctor or a lawyer. Whilst security is of course very important, there can often be a certain level of pressure to establish yourself in those more traditional professions, which can hinder us from exploring other areas of interest. In addition, in many families there are still traditional gender roles whereby it is the men who manage investing, meaning the women may be less inclined to dive into these new topics, like crypto or NFTs.

You mentioned the lack of representation. How are you tackling that?

South Asian women are underrepresented in many parts of society – from politics to business and media to tech. We wanted to start building this strong narrative of a South Asian woman in different contexts of life, so women and girls can see themselves in these roles. One of the ways in which we do it is by creating a regular comic called Esha Diaries, which depicts the adventures of Esha, a South Asian woman as she navigates being a second-generation immigrant and discovers Web3.

We also want to elevate the voices of South Asian women by showcasing women doing amazing things in their respective fields and, in the future, by creating mentoring opportunities. Because representation is not just in the art, it is also in seeing web3 participants and founders who look like you and come from a similar background. We want to create networking opportunities and bring together the movers and the shakers, so South Asian women can empower each other both in web3 and beyond, while having this anchor of safety in GBC.

Talk a little about the cultural and art elements of GBC.

At first glance, traditional art and culture and technology might seem worlds apart, but if we are to preserve our art and traditions for the generations to come, why not use technology to educate and amplify our values? South Asian culture is a rich tapestry of music, cuisine, art and traditions – this is something we have in common, so we want to celebrate that. The artwork of the NFT in this case becomes the conduit.

For example, our first drop is actually in the form of physical rather than digital art. Titled Patterns of Our Future, the five boxed canvas artwork pieces will be released on Monday 24 October to coincide with Diwali. The traditional Rangoli art symbolises and celebrates the intricacies of South Asian culture. In the piece, harmonious peaceful colours are paired with vibrant splashes to embody warmth and new beginnings.

Physical artwork holders will also automatically become owners of the token, which will unlock utility, including exclusive access to GBC events, network and bespoke education, which includes live coaching on the steps to take to receive digital proof of ownership.

You mentioned when we spoke earlier that you want to meet women where they are. Can you explain what you mean by that?

At GBC we want to meet women where they are. Yes, we want to educate and onboard women into web3, but we want to go beyond that and create a support network where women can come for personal and professional development and human connection.

In addition to the way we are releasing our first art drop, another example is that our community is predominantly on Instagram, which is not web3 native, but we are happy to meet them there instead of having to bring everyone across to Discord. Or, there are a lot of young mums in our community who may not be able to get to in-person events in the evenings. So, for example, our next big community event called Unlocking Web3 will be taking place on Zoom at 8pm. We will host in-person events in the future but right now we want to build what works for our community.

Interviewed by Liya Dashkina.

You can find out more about Gold Bangle Club on Instagram and Twitter @goldbangleclub.

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