In recognition of International Women’s Day, the prestigious auction house Sotheby’s has collaborated with the digital art group UnicornDAO to organize a non-fungible token (NFT) sale.
The auction entitled “My Body, My Business,” which began on Tuesday, is comprised of the works of 34 conventional artists, some of whom include Marina Abramovic, Cindy Sherman, Jenny Holzer, and Ellen Von Unwerth. Moreover, works by Web3-native artists such as Olive Allen, Latashá, Jen Stark, and Nadya Tolokonnikova, the collection’s curator and a founding member of the activist organization Pussy Riot, will be included in the collection.
Tolokonnikova, who together with others last year co-founded UnicornDAO as a collective to empower women and LGBTQ+ non-fiction writers and artists, is enthused about the use of art and activism to assist in the empowerment of women and other marginalised populations.
Tolokonnikova stated to CoinDesk that “Pussy Riot is designed to urge people to be part of the movement, not simply be spectators who ‘appreciate’ and’support’ from the sidelines after the fact.” “Pussy Riot is meant to encourage people to be part of the movement,” Tolokonnikova said. “We take our struggle to the streets, we take our fight to the blockchain, and we take our fight to the galleries, auction houses, and museums.”
The auction will remain active until March 14 at the earliest. A part of the profits will be given to organizations like Planned Parenthood and others that promote the reproductive health of women in the form of donations. Endaoment, a platform for cryptocurrency donations, has announced the establishment of PPFA.eth, a wallet address that will assist in directing more donations to the organization.
According to a news statement issued by Abramovic, she stated, “Women have rights over her own body, and I support every woman’s decision towards planning motherhood.” Tolokonnikova has been using non-fiction texts (NFTs) as a tool for activism and to empower disadvantaged populations through the medium of her work for the past two years. She joined up with another artist and activist, Shepard Fairey, in the month of January to launch a collection dubbed Putin’s Ashes, which aimed to generate funds for the Ukrainian armed forces. In May of 2022, UnicornDAO successfully completed a fundraising campaign that resulted in the acquisition of 4.5 million dollars.
